A Day in the Life: Curator

What does a museum curator actually do all day? This post kicks off our series called A Day in the Life, revealing the ins-and-outs of various positions and duties at the Naval War College Museum. If you're curious about this industry, how shared history and material culture is cared for, or just what goes on over here, read on and enjoy all the posts in this series. 

The work of a curator varies tremendously from museum to museum. Large museums will often employ many curators and assistants, and each one might specialize in a different era or culture or media. Smaller museums, like the Naval War College Museum, might have a single curator, which we do. Ours is named Rob Doane!

Robert Doane, Curator, Naval War College Museum.

The nature of working at a small museum means Rob's work can be very different from day to day. Our curator is responsible for all aspects of exhibitions, from conception, to design, and execution. This scope of duties can mean in one day the curator is planning content for an exhibition slotted to open two years in the future, making object labels for an offsite exhibit opening in a few weeks, developing a presentation for a conference, or running the Collections Committee that responds to individuals or institutions offering to donate items to the museum. As our subject matter expert on naval history, Rob also answers all the research inquiries that come to us from the public, media, or other organizations. One recent program developed by Rob is a series of wargames, played against other museums streaming live online as they replay historic battles!

Online Wargames via Facebook Live, June 2021.

The Naval War College Museum is a military history museum, and simultaneously an academic museum. That means our museum works closely with faculty and staff in all departments at the Naval War College. Whether its professors holding their classes in the museum, or the museum providing content and exhibitions throughout the campus, there is a steady stream of collaboration and the curator often has a hand in it. 

Naval Station Newport is often called the Campus of the Navy, because we have over 50 different commands on base, many of which are a school, academy, or provide some kind of certification or training. Working with these schoolhouses is one way the Naval War College Museum serves the fleet from many different angles. Earlier this year, Rob worked with the Naval Justice School to create a timeline of the school's history with historic photos and important milestones that traced the arc of their development to the present day. 

Graphic timeline for the Naval Justice School, July 2021. 

Another feature of a small museum is that the work of each staff member intersects with all the others. If the Collections Committee decides to accept a donation, the curator works with the Collections Manager to facilitate required paperwork. When planning a new exhibit, Rob works with the Exhibit Specialist to design the physical and digital style, and the Administrative Officer to order the right supplies. When the Director of Education and Public Outreach plans group programming, the curator often contributes content. And as a senior position on staff, the curator works closely with the Museum Director on planning and policy. Look for posts about each of these museum roles in the near future!

The curator's work can provide new ways of understanding and using history. The ideas he or she shares can shape the way people think, and live in perpetuity via print, online, or in the minds of everyone who gets a chance to visit the Naval War College Museum.

Thanks Rob!

by Blake Ruehrwein