By INDRAYUDH SINHA and ELLA WALTERS
On Sept. 6, The Logan Museum of Anthropology hosted a “Paleo pop-up” for Open Doors Beloit, this year’s theme for the Beloit Heritage Days. The exhibition was curated by Nikita Werner, curator of exhibits and programs for the Logan Museum. The pop up brought out collections usually inaccessible to the public. The event also coincided with the 100th anniversary of the expedition to France and French occupied Algeria, through which much of the items on display were acquired. Tables were set up in the Logan atrium, with a laid out paper chart of chronology, and the material set beside their respective time periods, and accompanying illustrations from digital artist Pelycosaur24’s Stone Age 101 series showing what prehumans may have looked like, from skull models to saber tooth jewellery to stone tools, ranging from the Upper Paleolithic period to the Basal Paleolithic period. The museum’s student assistants Marino Komai’26 and Enigma Calvaria’26 aided Nikita Werner in explaining the collections to the visitors.
Before the pop up we sat down with Professor Werner who had imagined and curated the event. Usually Beloit College would host tours of our Native American burial mounds, but this year she wanted to showcase some of the oldest artifacts in the collection. For the event, she wanted to not just have them behind a glass door with accompanying labels, but instead being in the open air close enough to touch and interact with, for real people recounting and responding to any question they might have.
The conversation further led to a foray into the political implications of acquiring materials from French occupied Algeria. Professor Werner explained that collections were acquired through part excavation and part second-hand purchases from private French collectors. The French government levied a tax on acquired materials from Algeria; to evade taxes, the private collectors who usually kept the materials in their houses or inns without much knowledge about its cultural context, were compelled to sell it to American institutional collectors like those from the Logan Museum. Archaeologists from the Logan museum under the leadership of Alonzo Pond went to Algeria in 1925 and were leased land by the French government, from which they excavated some of the materials in the exhibition. The expedition was funded by Frank Granger Logan, the historical patron of the Logan Museum, who bankrolled a significant effort to increase the diversity of the museum’s collections, from having a largely Native American collection to expanding towards North African ones. The expansion, however, was driven by ethically problematic ideas of “Old World anthropology,” expanding the museum’s collections from the “New World people,” or Native Americans, to “Old World people,” or Africans. There were also questions of the ethical congruity of purchasing materials extracted under colonial occupation from French collectors.
We talked to Heather MacIsaac’16, who was visiting the exhibition, and learned that she had presented her archivals findings as an Anthropology major in the symposium. “I found a letter from the French Minister of Antiquities to Beloit College, expressing concerns and banning them from selling the extracted materials to the Germans,” she said. “And then the American president wrote back, saying that no, we’re not selling the materials to the Germans!” MacIsaac’s findings were fascinating, giving us a peek into the history of anthropology, its colonial origins, and the contentious global climate of World War II in the background.
During the event we interviewed Penny Yurkew, the Assistant Dean of Academics at Boylan Catholic High School who lives a couple blocks away. She told us that this event was “number one on her list” and shared her approval of the event. As a former teacher and school administrator herself, she was very happy to see all the kids at the event getting up close and personal with all the artifacts and complimented how knowledgeable and engaging the presenters were.
One of these aforementioned presenters, Marino Komai’26, also shared that they were happy to see all the visitors and especially the younger ones enjoying anthropology, as usually the museum does not get too many visitors, most of whom are usually older people.
According to Sky Pomeranz’28, the front desk attendant working during the event, between 150 to 200 people attended. More than that, only around 50 got their “passport” signed, which was a part of the Open Doors Event where people would get their brochure stamped at events and after receiving four would get a free turtle ice cream.
Anee, a visitor who we had met the week prior looking at the Logan displays, showcased her excitement about the “Open Doors” theme saying how the ice cream was great and all but it was the “brain chemistry” and excitement, the adventure, of going to various places and getting stamps. Anee is also one of the multiple people at the event whom Sky described observing having “a monumental experience.” Sky recalled talking to a family who themselves were indigenous and had indigenous artifacts that they were considering donating to the Logan. They also talked about a group of young boys who had been very engaged in the pop-up and even ended up taking a group photo with Nikita Wener.
We were lucky enough to get the chance to interview some young boys who turned out to be 6th and 7th graders, and were driven two hours from Appleton to attend this event. Ishaan Abbi, Ethan Champaign, Arjun Gangasani, and Owen Champaign came with their FIRST Lego League Robotics coach Praveen Gangasani to help do research for this years competition entitled “Unearthed” which is all about uncovering the past to discover the future that draws a lot on archaeology. The young viewers thoroughly enjoyed their time at the Logan, even exploring future possibilities of connecting to the college, showing how something like the pop-up can stimulate young minds with Anthropology. At a time when the liberal arts are losing their financial and social allure, community outreach offers hope and scenes of unity.
The event brought together a diverse group of people, from freshmen like Kaz Brooks’29 who has already declared an Anthropology Geology double major and intends on a museum studies minor, to alumni like Heather MacIsaac’16, to people local to the area or some hours away.
The “Open Doors” brochure features the old large brown doors to the Logan. Despite the “open” title, the doors are actually closed, like they usually are. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way in. Things like traditions, mounds, challenges, new ideas, old bones, contemporary and storied buildings are reminders that events are important for sustaining a community.
Many people said that they did not know that the Logan Museum is often open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. But hopefully more people will feel welcome to our college and learn from us as we can also learn from them.
Featured Image: Ella Walters ’28
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