3/4/24: Structuring the Chaos of Old Glory
Week three began by gathering all Old Glory exhibit materials from around the archives basement onto one table. This included two file cabinets’ worth of folders, the box of folders I accounted for last week, the six binders of visitor comments, and other items like the exhibit catalogue and a binder full of general information of the exhibit. My site advisor Aspen and I examined the spreadsheets describing the contents of each folder and created these categories (along with some subcategories) to begin organizing each item:
- Visitor commentary books
- Exhibit Information
- News Clippings
- Public Reaction
- Ephemera
- Museum Generated Material
- Meetings
- Events
- David Rubin Personal Correspondence
I then began the process of sorting each page into piles based on these categories. This coming week, we’ll see if I find a way to fit more piles onto the table, as there are still some categories missing from the image below. So far, I’ve learned more about the gravity of the controversy surrounding this exhibit. I’ve included images of some of the most interesting items I came across last week, but not pictured are things like back-and-forth letters between PhxArt and the Phoenix Government which was concerned about the public’s reaction to Old Glory, and even considered selling the museum building. I also came across statements from other politicians like John McCain, Newt Gingrich (90s Speaker of the House), and Bob Dole (1996 presidential hopeful) who strongly condemned the displays of the flag in this exhibit.
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