Nathan Whetten and Drs. Marti Allen, Anthropology and Alan Parrish, Religion

The subject of my project was former BYU professor Dr. Paul Cheesman and his collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts. During Dr. Cheesman’s collecting years there was significant numbers of collectors, with many different goals. Many collections were made for museums, or by archaeologists, or by people just seeking interesting objects. My goal was to examine Dr. Cheesman’s purpose in collecting and to mount an exhibition of his artifacts in the JSB.

The collections of Dr. Cheesman, including artifacts, manuscripts, and photographs, had been donated by his family in the early 1980s. Subsequently, many of the artifacts had been separated from the main body of the collection as a result of gifts he made to colleagues, a theft in the JSB, and other reasons. Thus, the first step of my project was to gather and inventory the artifacts. After inventorying, I selected artifacts for display that fulfilled various qualifications. First, due to the length of display time, four to six years, no extremely fragile artifacts could be displayed. Those chosen had to be composed of metal, stone, or unpainted pottery. I wanted to illustrate some of Dr. Cheesman’s Book of Mormon themes, such as weapons and tools. I also had to determine which artifacts were genuine and which were forgeries or replicas and label them as such, both in the collection and in the exhibition.

The next step was to design the display. Shelves and brackets had to be found for the case, and mounts needed to be made for some of the artifacts. The artifacts needed to be aesthetically displayed and, at the same time, properly supported. I worked with Gene Riggs, a specialist in designing exhibition mounts at the MOA. He not only assisted in the construction of the mounts, but was patient in instructing me as to why specific mounting methods were used. I was taught how structural integrity in a mount must be balanced with the desired display of an object.

The final step in production of the exhibit was writing the labels to tell the story of Dr. Cheesman and his artifacts. After many discussions with a confident of his, Dr. Parrish, and after discussing the content of the collection with Dr. Allen, I was able to draw conclusions about Dr. Cheesman’s collecting goals. I also learned a great deal from examining Dr. Cheesman’s books and manuscripts. Dr. Cheesman was aware of the theories that events and stories of the Book of Mormon occurred in the Americas. By collecting Pre-Columbian artifacts and taking photographs of important sites, Dr. Cheesman strove to increase testimonies of the Book of Mormon. He felt that viewing examples of written languages and artifacts from Pre-Columbian America would perhaps help strengthen the testimonies of the viewers. Therefore, the goal of my exhibit was to honor his wishes towards that end.

This ORCA-sponsored project allowed me many opportunities to increase my experience in the specialized field of museum practices. It allowed me to work with people who are experts in their fields. The exhibition itself affords BYU students, faculty, and other visitors the opportunity to view part of Dr. Cheesman’s vast collection of artifacts and to experience the strengths of his testimony in the Book of Mormon that, for him, was confirmed by these artifacts. NB: At the time of writing, the labels and photodidactics are still in the final stage of production, but will be installed by mid-September 1999. The artifacts themselves are already installed.