Hamptons-Based Historical Museum Goes Virtual For New Exhibit

“The Southampton Historical Museum is lucky enough to care for a vast collection of historical objects,” noted Emma Ballou, Curator & Registrar, The Southampton Historical Museum. “Many of these special objects are either tucked away in storage or small enough that they might not be noticed by the casual observer.”

Day 2 featured a tin candle snuffer. (Courtesy Photo)

Since the Museum’s immense assemblage of rare artifacts can make it quite challenging to make sure that each significant item receives its fair share of recognition, the Southampton Historical Museum has turned to social media to address this issue. During November, the Southampton Historical Museum is forgoing a tradition exhibit and opting for Overlooked Objects: Uncovered from the Collection, an online exhibit that can be seen on Southampton Historical Museum’s Facebook and Instagram Pages.

“My hope is that through this exhibit viewers will gain a new appreciation for these commonly overlooked objects that historically were essential to daily life, but today are almost forgotten,” explained Ballou.

Each day throughout the month of November, a new object from the Museum’s collection that is “unique but commonly overlooked” will be shared on both social media pages. The post will include a photo of the item as well as insight on the object’s historical relevance and use. Many of the featured items – like a tin candle snuffer or small creamware plate – were vital to those that lived during the time period that the item was popular, but nowadays might be unidentifiable by the vast population.

“This is the first time that the Southampton Historical Museum has offered an ‘online’ exhibit,” she shared. “Traditional exhibits have a wide variety of restrictions, but an online exhibit has almost none.” Offering online access to the featured articles allows the Museum to expand their reach, so it’s not just local visitors or those who are passing through the Hamptons that have the chance to admire the pieces. With Overlooked Objects, history buffs from across the globe will be able to view the rare artifacts. Who knows, maybe one of the posts will peak the interest of many and go viral.

Overlooked Objects: Uncovered from the Collection will even include the unveiling of a few special articles. “It’s a wonderful way to provide history lovers with a behind-the-scenes peek into the Museum’s collection of objects, some of which that have never been viewed by the public,” Ballou added.

Southampton Historical Museum is located at 17 Meeting House Lane in Southampton. For more information, call 631-283-2494 or visit www.southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org.