Goodbye Regan, we'll miss you!

The museum received a collection of fascinating items from a Durango native yesterday. The Durango Herald-Democrat from February 8, 1948 announced "Feminine Fashions for Spring", and we have one of the dresses that was featured on the front page and a photograph of the model. We also acquired the bomber jacket and dress uniform (Class A) of the fiance of the model, a World War II pilot who was killed in action over Burma, along with the official telegram, letter, and posthumous Medal of Honor given to his family. These items speak of both the stress of a gruesome war and the excitement of post-war consumerism during the 1940s, which even this small mountain town felt and experienced firsthand.

~ pictures from the museum's Christmas in July event ~

Two of our awesome gardening volunteers Amber and her dog Guinness.

Dr. Helen Ruth Aspaas stands beside her grandparents' third phase Chief-style blanket. See third post below for information about the preparation of the blanket for exhibit.

Roses of all shapes and sizes are gracing the front of the museum building and making the summer heat a little more easy to bear.

Local historian and Fort Lewis College professor Duane Smith gave a tour of the Old Fort Lewis on June 11th. Over 60 people attended to learn about the former fort turned campus. If you'd like to learn more about Fort Lewis' history, check out the Frontier Blues exhibit at the Center of Southwest Studies.

Collections staff and volunteers were working hard this week to prepare a new Navajo blanket for exhibit in the Native American gallery. At right, Curator of Collections Jan Postler does final vacuuming on the blanket to remove hair that may not have been picked up while vacuuming through a screen. Above, volunteers Susan Jones and Dr. Helen Ruth Aspaas, the donor of the blanket, sew a twill tape and Velcro fastener to mount the late third phase chief-style blanket. Dr. Aspaas's grandparents used the blanket to keep warm while they slept on their porch in the wintertime near Breen, Colorado. At that time, it was devoutly believed that the fresh mountain air was good for health, so some La Plata County residents slept outside year round.

Dr. Helen Ruth Aspaas at work on her grandparents chief-style blanket.

Yellow roses are in bloom on the north side of the museum building. The Master Gardeners of Durango will be helping us revamp the museum's gardens this summer.

Volunteer James King of Precision Painting is working on repainting the front doors and giving a fresh look to the museum for the beginning of the busy season. Precision Painting has donated the materials for this much-needed project.

Museum staff and volunteers held a small gathering for long-time volunteer Courtney Cannon to celebrate her high school graduation. Courtney has worked with Curator of Collections Jan Postler since she was twelve years old! Congratulations Courtney and thank you for all you do!

A curious visitor dropped by the Joy Cabin this morning.

It's springtime! Volunteer Roger Wolf waters the museum's gardens on this warm May morning.

It was School Days Fun Day at the museum! Families came in to try their hand at marbles and jacks, meet the teacher, and handmake a mini-chalkboard.

Keeping Traditions Alive

The Wild Wooly Spinners of the West, a hand-spinning guild that draws spinners from all over the Four Corners area, met at the Animas Museum on Saturday for a fun day of spinning. If you would like to learn about the history of spinning, how textiles are made, or even try your hand on a drop spindle, drop by the Museum on Saturday, February 26th between 10 am and 2pm.

Check out our new page on 360Durango!

http://www.360durango.com/Attractions/AnimasHistoricalMuseum.html

Space Savers

The heart of the Collections area is the Space Saver system. Installed as part of the Home for History project, the Space Savers store photos, archives, and artifacts free from dust, light, and other potentially harmful effects. Each shelf in the Space Saver system is labeled so that an artifact can be quickly retrieved for exhibit or research needs. The row and shelf location of every artifact is tracked in the Collections database. Over the next few posts, we'll trace what happens to an artifact before it finds a home in the Space Saver.

Behind the Scenes

What goes on behind this closed door? We'll be posting more about the collections work that goes on behind the scenes at the Animas Museum.

If you arrived here on our website, you probably noticed that it is completely different! Much gratitude goes out to volunteers Susan Jones and Sheila Niblick for designing and creating this great new look for the museum! If you haven't checked it out yet, go to www.animasmuseum.org ~