Mining in the Adirondacks

FAIN: GE-50279-10

Adirondack Museum (Blue Mountain Lake, NY 12812)
Laura S. Rice (Project Director: January 2010 to June 2012)

Planning of a permanent exhibition on the history of mining in the Adirondacks along with an interactive website, curriculum development, and public programs.

The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York seeks an NEH Planning Grant of $40,000 towards the development of "Mining in the Adirondacks" a multi-faceted project that will include a 29,000 square foot permanent exhibit, an interactive web site module, curriculum development, and public programming. The exhibition will feature approximately 300 objects from the Adirondack Museum collection, including a tuyere plate, miners' safety gear, picks and drills, historic photographs, an ore cart, maps, iron pigs, garnet jewelry, household items and audio recordings. A mining tunnel, open pit and mine village landscape will be incorporated to provide an immersive experience for visitors. The "Mining in the Adirondacks" project seeks to interpret the history of mining in the Adirondack wilderness grounded in current scholarship, best museum practice, visitor studies research, and understanding of varied learning styles. Four humanities scholars will work with museum staff.