Caring for the Fort Steele collections

By Honor Neve 

Behind the scenes of Fort Steele Heritage Town the curatorial department is a small, but busy team that works throughout the year to maintain our historic buildings and artifacts. Despite this, many people do not know what a curator does.

I have been asked many times about what we get up to at the Wasa Hotel. This week I would like to share a little bit about what happens behind the scenes to preserve the history of the area.

Because the curatorial department is so small at Fort Steele our job is very diverse. First and foremost it is our responsibility to ensure all the buildings (both historical and reproduction) and artifacts are kept clean, safe, and in good condition. We work closely with our amazing Maintenance team when we need work done on any of our buildings.

We are also responsible for creating new displays. Whether it is a single display case or an entirely new building exhibit, a great deal of time and research is required to make sure the display is interesting, aesthetically appealing, educational, and all the information in that display is correct.

Old records and pictures have to be consulted, artifacts gathered and cleaned, mounts made to display delicate objects, information panels written, and the security of the objects considered. Everything in our buildings, from the wallpaper to the salad forks, has been carefully selected to create an accurate picture of history.

By now our collection is made up of thousands of artifacts, the majority of which have been donated by people from around the world. When caring for a diverse collection such as ours, there are 10 agents of deterioration to consider.

Security, pests, radiant humidity, temperature, fire, water, dissociation, direct physical forces, radiation (ie. light), and contaminants all contribute to the poor condition of artifacts. Although some artifacts in poor condition can be repaired through careful and meticulous work, many become too far gone to be restored. At that point it is the curator’s job to stabilize the object by cleaning it and placing it in a stable environment. Unfortunately some objects become so delicate that they cannot be placed on display.

Another important part of caring for historic collections is something that surprised me when I started working at Fort Steele.

The Integrated Pest Management program is the way in which we monitor the potential threat of pests in the collections. Some insects such as spiders and ground beetles don’t pose a threat to our collections but are simply an indicator of changing environmental conditions both inside and outside. However, the presence of Carpenter Ants and certain kinds of beetles and moths can indicate a possible serious infestation of pests interested in eating our collection.

Every month bug traps are placed and collected from all of our storage areas and thoroughly inspected for those dangerous bugs. The data is collected and a report is generated on the condition of our storage areas and further action can be recommended. I can tell you that IPM day is, unsurprisingly, my least favourite day of the month.

Each sticky trap has to be closely examined and every suspicious speck looked at through a microscope. There have been many times when a twitching spider leg, at high magnification, has come into my field of vision. However, it only takes up a single day, no matter how creepy, and it is an important part of keeping our valuable artifacts safe.

Of course I am not the only one responsible for keeping the site free from pests. Some people may have noticed our Pest Management Specialists roaming the park.

Don’t be fooled by the way they follow you around and lay on their backs for belly rubs, these guys are hard at work keeping the mice out of our buildings. They are of course the Fort Steele cats. Spicy, Spooky (also pictured above), and Harley make up the main body of our Pest Management department.

Most often you will find Harley guarding the chicken coops behind Lambi House, Spooky prefers the area around the dress shop (it is possible the ladies have some treats in there), and the very vocal Spicy will often be hanging around the Wasa Hotel.

All of our cats are very friendly and appreciate a pet for all their hard work. Careful with your cinnamon bun though! They have a partiality for Shauna’s baking.

I hope I have been able to shed a little light this week on what the curatorial department does here at Fort Steele. Every museum and heritage site is different, that requires different things from its curatorial staff. If anyone has any questions about the work that is being done here by the curatorial team or would like to do some research in our archives please do not hesitate to get in touch with Fort Steele.

– Honor Neve is Assistant Curator at Fort Steele Heritage Town

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