(Edited Version of my first post that got lost)
Hello everyone, my name is Frank Milihram and in this post, and others following, I wish to share with you my internship experience! As of Friday, September 8th, 2023, I officially started my Education Fellowship with the Heurich House Museum in Washington, D.C. The Heurich House is a Historic House built between 1891 and 1892 and belonged to D.C.’s largest and at one time oldest brewers, Christian Heurich. The structure is a beautifully preserved example of Victorian era architecture and contains one of the finest interiors in any DC House Museum. Christian himself lived in the house from its completion up until his death at 102 in 1945 and his family and staff lived in the house until 1956. Then from 1956-2003, The DC Historical Society used it as its headquarters and conducted tours out of it. In 2003, a non-profit was organized to purchase the house and turn it into the museum that exists today. In fact, descendants of the Heurich family still reside on its board. For those not familiar with the museum and its mission, “The Heurich House Museum honestly explores the American Experience through the legacy of German immigrant Christian Heurich and his Washington, DC brewery, and creates an equitable path to success for local small-scale businesses.” With this in mind, the museum seeks to emphasize public history and public service through a model that suggests “house museums should be dynamic and relevant to our modern communities.” Here is where my role comes in. The purpose of the Fellowship here at the Heurich House is for me and the other fellows to develop our own tour of the dwelling while also learning practical skills from a behind the scenes learning experience with the museum and its team. The team member who I will be most closely working with is Dr. Jenna Febrizio, Director of Education, and operations. As you will see, she has truly generated a program with adequate scaffolding to ensure an enriching experience for all of us. For the tour project portion to be accomplished I will conduct my own original research through the Museum’s Archive, develop a tour proposal based around initial findings, and create a professional grade tour guide. The latter is a document that would give someone else a basic understanding of the process that is my tour. At the present time, I intend on researching the various technologies in the house and how the occupants’ lives were impacted by them. From that point forward, the plan is to present my final plan in the form of two test tours, one to museum staff and one to a select public group. This is to assure feasibility and flow while also working out any bugs. When all goes well, and I get the thumbs up from Jenna, I will have the opportunity to conduct my tour on multiple occasions for the public when they come for a tour. For the other 50% of the program, I will get a chance to educate myself by talking with other museum team members about their roles, evaluate other exhibits on museum grounds, and witness the process of operations and programing in the museum world. While some students may shutter at the idea of another syllabus and class, Jenna has managed to organize this program in a way pulls on the best elements of a museum studies course and a hands-on experience.
Source:
https://heurichhouse.org/pages/about
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