Julia Delgadillo, American Museum of Natural History Gottesman Research Library, Fall 2024

Tuesday, Dec 17, 2024

At the American Museum of Natural History, in the Gottesman Research Library, I worked primarily with 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film material in performing a collection assessment of film materials that had previously been unexamined, and uncatalogued. These films were born from different departments of the Museum, including but not limited to Animal Behavior, the Hayden Planetarium, and Mammology. Throughout the course of the internship, these films were examined for any available information, and supplemental research was done in order to determine their provenance, and their importance to museum history. Exciting discoveries were made at this internship, from 16mm films detailing experiments in cat bisexuality, to nitrate prints hiding amongst the collection. I was able to handle film directly, and learn to make decisions about recommending films for preservation and digitization based on not only condition, but context within the institution. 

back a person in front of shelves

American Museum of Natural History

person holding a can of film in a room with tall shelving

American Museum of Natural History