Curator's Choice

For photos of this episode, click here [https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/episodes/episode10heritagevillage]. Continuing our trek in Luray, Virginia, I meet with Isabela Graves from the Shenandoah Heritage Village Museum. She shares the incredible work she and her husband have been doing to preserve the history of the valley, and some truly spectacular artifacts housed there. Shenandoah Heritage Village The Shenandoah Heritage Village is a seven-acre re-creation of a small 19th-century farming community made up of restored historic buildings, cottage-style gardens, and a small vineyard with a scenic mountain backdrop. They even have a cafe and gem mining sluice! Iron Stoves It was a very complicated process, to create the highly decorated iron stoves. The artists would have to carve their designs to create a wooden mold. Then that carving would be pressed into very hard sand, so molten iron could be poured in. These different plates of iron would then be assembled into a stove that could replace large, dangerous hearths. They were safer, easier to cook with, and really revolutionized kitchen life for colonials. And they were made with incredibly elaborate designs. 1539 Bible This bible was not only an important religious relic but also a catalog of historic events. It was printed in Zurich, Switzerland in 1536 by Christopher Froschauer who was a printer of the Swiss Reformation.  It has illustrations painted by Hans Holbein the Younger, the King's Painter to Henry VIII of England. Episode Links: * Shenandoah Heritage Village website: https://luraycaverns.com/attractions/shenandoah-heritage-village/ [https://luraycaverns.com/attractions/shenandoah-heritage-village/] 693zJK8ixiHithOu3Y5C

If you would like to see photos of this episode, click here [https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/episodes/episode9luray]. This week we head to Virginia to visit Luray Caverns, the most highly decorated caverns in the world according to the Smithsonian. In this episode, we hear from three professionals who share the history of the caverns, the science behind the decorating formations, and how The Great Stalacpipe Organ creates music. PHANTOM CHASERS Luray Caverns was discovered on August 13th, 1878 by three local men: Andrew J. Campbell (a local tinsmith), William Campbell, and local photographer Benton Stebbins. These fellows were prospecting for a show cave as they knew of a cave in southern Virginia that was open and giving tours. If they could find a cave, they too could make some money. They spent a whole summer looking at every sinkhole on every farmer's land, all around town. The townspeople thought they were crazy, calling them “Phantom Chasers”. Eventually, the group came across one particular sinkhole. When they put their hands down, they felt cool air coming out of a quarter-size hole in the ground. They enlarged the hole enough for one man, Andrew Campbell, to slide down on a rope with a candle in hand. They discovered what they were looking for, one of the largest caverns in the world. THE SCIENCE OF CAVERN DECOR Cavern formations are created when water on the surface infiltrates into the ground. It picks up minerals that are in the soil and rock as it seeps into the earth. Eventually, it enters the cavern system through microscopic pores in the rock. As the water drips and flows in, it deposits those minerals along the ceilings, walls, and floors. And over many, many years those minerals build up and reconstitute into these larger formations. On average, scientists estimate that formations at Luray take around 120 years to grow one cubic inch. The largest formation in the cavern system is 40 feet tall, 120 feet in circumference at the base, and is an estimated seven and a half million years old. It’s called the Giant Redwood Tree as it resembles the trunk of a giant Sequoia. THE GREAT STALACPIPE ORGAN Mr. Leland Sprinkles brought his son to Luray Caverns for his fifth birthday. At the time, tour guides would play a tune on the stalactites and stalagmites by striking them with a mallet. This gave Mr. Sprinkles, an engineer and organist, the idea to create a playable organ using the cave’s formations. With an agreement over a handshake, Sprinkles began developing the organ. He would scout for tones by striking the formations and pick those that were closest. Then he would tune them to concert pitch by sanding them down. It was first played in 1957  and is still in use today. It covers three and a half acres, making it the world’s largest natural musical instrument! Episode Links: * Luray Caverns webpage: https://luraycaverns.com/ [https://luraycaverns.com/] * Discovery of Luray Caverns, Virginia by Russell H. Gurneebook: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/discovery-of-luray-caverns-virginia_russell-h-gurnee/1801668/item/8715266/#edition=727824&idiq=32909429 [https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/discovery-of-luray-caverns-virginia_russell-h-gurnee/1801668/item/8715266/#edition=727824&idiq=32909429]

Episode 8: Marietta House Museum For photos of this episode, click here [https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/episodes/s2ep8mariettahouse]. This week we meet with Julia Rose at the Marietta House Museum. “Marietta House Museum houses the histories of multiple generations of families, free and enslaved, who lived and labored on the roughly 600 acres that made up Marietta Manor. The historic site holds the stories of how life was lived in agricultural Maryland from the Federal Era, Antebellum years, Civil War period, Jim Crow and Reconstruction through to the rise of the modern Civil Rights era in the early 20th century.” The work done at the house primarily focuses on the slavery era and understanding the mechanics of that system, and the paradox of the legal language of Liberty. Silenced stories of enslaved individuals are shared, as well as the different avenues (legal and illegal at the time) that they used to pursue their freedom. GABRIEL DUVAL’S LAW OFFICE Gabriel Duval was a very successful lawyer for enslaved people and their families who were filing petitions for freedom, freeing over 100 individuals throughout his career. He became a Supreme court associate justice during the time of President Madison, and his law office is found next to the Marietta House. It had contained a library of over 500 books and by examining the language of these texts, and comparing them to influential writings of the time, we can better understand the legal language and the definition of Liberty. However: “All men are created equal” did not apply to all men, and even Duval himself was dichotomous in this nature. The Butler family, who Gabriel Duval enslaved in 1805, sued for their freedom in 1828. Though Duval was a lawyer for enslaved people who were filing petitions for freedom, he fought the Butler family in court for over three years. Though they were eventually successful, the legality of freedom was anything but simplistic. > We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. — second paragraph of the United States Declaration of Independence Episode Links: * Marietta House Museum: https://www.pgparks.com/3072/Marietta-House-Museum [https://www.pgparks.com/3072/Marietta-House-Museum] * Slavery Inventory Database: https://slaveryinventorydatabase.com/ [https://slaveryinventorydatabase.com/] * Duval Family Association: https://www.duvalfamilyassociation.org/ [https://www.duvalfamilyassociation.org/]

For photos of this episode, click here. [https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/episodes/s2episode7] This week we meet with Robert Hicks, the previous Director of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. The Museum contains a collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment, and is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Along with the many preserved specimens in the macabre repository, you can find the liver of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker, a 40 lb colon, and anthropodermic books (or books bound in human skin). Robert shares with us the history of some radioactive artifacts used by Marie Curie, including the Piezoelectric Quartz Electrometer, which is the oldest extant device for measuring radioactivity. We also learn about a very rare disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), and an incredible individual who not only lived with the disorder but thrived through adversity and even donated her skeleton to be displayed at the Mutter (along with her jewelry, of course!). CAROL ANN ORZEL Carol Ann Orzel, born on April 20, 1959, was diagnosed with FOP as a child. When she was 23, she moved to a long-term care facility and spent the rest of her life there. Though her muscles were slowly turning to bone, she was a strong voice in disability activism, established communication networks with other individuals suffering from FOP, and advocated for more research into the disease (of which there currently is no cure). She was also quite the social butterfly, charming many with her bright personality and colorful jewelry. Upon her death, Carol wished for her skeleton to be displayed at the Mutter Museum, alongside the skeleton of Harry Raymond Eastlack Jr, who also suffered from FOP. She did have one condition, her jewelry must also be displayed next to her. MARIE CURIE Marie is best known for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the first person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Episode Links: * Mutter Museum webpage: https://muttermuseum.org/ [https://muttermuseum.org/] * Carol and Harry, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), Mutter Museum: https://muttermuseum.org/exhibitions/harry-and-carol [https://muttermuseum.org/exhibitions/harry-and-carol] * Harry Eastlack with FOP, Mutter online exhibit: http://memento.muttermuseum.org/detail/fibrodysplasia-ossificans-progressiva [http://memento.muttermuseum.org/detail/fibrodysplasia-ossificans-progressiva] * The glowing graphic novel "Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout" by Lauren Redniss: http://laurenredniss.com/radioactive/ [http://laurenredniss.com/radioactive/] * Dog Edition Conservation Canines: https://shows.dogpodcastnetwork.com/show/dog-edition/conservation-canines-dog-edition-51/ [https://shows.dogpodcastnetwork.com/show/dog-edition/conservation-canines-dog-edition-51/]

For photos of this episode, click here [https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/episodes/episode6railwaymuseum]. This week we meet with Kristin DeGrace at the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum in Maryland. She shares with us the incredible dream behind a vacation paradise destination, getting buried alive to make a living during the Great Depression, and about a railway trying to stay relevant in a changing world. “In the late 1800s, a group of Colorado railroad men shared a dream to build a world-class seaside destination on the shores of the Chesapeake and a railroad to connect it to Washington, D.C. The official opening ceremony for the railway took place on June 9, 1900, and the last train departed on April 15, 1935. The amusements continued until the 1970s, evolving with the times. During its heyday, the Chesapeake Beach Resort attracted tens of thousands of people. However, changing tastes, wars, damaging storms, the great depression—experiences that are familiar to us today – all conspired to bring this enterprise to a close. The town created by this grand endeavor lives on, and the traces of its beginnings are evident everywhere. The Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum (CBRM) tells the story of these men, the dream they built, and the town that continues to redefine the story.” -Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum [https://chesapeakebeachrailwaymuseum.com?page_id=642] Episode Links: * Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum webpage: https://chesapeakebeachrailwaymuseum.com/ [https://chesapeakebeachrailwaymuseum.com/]