[AT WORK]

BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM

Curatorial administrator

Nancy Richards enjoys the stories of
museum visitors, who in turn,
enjoy a fresh audience

NANCY RICHARDS >> Here at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, we don't have a lot in the way of administration, so we double up on duties that would be spread out at larger museums. It's just more efficient that way.

As curator, I'm responsible for the artifacts and making sure they're accessioned and preserved properly, and if they're on display, we figure out the story line and the signage that goes with each piece.

There are quite a few educational goals we have in designing exhibits. We have to make sure everything is clear and plain and easily understandable. Sometimes the science and the history can be quite complicated.

I also deal with public events, such as the history roundtables we host at the park, and often there are special groups -- usually families and survivors of the submarine war -- and we lead special tours for them.

Generally work goes Monday through Friday, but you can see that we need to be available anytime, night or day. I even like to do submarine history research when I'm on vacation!

My favorite part is meeting people. Some folks haven't seen a submarine or been back to Pearl Harbor for 50 years, and their eyes just fill up. And I love to hear their stories. Their families have heard their stories a million times, but they're new to me!

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