As a student of the Museum Science program at Texas Tech, I was trained to view museums with a critical eye. It was through this lens which I viewed the Nazareth Museum upon my first visit. As I stepped into the historic building that had served Nazareth for decades as a school, lunchroom, band hall, and now museum, my student-mind began firing off assessments and areas for improvement. Were those moments an academic exercise, I would have excelled. But what my classes failed to teach me was how to react when faced not only with inanimate objects, but a group of people who exuded pride for their heritage and looked to me for help in preserving it.
A warm welcome to the Nazareth Museum.
Since that first visit, I have tried to use my academic knowledge as a tool, but to allow the people of Nazareth to guide my work as an intern. One of my projects has been to assist the museum in creating a plan defining goals over the next 5 to 10 years. I have also been working with the Holy Family Parish of Nazareth to develop its archives, full of historic community treasures. Additionally, I am putting together a brochure for the Holy Family Cemetery and collecting and organizing historical and cultural information about Nazareth’s basketball legacy during the German Fest event this summer. The work that has been done already by the Nazareth Museum and the Holy Family Parish, almost entirely by volunteers, is incredible and inspiring. Their genuine kindness and passion has humbled me and brought about my own personal investment in the preservation of Nazareth’s heritage. I hope that I am able to do it justice over the coming months.
Anna Lackerman, the first person interred into the Holy Family Cemetery in 1906.
