Exhibit Caption, Final

Here is the final edited version of my exhibit caption:

This horn supposedly belonged to Edward Braddock, a British General in the French and Indian War. Robert Tempest acquired this horn after Braddock’s death in 1755. Engraving their names and adding metal fixtures, five generations of Tempests turned this horn into a canvas documenting their personal connection to colonial America. 

I kept to a straightforward, chronological history of the horn that reflects back to colonial America at the end. Referencing how the Tempests altered the horn and used it to connect them to the past brings in the commemorative aspects of the horn. (And, it's exactly 50 words. Yay!)

Exhibit Caption Selections

Having made all the selections, there were a few things that stood out. Universally, I want the caption to tell me something that I cannot say about the object from looking at it. This might be one of those ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ things, but I try to point those moments out in the explanations. I also want the caption to tell me something about the object’s background: when it was made, who made it, or where it came from. Because all of our objects commemorate different things and were made in different times for different reasons this is especially important.

Chelsea
2. A Collector’s Item
During the Bicentennial boom, manufacturers produced America-themed items to market to the patriotic public of the mid-1970s. This McCormick Distilling Company decanter belonged to a set of seven Revolutionary War figurines called the Patriot Series, including: Betsy Ross, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson.

This caption tells me where and when the decanter originated. Also, knowing that this is just one of the set and seeing the list of who else got a decanter makes me imagine what those others look like.

Stephen
2. This commemorative block from the HMS Minden, the ship where Francis Scott Key was believed to have composed The Star Spangled Banner was a high status commemorative object. President Lincoln was known to have had a cane made of the same material.

I like the way that this caption immediately identifies with the object and lets the reader know the object was once part of a ship. The detail about Lincoln is novel and gives readers the impression of how significant this type of object is to people.

Lyell
3.  The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, engraved on this badge worn at a 1941 Elks Lodge convention, took on increasingly symbolic roles leading up to the country’s participation in World War II. Fittingly, the badge eventually entered the collection of the late Manfred Anson, an escapee from Nazi Germany who cherished the values associated with these symbols of freedom.

This caption ties itself together nicely. I like how it goes from symbols-of-freedom, pre-war, during war, then back to symbols-of-freedom. The information related to the collector gives me background I would never get just looking at the object.

Kelsey
1.  This commemorative flag resembled miniature flags sold at Independence Hall in 1898 by Betsy Ross’s granddaughters.  The miniature flags sold at Independence Hall helped raise donations for the preservation of the American Flag house, where it is believed that Betsy Ross created the first American flag during the Revolutionary War. This commemorative flag celebrated the Betsy Ross story and that moment in American women’s history.

I was really torn with this one. I liked #3 and how it references the bicentennial, but ended up choosing this one because I would never get the Betsy Ross connection on my own. I like the way the back-story is more narrative-based. Women are also lacking in all of our objects so we need this one to represent.

Sharron
1.  Taking a drink from this porcelain gem was not even a remote consideration in the 18th century.  This commemorative pitcher was a physical way of memoralizing American Independence.  Crafted in North Staffforshire, England almost exclusively to meet American demand, this symbolic pitcher celebrates both American Independence and the brotherly bond between America’s first President, George Washington and his French protégé Marquis de Lafayette – a bond that lasted until Washington’s death in 1799.

I chose this object because it covers where the object was created. The irony of England manufacturing American goods is not overstated, but also is clear for people who read it and gives them something to muse over while looking at the pitcher.

Exhibit Captions

Caption 1

This horn supposedly belonged to Edward Braddock, British General during the French and Indian War. Braddock died in battle after disregarding his colonial compatriots’ advice. Acquiring the horn, the Tempest family added the metal fixtures and their own names. In doing so this Philadelphia family connected themselves to the colonial period when Americans began developing an independent identity.

Caption 1 – Thoughts

For this caption, I wanted to get a sense of the larger, national narrative in which the Tempest Powder Horn fits. This caption relays the traditional interpretation of Braddock and the French and Indian War. The horn serves as a link between the family and the larger narrative. For visitors this mediation could be a way to think about the relationships between people and famous historical figures and begin a conversation about why these relationships exist. If the overall exhibit focuses on commemorating the founding of the new nation and we were organizing it by chronology of the event remembered, than this would be a potential label. The chronology in this case would go from the French and Indian War to the War of 1812.

Caption 2

In 1834, Robert Tempest added his name to a new silver band on this recently inherited powder horn. According to family legend, the horn belonged to British General Edward Braddock who died in the French and Indian War. By altering the horn Tempest family members claimed their place in the story of America’s colonial foundations.

Caption 2 – Thoughts

With this caption I wanted get a little more personal and use the experience of one Robert Tempest as a way to relate to the visitors. Often, families will have stories of objects that are meaningful, regardless of whether or not they are true. The feeling of inheriting one of these objects can be like owning a little bit of history. In this way visitors can access the object through an individual and understand commemoration by feeling what is like to think about family and personal histories. This caption leaves the horn’s history before the Tempests acquired it and its elaborate decorations as mysteries that the visitor can ponder if they wish. I imagine that this would be an appropriate label if we did the exhibit about how commemorating the founding of America comes from different sources. The powder horn, in this scenario, would be about families and individuals remembering personal histories in ways that thy feel are significant to the nation as a whole. Other object come from companies, clubs, and official organizations.

Caption 3

Robert Tempest acquired this powder horn in the 1750s and passed it to his son. Five generations of Tempests owned this horn, among them weavers, soldiers, and silversmiths. Reportedly belonging to notorious British General Edward Braddock in the French and Indian War, this horn became a canvas for one Philadelphia family to create their own legacy in the new American nation.

Caption 3 – Thoughts

This caption focuses on the Tempest family as a whole and the question of what it means that they continuously used and altered the powder horn. Like Caption 2, this caption relies on the visitor’s sense of family as an entry point for relating to the powder horn. The idea that the family tried to write out Braddock, commonly made out to be a fool in the historical record, and insert themselves could be a good conversation point for thinking about how different people can relate to past figures and events when they do not feel any connections. If the exhibit focused on how people use commemoration as a way to construct their histories than this caption would fit in.

Final Thoughts

A challenge I had with beginning to write these exhibit captions was deciding on a main subject and action. The horn has so many names on it and potentially all of these names tell a story. How to roll commemoration in with it and make sure that the writing is relevant to the mission of Independence Hall and the theme of building a new nation added more challenges. Doing this in fifty words is definitely more difficult, and took way more time, than I originally assumed.

To fit in with the mission of Independence Hall and the other artifacts I tried to use Braddock as a way to link the colonial period and the French and Indian War to the colonists beginning to view themselves as somehow independent from Britain. This connection in combination with the ways the Tempest’s engraved their own names on the horn provides a good platform to think about how people commemorate the founding of the nation. One thing that sets this particular artifact apart from the others is that specific individuals initiated the commemorating on the Tempest Powder Horn. Most of the artifacts were either mass produced, manufactured, purchased, or created for profit.

Each caption places the Tempests, Braddock, and commemoration in a particular relationship with slightly different connotations. Right now I like Caption 3 because it give a sense of the family and the generations that the horn lived through. Additionally, Caption 3 focuses on how, in addition to commemorating the colonial era, the alterations allowed the family to create a legacy. For thinking about commemoration, this type of active history making would be a useful conversation point.