Staff Writer

 Before she helped curate an exhibit on the death of Mary Bean, Camille Smalley had no inclination a University of New England class would lead her to a career at a museum.

“That was how I decided I wanted to go to graduate school to work in a museum,” she said last week as she watched college students put final touches on a new Saco Museum exhibition.

Three years after working on an exhibit about Bean, a mill girl who died in 1850 after a botched abortion, Smalley teamed up with UNE professor Elizabeth DeWolfe to teach a second group of students how to create the exhibit “Voyages and the Great Age of Sail.”

The exhibit is on display through Sept. 4.

Smalley, now program and education manager for the museum, said students enrolled in the history class spent the semester learning about maritime history and how to create a museum exhibition. They learned about 19^th century maritime history by examining the experiences of Saco sea captain Tristram Jordan and his family.

Students studied the letters Capt. Jordan and his wife, Catherine, wrote to each other to understand the role of Saco and Biddeford during that time period. Jordan, who was at sea for months at a time, wrote long letters that captured both the excitement of being at sea and of the time he could return to farm his land.

Catherine, who stayed in Saco, wrote of her struggles raising their children, running a household and managing the family farm and business interests. Both Capt. Jordan and his son, Frederic, died at sea.

Smalley said students used the Jordans’ experiences to explore local, regional and national issues of the time period. Each student researched topics for four themes: Shipbuilding, life at sea, life on land and tragedy abroad.

Each student researched their topic from a variety of sources then worked in small groups to design the exhibition. Smalley said students met with a museum design professional to learn how to effectively tell stories through an exhibit.

“The museum itself has a wealth of information. It’s a unique opportunity for students to use primary sources and artifacts,” she said.

Brittany Mayou, a junior studying history and sociology, spent final days before the exhibit opening finishing details of her part of the display on Josephine Peary. She said she researched Peary, the wife of the man who discovered the North Pole, to better understand what life was like at the time for women.

Mayou said she signed up for the class because she enjoys learning from DeWolfe, the author of several books on local history. She said the experience was “very cool” and research techniques will help her when she goes to law school.

Mayou said she was able to use artifacts that once belonged to Peary to create her part of the display. A glass display case contains Peary’s hand mirror, tray, medal and a curling iron. Mayou said the curling iron – heated using an open flame – is the “world’s scariest artifact.”

Joe Butsch, a junior history major, said the name of the class “jumped off the page at me” when he was choosing courses for the semester.

“It sounded fun and it’s been awesome. I love being around the artifacts. It’s right up my alley,” he said. “I knew I was a history buff, but I didn’t know I was this crazy about it.”

Kathleen Doyle, a senior history major, signed up for the class because of her interest in museums and archives. The former pre-med student chose to research medicine at sea and gathered artifacts that include a medicine chest and amputation kit.

“I wasn’t even thinking about working in museums until this exhibit,” she said. “It’s really a good experience because this is now what I want to do.”

DeWolfe, the UNE professor, said the class is “just fabulous fun.”

“It brings history alive and gives students great skills,” she said. “It’s a very hands-on class.”

DeWolfe said she enjoys teaching a mix of history majors and students who study other disciplines. She said it is fascinating to see how students tell stories through their perspectives as young men and women.

“Each time I teach this class I’m intrigued and a little surprised by the direction the students take the story,” she said. “They’ve risen to the challenge and (the exhibit) is fabulous.”