2020/2021 Collections Project

11/17/2020 – Julie and Curator Rachel Johnson have been working steadily to identify and document the objects housed at the museum. The most important element of this project is to ensure we have identified which objects in our care we hold legal title. We have finished with this part of the project, which is an exciting step.

In the next phase of the project, we get to be detectives, looking for clues connected to those objects whose ownership or origin is still a mystery to us. We look for those clues near where the object has been stored, talk to past staff and volunteers and follow the leads that are revealed. We will probably arrive at many dead ends, but the information we do find makes the detective work worthwhile.  

You might be able to help solve one of these mysteries. If you or a family member donated or loaned material to the museum in the past, whether it was a piece of artwork or a box of bison bones, please contact Rachel at collections@buffalomuseum.com, and help us with our detective work! 

5/20/2020 – We’re so excited to have Julie Hale join our team to work on the collections project! She’s in her second week here. She’s working with the museum collection under the Cultural Heritage Grant we were awarded by the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the North Dakota Legislature.

Julie Hale is originally from Ohio and has lived most of her life in the southwest region of the state. She received her Master’s degree in Public History from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Previously, she was employed as the Historic Sites Intern with the Macon County Conservation District in Decatur, Illinois, giving tours of an 1850s homestead and presenting history and natural history programs to the public. Before that, she worked for the Dayton Society of Natural History in Dayton, Ohio. As Collections Technician, she helped with the management and preservation of the Natural History collections.

We’re thrilled to have her bring her experience to the National Buffalo Museum, and look forward to sharing more about the work she’s doing!

March, 2020 – In February 2020, the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND) awarded the National Buffalo Museum with a grant to hire a museum collections professional for a one year contract. We will be matching the amount of the grant award with staff and volunteer time, facility improvements and the purchase of necessary supplies. The goal of the project is identification and organization of the objects in the Museum’s care. This is an exciting step for the Museum. Over the past two years, progress has been made to improve documentation and care of the collection, but the new staff person will be able to focus exclusively on cataloging objects in the Museum’s care.

After receiving notice of the grant award, the Museum immediately began a national search to fill the contract position. The Museum offered the position to a highly qualified candidate, and even in the midst of a global pandemic and restrictions, we are carefully moving forward with the hire and the project.

The Museum is very grateful to the SHSND and the North Dakota legislature for the grant award, and excited to proceed with this project which will help us continue to fulfill our mission and bring us into best professional museum practices.

Please check back with us for project updates! We’re excited to share our progress.