I N D I A N A S TAT E M U S E U M A N D H I S T O R I C S I T E S
CROSSROADS EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER MAY 2022
SHARING
HISTORY
Above: Director of Security Tyriee Love
Many of you have had a chance to walk through the new Gallery One experience already. What you may not have seen yet is the section where we tell the stories of people and their personal collections. For our initial display, we will have a portion of Director of Security Tyriee Love’s G.I. Joe collection. The story behind his collection is this: When Tyriee was young, he lived in the West Calumet Complex – the projects – in East Chicago, Indiana. It was dangerous for kids to go outside and play, so his mother would buy him action figures to keep him busy indoors. “She wanted me to stay safe,” he says. “Plus, our house was religion-oriented, so it was best for me to stay in the house and avoid all of the distractions.” When he’d first get the action figure or vehicle, he would keep it in the box for about a week to preserve and showcase it for his friends. But after a while, the desire to play with the figure took over. He did keep the packaging and manuals, though. As a kid, G.I. Joe taught him strategy and organization. Tyriee is almost 50 now, and G.I. Joe means something different to him today. “Reflecting back, I know it was a
struggle for my mother,” he says. “She was working 2-3 jobs, and I know that the money probably wasn’t available, but she sacrificed to get me what I wanted. That’s more of the point why I still keep them. I don’t play with them anymore – and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you that, anyway. But it reminds me of the struggles we went through.” Tyriee’s mom has suffered from dementia for several years so, sadly, she won’t see her son’s collection displayed in the museum. “I’m just happy for the years that I had with her,” he says. “They were some pretty decent years. Not as many as I wanted, but …” Tyriee has worked for the museum and historic sites for 18 years (10 as an employee, eight as a contractor) and never vies for attention. He said he is both shocked and flattered to have his collection displayed in Gallery One. “I just want to be low key, do my job as best I can and go home,” he says. “But I’m agreeable to whatever the museum needs to be better.”