An Awesome and Productive Thursday!

Hello Everyone!  Liz and I (and our Board Members) have been working hard cataloging the collection and developing policies and procedures!  Everything seems to be coming together and we've had such a productive day, I thought we'd share it with you!

This morning we finalized our volunteer program! We are looking for volunteers in all aspects of museum work.  If you are interested in volunteering for us please email us at daaha.inc@gmail.com or call us at 815-756-8737.  All volunteers must be willing to submit to a background check.

In exhibits news, I've been brainstorming all morning on a new DeKalb Ag exhibit, highlighting the history and the major accomplishments of the company in celebration of the 100th year of the DeKalb Brand.  I also ordered materials for our new children's exhibit, SPROUTS, this afternoon.  I cannot wait for all of you to see it and I will blog about it soon.  We are  also looking to do exhibits on major agricultural innovations developed right here in northern Illinois including the Marsh Harvester, the John Deere plow, the McCormick Reaper, and Barbed Wire.

We've calculated that Liz is approximately two to three weeks away from completing the object inventory of our Original Collection.  (YEAH LIZ!!)  From there she will move onto cataloging our paper documents.

Looking around, its hard to believe Liz and I have only been here for about three months!  We've turned this place upside down! But we can't wait to get it back in shape and ready for our new exhibits!  We'll keep you all posted!

Jenn

COLLECTIONS CORNER:: Embosser

The featured artifact for this month is an embosser.  Embossing is a technique of creating an impression of some kind of design, lettering, or pattern on another surface like paper, cloth, or metal to make a relief. Embossing can be used for aesthetic purposes or, as in this case,  functionally. 

This Corporate Seal Embosser was used by the DeKalb Ag Research Incorporation of Delaware in 1938.  This is an important piece of the company’s history because the DeKalb Agricultural Association, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware during this year.  An employee would have used the embosser to mark legal papers to certify or cause to become certified through a notary public or bill.