The hammer museum
Haines, Alaska | June - September 2019 | Collections and Exhibitions Intern
After graduation, I headed north to Haines, Alaska and The Hammer Museum. The first and only Hammer Museum in the world, this small building holds a massive collection. With 2,000 hammers currently on display and an additional 7,000 in the museum holdings, they are dedicated to the preservation and history of mans earliest tool.
Curatorial Project
In the winter of 2018, the Hammer Museum received a donation of 1,600 hammers from a collector who passed away. These were an unprocessed donation at the beginning of my internship. My main duty was to inspection, catalog and process these hammers. I focused on the segment of hammers produced by one specific manufacturer - David Maydole. I conducted research on Maydole, the history, the processes, and the innovations. From the donated Maydole hammers I curated a selection, designed and installed a permeant exhibition for the Hammer Museum.
Museum Operations
Daily tasks at the museum included everything from selling admission, to giving tours, to identifying hammers. Haines is a popular cruise ship stop so the constant flow of visitors kept us busy with 10,000 visitors in just four months. The first Friday of every month, the museum participated in the First Friday events and hosted an activity. We designed a scavenger hunt, had guessing games and more. For the 4th of July, the museum hosts a railroad nail driving competition. We ran the high striker at the South East Alaska State Fair. We were a small staff allowing for me to try on multiple museum roles.
