An important part of caring for a museum is exhibit maintenance. While it may not seem like it, little touches go a long way in enhancing the museum experience. An exhibit is meant to draw the eye of visitors and make them want to engage with the space. While having an interesting artifact can go a long way, its potential is ultimately wasted if the exhibit feels unfinished or boring. In February, the museum closed for renovations to bring new life into the space. We started to rearrange exhibits and storage areas. One of the goals of these renovations was to make the museum more inviting for visitors. A project that I undertook to aid in this goal and make exhibits more visually appealing was lining display cabinets with fabric liners. Previously artifacts looked like they got lost on the shelves or there was nothing visually exciting to help draw in visitors. My idea was to add color to these cases so that the objects stand out.

      With a tight budget, I had to be creative with what was on hand. Luckily, our local theater had replaced their theater curtains, leaving plenty of extra fabric. The heavy curtains had to be wheeled around on a dolly and cut into sections to make the process. I found all of the other supplies needed for the project in the museum. On days that the museum was closed, I made my workspace in a corner in the back. 

      Drawing on my sewing experience, I created patterns for multiple types of glass shelves. I made patterns out of the spare copy paper, measuring them to the shelves and bases of the display cases. Taking sections of the curtain, I traced the patterns using a white crayon as my tailor chalk. After cutting out the piece, I hemmed the raw edges with masking tape. I chose tape to assemble the pieces instead of sewing them together to make the process faster and easier. Since the liners would be constantly moving around, tape was sufficient. Finally, I put the finished piece into the display cabinet. 

      It was a long and at times tedious process, but eventually, I made about 37 lines in varying shapes and sizes. The results were well worth the effort. The artifacts stand out against the liners and I was proud of what was accomplished. I work mainly with collection accessions, so most of the time I’m on the computer. While I enjoy this, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment when all I have to show for my work is still on a screen. Working with my hands and creating something that would be used was rewarding. I’m excited for visitors to have a more enriching experience at our museums thanks to all the little details added to our displays.​

Griffin served with Ritchietown Renaissance Inc. during the 2023-2024 Preserve WV AmeriCorps service term.

On July 28, AmeriCorps members Dwayne Bartley, Joni Morris, and Sharon David joined 22 community volunteers for a much-needed preservation event at Peninsula Cemetery in Wheeling, WV. Spearheaded by the Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation (OCCF) and funded by a 9/11 Day of Service and Memorial Grant from Volunteer West Virginia, the event focused on cleaning, restoration, and honoring the veterans buried in this historic cemetery.
 
Preparation for the event began earlier in the month with long-time Peninsula volunteers Penny McConnell and Carla Tustin identifying veteran tombstones for cleaning and repair. PAWV and the West Virginia Humanities Council sponsored a workshop on cemetery documentation and restoration on July 26, where volunteers were trained in effective documentation and approved tombstone restoration techniques. This training led to the formation of the OCCF Tripod Team, a group of dedicated volunteers who will assist with heavy digging and lifting projects in the future.
 
On the main workday, volunteers sprayed the headstones and monuments of 175 veterans and 50 civilians with an environmentally friendly cleaner to remove moss and dirt. Other volunteers applied fresh coats of paint to railings and concrete posts, cleared trash and debris, and trimmed branches from the cemetery’s original trees that threatened to damage tombstones.
 
Peninsula Cemetery is the last resting place for at least 324 veterans. Some have dedicated military stones or markers, while others have military information inscribed on their regular stones. Sadly, some veterans have no markers at all. Several stones were unreadable, so the identities of these veterans are a mystery; however, volunteers continue to search obituaries and military records to identify to identify them.
 
Among the veterans honored are Sgt. Charles Fleming, killed by friendly fire during the Philippine-American War; Stephen Clark, a prisoner of war shot while attempting to escape captivity; Percy Mathison Hannan, who died from influenza in 1918 while serving at Camp Meade, Maryland; and Edward Franklin "Eddie" Bowman, a WWI veteran killed in France. It is interesting to note that Bowman has a military stone in Peninsula, but his actual burial site is in another Wheeling cemetery. This reflects what was then a common practice of erecting headstones before the service members’ remains arrived in the US.
 
A significant achievement during the project was raising the Marcus Wilson Amick monument, which weighs approximately 2,000 lbs. Amick served for the Union during the Civil War and is buried in the same lot as his father Jacob, who served in the War of 1812, and other immediate family members. Volunteers decided to clean and reset the entire family lot, not just the veterans’ stones.
 
Among the many veterans buried in Peninsula, volunteers identified four African Americans whose stories reflect both their service and the challenges of their time. George R. Jennings and James H. Howard served in regiments of the US Colored Volunteers during the Civil War and Louis James Walton, a WWI veteran, died from health problems related to exposure to chemical weapons. Captain Hamilton Davis, who served in the 50th Regiment United States Colored Infantry, was laid to rest in Peninsula, but no stone marks his grave.
 
Peninsula Cemetery, established in 1851, was once the third largest cemetery in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the construction of Interstate 70 in 1964 greatly affected the cemetery, leading to the exhumation and reinterment of over 2,500 bodies and splitting the site in two. Volunteers hope to continue working on the orphaned portion of the cemetery, which houses the original colored/enslaved peoples and paupers’ cemeteries, at a future event.
 
Volunteers, with their dedication and hard work, ensure the preservation of the legacy of these veterans and the history they represent for future generations. We encourage you to support this cause by volunteering with or donating to a cemetery organization near you.

​Recently, my AmeriCorps sponsor site, Wheeling Heritage, received a phone call about a historic property. This is not uncommon for us, as historic preservation is a core pillar of what we do, plus Wheeling is chock full of gorgeous historic buildings. While many of those are homes, this building we got a call about was a little different, and that excited me.
 
The promise of a “fireproof” hotel has loomed over Fourteenth Street in Wheeling for over 100 years. When The Rogers Hotel was first opened in 1915, it was set to be “revolutionary”, according to an article in The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. The hotel remained open for many years, thankfully retaining many of its original features. How do I know about these original features? When we took the call at Wheeling Heritage, we were informed the property would soon be going up for action, and we were invited inside to document all the beauty of this space. We were given a great opportunity to drum up excitement to hopefully get this property into the hands of someone who will take great care of it!