The realisation of ambition is a heady and sometimes alarming experience, and when you are a small museum with no full-time staff, the challenges along the way can seem insurmountable at times.
The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum in Dunfermline incorporates the 18th-century cottage where Carnegie was born. Carnegie’s life was not without controversy but it was spectacularly successful, and the philanthropic ideals he acted on during his lifetime have left an enduring legacy.
The art deco museum building was commissioned and opened in 1928 by Carnegie’s wife, Louise, to primarily house the unique collection of 56 presentation caskets given to her husband.
The majority of these were presented with the freedom of cities and towns across the British Isles in appreciation of his endowment of swimming baths, libraries, schools, colleges and many more institutions for the benefit of the public. Exceptionally, there were also presentations from Russia and the US.
Casket collection
While the overall collection of the museum includes much relating to Carnegie’s life, times and active legacy, this extraordinary collection of caskets and related stories have been clamouring for more than 80 years to be brought to the notice of both the public and the museum world.
The museum’s manager, Lorna Owers, had for a long time envisaged creating a prestigious catalogue of the collection but budget restrictions seemed to be impossible to overcome – until a student intern from the University of St Andrew’s appeared on the scene.
In 2012, Kirke Kook was doing a master's degree in museum and gallery studies and was attracted to the story of the number of caskets presented to one person, the mixture of social and art history behind them and the peculiarly British concept of freedoms.
Meticulous research
To the delight of everyone, her studies and meticulous research gave birth to what is so much more than a catalogue; it is also a rich source of beautiful images, fascinating stories and interwoven history from Mary of Guise to the first commercial railroad in America. We soon realised that an exhibition was inevitable and desirable.
What followed was 18 months of hard work, difficult decisions on prioritised conservation, rejected grant applications, sociable (supervised but scary) cleaning by part-time staff and volunteers, hunting for designers, borrowing of cases and squeezing of budgets. All this while having to look after the day-to-day work of the museum and its activity programme.
In summing up the experience, Kook’s overriding wish is to feel that the balance of interest for all audiences has been struck in the exhibition and in the catalogue. And as Owers emerges from endless proofreading, case checking and light adjustment, her final words are that it was “absolutely, definitely worth it”.
Nora Rundell is the chief executive of the Carnegie Dunfermline & Hero Fund Trusts
The Carnegie Treasures exhibition ends on 30 November. Catalogue available on request from info@carnegiebirthplace.com
The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum in Dunfermline incorporates the 18th-century cottage where Carnegie was born. Carnegie’s life was not without controversy but it was spectacularly successful, and the philanthropic ideals he acted on during his lifetime have left an enduring legacy.
The art deco museum building was commissioned and opened in 1928 by Carnegie’s wife, Louise, to primarily house the unique collection of 56 presentation caskets given to her husband.
The majority of these were presented with the freedom of cities and towns across the British Isles in appreciation of his endowment of swimming baths, libraries, schools, colleges and many more institutions for the benefit of the public. Exceptionally, there were also presentations from Russia and the US.
Casket collection
While the overall collection of the museum includes much relating to Carnegie’s life, times and active legacy, this extraordinary collection of caskets and related stories have been clamouring for more than 80 years to be brought to the notice of both the public and the museum world.
The museum’s manager, Lorna Owers, had for a long time envisaged creating a prestigious catalogue of the collection but budget restrictions seemed to be impossible to overcome – until a student intern from the University of St Andrew’s appeared on the scene.
In 2012, Kirke Kook was doing a master's degree in museum and gallery studies and was attracted to the story of the number of caskets presented to one person, the mixture of social and art history behind them and the peculiarly British concept of freedoms.
Meticulous research
To the delight of everyone, her studies and meticulous research gave birth to what is so much more than a catalogue; it is also a rich source of beautiful images, fascinating stories and interwoven history from Mary of Guise to the first commercial railroad in America. We soon realised that an exhibition was inevitable and desirable.
What followed was 18 months of hard work, difficult decisions on prioritised conservation, rejected grant applications, sociable (supervised but scary) cleaning by part-time staff and volunteers, hunting for designers, borrowing of cases and squeezing of budgets. All this while having to look after the day-to-day work of the museum and its activity programme.
In summing up the experience, Kook’s overriding wish is to feel that the balance of interest for all audiences has been struck in the exhibition and in the catalogue. And as Owers emerges from endless proofreading, case checking and light adjustment, her final words are that it was “absolutely, definitely worth it”.
Nora Rundell is the chief executive of the Carnegie Dunfermline & Hero Fund Trusts
The Carnegie Treasures exhibition ends on 30 November. Catalogue available on request from info@carnegiebirthplace.com
