Author: Jenna Anderson
For a long time, I used to see natural history museums as spaces perpetually frozen in time, purposefully organized so that visitors could catch a glimpse of specimens older than they are. However, Head Conservator of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), Gretchen Anderson, taught me that museums are actually the most cognizant of time, especially as it affects the cleanliness of their collections. With Gretchen as my guide, I was able to witness and contribute to the meticulous care that is needed to manage the museum’s extensive collection.
Spread across all three floors of the Carnegie Museum are 10,000 of the 22 million specimens housed there. These collections include Native American and Egyptian artifacts, minerals, and botany, but as an intern, I focused more on dinosaur bones and wildlife taxidermy. To set a foundation for my time at the museum, I took one of Gretchen’s online courses that were aptly named Keeping Historic Houses and Museums Clean. One of the first things I learned in this course was that it is better to come up with a preventative plan rather than wait to treat an issue. This process starts with identifying agents of deterioration, which can cause the object or specimen to deteriorate quickly, and then finding ways to minimize these risks. Unless museums enclose all of their specimens in airtight cases and close their doors to the public, there will always be some form of risk present. The more practical way of mitigating these risks includes a gentle routine cleaning of each object depending on where they are showcased and the durability of the object.
Keeping this in mind, I started with the basics: cleaning the open-air dinosaur exhibits. Some days I would work when the museum was closed, but other days I was cleaning in the public eye, emerging from the plastic undergrowth like a historically inaccurate dinosaur. It was a great opportunity for me to interact with the public; many visitors hadn’t put much thought into how or by who museums were cared for. To summarize: in the same way I did for visitors, cleaning is a treatment that must only be done if it causes minimal risk, and the gentler methods are the better ones. Using paint brushes and microfiber cloths, I hand-dusted and then hand-washed every single leaf on the grounds of the dinosaur exhibits. Following it up with a gentle pass of the HVAC, I successfully made sure that Dippy (Diplodocus carnegii) and the other dinosaurs had clean spaces to stand. This served as a very necessary part of collection care, but also as a trial run as I moved on to work with tinier and/or more fragile things.
The next project Gretchen introduced was the cleaning and reporting of a taxidermized leopard that was being borrowed by the Carnegie Fine Arts department. It was amazing to see how different parts of the museum worked to coordinate the movement of this specimen and once it was brought down from its display, I got to work. With the help of a UV light, I carefully noted any damage and the overall condition of the leopard before brushing through its fur with a paintbrush and lightly vacuuming over it. Over the course of my internship, I was able to work with more taxidermized animals and even specimen skeletons in the Open Lab, which is a space that encourages visitors to observe conservators (or conservation interns in my case) as they work. It was incredible to be able to share my work with visitors of all ages and give them insight into how environmental factors like dust and soot can drastically change the longevity of an object.
Working at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History has truly embedded me into the world of museum conservators and the multitude of responsibilities they have. Not only are they cleaning, but they also have to be ready to tackle issues with the objects at any time, coming up with a safe and cost-effective plan catered to each situation. It was extremely rewarding to be able to learn from Gretchen, and her extensive deep understanding of the chemical relationships between objects and their surroundings. I am thankful to Gretchen and CMNH for teaching me and giving me the opportunity to take part in the educational role museums have in the community.
Jenna Anderson, Museum Studies Intern at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Spring 2023