Archaeological Collections Management at MSHP and the IMLS Posted February 24, 2023 Mackinac State Historic Parks has been conducting archaeological excavations at its sites for over sixty years. This has resulted in the recovery of over one million artifacts and reams of field notes, maps and other documentation of the excavations. Because excavating a site destroys it, preserving these artifacts and records is a crucial part of MSHP’s stewardship mission.Archaeological field records stored in the Petersen Center in Mackinaw City. For many years the artifacts were housed in Lansing, while the records were stored in Mackinaw City. Paper records were microfilmed, with the microfilm stored in a separate location as a physical back-up copy. Today the paper records are scanned instead. In the mid-1990s, MSHP purchased a computerized collections database package. We subsequently received a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to enter all the archaeological artifact catalog information into the database. Three data entry clerks were hired for two years to accomplish this task. The biggest gap in the initial data entry project was that the artifacts were still in Lansing, so their exact storage locations could not be entered.Archaeological artifact cabinets in the Petersen Center. With the completion of the Petersen Center in 2001, the archaeological collections were moved north. The vast majority are housed in the Petersen Center, but building materials, such as chinking and nails, which have less strict climate control requirements, are stored at Mill Creek. Once the collection was moved north, staff attempted to update the database with location information, but the task was too big to complete alongside other duties. In 2010 another IMLS grant was secured to hire three inventory assistants. Over the course of two years, they physically inventoried and updated the database record for all the Michilimackinac archaeological artifacts housed in the Petersen Center.Building materials stored at Mill Creek. While the Michilimackinac collection makes up the majority of the archaeological collection, major excavations have been carried out at Fort Mackinac and Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park as well. Last year MSHP received another IMLS grant to inventory and update records for the Mill Creek artifacts and some of the Fort Mackinac artifacts. This grant will also include inventory and re-housing of a portion of the architectural artifacts stored at Mill Creek. This project began in October 2022 and will continue through August 2025.Alex Michnick inventorying Mill Creek ceramics. These grants have assisted MSHP in fulfilling the preservation aspect of its mission. By making the archaeological collection more accessible to staff and researchers, they also have made presenting the results of our archaeological investigations easier as well. Archaeological artifacts are exhibited to the public at all MSHP sites providing a tangible connection to the lives of the people who lived and worked at the sites in the past.
From the Collection: Artifacts of Literacy Posted February 3, 2023 One of the next major projects for Mackinac State Historic Parks will be the reconstruction of a unit on the Southwest Rowhouse. To prepare, MSHP staff have been going over the archaeological records and artifacts from the 1960s, when the unit was originally excavated. Today we’re taking a look at various artifacts of literacy, including pencils and a pen knife. Curator of Archaeology Dr. Lynn Evans takes us through this peek at the collection.
A Closer Look at the Collections: Brass Saw Posted March 4, 2022 It’s time for another deep dive into the collection! Today Dr. Lynn Evans, Curator of Archaeology for Mackinac State Historic Parks, shows us a brass saw that would have possibly used by fur traders making stone items such as stone smoking pipes or other small items. This brass saw was originally recovered from the Southwest Rowhouse. Mackinac State Historic Parks will, in the near future, reconstruct a unit of the Southwest Rowhouse. For more information on archaeology at Mackinac State Historic Parks, click here.
2020 Collections Acquisitions Posted January 15, 2021 In 2020, the collections committee accessioned 425 objects into the state park historic collection and archives. In addition to several purchases, over 160 items were donated for the collection. Although the summer collections internships were cancelled, the park was able to hire an intern for October and November. During this time, the inventory scheduled for the summer of the Heritage Center General/Furniture Storage and the historic buildings downtown was completed. Several of the objects purchased in the early part of the year were for new exhibits including the Native American Museum inside the Biddle House and the restored second floor of the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Purchases for Biddle House included a school textbook and axe which now appear in the museums exhibit cases. On the second floor of the lighthouse, two new bedroom period settings were furnished with beds, dressers and other items to show what may have been used originally by the families. During the summer, the park purchased several pieces of souvenir china and glass, a register from the St. Cloud Hotel, postcards and other items from avid collector John Huibregtse of Mackinac Island. Many pieces of ruby glass inscribed by island store owner Frank Kriesche were among the new additions. Two unique purchases this year were a brass luggage tag and an early 1800’s lithograph. The brass tag is inscribed with the name of Captain George Etherington who commanded the British troops at Fort Michilimackinac from 1762 to 1763. The lithograph entitled Fort Americain dans l’Ile de Michilimakimac dates to 1838 and was drawn by Jacques Prat for the publication Vues et Souvenirs de l’ Amerique du Nord by Francois, comte de Castelnau. The image is done from the top of Fort Hill and looks east toward Fort Mackinac and downtown. The state park received several interesting donations this year including a silver set, photographs, steamer trunk and paintings. The silver set belonged to Bernard and Laura Wurzburger who owned a residence on Mackinac Island around 1900. The set has beautiful floral etching with some pieces inscribed “LW.” Photographs included snapshots from different eras on Mackinac Island, images of the east end of Grand Hotel under construction and a wonderful color view of Fort Mackinac by the Detroit Photographic Company. The steamer trunk came from islander James Bond and has a storied history belonging to both Dwight Kelton, soldier and author of Annals of Mackinac and Helen Donnelly. Finally, thanks to the Mackinac Island Artist in Residence program, the park received two of the paintings inspired by artists who stayed on the island in 2020.
The Short Jacket Posted March 27, 2020 Our new short jacket. Much of the work that we do in the winter is to prepare for the upcoming summer season, when Mackinac State Historic Parks’ museums and historic sites are open to the public. This winter we have been busy building a number of new garments for our interpretive staff at Colonial Michilimackinac. This allows our interpreters to not only talk about the history of the Great Lakes, but also to demonstrate what it looked like and how people worked within it. The newest addition (completed just last week!) to our interpretive clothing collection comes to us from the last quarter of the 18th century. It is double-breasted wool jacket, with a short body and narrow sleeves. Genre paintings from the later 18th century show people wearing jackets of this type while selling things on the street, working on a ship, farming, or toiling at any number of other trades. This style of practical, yet fashionable garment was common amongst all sorts of working people. Laborers, seamen and many others would have found a jacket to be infinitely more practical when there was work to be done, and long tails or large cuffs would have impeded movement or simply been in the way. (more…)
Treasures from the Collection Posted February 22, 2019 Today we begin a new feature highlighting important objects in the museum collection of Mackinac State Historic Parks. The items presented here belonged to the O’Brien’s of Fort Mackinac. The O’Brien collection also includes John and Charlotte’s letters (the basis for our book The Caplain’s Lady), John’s sermons, and letters to John from his son, Lyster, while he served in the Civil War. (more…)
From the Archives: Sunday School Minute Book Posted November 9, 2018 Mackinaw Mission Sunday School Minute Book, 1825 1955.217.1 Donated by Austin G. Packard Mackinac States Historic Parks archival collections preserves thousands of items documenting all aspects of Mackinac history. In this ongoing series we highlight some of these treasures. (more…)
Archaeology Update: Winter Finds Posted March 23, 2018 Artifacts drying on trays in lab Although excavation ended at Michilimackinac in August, archaeological research continues year-‘round. All of the artifacts recovered during the field season must be washed, labeled with a number identifying the context from which they came, identified, counted or weighed, and stored in the Petersen Center. All of the catalog information is entered into the ARGUS collections database. These steps all take time. Washing and labeling, which begins on rainy days in the summer, was completed in October. Cataloging and data entry were completed in February, and storage in March. (more…)
