Life as a Collections Volunteer
Museums are spaces for communication and collaboration, where objects come to life when we hold, observe or tell their stories. Learning how museum collections evolve to reflect the diverse realities of society and providing access to them is something I have wanted to do since completing my MA in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art. My wish to deepen my understanding of the museum sector led me to volunteer at the Warner Textile Archive and Braintree Museum.
When I think back on my time as a volunteer, I don’t think any two days were the same. One week I might be cataloguing 19th and 20th century paper designs from the Warner & Sons textile collection; another week I might be telling the story of the children who evacuated London during the Second World War through a family trail. On other occasions I found myself carefully repackaging lavish three-pile velvets – textiles with an intricate structure designed by Frank Warner himself – or cleaning the punched jacquard cards used by the power looms at Warner & Sons. Essential for controlling the patterns on the looms, these perforated cards were an early innovation that laid the groundwork for later computer technology. Thanks to the intimate scale of the archive and museum, I was able to learn many of the practical procedures required to care for and display the objects in the collection. At the same time, I gained fascinating insights into the histories of material culture, manufacturing and labour across different technologies.
I not only appreciated the diversity of tasks available to pick up, but also the variety of the collection itself: costumes, textiles, paper designs, pieces of Victorian technology, and everyday tools were just a few of the remarkable objects I encountered in the museum stores. If I had to pick a personal highlight, it would be any notebook, contract book, or instruction manual from the Crittall Windows collection. Based in Essex, Crittall Windows played a pivotal role in modern architecture worldwide. Their steel-framed windows were integral to iconic buildings such as the Bauhaus in Germany and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, designed by Mies van der Rohe. This connection to modernism, emphasising functional design and innovation, is reflected in the Crittall factory’s shift to munitions production during both World Wars. Learning how these industries were established, how they thrived, and the conditions under which they transformed solidified my interest in local manufacturing histories with broader global implications.
Although working in an archive or museum may seem solitary, the reality is full of dialogue. Listening to the other volunteers and staff members who have been at the archive and museum for years, who are so knowledgeable about the collection and its care protocols, I was able to learn so much. Beyond the everyday acts of care, objects become repositories of memories through people’s voices, and this too is part of what keeps them alive. Their meanings change, their value and condition too, and that is when they become most interesting, as their lives intersect with other lives over time. To follow their journeys – to observe these changes and play a part in their lives – is what I find most challenging and rewarding about collections management.
As I continue my journey into collections management, I carry with me the knowledge and generosity of the people I met at the Warner Textile Archive and Braintree District Museum.
