JABBERWOCKY

JABBERWOCKY newsletter of semc’s jekyll island management institute jimi | 2019

JIMI GRADUATES 2019 — 2

JIMI 2019 Class l-r: Nancy Fields, Museum Director, Museum of the Southeast American Indian, Pembroke, NC; Anna Gospodinovich, Registrar, Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, Camp Shelby, MS; Theo M. Moore II, Collections Manager/Educator, The Legacy Museum, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL; Jennifer Rouse, Site Administrator, Old Fort Jackson, Coastal Heritage Society, Savannah, GA; Catherine Shteynberg, Assistant Director/ Curator of Arts & Culture Collections, McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture, Knoxville, TN; Heather McPherson, Curator of History, South Carolina Military Museum, Columbia, SC; Hobart Douglas Akin, Cultural Resources and Exhibit Specialist, Tennessee State Parks, William R. Snodgrass, Tennessee Tower, Nashville, TN; Melissa Buchanan, Collections Curator, Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Mount Pleasant, SC; Julian Rankin, Executive Director, Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS; Loran Berg, Collections Manager, Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC; Michelle Lanier, Director, North Carolina State Historic Sites, Raleigh, NC; Julie C. Lohnes, Director and Curator of Art Collections and Exhibitions, Union College, Schenectady, NY; Alexandrea Cattanea Pizza, Assistant Director, Gaston County Museum of Art & History, Dallas, NC; Ellen M. Lofaro, Curator of Archaeology Collections, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN; Ginsie Higgs, Assistant Director, Discovery Network, Museum of Discovery, Little Rock, AR; Alexys J. Taylor, Collections & Exhibitions Manager, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC.

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JIMI REFLECTION Wow. What a week! I had heard so much about this experience before I applied. I knew it was going to be fun and exciting, but I also knew it was going to be filled with long, grueling days in the classroom learning from museum experts and drinking from the firehose. After getting settled into my position at the Mountain Heritage Center I knew that this was the next step in my museum education. I had cleaned up old loans, cataloging backlog, found missing objects, and even moved our entire collection across town. What next? Lessons in managing boards and volunteers? Fundraising? Marketing? Maybe learn more in topics closer to my heart such as collections management and exhibits? You bet! The classes were even better than I expected, information heavy and led by engaging and top notch museum professionals. So much of what I absorbed I’ll be able to use in the future, in fact, there were many things I wish I had known earlier! As hard as one may try, there just isn’t any way to cram in all the information coming at you. Good thing I have my binder!

Reflecting on other ways in which to utilize what I learned on Jekyll Island, I thought of how I’m currently serving on the board of an emerging neighboring museum: the Appalachian Women’s Museum. The board of the AWM has spent the last decade stabilizing the structure and initiating several public programs. They are currently on the verge of taking those next steps into building professional policies and procedures. As a museum profes-

sional on their board, I’m looking forward to using the knowledge I gained at JIMI to help kick start this museum on its way to becoming a successful part of our community. Hopefully by sharing this information with my fellow board members we can avoid many of the pitfalls that plague emerging museums long on energy but short on training. In this way, I’m spreading the knowledge from JIMI around as much as I can!

The most wonderful aspect of the JIMI experience is the people however. The wonderful, talented, and outgoing group I had the pleasure of learning with quickly bonded over tacos during our first lunchtime break. It soon became the norm for us to get together and head out to the neighboring restaurants for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners together. There were so many memorable and laugh-filled evenings in the lobby of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel and outside restaurant bars, picture perfect walks on the beach, and bike rides on the island’s beautiful paths.

We didn’t have much time outside of the classroom, but we certainly maximized the hours we had! The connections and friendships we forged during our intense week together are the cherished memories I took away from Jekyll Island.

Loren Berg (2019) Collections Manager, Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

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FROM MARTHA & JOHN Greetings, JIMI-kins! We are celebrating the JIMI Class of 2019 while developing the JIMI Class of 2020! Sixteen museum professionals from across the Southeast and New York participated in JIMI. We now have 323 graduates from 31 states plus the District of Columbia!

The two AAAM John Kinard scholarship awardees were Michelle Lanier, Director, North Carolina State Historic Sites, Raleigh and Alexys J. Taylor, Collections & Exhibitions Manager, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte.

Scholarships and/or travel stipends were provided by the state associations of Alabama (Theo M. Moore, II, Collections Manager/Educator, The Legacy Museum, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee), Arkansas (Ginsie Higgs, Assistant Director, Discovery Network, Museum of Discovery, Little Rock), Mississippi, (Julian Rankin, Executive Director, Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs) North Carolina (Nancy Fields, Museum Director, Museum of the Southeast American Indian, Pembroke), and South Carolina (Heather McPherson, Curator of History, South Carolina Military Museum, Columbia).

The Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship was awarded to Loran Berg, Collections Manager, Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC. Gaylord Archival provided one scholarship which was awarded to Alexandrea Cattanea Pizza, Assistant Director, Gaston County Museum of Art & History, Dallas, NC. John and Cynthia Lancaster provided a full scholarship to Catherine Shteynberg, Assistant Director/ Curator of Arts & Culture Collections, McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture, Knoxville, TN. Former SEMC staff member Mary

Mary Hauser and Martha Battle Jackson at JIMI Luncheon, SEMC Charleston.

Miller provided a tuition scholarship which was awarded to Ellen M. Lofaro, Curator of Archaeology Collections, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The South Carolina Military Museum, Columbia, SC, awarded the Col. Ewell G. “Buddy” Sturgis, Jr. Memorial Scholarship (JIMI Class of 2010) to Anna Gospodinovich, Registrar, Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, Camp Shelby, MS. For the first time, all requests for scholarships were fulfilled. We also moved one day’s sessions to the host hotel so that we would have better Wi-Fi access for the technology session.

Sponsors for JIMI 2020 include Satilla Computer Solutions, St. Marys, GA; Goosepen Studio and Press, Hickory, NC; the Jekyll Island Museum and Historic Properties, North Carolina State Historic Sites, Raleigh, NC; the Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville, GA; Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA; and the Southeastern Museums Conference, Atlanta, GA. Special recognition goes to Rose Marie Kimbell, Archives and Records Manager, Historic Resources Division (Jekyll Island), for her invaluable assistance in preparing the classroom, arranging for tours of the Georgia Turtle Center, helping with local arrangements, and being JIMI’s “boots-on-the-ground” year ‘round!

Lots of JIMI-kins attended SEMC’s annual meeting, held this year in Charleston, SC! At the JIMI luncheon, we collected $203 that will be used to help with JIMI expenses. Contributions are still welcome via the SEMC website!

Fondly, Martha & John

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Satilla Computer Solutions PO Box 5669 St. Marys, GA 31558 t: 912.467.4794 e: keithfpost@tds.net Keith F. Post, CEO (Jimi Class of 2013)

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Come on Home to Jekyll Island:

JIMI HOMECOMING 2020

The 20th anniversary of JIMI will be celebrated in 2020.

Gloria Sanders (JIMI 2017), Executive Director, Calico Rock Museum, Calico Rock, AR, and Debbie Shaw (JIMI 2013), State Coordinator, Tennessee Association of Museums, Nashville are serving as co-chairs. Other committee members include Kim Coryat (2013), Archivist, Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock; Jolie Johnson (2018), Development Manager, Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA; and Scott Warren (2011), Historic Site Manager II, President James K. Polk State Historic Site, Pineville, NC.

John Lancaster at SEMC Charleston.

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JIMI

Alumni News

Catherine M. Coulter Lloyd (2005) Cat has been appointed the new Director of Art Education at the Sumter County Gallery of Art, Sumter, SC. Although the gallery is not currently focused on collecting it has a “huge service mission with a vibrant outreach program”.

Cat is “really excited about the atmosphere, people, and quality of programming.”

Terrance Hunter (2015)

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are engaged in historical and cultural interpretation or a closely related field, with career aspirations that involve the field of interpretation. The goal of the program is to recognize professionals with the potential to make an outstanding contribution to their museum or historic site in the field of interpretation by exposing them to resources and providing training related to personal interpretation.

The program additionally addresses the need for greater diversity in the field of interpretation.

Program Manager, Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida, Orlando, FL

From AAM website: Received the first scholarship from AAM’s Center for the Future of Museums to attend the University of Houston’s Foresight Certificate program in late April. At this 5-day, project-based, face-to-face workshop he learned the basics of understanding, mapping, and influencing the future. Since receiving his B.A. in Educational Studies from Warner University in 2013, Terrance has made savvy use of continued education, attending the Jekyll Island Management Institute and receiving a certificate in volunteer management from Rollins College. He also serves as History Section Chair for the Florida Association of Museums.

John Fields (2018) UAB Visual and Performing Arts, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Birmingham, AL

Promoted to Senior Director in July!

Shelby D. Henderson (2017) Museum Director, Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum, Seneca, SC

Was selected to participate in the Smithsonian Institution’s Interpreting African American History and Culture Workshop, Class of 2019, Charleston, SC. This weeklong workshop is geared towards museum professionals who

George Bassi at SEMC Charleston.

Kim Coryat (2013) Archivist, Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock, AR

Retiring Dec 21 is a good item, right? But I’m staying active in supporting good works as a recently-appointed member of the board of the Arkansas Humanities Council.

Appointed by Governor Hutchinson for a two year term to end Dec 2022. If you need more than that let me know.

Jared Wright (2009) Mercer Music at Capricorn, Mercer University, Macon, GA The Georgia music studio that fused blues, country and other sounds into Southern rock is being reborn.

Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon helped propel the Allman Brothers Band and other groups to stardom in the 1970s.

Capricorn’s historic Studio A is reopening this week, after years of work by Mercer University and other supporters to restore and equip it with state-of-the-art technology.

“It’s a place that spawned a decade of remarkable creative activity,” Mercer President William Underwood said in an interview.

It also helped make Macon one of the nation’s music capitals. Underwood hopes the renovated studio will help

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JIMI

Alumni News

Jared Wright and wife, Alex, viewing exhibits.

preserve Macon’s place among cities that forged the music history of the United States — places like Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee, Muscle Shoals in Alabama and Detroit, Chicago and New Orleans.

Macon’s civic leaders view Southern rock through a far different lens these days than in the 1970s. Southern rockers and Southern Baptists traveled in different orbits

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back then. The Capricorn music scene — part of the druginfused counterculture movement of the time — was not always welcome in conservative Middle Georgia.

Now, Capricorn and Southern rock are officially sanctioned by today’s leaders, many of whom were fans in their younger days. Underwood, for instance, grew up listening to Southern rock and considers The Allman Brothers Band “the greatest jam band ever.”

In planning the new music complex, Underwood and others visited music hubs including Nashville, where Elvis Presley and others recorded their hits in RCA’s Studio B. The restored Macon studio is part of Mercer Music at Capricorn, a 20,000-square-foot (1,860-square-meter) complex that will include a museum. Among its goals: To train and inspire new musicians. To that end, the Capricorn Music Incubator will provide 12 rehearsal rooms for musicians to hone their craft.

The Charlie Daniels Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, Elvin Bishop, Wet Willie and others recorded songs inside the studio that was built for the Capricorn record label.

A second venue, Studio B, will be used for larger-scale recordings and to host concerts and other special events.

Film scores could be recorded there, tying into Georgia’s booming movie industry, Underwood said.

The studio will also feature a custom-built, 40-channel analog sound board that was created by the Marylandbased company API, he said.

Excerpts from article by JEFF MARTIN (Associated Press)https://apnews.com/d6ea61387d1b4ca5b260439 2b617ae94.

The $4.3 million renovation project is being funded by historic tax credits, major grants from the Peyton Anderson Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and gifts from businesses and individuals.

For more information on Mercer Music at Capricorn, visit http://capricorn.mercer.edu/.

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JIMI

Alumni News

L–R: Gemma, Jeff, and Katherine.

Gemma R. Birnbaum (2017) The National World War II Museum, New Orleans, LA

Jeffrey Bowdoin (2017) Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington Navy Yard, DC

Katherine Steiner (2017) Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC

Three members of the JIMI Class of 2017 held a minireunion in Philadelphia, PA at the Association of Registrars and Collections Stewards (ARCS), 7-9 November 2019.

R. Walter Hill, IV (2008) Hilary Winburn (2018) Horry County Museum, Horry, SC

Horry County Museum and Coastal Carolina University Students Receive Two Awards at Southeastern Museum Conference: Students with

SEMC

Coastal Carolina University were recently honored at the SEMC annual meeting in Charleston, SC for their work on two exhibits currently featured at the Horry County Museum.

Students and faculty at the Athenaeum Press at CCU won silver in the Exhibition Competition, with a budget under $10,000, and were selected for the Spotlight on Student Work in Museums for both a conference presentation and a poster session for their exhibit Rough Seas & Legacies: Piracy Along the Carolina Coast. The Students Work in Museums (SWIM) Competition recognizes university students throughout the region for their important and challenging work in Southeastern Museums. Each year, this competition highlights students who conducted object-based research, produced exhibits and conducted oral histories, created content for websites, and developed public programs. Alli Crandell, Director of The Athenaeum Press and Digital Initiatives, states that “it meant a lot for a project about the Carolinas to be recognized in this way at SEMC, especially when the conference was being held in South Carolina. This collaboration and partnership with the Horry County Museum meant a lot to our students”.

Students under the direction of Dr. Carolyn Dillian, Chair of Anthropology and Geography, and Dr. Katie Clary, Department of History, won silver in the Exhibition Competition, with a budget of under $10,000 for their exhibit, Printing the Past: SC in 3D. “This exhibit was completed by students in Dr. Clary’s Museums and Communities class and Dr. Dillian’s Cultural Resource Management class and we are so proud of all their hard work” states Dr. Carolyn Dillian. Open to students and museum professionals alike, the Exhibition Competition focuses attention on exhibitions of merit that are well designed, have educational value and treat objects with care and respect. The competition showcases the best in the museum profession and provides benchmarks for

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

Athanaeum Press Award – Horry County Museum.

Printing the Past exhibition at Horry County Museum.

Rough Seas exhibition at Horry County Museum.

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

Carolyn Dillian, R. Walter Hill, and Katie Clary.

Austin Bell (center) with FAM Museum Excellence Award.

regional exhibition efforts in southeastern museums. The competition has five categories: Exhibits with budgets up to $10,000, under $25,000, over $25,000, over $100,000; and exhibits with a budget of $1,000,000 or more. This project was also presented as a session at the conference sharing the success of the project with other museum professionals.

logical artifacts to Marco Island on loan, just down the road from where they were excavated in 1896. The loans from the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which include the charismatic Key Marco Cat, have been a transformative event for the Marco Island Historical Museum. The museum broke its annual visitation record on April 6, 2019, nearly nine whole months before the end of the year, and has brought national media attention, professional credibility, and an overall increase in the awareness of and interest in history to Marco Island.

Efforts to acquire the loans were led by Austin Bell (JIMI 2018), who also curated the exhibit in which they are on display. The exhibit was recognized by SEMC in its 2019 Exhibition Competition, receiving Honorable Mention.

Austin Bell (2018) Marco Island History Museum, Marco Island, FL

The Marco Island Historical Society and Collier County Museums are proud to announce that they have been named co-recipients of the 2019 Museum Excellence Award from the Florida Association of Museums. The organizations partnered to return world-famous archaeo-

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

Marco Island History Museum.

Robert Byer (2017) CIA Museum, Washington, DC

CIA’s Mi-17 Helicopter Comes Home: Final Mission of a Valiant Workhorse: Mi-17 helicopter on display at CIA Headquarters: Fifteen days after the attacks of September 11th, 2001—on President George W. Bush’s orders—the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployed a small team into Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley.

Its mission: to launch US operations against al-Qaida and its Taliban supporters. JAWBREAKER, as the operation would be called, was the United States’ first response to those attacks, and stands as an exemplar of the extraordinary capacity of CIA and the broader US government to

respond swiftly and decisively in defense of the country.

The JAWBREAKER team of seven Agency officers, three aircrew and two Afghan partners boarded a Russianmade, CIA-modified, Mi-17 heavy-duty helicopter on what would become a historic flight.

Today—exactly 18 years after the members of operation JAWBREAKER set foot in Afghanistan—CIA had the distinct honor of commemorating that mission with the dedication of the Mi-17 that shuttled team JAWBREAKER over the “Hindu Kush and into history.” Adorned with the tail number 9-11-01, the fully-restored Mi-17 helicopter is nestled amongst the trees in a large green space to the northeast of CIA’s Original Headquarters Building. The

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JIMI

Alumni News

SEMC

CIA Mi17 helicopter.

rocky landscape on which the helicopter sits was designed to mimic the Afghan landscape in which the helicopter served so well. Hundreds gathered at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to see the helicopter in its final home and hear from the Agency officers who played a significant role in the success of CIA’s first response.

Robert Byer, CIA Museum director and curator, opened the ceremony by thanking attendees for joining CIA in celebrating what he described as an “incredibly auspicious day that has been many years in the making.” He briefly recounted the story of how the Mi-17 helicopter came to rest on CIA campus as a “macro-artifact” in CIA Museum’s growing collection. A macro-artifact, Robert

explained, simply means that “we couldn’t fit it inside the building.”

Taken from the CIA website: https://www.cia.gov/newsinformation/featured-story-archive/2019-featured-storyarchive/cia2019s-mi-17-helicopter-comes-home.html.

Christian Cotz (2016) First Amendment Museum, Augusta, ME

Formerly the Director of Education and Visitor Engagement of Montpelier, Christian is now the CEO of the First Amendment Museum in Augusta, ME.

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JIMI

I

For Pete’s Sake

SEMC

The Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund

n the early 1980s, Pam Meister, then executive direc-

expand Jumpstart!, and thus was born the Jekyll Island Man-

tor of both the Southeastern Museums Conference

agement Institute (JIMI).

(SEMC) and the Louisiana Association of Museums

Pete was the heart and soul of JIMI; in fact, he became

(LAM) approached Peter S. LaPaglia with a workshop

known as “Mr. JIMI.” He not only poured his time and energy

idea called Jumpstart! She had written a successful

into it, he supported it financially and found other partners

grant to develop a workshop aimed at “small, new, emerg-

willing to fund it. These funds allowed the JIMI Committee

ing, and transitioning museums” in Louisiana. In addition

to fund tuition scholarships for museum professionals who

to formal training sessions, Jumpstart! brought together

otherwise would not have been able to attend.

workshop participants with seasoned museum profession-

Today, JIMI is a nationally recognized program with gradu-

als who volunteered to share their expertise and experience.

ates from twenty-five states plus the District of Columbia.

Each Jumpstart! participant was matched with a mentor

The museum world lost a valued friend when Pete passed

who guided them for twelve months following the workshop.

away. Because he was so committed to JIMI, SEMC has

Pam enticed Pete to facilitate Jumpstart! with the lure of

established the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund to

wonderful Cajun food, but unfortunately, it turned out to be

endow one annual scholarship in his memory.

spring break week and all the restaurants on the road to the

The scholarship will be open to all museum professionals

workshop site were closed. Pete never let Pam forget that she

in the United States having no less than five and no more

nearly starved him to death.

than ten years experience in the museum profession. The

After the success of Jumpstart!, Pam contacted Martha

applicant must demonstrate involvement with a museum

Battle Jackson, then chair of the SEMC Professional Devel-

professional organization at some level (state, regional, or

opment Committee and said, “Have I got a deal for you!”

national). The scholarship recipient must be a member of a

Working with Pete and Pam and an infusion of money from

regional museum association. We need $20,000 to make this

another successful grant written by Pam, the committee

scholarship possible.

expanded Jumpstart! to three and a half days and held the

For Pete’s Sake . . . please help by sending a check of any

workshop in four locations in the Southeast. Enthusiastic

amount to the Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship Fund, c/o

participants wanted more, so the committee decided to

SEMC, P. O. Box 9003, Atlanta, GA, 31106-1003.

T

The Peter S. LaPaglia Fund Policy he Peter S. LaPaglia JIMI Scholarship funds will be

the museum profession. The applicant must demonstrate

restricted to using only the interest for one annual

involvement with a museum professional organization (state,

tuition scholarship. The scholarship will be open

regional, or national). The amount of the scholarship will be

to all museum professionals in the United States having

funded at the SEMC member level. The scholarship recipient

no less than five and no more than ten years experience in

must be a member of a regional museum association.

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