A relatively recent addition to the team, Lindsay Miller is the Maltz Museum’s Registrar and Exhibitions Coordinator. She definitely hit the ground running, making sure that the installation and opening of Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American was successful. Not only was this the first time the exhibition from the National Museum of American Jewish History had traveled outside of Philadelphia, but the Maltz Museum added in some related Cleveland-centric artifacts from the Cleveland Indians and the Baseball Heritage Museum. I recently asked her ato share a little bit more about her role at the Museum.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I received my Master of Library and Information Science degree from Kent State University, which had just started a Museum Studies program at the time. I knew heading into the program that I would like to work in a museum environment and from there I completed a number of internships and grant-funded projects in Ohio, Maryland and Washington, D.C. After returning home to Cleveland Heights I began working at the Maltz Museum as a Visitor Services Associate. When I found out about the Registrar position I just had to apply.
Explain what you do at the Museum.
I manage the Museum’s core and temporary exhibitions. This involves scheduling conservation, installation of artifacts and working with the Western Reserve Historical Society and The Temple-Tifereth Israel to make sure their collections are properly cared for. I also do research on traveling exhibitions and coordinate their arrival and installation.
What appeals to you about the Museum’s offerings?
I enjoy the diversity of the Museum’s special exhibitions and how that space is often used to present new ideas that feed the overall mission and the main themes of the core exhibitions. I am especially excited to work on the upcoming exhibitions Violins of Hope in October and The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann in January 2016. Our core exhibitions, The Temple-Tifereth Israel Gallery and An American Story are fantastic learning tools for school groups and individuals who want to learn more about Jewish life in Cleveland. I am constantly amazed at how much information is contained in those spaces. I find something new every time I walk through the galleries.
What’s one surprising thing you learned about an artifact or upcoming exhibition or piece of Cleveland history since you started here?
The “Faith-to-Faith” section in the “Keeping the Faith” area of An American Story was something that I found new and interesting. The migration of Cleveland’s Jewish community to the east meant that there were a number of congregations looking for new homes. It discusses how, as the congregations moved, the old buildings would often become new homes for other religious congregations. We have photographs of some examples such as the Civic building in Cleveland Heights, which was originally the home of the B’nai Jeshurun congregation until 1980. It was interesting to learn more about the history of these buildings I see every day.
