Summer Intern Reviews the Museum

Letters To The Editor

The Southampton Press

September 10, 2009

Page A14 Eastern Edition

Although I am 39, I am a history buff and I thought it would be interesting to intern at two museums and share a little about my experiences.  My first internship was in the Greek and Roman Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). The second was at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center (SHM).  I didn’t expect my SHM internship to be that different from working at the MET.  I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

I did everything from installing air conditioning units to picking up donated copy machines in a truck to organizing objects in a barn to organizing and marketing a family pizza party at the Rogers Mansion in order to draw young family visitors. At the SHM I never had enough time.  I felt that there were endless ways to help and improve and that everyone was open to and encouraged creativity, energy, initiative and new ideas.  I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about smaller museums as well as Southampton's history.

Working at the MET had provided me with an opportunity to see what goes on at a world-class institution.  The MET had established and institutionalized processes and procedures. Working at the SHM, however, was a lot more entrepreneurial and less structured.  SHM is resource constrained.  It doesn’t have recognition.  It isn’t located on a “Museum Mile.” Most local people, let alone summer visitors, do not even know the museum exists let alone where it is. It isn’t even on “Main Street.” Everyone has to pitch in everyday to help – there are no union divisions of responsibilities or strict job descriptions. At the SHM no one seemed to have time for lunch. People were busy trying to stay on top of their regular job not to mention the responsibilities they never thought they would have – like answering phones or monitoring the gift shop.

I was amazed at how few people worked at the SHM.  However, most have a real connection to the community. I was very impressed as to how much people pitched in to help each other, especially because there wasn’t a lot of organization or institutional processes or procedures. The SHM is not process oriented at all.  My first day at the MET, I was fingerprinted and provided a manual. At the SHM, I was not fingerprinted; I wasn’t provided any manuals; I didn’t even provide any identification to prove who I was.

At the SHM everyone was sensitive to the importance of expenses.  People literally saved and reused paper clips and folders. Any expense over $500 required Trustee approval. The MET had a lot more resources available.

In 2008 a financial crisis occurred at SHM. A professional assessment of the 1680 Halsey House revealed that the post and beam construction was relaxing and the roof was in critical need of replacing. The property is also in Zone One for hurricanes and flooding. The trustees decided to act immediately without first raising funds. A 3 year capital campaign was begun and is slowly bringing in support. Even if the 2009 budget for fundraising income is successful, SHM will still be in debt for $60,000.

I am happy that I worked at a smaller museum.  Certain resource and marketing challenges are unique to such museums.  After my 10 week internship of working 12 hours a week, I miss my friends at the SHM.  They claim I have been promoted to “volunteer.”  I hope everyone in the Southampton community gets a chance to visit the SHM on Meeting House Lane.

Steven Mandis is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Museum Anthropology at Columbia University.  He formerly worked at Goldman Sachs.  He spends a significant amount of time in Southampton.