TWO EXHIBITS: COLLECTING, PRESENTING, AND REACHING THE COMMUNITY

REVEREND EARL NANCE, SR. EXHIBIT
Although it was but one component of the intern project, fabricating and mounting the Nance exhibit proved to be of great importance in training the interns and in bringing the community out to the museum. In preparation for the exhibit, Ms. Conley instructed the interns in interviewing and collection techniques. Then, the group visited Reverend Earl Nance, Jr. to gather information and artifacts. The interns were in charge of interviewing Rev. Nance and transcribing the interview.

Executive Director Conley, with permission from his son, looked through Rev. Nance, Sr.'s office in order to collect photographs and documents for use as exhibit items. In addition, she was given some of the reverend's clothing and a pair of shows for use at the museum. At the unveiling, the Rev. Nance, Jr. had told community members that Ms. Conley had discovered items and documents that he either did not know, or did not remember, his father had. Placing them in the exhibit reinforced the value of the items as historical artifacts.

The wax figure of the Reverend Nance was placed toward the back of a reconstruction of the Greater Mt. Carmel Church. This structure was mounted in the corner of the museum's first gallery so that artifacts could be mounted within the "church" walls and on the outside of one of the walls. The artifacts for the Nance exhibit included, among many other documents, photographs of the Reverend Nance, his 1983 and 1992 Distinguished Citizen awards, the City of Kansas City, Missouri document naming the Reverend Nance an honorary citizen, and his 1993 Minister of the Year Award. In addition, the museum mounted two plaques explaining the Reverend Nance's history and his significance to the community.

As reported in the Public Programming section, attendance rose significantly in the five to six month period following the opening of the Nance exhibit. Many visitors came specifically to see this new exhibit, and Ms. Conley reports that the Rev. Nance, Jr. "continues to bring people by the museum to [view] the exhibit." As the most important measure of success for the museum staff, however, community members brought to the museum to view the exhibit found personal connections with specific artifacts and/or the exhibit as a whole. For example, Ms. Conley related that one visitor was "taken aback when she discovered a document [in the exhibit] that her (deceased) husband had presented to the senior Nance." At the time, this visitor "hurried to point out [the document] to her daughter." In the long term, this story, and many others like it, will hopefully help the museum reinforce to the members of the community the importance of conservation. Ultimately, the results of this awareness will give those community members the reasons for lasting involvement with the institution.