{"id":2743,"date":"2020-03-31T22:05:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T22:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kelsey-museum.blog\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2020-12-22T19:46:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T19:46:51","slug":"from-the-archives-52-march-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.lsa.umich.edu\/kelsey-museum-blog\/2020\/03\/31\/from-the-archives-52-march-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Archives #52"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sebasti\u00e1n Encina, Collections Manager<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are living in interesting times. COVID-19 has changed our daily routines and lifestyles. We are no longer socializing as we normally do. Museums, galleries, and businesses remain closed in order to stymie the spread of the coronavirus. Instead, we work from home as we can, making adjustments to the database, writing policies, connecting with colleagues. We try to carry on as normal \u2014 as normal as we can make it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Kelsey Museum staff, working from home is difficult, as so much of what we do revolves around art and artifacts. We cannot bring these objects home with us. During this time, our kitchen tables become our offices, our couches our desks. Meetings become virtual, and colleagues get to show off their homes and their pets to their coworkers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Kelsey archives also represent the sense of home. For this month\u2019s \u201cFrom the Archives,\u201d we present several photographs of the Karanis<\/a> dig house, which was constructed specifically for the staff who worked at the site in the 1920s and 1930s. Viewing these photos gives us a chance to view both the living and working spaces for the likes of E. E. Peterson, Harold Falconer, Frederick Joslin, Joy Fletcher-Allen, George Swain, and so many more. While they were in Egypt, life centered around this house. Work happened here. Laundry happened here. Cooking happened here. Pets lived here. And the residents of the house documented their surroundings and home life.<\/span><\/p>\n

In these pictures, we see just that. We see the house as it stood in the 1920s and early 1930s (much has changed since its original construction), the staff helping with laundry, with cooking, Mrs. Joy Fletcher-Allen serving as hostess. Less than 100 years ago, the Karanis staff was operating in ways similar to our current experience, albeit under very different circumstances. Eventually, the Karanis staff returned to their normal routines, and in time, so will we.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"house
The house as it appeared in the summer of 1932. KM photograph 0465.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"mudbrick<\/p>\n

Camp house at Kom Aushim (Karanis), with flags flying in honor of H. E. Ismail Sidy Pasha\u2019s visit to the Fayum.<\/p>\n