Curator's Choice

Hello everyone! I am so excited to announce that Curator’s Choice Patreon is live! 

Visit it here: https://www.patreon.com/curatorschoice

If you would like to support this podcast by becoming a Patron, I have a couple of different affordable options and support tiers. You can choose to become a “historian” supporter for $2 a month, which will come with my sincere gratitude and early episode access, or you can choose to become a “curator” supporter for $5 a month, which will also come with my sincere gratitude, early episode access, and a monthly Patron-exclusive bonus episode! 

Thank you all so much for listening and for joining me on each new museum adventure!

Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we meet with Ana Edwards for our second installment of a three-part series featuring the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Ana tells us about the history of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States, and home life in the “White House of the Confederacy” during his Presidency. We also discuss the complex relationships between enslavers, free blacks, and the enslaved, and the vision of the Confederacy as displayed in the museum’s Southern Ambitions exhibit.

Just prior to the Civil War, Lewis Crenshaw completed a glamorous renovation on the “house with many names”, aimed at making the house a showcase of the prestigious neighborhood. Along with adding a 3rd story, he also purchased exquisite gasoliers that tapped into a local coal gas plant. With this modernization, the lights in the home were fueled with gas instead of coal and were much more energy-intensive to use, requiring each lamp to be individually turned on and lit with a match. There were 15 lights in the house, each with 2 to 6 lamps a piece!


Episode Links:

• American Civil War Museum webpage: https://acwm.org/

• The Baltimore Sun article about The Home of Jeff Davis: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1999-08-08-9908100462-story.html

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

For the first episode of our three-part series at the American Civil War Museum, we meet with Chris Graham. He is the Curator of Exhibitions and shares with us the history of the Civil War in Richmond and how Tredegar Iron works influenced the location of the Confederate Capital.  He also tells us about a map of the Battle of First Mananas etched on a sheet as well as a modern-day relic from the Civil War that can be found in your own pocket (most likely, anyway)!


Episode Links:

• American Civil War Museum webpage: https://acwm.org/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

For our second October bonus episode, we speak with Katy Perrine, who is a paranormal tour guide at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and the co-owner of Appalachian Oddities. During this episode, we cover the tools of the trade for paranormal investigations, stories about the asylum and the infamous lobotomist Walter Freeman, and how Katy’s work at the asylum and knowledge of the macabre led to the establishment of her wild and wonderfully weird business venture.

Appalachian Oddities is a store for the love of all things odd and interesting. They support and encourage talented artisans throughout the Appalachian region and beyond offer an interesting experience for anyone looking for something not always found in stores.

WALTER FREEMAN II
Freeman was an American doctor who developed the “revolutionary” medical procedure called the transorbital lobotomy. Modeled after Dr. Egas Moniz’s leucotomy procedure,  Freeman’s "ice pick" lobotomy and was performed by inserting a metal pick near the corner of the eyes and moving the pick in an arc to sever the connections of the prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe of the brain. Freeman claimed that this severed the bad connections in the brain, which were the cause of melancholy and mental disturbances, and allowed new positive connections to grow that would lead to positive behaviors. Though some lobotomized patients did see improvement, the procedure was vastly traumatic, leading to infection and often times death. Though his career ended in disgrace, Freeman performed an estimated 2,500 ice pick lobotomies in 23 states, including at least 787 lobotomies at the State Hospital (later the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum).


Episode Links:

• Appalachian Oddities webpage: https://www.appalachianodditieswv.com/

• Lunatic: The Rise and Fall of an American Asylum by Edward S. Gleason: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25954367-lunatic

• “Psychosurgery, ethics, and media: a history of Walter Freeman and the lobotomy”, written by James P. Caruso and Jason P. Sheehan, DOI: 10.3171/2017.6.FOCUS17257: https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/neurosurg-focus/43/3/article-pE6.xml

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

 This week we meet with Bethany Cutright, Office Manager at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Though known as one of the most haunted places in North America, it was originally designed to be a place of help and healing for the mentally ill. Bethany shares with us the intent of the Kirkbride plan and architecture of the hospital, the art programs designed to open communication and create a positive outlet for patients, and the exceptional work of the Irish, Scottish, and German immigrant stonemasons with their unique signatures and styles.

When construction began on the Hospital in 1858, many of the stonemasons were immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and Germany. They each brought their own styles and skill, and their creativity is displayed in the form of 8 faces located on the original ward of the Hospital. Bethany was able to recover original payroll records from some of these workers: Mr. Wright who was born in Scotland and Mr. May who was born in Germany. To denote which stone block was crafted by which stonemason, they had their own “signatures”, which were series of patterns in hash-marks on the edges of each block.

The art program at the hospital was designed to give patients the opportunity to express themselves in ways they couldn't otherwise; some individuals may have been unable to speak, but they could paint or draw as a form of expression. It was a creative way to open communications between patients and doctors, and it gave them something fun to do. They could also sell their artwork for some income. The hospital even had its own kiln for pottery projects.

Episode Links:

• Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum webpage: http://www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

• Dorothea Dix Biography: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dorothea-dix

• Jacks, Kim, "Weston State Hospital" (2008). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 857: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1860&context=etd
  
  
• Lunatic: The Rise and Fall of an American Asylum by Edward S. Gleason: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25954367-lunatic

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

For the first bonus episode of October, we meet with Todd Turner at Appalachian Glass. Keeping on with last week’s glass theme, this week we learn from Todd all the tricks of the trade for handmade glass, including what elements are combined to make glass, how it is molded and colored, and the three generations of craftsman that makes Appalachian Glass so special.

Soda Lime Crystal Ingredients

• silica sand
• lyme
• soda ash
• feldspar
• selenium
• cobalt
• urbium

After doing the interview, Todd offered Dakota and me the amazing opportunity to get hands-on with the glass-making process. We made a glass tumbler and a leaf imprinted mug, and they turned out amazing! 

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

Happy October! For the first episode of our mini-series “October in Weston, West Virginia”, we meet with Larry Woods at the Museum of American Glass. We talk about the impressive history of glass; from glass made in ancient Rome and Egypt, to its production from the late 1700s until after the Civil War, and specifically, the more recent history of glass in the small town of Weston. Though none now remain, at one point in time Weston had 5 glass factories, and the region was considered a global center of glassmaking.

The astounding Glass Mansion featured at the museum was made with almost 1,200 pieces of glass, has 2 stories, 13 rooms, and the largest section of the dollhouse weighs over 100 lbs. It was created by Linda Young, commissioned by Barbara and Bernie Bischoff as their 50th wedding anniversary present.

The museum’s Steuben Glass Collection is comprised of over 200 pieces, with a single piece alone weighing 33.5 pounds! Steuben glass is considered the finest crystal you can find because of its reflective characteristics.

Episode Links:

• Museum of American Glass: http://magwv.com/

• Stueben Glass Company: https://www.steuben.com/

• Journal of Antiques and Collectibles, Building a Glass Museum by the Numbers: https://journalofantiques.com/features/building-glass-museum-numbers/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

For the second September bonus episode, we meet with my coworker Vincent Turner, an Exhibit Educator at the Calvert Marine Museum. Throughout his land deed research of Calvert County, and his passion for reading about Maryland’s folklore, he has some spooky stories that can connect to real-life places and people (even some items from the museum as well!). Learn about the ghost behind the Mudd House restoration, the haunting of Drum Point Lighthouse, what the witches were doing in the Devil’s Woodyard, and a prank pulled on the crew of the steamboat St. Mary’s that even made an appearance in the local newspaper in 1904.

...For, you must know, along the shore grim coffins strew the sand,
Here you will see a dead man's foot, and there a dead man's hand.
Therefore, should you parade the shore, you must use circumspection,
Or you may tread upon the toes of ghosts who'll take exception.

-Baltimore Sun, "Frightened by a Ghost", Officers of the Steamer St. Mary's Play Practical Joke on Companions", January 31, 1904.

Literary References:

• For the Mudd House: Gallagher, Trish, Ghosts & Haunted House of Maryland, (Centreville: Tidewater Publishers, 1988), 9-13.
• For Drum Point Light House: Okonowicz, Ed, The Big Book of Maryland Ghost Stories, (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2010), 224-225.
• For the Devil’s Woodyard: Okonowicz, Ed, The Big Book of Maryland Ghost Stories, (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2010), 229-230.
• For Steamboat St. Mary’s: Trevor J. Blank and David J. Puglia, Maryland Legends: Folklore From The Old Line State, (Charleston: The History Press, 2014), 63-65.

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

This week we meet with Deborah Gangloff, Executive Director of the Captain Avery Museum. The museum is located in the old home of Captain Salem Avery, originally a one-room cabin built-in 1859. Though the house has changed size, hands, and location a few times, it still houses some amazing items that belonged to Avery and his wife Lucretia.

The family bible, published in 1856, was a wedding gift to the captain’s wife and held in it is the family’s chronological history. They also have a banjo owned by the captain, made by William Butcher around 1848, that is one of only two known to exist with a dancing woman on the fretboard. The museum strives to share 3 centuries of history told in one building.

Episode Links:

• Captain Avery Museum webpage: https://captainaverymuseum.org/museum

• Chesapeake Bay Oyster Program: https://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/oysters

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers

For the first of  September’s two bonus episodes, we meet with Kristopher Battles, the Marine Corps Artist in Residence at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. We discuss how the creation of artwork for the Marine Corps includes a whole series of historical illustrations going from post-Vietnam all the way through to the current global war on terror.  We talk about a few of Kris’s favorite creations, the stories behind them, and what it takes to be an Artist in Residence for the United States Marine Corps.

The Combat Art Gallery is a changing exhibit that currently features In the Highest Tradition-WWII Medal of Honor Art: paintings created by Col Charles H. Waterhouse. This exhibition highlights 39 World War II United States Marine and Navy Corpsmen who are Medal of Honor recipients. For each recipient highlighted, Waterhouse has created a portrait, a description of their act of heroism, and a painting depicting the moment of their honored acts of bravery and sacrifice.


Episode Links:

• Kristopher Battles-Marine Corps Artist in Residence: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/kris-battles.html

• PBS “They Drew Fire” website: http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/

• National Museum of the Marine Corps website: https://www.usmcmuseum.com/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers