The Lower Adirondack Regional Center for History (formerly Ticonderoga Historical Society) in Ticonderoga, Essex County, NY, is mounting an innovative new exhibit this summer, and the public is invited to participate. The “Peoples Exhibit” will allow area residents to display their own personal artifacts in the Hancock House Museum’s Harmon Gallery for the summer months.
“Museums assign value to the items in their collections,” said LARCH Managing Director Diane O’Connor. “Each of us, however, has our own unique treasure. It might be a piece of jewelry, a photograph, an antique shawl or some type other belonging that is dear to us. This exhibit allows the public to share those things that they find valuable, perhaps not in monetary terms, but certainly for sentimental reasons.”
O’Connor notes that the inspiration for the exhibit came from abroad, where a people’s exhibit brought a wide variety of items to a local museum. Most poignant was “Chloe’s Rock,” a simple rock picked up on a beach holiday with her grandfather. Her grandfather passed away soon after, and the rock became the touchstone for a wonderful memory.
Some rules do apply to the exhibition. No firearms or incendiary devices (leave the WWII hand grenade at home, please), no items portraying hate speech or politically divisive slogans or insignia.
For more information and to reserve a spot in the display, contact the Hancock House Museum at (518) 585-7868 or via email at larchny@bridgepoint1.com.
As a regional institution dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Region, LARCH operates the four-story Hancock House Museum and Research Library in Ticonderoga and partners with community organizations to provide an active educational program series.
