Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, New York, NY
This summer, I had the joy to participate in the William Randolph Hearst Fellowship at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden. The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden is a small, local museum in the City of New York operated by the Colonial Dames of America, an organization composed of women who are the descendants of colonial Americans dedicated to preserving and teaching early American history. The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden resides in a building that was, when first constructed in 1799, a carriage house for an estate nearby. Later, it was converted into a day hotel that operated between 1826 and 1833, when New York City’s population and economy were exploding and reaching hitherto unseen size. It is in this era that the museum focuses and is displayed. The museum’s primary effort is to educate its members and visitors of all ages in the history of New York through tours, camps, youth programs, lectures, and presentations.
As a fellow at the museum, I was responsible for conducting research on the economic changes New York experienced after the opening of the Erie Canal, which dramatically increased the amount of people and goods flowing through the city. The task was initially daunting. It was a broad topic that needed to be funneled into a list of specific questions that could be reasonably answered, but that were novel and interesting enough to provide insight to the larger changes of the period. With the guidance of the Curator of Collections, I was able to chart a path that would allow me to specialize my research while still seeing how it fits into the larger historical picture. First, I acquainted myself with the time period, reading major surveys of Jacksonian America and New York during this period. I then sought out pre-existing research that already been conducted on economic changes during the period. This exposed me not only to phenomena that could be investigated, but also what about that phenomena had yet to be explored or understood. Navigating pre-existing research before digging in allowed me to narrow my search and ensured that the research I conducted was not only thorough, but original.
I chose to explore the rise of middle-men and the middle-institutions that supported them. It was now time to move away from the books and articles and into the archives. I, however, soon faced an impasse—I had no idea what primary sources were out there and how to find them. Once again, with the guidance of curators at the museum, I learned how to utilize New York’s excellent public library system and that vast number of museums and other private libraries to which the city is home. I learned how to use the database, find collections, and befriend librarians. The number and diversity of sources I soon found was at times overwhelming, but I quickly adapted and, with the help of Max R., another fellow at the museum for the summer and a student at Oberlin College, I adopted a careful note-taking system.
I was moving along quickly, and gathered a number of insights into the lives of middle-men merchants like importers, auctioneers, jobbers, and retailers, as well as credit-granting institutions like banks, insurance companies, and the New York Stock Exchange. It was time to compile my research into a written essay. The task of writing caused my fellowship to take on a public history dimension. Although my research was, at its core, a scholarly endeavor, I was not just writing for an audience of scholars. I was also writing for museum members and, most importantly, the interpreters and educators who gave tours of the museum and conduct the educational programs that form the heart and constitute the majority of the museum’s operations. I provided them not only with new insights into the period, but information specifically related to the history of the hotel and other specific institutions and people of the period to enrich and liven people’s visit to the museum. I further integrated my research into the museum’s programing via a talk I gave at a symposium attended by members of the Colonial Dames, museum staff, volunteer interpreters, and guests.
In addition to my research project, I also assisted in the design and operation of one of the museum’s education programs: two, consecutive, weeklong history camps, one for children age five to seven, and one for children age eight to twelve. I was involved in all steps of planning and conducting the camp. I designed activities that were fun, historical, age-appropriate, and reinforced essential skills and public curriculum content. My favorite activity was making embroidered maps of Manhattan, a common pastime for school-age children in antebellum America. Other activities included baking historical recipes and a trip to Gracie Mansion, an eighteenth century estate that is now the official residence of the Mayor of the City of New York. Working with children was a new and challenging experience for me. I often had to find creative ways to keep the children interested and stay on track with their projects, especially if they proved difficult. Although I do not plan on working with children in the future, it was a useful exercise in working with people of diverse and differing interests.
Being able to conduct research at the museum and integrating that research into their programming has been incredibly useful in preparing and orienting my post-graduate plans. I have always known I enjoyed history, but, before this summer, was not sure whether I would enjoy research. I had little experience with it, and I mostly thought of history as just reading pre-selected primary sources. I had little to no experience digging them out on my own, let alone planning an entire research project. I learned this summer not only how to do all those things, but also I that love doing them. It is for this reason that my interest in pursuing graduate education in history has peaked and I have begun to seriously consider a career in academia.
I have also become acquainted with a field with which I previously had little exposure: museums and public history institutions. I developed a deep appreciate for museums’ dedication to, not only scholarly research, but in putting it use, packaging and distributing it to the public in the democratic aim of an educated population. If I were to work in a museum in the future, I could know well that the fruits of my labor are not hoarded by an academic clique as an esoteric mystery, but shared and distributed to others for the betterment of all.
I am incredibly thankful to the Class of 1974 for supporting my internship and to the ’68 Center for Career Exploration for organizing the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program. Without this support, I would have been unable to research, intern, and live in New York this summer, and experience all of the educational opportunities that came with it.