The goal of this exercise is to gain experience working with primary materials in a variety of media formats and to begin thinking about how one would design and put such material together in order to suggest both a “story” for possible viewers and an analysis or interpretation of the material. We’ll be working with materials from the all-volunteer Southeast Chicago Historical Museum.
Step One
The first step is to choose your topic. Possible topics include: Labor History; Deindustrialization; Mexican-American Experience; Family / Neighborhood life for Eastern Europeans; Popular Culture (music groups, sports teams, etc); Environment / pollution.
Step Two
Immerse yourself in the materials. Try to approach the material initially without preconceptions. What strikes you about the material? What themes organically emerge from it? In oral histories, how do people phrase or talk about things? Look closely at photographs and objects – what has been captured visually or saved? Why do you imagine this material was saved or considered of value and by whom?
After this initial immersion, look at any secondary literature that might be available and offer context. How might this literature help make sense of these artifacts? Does what is conveyed in “official” literature differ from what you feel is conveyed in the artifacts themselves?
Step Three
Begin thinking about the type of museum display you’d like to do and briefly discuss your ideas and get feedback on it from the class. What themes / feelings / analysis would you like to convey in your exhibit? How would you design it in a way that conveys them? While there might be some text involved, how might you also convey your interpretations through design, staging, and the artifacts themselves? What kind of sensory experiences / emotions do you want your viewers to have? What idea do you want them to walk away with? What setting would be most conducive to what you want to convey? A gallery exhibit? An online exhibit? Is it something that viewers would primarily look at? Or is it something you walk through or interact with in other ways? Is sound important?
Step Four
Figure out what additional info might be needed to tell the story / analysis you’d like to offer and let the instructor know so we can look for any additional material (if needed). Meet with MIT Museum curators to understand how they go about designing exhibits. Consider if any of these techniques might be of use in your project.
Step Five
Design and write up project. Complete a 3–4 page write-up of the aims of the project both in terms of ideas (i.e., what is the concept binding your exhibit together and how does this relate to the history of Southeast Chicago?) and in terms of how you try to convey it through particular media you’re using (i.e., how do you tell a story or convey an experience, emotion, or idea in visual terms? Through objects? Through words?). In addition to your write-up, submit drawings (or models) of your proposed museum exhibit or mockups of a website design (if you’re interested in an online exhibit). If you have video material, you can show brief clips to the class in your presentation. Finally, include an appendix listing the artifacts you’re using, what each item is, and give its year of origin and who donated it.
Step Six
Present your design project to the class during Session 10. The presentation should be brief – no more than 10 minutes. Show the pieces you’d like to use and your drawings or mock-up of the exhibit. Get feedback from your classmates that you can use to hone your final design.
This assignment is due during Session 10.
Student Example
Below is an example of a write up for the museum exhibit design project.
“Memorializing the Memorial Day Massacre” (PDF) (This example appears courtesy of a Wellesley student and is anonymous by request.)
