Medals of Congressman John A. Blatnik

John A. Blatnik

Pins and buttons from the John A. Blatnik Collection.

Congressman John A. Blatnik was born in Chisholm, MN. He was chemistry teacher in Chisholmbefore serving as senator from 1940-1944. At the age of 29 in 1940, he was the youngest member ever elected to the Minnesota State Senate. In 1942, he joined the United States Army Air Corps as chief of the Office of Strategic Services’ mission. His familiarity with the Slovenian and Serbo-Croatian languages helped him while working behind German lines as an intelligents agent. He set up a system that rescued nearly 400 downed airmen, earning him the rank of captain and many medals.  

In 1946, Congressman Blatnik was elected to congress and won 13 times more. He wrote the Clean Water Act, which passed in 1972.

Bronze Medal Star, the fourth highest combat award. John A. Blatnik Collection.

USFA Medal. John A. Blatnik Collection

Museum Presentation

I made a presentation on what we are doing at the Minnesota Discovery Center to our board. Below is a short version of that presentation which defines what museums are, notes some of our exhibit and object collections challenges, includes our solutions to those challenges. I have hyperlinked websites that I find useful. I hope that you can get something out of it too!

I will write an update on what we've actually done in the museum and how it's working on another blog. Look out for it!

What is this?: Found with Kitchen utensils

Wooden kitchen utensil, slant tip, round handle; found in collection

What is this object? Help us figure out what this object is. Have you ever seen anything like it? Typically when we find an object like this we try to figure out its use and purpose. It was found with kitchen utensils during our inventory, so we believe it is some kind of tool used in the kitchen. It's round, has a groove running down the center, slanted edge and round handle at the top.

What do you think it is?

How To: Simple Wall-to-Wall Inventory

One of the major responsibilities of a museum is to its object collections. About a year ago the Minnesota Discovery Center embarked on a major wall-to-wall inventory of our objects with the help of the Minnesota Historical and Cultural grant. Although some inventory was conducted before, there were incomplete information in the documentation.

Documentation is the most important part of a museum's collection. Without it no one would know where an object came from, what it is, and where it is located.

Before you start your wall-to-wall inventory, there are some basic registration (the act of registering/documenting an object) that needs to be in place. We used this type of system: 1998.2.3.

1998 represents the year that the collection came in through our doors.

2 represents that this is the second collection that came in through our doors in 1998.

And 3 represents that third object in this collection that was recorded.

1998.2 is the accession number and 1998.2.3 is the object ID number. Each object will have its own ID number.


Here is the most simple way to conduct a wall-to-wall inventory. 

Using a notebook or inventory sheet you should have this information recorded: Accession/Object ID, Description, Measurements, Home Location, Date Completed, and Completed by. Click to see an example of our inventory sheet.

Notes:
The description should describe what the object is, color, distinguishing marks, maker's marks, text that appear on the object. If you walk back into the storage using these descriptions, you should be able to make a good judgement of which object it is. The more information you have on hand, the better it is for future research on this object. If you don't have this information, save the research for another day and another project. HINT: If you tag your objects with subjects in addition to the description, it will make it easier for you to find an objects for specific searches.

The Home Location is a permanent place where you will store your object. Different areas in your storage space should be lettered or numbered, each column and/or shelf should be numbered. If you were given a letter D.4.5, you should be able to find where the object is in your collection room. D could mean it is on the wall that is given the name D. 4 means it is the fourth column, and 5 means it is on the fifth shelf. Number your storage area in a way that would make sense for you to find the objects in your collection.

Digitally recording this information will be very helpful in locating objects quickly. We use PastPerfect a museum software. It's at $870 today. Excel is simple and inexpensive alternative. Once you have the money to purchase software like PastPerfect, it can be quickly transferred into PastPerfect. A simple Google search under "museum database software" will bring up a lot of websites and other software. Interview some other historical museums (such as the Minnesota Historical Society) to learn about what they use and why they use it.

Work from one end of the room to the other. This will be a painfully long process, but the outcome will be well worth it for decades.

This is from our collection storage. Notice that we tag our objects? We include the object ID number. Notice also the documents with the objects? It helps to have these documents with the objects so that we can quickly identify what collection the object comes from. As we inventory, we also line our shelves with a polyethylene foam so that metal objects aren't touching our metal shelves and wrap sensitive objects in acid free tissue.

Here are more resources about registration, collections care, inventory, and documentation.

Running a Museum PDF - a practical handbook. Everything and anything you will need to know about how to run a museum. Includes information on care of collections, care of visitors, management, marketing, disaster preparedness, and illicit trafficking.

Connecting to Collections - Has online resources.

Re-Org: is a great resource for small museums like the ones here on the Range. It highlights storage reorganization, documentation, and offers case studies on collection care. It was created in order for "Preventive Conservation of Endangered Museum Collections in Developing Countries.”


National Park Service Museum Management Program - Thorough pdf resources on managing collections

Old Cars at MDC

Last week I had the opportunity to go out the the Glen Location and photograph some of our old vehicles. In our efforts to preserve these, we are documenting and planning open storage for them. Open storage means that these large pieces will be displayed where they are stored. Which means, you, the visitor get to see them and we can preserve them at the same time. Killing two birds with one stone! Enjoy the view.

Swinging Door Toaster from Collection

By Mai Vang, Curator
In 1905, the modern electric toaster was the new iPad 2. It wasn't until 1906 that nichrome, a very hardy wire that can withstand high heat, was invented, that the toaster could function the way we know it today. Before that, the metal wires melted or caught on fire. A very dangerous household item. After nichrome was invented, toasters of all shape, sizes, and styles came about.

Cool dates:

1920 - Charles P. Strite, from Stillwater, Minnesota, invents the pop-up toaster

1928 - The first pre-sliced bread sold

Click on the image to see it in action!

The toaster in our museum has two swinging doors made by Landers, Frary & Clark under the name Universal. Both the front and back had swinging doors that would flip over to toast both sides of the bread. Inside are metal coils where the electricity runs through in wavy "U" formations. See how the swinging door works?

Can you find pre-modern appliances in your home?


For more information in general on toasters see The Cyber Toaster Museum.

Summer Photography Workshop at MDC

By Mai Vang, Curator

The "Grace" exhibit inspired me to host 3-Day sessions of Beginners and Intermediate workshops. Eric Enstrom from lil' ol' Bovey took this famous photograph.

Photograph taken by Eric Enstrom of Charles Wilden in 1918.

I cannot believe how many functions of a camera there are! Pete Davis, a professor from Hibbing Community College and Joe Edman, a photographer taught the two sessions. Below are some photographs I took after learning some techniques. Enjoy! (P.s. We would love to see your photographs from MDC too!)

 

The Class. Teachers, Pete Davis, third from left and Joe Edman, third from right.

 

My attempt at photography. Pond at MDC.

 

We learned the Rule of Thirds. When your

subject is in 1/3 of the frame, the photograph is more pleasing to the eyes.

 

The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) truck. It actually runs and 

was recently in the Hibbing Parade!

 

One of the greatest features of our grounds are the

historical buildings and structures.

Here are replica outdoor cooking with a beautiful water pot.

 

Using the 'macro' on the camera always gives

photographs an artistic perspective.

Mystery Solved

By Mai Vang, Curator

Backlogs of unsolved mysteries sits down in collection for years and years, to no one's fault. As any museum curator/administrator/collections manager knows, that is the nature of the beast.

When I first came on staff, one of the first emails I received was from the St. Louis County Historical Society's collections manager.When the Minnesota Discovery Center, formerly Iron Range Interpretative Center, first started we borrowed some Stuntz items from them... 28 years ago. George Stuntz was a government surveyor who discovered the Vermilion Range iron ore deposits and helped develop Duluth and St. Louis County.

“I came in 1852. I saw the advantage of (Minnesota Point) as clearly then as I do now. On finishing the survey for the government, I went away to make a report, and then returned the next spring and came for good. I saw surely knew then as I do now that this was the heart of the continent commercially, and so I drove my stakes.” -George Stuntz

A couple of weeks ago, I met with staff members from the St. Louis Historical Society and finally returned the items. This is a collection manager and curator's dream. Paperwork and artifacts are back to where they belong and we can continue our jobs in solving more collections mysteries.