In

2011, I joined a four-person curatorial team working on American Enterprise, a

new exhibiBon about the history of business in the United States. I have been lucky
to be fully-integrated into the team and to learn about collecBng pracBces.

Research for the forthcoming American Enterprise exhibit unearthed important

objects in the collecBons, including arBfacts acquired in the 19th and early 20th
centuries. But the project also drove the acquisiBon of new arBfacts related to
stories, technologies, and experiences that were under-represented or non-existent
in the naBonal collecBons.

The Du Mont collecBon came to the Museum of History and Technology in 1966, a
year aQer Allen B. Du Mont died. While curators in the 1960s were interested in the
history of innovaBon, they collected a broad range of scienBc instruments, cathode
ray tubes, television receivers, company literature, product promoBons, and media.
This made it possible to reassemble arBfacts into a story about the compeBBve
business of broadcasBng.

The Raster, a company magazine, provided a wonderful source for DuMont

corporaBons acBviBes in the 1940s and 1950s. Earlier curators had an eye for sexier
objects that could be used as focal points in an exhibiBon. Although the delicate
nature of the silk fabric will prevent this piece from going on display for long periods
of Bme, it is a striking object.

Although Spanish-language television got its start in the mid-1950s, just as DuMont
struggled for fourth place in network broadcasBng, these business werent
represented in the collecBons. CollecBng for a sweeping show like American
Enterprise, the curators realized that this was also a chance to bring in new arBfacts
to tell under-recognized stories. Were working with the family who launched KCOR-
TV in San Antonio, Texas and Univision to idenBfy and acquire key business records
and objects to document and exhibit the history of Spanish language television.

I learned a tremendous amount about collecBng. The chief lesson was that collecBng
is a reciprocal act and requires a commitment to sharing authority with object
donors. PracBcing collecBng has added life to readings that I usually use in class, such
as Adair, et.al. Le#ng Go. Where the authors in this set of case studies describe the
relaBonships between curators, stakeholders and audiences, I thought oQen of their
observaBons about experBse when working with object donors. And, I learned in a
real way that donors know more than I do about their history, their business, their
objects, and their communiBes. I need their experBse to make the collecBng iniBaBve
work so that it serves the goals of the museum, future researchers and curators, and
the wider community of ve million visitors who come to the museum each year.