In this final entry, I would like to share the recent developments that have come out of my
internship at the Heurich House. Additionally, this will serve as a point of reflection on my
experience overall this semester. As of last week, at the time of writing I completed both of my
required test tours with flying colors. For my first test tour, Jenna and I walked around the house
while I talked her through how I wanted things to go. The major issues I ran into was that I ran
out of time and had to find things to cut. Unfortunately, given that I only had one hour means I
had to focus on things related to technology and try not stray too far from that path. This is easier
said than done in a place filled with so many great stories! An example of something I was sad to
see go was the story I found about how Christian Heurich met famed composer Richard Wagner
on one of his trips to Germany.
Another tour aspect that did not materialize like I envisioned was my plan to conduct a
scavenger hunt in the house. Due to a number of factors such as preservation and space
limitations, I ended up morphing this idea into allowing guests to explore spaces in the house and
having them point things out that they considered to be technology. The second test tour was
actually quite special as instead of giving it to a closed group, I was given the go ahead to start
presenting my material to the public! I must say, I was rather nervous at the onset of this tour.
For one thing it was only the second time I gave the tour ever and additionally these were TRUE
guests looking for an enjoyable museum experience. Thankfully, both tours I gave that day were
not only very kind, but they were also extremely engaging and interested in having the
conversation that was my tour. I had designed my tour to rely on guest interaction so this was all
I could ask for. At the end, both groups also gave me a lot of positive and encouraging feedback
that boosted my confidence. As a matter of fact, the only negative thing I heard was that the
guests wished they could stay longer and hear more stories! Before both of my test tours were
even done, I had all of my real tours scheduled for early December so now I have plenty of time
to prepare for those.
Besides the tour component, I also had the opportunity to talk with a few other members
of the Heurich House Team. My favorite of these conversations I had was with our Collections
Manager, Kimberly Totten. From her, I learned about what it’s like to work with collections such
as cataloging objects, acquiring new items, and her general work experience up to that point.
From her experience, I also learned there was more to collections than I previously considered.
This included tracking the types of bugs that might make their way into the house or decorating
the museum space for Christmas. That latter was very exciting as she showed us many items, I
was previously unfamiliar with. These items ranged from Christmas decorations to Christmas
themed Heurich Brewing Company advertisements.
Overall, I feel that my experience at the Heurich House this semester has been extremely
enjoyable and educational. Since I started my journey in the world of History, I have wanted to
work with museums in some capacity. While I have visited many museums in my lifetime this
was the first time that I was able to step behind the scenes and see what it’s really like to live the
museum life. Furthermore, I got to dive into my public history skills and take what I have
learned so far and make it a reality. This of course manifested itself in my tour plan as well as the
many learning goals I set with Jenna at the start of the Fellowship. Some of these goals included
running successful programs with limited resources, exhibition design and upkeep, and day to
day museum operations. Above all else, the staff and other fellows at the Heurich House have
been so kind. Not only just sharing their knowledge and time with me, but also by making me
feel like part of the team that moves the museum forward.
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