Barbara Ogbonna
the Frontier Culture Museum, 2012

 

Barbara at work as an interpreter on the West African farm and exhibit 

I was a summer intern at the Frontier Culture Museum located in Richmond Avenue, Staunton, Virginia. The Frontier Culture Museum is a living history museum with outdoor exhibits that narrate the story of the generations of American pioneers.

I worked as an interpreter and also a tour guide at the West African farm/ exhibit. My duty as an interpreter and a tour guide of the West African farm/ exhibit was to interpret the West African exhibit to visitors (public) on a daily basis for the duration of the internship.

I met with exhibit staff and developed working relationships with them, learnt exhibit interpretative programming, and provided suggestions for improvement. I equally did daily hands-on activities, which was a way of showing to the public the way people lived their daily lives, what they were known for, and how they performed those daily activities.