Curator's Choice

Today we meet with Kaitlyn Dykes to talk about why there is a Dutch museum in the middle of a small town in Delaware. Zwaanendael Museum was built in commemoration of Delaware’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch in 1631. The small whaling colony only lasted for a year, when an unfortunate misunderstanding with the native Siconese Indian tribe led to the massacre of the whalers. The only surviving evidence of the colonists’ presence in a tertiary tale written in Captain DeVries’ journal.

The model below shows the DeBraak, an originally Dutch vessel (turned British Navy after capture) that sunk outside Deleware in 1798. Was there Spanish treasure aboard? Unfortunately, no. But there was a ketchup bottle and that, to a historian, is worth more than gold in this case!

Among the many items collected during the salvage mission, one particular glass bottle carries with it an interesting twist of taste. This condiment bottle likely belonged to a higher-ranking official on board the British vessel. It was a ketchup bottle, spelled the same way we spell it today, though it tasted vastly different!

By comparing still-intact cookbooks from the 1800s, Kaityln was able to discover the recipe for the ketchup that was kept in this bottle and it didn’t contain any tomatoes. Instead, it was made with mushrooms, cinnamon, cloves, onions, and anchovies.

The second item is the famous Fiji Mermaid, a taxidermy monstrosity where a sailor used ship tar to combine the body of a monkey with the tail of a fish. Though many were produced, they were not professionally made so they degraded quickly. This specimen is remarkably preserved (nestled inside two glass cases) and likely was created in the mid-19th century. This “sailor’s art” was made from a fish, monkey, ivory, oak, stain, varnish, glass, rayon, and dye. This Fiji Mermaid has “relatives” in at least six museums across North America and was even displayed by P.T. Barnum as real mermaids.


Episode Links:

• Zwaanendael Museum webpage: https://history.delaware.gov/zwaanendael-museum/
• What Exactly is a Fiji Mermaid? Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/what-exactly-is-a-fiji-mermaid/
• “The Art Of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” originally published in 1747: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Art_of_Cookery_Made_Plain_and_Easy/BJY58UqSEMUC?hl=en&gbpv=1

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

Today we speak with Elizabeth Karcher, the Executive Director at President Woodrow Wilson House. This home, built by architect Waddy Butler Wood, was home to President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith Wilson until her death. Upon her death, she bequeathed the home to WHERE to be preserved as a historic home. The National Trust For Historic Preservation (and its collection of 27 houses). 

President Woodrow Wilson was America’s 28th President and served two terms from 1913-1921). He is well known for leading America into World War I in 1917, being the leading architect of the League of Nations for which he was awarded the Noble Peace Prize, serving as the President of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey, signing the act creating the National Park Service, and his love of baseball.

Episode Links:

• Woodrow Wilson House Website: https://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/
• National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 27 Historic Sites: https://savingplaces.org/collections/historic-sites-collection#.YFvt8K9KiUk
• Woodrow Wilson through Stamps: https://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Stamp-Exhibit.pdf

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

The Torpedo Factory Art Center is just what its title implies,  an old WWI torpedo factory turned into an art center, one with the largest collection of artists under one roof in the country. Today we meet with Alyssa Ross to talk all about this building’s amazing history and transformation from a war equipment producer to a place of creativity and art. 

Within the Torpedo Factory Art Center, nestled between artists and creators, is the Alexandria Archeology Museum. Here, we speak with Emma Richardson about the museum’s important role in preserving Alexandria’s history.

Episode Links:

Torpedo Factory Art Center

• Torpedo Factory Art Center webpage: http://torpedofactory.org/
• The Art League online course catalog: https://www.theartleague.org/classes/search/

Alexandria Museum of Archeology

• Alexandria Archeology Museum Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ArchaeologyAlexandriaVA/
• Story of ship removal: https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/archaeology/default.aspx?id=89681
• Video where Archaeologist Dr. Eleanor Breen explores the history of the program and introduces the protection code that has allowed us to learn so much about our City’s history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qCV0zJ8Z8I

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

Today we meet with a real George Washington expert. Jeremy Ray is the Director of Interpretation at Mount Vernon, which is the former President's 18th-century home. It has been fully restored and includes the estate mansion, four separate gardens, both the old and new tomb where George Washington is buried, historic outbuildings including a blacksmith shop and ice house, a farm with interpreters who demonstrate Washinton's farming practices, a distillery, a wharf on the Potomac River,  a museum, and an education center!

We discuss how Washington came to live at the mansion and the work he did there before, during, and after the American Revolution.  We also highlight a short sword that, according to family, Washington wore during the Braddock campaign in the French and Indian War and a pair of eyeglasses that played a part in confronting a secret petition of mutiny!


Episode Links:

• The official website of George Washington's Mount Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/

• Digital encyclopedia of the Newburgh Conspiracy, a plan by the Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/newburgh-conspiracy/

• Slavery at Mount Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/

• Be Washington, an interactive experience stepping into the shoes of America's first president: https://www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/be-washington/interactive-theater/

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

Yes, that is correct, it’s an entire museum about potatoes and it is absolutely amazing!

In Blackfoot Idaho there lies a little museum with a huge love of potatoes! This episode we speak with Tish Dahmen about the spectacular Idaho Potato Museum. Do you think potatoes came from Ireland? Well do we have some news for you. We learn all about the history of potatoes, machinery that revolutionized the agricultural industry, the Potato God, different types of potatoes, and the Potato Battle.


Episode Links:

• The Idaho Potato Museum website: https://idahopotatomuseum.com/

• The Idaho Potato Commission’s Field Force comic cartoon videos: https://idahopotato.com/video/tag/retail-videos

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

Part 3 of 3

This is the end! Of the three-part series I mean. This episode is the last of our time at the Calvert Marine Museum in Southern Maryland. Today I met with the curator of Maritime History, Mark Wilkins, and we talked all about the importance of the Chesapeake Bay in commerce, wartime, and more. 

The Chesapeake Bay is an extremely important waterway for much of the East Coast. Pertaining to military history, it was a very desirable area for capture; if someone controlled the opening of the bay, they controlled all commerce, industry, and travel. Many battles and skirmishes occurred right on the bay. 

There is also a deep history of oyster harvesting, leading even to the Oyster Wars of the 19th century. Yes that is correct, there were actually oyster wars and we tell you all about them.

We also delve into the importance of the tobacco industry and how it changed the economy of Maryland and other surrounding states.

Episode Links:

• Calvert Marine Museum webpage: http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/

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

Part 2 of 3

Today we meet with Stephen Godfrey, the Curator of Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Southern Maryland. This is the second installment of our three part series featuring the museum, and we are very happy to bring you something a little different! Instead of selecting two items in the museum’s paleontology wing, we talk to Stephen about what a paleontologist does at a museum and we go through an amazing collection of his favorite fossils and the unique stories they tell us! 

At one point, Maryland was a place of many different species of mammals such as primitive elephants, peccaries, camels, rhinos, tapirs, and a horse species. Their histories are told through the fossil remains found at the Calvert Cliffs.

The Calvert Cliffs in Maryland is a large contributing source of fossils from the Miocene Epoch (~23 million years ago to ~5 million years ago). The Cliffs are like a giant cake layer of organisms that once lived in the water, died, and sank to the ocean floor where they were covered in sediment. Possibly one of the most infamous creatures roaming the seas at that time was the megladon. It was the dominant marine predator during it’s time, and probably the largest shark that ever lived. 


Episode Links:

• The Clavert Marine Museum main webpage: http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/

• Article announcing the name of the newly discovered Cobia species: “Prehistoric Cobia Named for Local Amateur Paleontologists”: http://calvertmarinemuseum.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=373

• Free download of Stephen Godfrey’s book “The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA: https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/book/The_Geology_and_Vertebrate_Paleontology_of_Calvert_Cliffs_Maryland_USA/9761762

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

This week is something really special: our first-ever 3 part special! For the next three weeks, we will be at the Calvert Marine Museum in Southern Maryland featuring an episode for their Estuarine Biology Gallery,  Paleontology Gallery, and Maritime History Gallery. 

This episode will feature Perry Hampton, the Curator of the Estuarine Biology Gallery. For a neat change of pace, we will be discussing live animals this episode! 
We start by taking you through the River to Bay portion of their gallery which tells the story of what habitats and species can be found throughout the Chesapeake Bay. We also discuss some eco-invaders that threaten the Bay and fun facts about a key few animals housed at the exhibit (jellyfish, seahorses, lionfish, and even otters!).

Parts 2 and 3 of this series will feature the Paleontology Gallery and Maritime History Gallery at the Calvert Marine Museum, so stay tuned.

Episode Links:

• Calvert Marine Museum’s official webpage: https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/

• 2020 Shark Week - Ask Me Anything! video from Calvert Marine Museum: https://youtu.be/yexh00dB5SE

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

This week we are in Mountain Home, Arkansas meeting with David Benedict at the Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society.

Not only do they house an extensive genealogical reservoir of family history data and multiple history house properties, but their showroom has a truly spectacular soda fountain! It takes up an entire wall and is an original soda fountain from 1950. They have photos of the lovely "Soda Girls" who worked there selling sandwiches, ice cream, and of course soda, and they even have a photo of an original soda girl L. Chloe who revisited the fountain just five years ago to reminisce.

We also discuss the Casey House, which is a property next to the County Fairgrounds managed by the Society. It is the oldest standing house in Mountain Home and is a perfect example of a typical "dog-trot" cabin. This house and the history of Casey have a strong and long-lasting impact on Mountain Home.



Episode Links:

• Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society webpage: http://www.baxtercountyhistory.org/home.aspx

• Quarterly Report featuring Curator's Choice: https://aylaanderson.net/quarterlyreport

• Baxter County Historical and Genealogical Society Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BaxterCountyHistoricalandGenealogicalSocietyInc/

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

While visiting with Dorothea Barstow, I recorded this episode from the Sam Mudd House, known for the location where John Wilkes Booth received medical attention for his broken leg after the Lincoln assassination.

Join us in hearing about the life of Dr. Mudd, before and after that infamous day, while I sit on the very sofa Booth was initially examined on. 

We also discuss the family history of the house and the quilt that brings it all together.



Episode Links:

• The original recording of Edwin Booth in 1890 presenting Othello: https://ia801603.us.archive.org/8/items/OthelloByEdwinBooth1890/Othello1890_64kb.mp3

• The cleaned-up version of Edwin Booth's recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mybqvj4wZLA

• Official Facebook page of the Dr. Samuel Mudd House Museum with a virtual tour: https://drmudd.org/virtual-tour/

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