Interviewee: Mrs. Nancy Glaser, female, Caucasian, Director of the Augusta Museum of History, Augusta, Georgia

Interviewer: Dr. Niki Christodoulou, Augusta University

********************Dr. Christodoulou: Nancy. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Like, where and when you were born, and some of your background – maybe studies and the like. (0:31 seconds)

Nancy Glaser: Sure, sure. Nancy Glaser. I’m the Executive Director of the Augusta Museum of History. My world started in Charleston, West Virginia. So, I was born and raised in West Virginia - went to undergraduate school at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College of Education - getting excited to become a teacher. Um taught intercity Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and decided at that point to go on to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. Received my M.A.D. – sort of not – it was an education Master’s, but I did a lot in museum studies, sort of created my own curriculum. And got my Master’s degree and I decided after about the third riot in Pittsburg that it was time for me to look for other opportunities, but in the Education field. So, I made the decision to – My mother worked at this mausoleum. So, I’d grown up with museums, and I made the decision to go into museum work and have felt that I have been on vacation ever since. Love what I do. My first job was at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia and from there I was there for three years, and I went down to The Ringling Museum of Art: Sarasota. Was there for six and a half years. Decided I want to put my Education degree there. Was a gentleman by the name of Howard Gardener – multiple intelligences. I wanted to really experiment with the idea of how that could work in a museum setting. Art museums didn’t always lend themselves to those kinds of experiments. So, I went to a children’s museum in Richmond, Virginia, and I got to have a wonderful time learning how to apply Howard Gardener’s theories. Um, was there for six years and what I found was that I missed this stuff, the collections. The other thing I had never done in museum work was I never built a building, and there was an opportunity in Kentucky at the State Museum; it was part of the Kentucky Historical Society – to build a building. So, I decided to go to Frankfurt, Kentucky. Was the Director of the Museum, the State Museum, as part of the Kentucky Historical Society and we built a Kentucky History Center. I was there for 11 years. After a while, I got the itch again, and there’s a pattern here: I always been around water, rivers, and stuff like that. So, when I came to – there were a few jobs that I was applying to at that point. And I absolutely fell in love with this, and the only thing I ever heard of Augusta, Georgia was there was this little golf tournament called The Masters, and that was about it. I had not really known much more about Augusta, Georgia. I came down here for one interview, and I started falling in love. And I came right back, and I totally fell in love with the area and had been here since 2005. So, it’s probably the longest I ever been in an institution at this point. Um – (4:23)

Dr. Christodoulou: You’ve been here for 11 years? (4:27)

Nancy Glaser: Eleven years, here. Well, more than 11 years. Since 2005. Yeah, about 11 years. Math is not my – Good thing they have calculators on computers. Lots to do here; there were a lot of issues that had to be addressed. Um, but they had a great board, an excellent staff. The staff has been growing and changing over the years, as the museum has been growing and

changing over the years. Um, we are the only nationally accredited museum in this region. Um, there are only, I think, 18 nationally accredited museums in Georgia. In the country, there are a little over 820 nationally accredited museums out of 18,000. So, it is – there are standards that you have to maintain and adhere to in order to keep that accreditation. So, we continue doing things. There’s no gray. You’re either doing them right or not doing them. And we continue doing things right, here. (5:38)

Dr. Christodoulou: What do you need to do in order to stay accredited? (5:42)

Nancy Glaser: There are public programs; there are ways that you work with collections; and processing collections; and caring for collections. People entrust their family treasures and their heritage to this intuition, and we have an obligation to take care of it properly. There is also a matter presenting information. So, you have exhibits, exhibitions, and there – and at that is just listening to the community and knowing, what the, what the expectations are. When I first arrived, I was told, you know, on certain terms, that there needed to be an exhibition on golf. Not the masters, on golf history. And that’s what we have now. There was also an expectation that we needed to have an exhibition on one of the international musical icons, and that’s Mr. James Brown. We have an exhibition on Mr. Brown now. Another expectation was we needed a – There were a number of people from this area, Local Legends, is what the name of the show is that needed to be explored. And they needed to be explored, and their stories needed to be told. We have an exhibition on legends. So, its listening to the community and hearing the kinds of things that they want to see. The other is, um, for me, it’s, it’s getting – sharing as much of the collections as we can. And we can’t – as any museum can’t do – we can’t get anything out at any given time. Most museums get anything from five percent to eight percent of their collections out on view. The rest of them are in storage. So I made a commitment, I guess it was probably five or six years ago, that we would make our collections more accessible. The easiest way to do that is with technology. So, people can go to our website, and we are slowly getting our collections available to be seen on our website, and that’s important to me. And that continues, and we now have well over three million items in this collection. The other thing I found rather unusual – Augusta is very unusual – is to have a museum of this size, history museum of this size. The town is small, and I applaud the people of Augusta having the foresight to do that. I had nothing to do with creating this facility. I just tried to improve on what my predecessors have done. (8:30)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yeah, that’s pretty amazing. Indeed, it’s um - (8:33)

Nancy Glaser: It’s fun. (8:34)

Dr. Christodoulou: It is fun. They appreciate, apparently, you know, the history they have here. (8:42)

Nancy Glaser: It’s a rich history here. I mean uh Georgia is one of the original 13 colonies; it certainly doesn't have the history of where you’ve come from. It isn’t quite that old, but we are one of the original 13 colonies… Although Georgia was considered, at that time, a buffer state between Spanish Florida and the rest of the colonies. But it, it, goes back to the beginning, and it’s got a rich history, and it’s terrific. (9:11)

Dr. Christodoulou: Did you have to learn about or felt like learning much of the history that… (9:13)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, I’ve had to. Oh, Yeah. I‘ve had – I’ve been - fortunately, there was a curator here when I arrived, Gordon Baker, who introduced me to the world quite a bit. I’ve had – there’s Dr. Edward Cashin, who used to be a Professor of History at Augusta University. I guess then, Augusta State. He was incredibly helpful, and I have all his books. One of the people, my go to people, is Dr. Leanne Caldwell, who is an Augusta University, Professor. So, there are people out there that I’ve been very fortunate to have as an access, and being able to introduce me to this world here in Augusta, this region, really. Because the museum covers not just Richmond County, but also the history of Burke County, of um Columbia County, of McDuffie County on this side of the river, on the other side of Edge Field, and Aiken. It’s what they call; the acronym is the C.S.R.A.: Central Savannah River Area. And that is our mission: to preserve and present the history of the C.S.R.A. (10:28)

Dr. Christodoulou: Do you remember what were some of the things that impressed you? From the things that you heard, what was it that made an impression on you? (10:48)

Nancy Glaser: That it’s so much more the history here is so much more than what just the surface. You know, just the golf, and there’s so much going on here that the whole mill history, the canal, the Augusta Canal. The golf history is pretty interesting. You know, what I found fascinating was that the first golf course on this side of the river was really part of the Bonaire Hotel, which now – it’s sort of morphed into what is now the Augusta Country Club. And actually, then you have The Forest Hills – was the next major course that was put together and built. And is actually now the home course of the Augusta University; that’s their home court, Forest Hills. And the baby of the group, you know, 1933, was that little golf course on Washington Road. So, it’s more that things are more than just what people just read about in the paper necessarily. You start scratching the surface, and you get the lower layers, and it’s just one great idea: one great story after another. That’s what museums are about, you know, telling those wonderful stories. And it doesn’t have to be I mean we have a full steam engine here. It doesn’t have to big a huge thing. And we have – it was great; we have a badge. It was only about this big [makes a small circle in hand] and could have been nothing. Nothing really, and we flipped it over, and we were able to tell who it belonged to, and it happened to be a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, who was um – actually, this was from the late 1800s, the badge. We found out that he was actually the son of the Augusta Jailer, and he was born in the Augusta jail. And how cool is that; it’s all from a little badge. So, you don’t have to have a big thing to be able to tell a great story, and museum are in the business of telling stories; that’s what I’ve been able to find out. Since I’ve been here, it doesn’t have to necessarily be somebody famous; it can be somebody infamous too. But there are some wonderful and great stories, and I don’t know if Augusta or this region is unique in that. It’s just a matter of when you are in an area that’s the kind of things that I always sought out and a lot of people have. And I wish I had more opportunities to introduce those stories to even a broader audience. And that what we’re working on now; that’s the part of it: marketing and getting the word out. (13:27)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, what are some other objects you have found…or pictures, maybe? (13:32)

Nancy Glaser: Oh jeez. I have over three million items in here. Um, we had discovered um just recently last year, we were given close to 800 thousand negatives from a photograph studio called Fitz Simms. And it dates back to the late 1940s; it’s being able to document from the late 1940s all the way through, I guess, the early 200s and all the people; and all the places; and all the um the events. All these were documented in this one photography studio. And understand there were millions, and all we were able to take at this point were – they had a ten-year contact with the local newspaper. But the Augusta Chronicle the regional newspaper. They also did a lot – they worked for insurance companies; they did a lot of aerials for Augusta. I mean can tell you – I had been able to see the development of the whole region. (14:41)

Dr. Christodoulou: But from – (14:42)

Nancy Glaser: Just from the 1940s, the late 1940s, all the way through, you know, the 1950s 1960s, 1970s; and all that stuff – all that’s back there. You know all the great stories about that. So yeah, I mean those are the kinds of collections that we have, and we’re just starting to now mine a lot of that. We’re just starting to dig out even more as we start processing this material and getting things scanned. (15:11)

Dr. Christodoulou: That’s amazing. And it’s an amazing idea to look for photographs in those places, right? (15:18)

Nancy Glaser: Um-hm. (15:19)

Dr. Christodoulou: Because it’s a part of it. (15:20)

Nancy Glaser: Um-hm. (15:20)

Dr. Christodoulou: These companies and – (15:22)

Nancy Glaser: They all we’re taking pictures. They were developing areas; these were all land development. We have pictures – there’s a – I’m trying to think of the most– there’s this highway that goes up and down here; it’s called Gordon Highway. We have pictures of it before all form this one collection before it was put in, while it was being put in the whole sequence from start to finish. Now, how cool is that? That’s a part of the history of the area. (15:24)

Dr. Christodoulou: And what other things? Yeah, this is amazing, very exciting. (16:01)

Nancy Glaser: I mean, I can give you a tour of the museum, and I can point out one thing after another. Whether it’s the – you know, the exhibition stars with um with the Native Americans. They were here well 12,000 years before anybody else; certainly, before the Europeans. Um – (16:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: Twelve thousand years! (16:22)

Nancy Glaser: Twelve thousand years. Uh and most of the collection that we have was through archeological digs of an area called Stallings Island; it’s just north of here on the Savannah River. It’s actually in Columbia County. But it’s actually right in the middle, smack in the middle, of the Savannah River. And archaeologists overtime have dug these materials up, and they date from the archaic, woodland, even to a little bit of the Mississippian period, which is the latest period of prehistory. I mean, you have that kind of material that’s on view. A lot of people don’t realize that um Hernando Desoto came this far north. Most people associated him with Spanish Florida and not really Georgia, but he did come up this far. Um, let’s see what else: um we had a couple of Revolutionary War battles in this area: one right across the street from the museum. I mean literally right across the street from us. (17:24)

Dr. Christodoulou: Broad Street? Or – (17:26)

Nancy Glaser: No, Reynolds Street. Over here where St. Paul’s and um this depot there – was a Revolutionary War Battle there. It’s been a while. That’s kind of cool. (17:39)

Dr. Christodoulou: What year was that? (17:45)

Nancy Glaser: It was during the Revolutionary War in the United States. We’re talking about 17 – I want to say 1770 something. I’m sorry; I can only keep so much in there that it starts leaking out. Um, let’s see what else: Petersburgh boats. They went up and down the canal carrying product, cotton product at one point, textiles later. Um, they were also Petersburg Boats – were on the river. Most of them – the regionals never survived because there were no motors back then. We’re talking about um the canal was active well still is to a point, but it was active as a mill for the mills, and textile mills in this area Jeez, um the – I guess from the mid-1800 to all the way through more recent history. We still have one mill that’s still working – You know, I’m forgetting -- the mill we have: one that’s still working. Um, the Petersburg Boats are actually named after – we have Petersburg boat on view, but it’s a replica, a reproduction, but with exact specifications. And why they were called Petersburg Boats? Because they were basically made and created in an area called Petersburg, Georgia – is now underwater. Clarksville Damn was built and now Petersburg is no more. (19:34)

Dr. Christodoulou: Doesn’t exist. (19:35)

Nancy Glaser: Does not exist; it’ underwater. I mean if the lake comes down far enough, I guess you would see it; but, no, it no longer exists. I guess this town and Clarksville Damn, you know, that’s Georgia. They consider it South Carolina – was the official one – is Thurmond Damn depending on what side of the river you’re on. So, I mean you have those kind of stories. I mean I can go one after another. Civil War – we never had a Civil War battle here, but you may have heard of a General Sherman, Sherman’s March to the Sea. Well, he never came this far. He went through Georgia but he went south, and there were reasons why. And there are old wise tales; they create stories that are not necessarily true: why did he come here? But, he actually wrote a letter to the citizens of Augusta pointing out why he didn’t, and he told them the true reason. (20:31)

Dr. Christodoulou: And we know this story? It is – (20:33)

Nancy Glaser: Oh yeah. It’s all – oh absolutely, it was documented. Well let’s see: the list goes on, and on, and on. One story after another. (20:42)

Dr. Christodoulou: Um, what of all these things you consider most important? I understand that all of these are important. But which ones do you consider most important for the people of this area to get in touch with – like to be able to have access to? And why? (21:05)

Nancy Glaser: My goal is to – My hope would be to get the next generation – to get the kids in here and introduce their history. That’s one of my work goals. Rather than pointing to one thing that’s important, the most important thing for me is to share all this. That’s what’s most important. There’s been too many great stories, too much great stuff. What’s most important is to share it. (21:37)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, what kind of people come here? (21:41)

Nancy Glaser: All ages. We have everything from, you know, the ones that can barely walk. Especially, this time of year – to families. Um, we are working now on getting a lot more millennials here: that age group of like 20 to 35 – 40-year-olds. We’re trying to work them; that’s going to be the next influx of individuals. We work very hard to get school age children, private and public. But it’s also important that we reach out to the university, to the military, and the whole cyber command. Those guys are coming in. So, all those groups are important to us, and it’s a balancing act. You know, you try, to, to work as much as you can with each group, and get them excited. (22:40)

Dr. Christodoulou: Have you noticed any difference? So, you've been here for 11 years. Did you notice any difference regarding the interest that people show, like, maybe the numbers of people coming to the museum? (22:58)

Nancy Glaser: What I find is that if once people are introduced to the facility, and to what we have to offer; they’re really excited. It’s sometimes – we are one of the best not known secrets in the area, and, but once we’re discovered whether it’s by um the Education community, or the military community, or the medical community. I mean all those stories are being told here, and all the history has been collected, or we’re still collecting it. So, it’s, it’s just getting the word out there and reaching out as much as we possibly can, and we’re able to do that a lot. I have a great staff, and they make contributions in a whole bunch of different ways. Some of them are local; some of them are military; some are coming from all over the country. And they each have made major contributions in– building that momentum and getting things moving forward. (24:07)

Dr. Christodoulou: Can you share with me some of these contributions, if you can recall? (24:11)

Nancy Glaser: Oh jeez. Probably. Uh, I mean we have a cracker jack, and it means somebody who works part time whose administrative assistant. She, she’s a photojournalist. She took a

whole collection to photography and did an online exhibit. We have another lady who sets head of my operations, who is military, but that’s not been her contribution. Her skill level has been able to create a lot of special events, and we have one coming up in October, and that is called Southern Suds: “Come for the beer, stay for the history.” That was her baby. Sometimes I just sit back and listen to the ideas, and say, “Well let’s give it a shot.” Not everything. I don’t expect everything to be generated by me. What I try to do is sort of be the orchestra leader, the conductor, in keeping things moving forward. I also have a staff. I also have a Board of Trustees. So, there’s a governing board here. Um, great group – very involved. Not in the day to day, but in policy in helping fundraise and things like that. So, it, takes, takes a village to make a place like this where to have great support from the city-county which is Augusta, Richmond County. Work closely with the University; closely with the medical community; the military. I mean it’s – You got to have your fingers in a lot of different pots to make it all work. (26:00)

Dr. Christodoulou: Um, share with me some of the reactions if you can recall. Things that you remember from people who have visited this place, or, maybe students. Do you remember any of the reactions? (26:32)

Nancy Glaser: Well, I can see reactions. Some of them can be pretty, simple. I mean you see um, you see, somebody who, whose, mentally retarded who might have work on the railroad, and we have a steam engine out there. And they go out there, and they’re looking at the wheels. I mean they’re right there looking at this stuff you can find every day. But they are reacting to it like it’s a first time. I mean it might be their first time, and it’s like love; it’s like coming home to them. And that kind of reaction always gets me. I think that’s great; it always gets your juices flowing again. The other thing sometimes that can be something as simple – We get a lot of people from the the soldiers, who come back. They’re wounded or whatever and they are at the V.A. and they come over here just to get out of the hospital for a while. And we have a trolley, and this guy was in a wheelchair. He gets up to it and gets up in the trolley, and gets back down. [puts head down slightly – holds a hand up – begins to tear] Still gets to me. (27:48)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yeah, it’s amazing that you can. That you see these things and apparently it is emotional… (27:57)

Nancy Glaser: [deep breath] And they – The person who brought them tells me it’s the first time he’s been out of a wheel chair. (28:13)

Dr. Christodoulou: Out of a wheelchair. (28:14)

Nancy Glaser: Yes. Um, one of the reasons I got an education is that sometimes you would throw out an idea in a classroom, and when kids get it for the first time – it’s almost like you see a lightbulb go off. That’s what you get out here and when you see a school group go through. They’re getting that first time reaction; that’s what we’re here for, and it’s really cool. (28:52)

Dr. Christodoulou: And you get this kind of first-time reactions from – (28:58)

Nancy Glaser: Almost everybody. Yeah, wish I could spend more time out there. I’m too much in here. But I try to get out there as much as I can to see those kinds of things happening. It’s pretty cool. (29:13)

Dr. Christodoulou: Do you want to share two things maybe that you… (29:19)

Nancy Glaser: I already did. (29:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: Okay. I would like to get more of those stories. Um, are you trying to increase the numbers of the visitors and from which communities? (29:51)

Nancy Glaser: I would like to get a lot more off the different communities here. One of the things that we’re doing this year is that we’re highlighting immigrants. Uh, so we have covered everything from Native Americans, to the Chinese, to the Irish, Europeans of course, the African Americans; although, they might not be considered immigrants, they were brought here. Not willingly. Jewish community. Um, we’re going to be doing the latest immigrant group that’s been growing, the Hispanics. And we’ve been concentrating – We have something called Brown Bag Lecture Series; it’s a history series that we have once a month that deals with these topics. They are very brief; they are only half hour talks. But it’s bringing in a whole different populations now. Next year, we’re doing to be doing something that’s going to highlight communities. So, we’re taking areas like Edgefield, in North Augusta, in Aiken, and Appling, and Columbia County, which is County C, we’re taking Waynesboro. You can’t leave Augusta out. And we’re bringing in people from those communities who are going to talk about their communities, and what makes them so special. That brings in a whole other level of individual so the more that we can introduce. We have tied – let’s see what: another we have a program called Night at the Museum. I don’t know if you’ve been in America long enough but there was a movie with Ben Stiller – did a whole series of Night at the Museum. (31:45)

Dr. Christodoulou: There are two. I think two. (31:46)

Nancy Glaser: Well, there were – now, there were like three or four. But, yes. The one is what we modeled it after. But we do it here at the museum, and we have ten characters. And we turn out the lights, and we highlight these characters from history from this area. So we’ve had everybody from Ty Cobb to, um jeez, to um let’s see: Dwight Eisenhower; we had him one year. We had Bobby Jones show up. Most of the time, there are – we’ve used our own board members; it was their idea. They wanted to do something like this, and it’s turned into a fundraiser for us. So, it’s coming up with different kinds of events and programs that are going to bring in different populations. Because you have that kind of diversity here. We do not – a lot of museums get tagged as more of a, you know, ivory tower. Well, I don’t want to be that; we’re here for the people. I mean, we’re a museum of the people; we want to be there for everybody. We want people to walk in the door; go into our exhibits, and see somethings of themselves. That’s the connection we try to do. (33:12)

Dr. Christodoulou: This year, does your earlier experience – you said, you were kind of raised in museums? Right, because of your – (33:21)

Nancy Glaser: Pretty much. Pretty much. Yeah. My mother ran a children’s museum in Charleston, West Virginia, and then she went to this mausoleum. (33:29)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, does this background, this long history you have and appreciation of museums and the work that’s being done in museums: Does this help you in the approach you use now, that is, orchestrating the efforts and creating this environment for people? (34:03)

Nancy Glaser: I try to, I try to keep the flow going – keep the – their only – You should only be limited by time and money: The idea should always be free-flown. I literally – My door is always open. We have staff meetings on a weekly basis. Sometimes, it’s just going over the week and week to come. Other times, it might be an idea thrown out. You know, sometimes somebody, you know, is driving in and says, “Let’s try this.” Sometimes, I have a head of education who is putting out an audio tour all on her own. She said, “Let me try it,” and there’s going to be 25 stops, and we’re going to be putting it out by the end of the year. Um, so I mean – I’m willing to give it a shot. Let’s give it a shot and see if it works. So yeah, ideas – You should be able to experiment and try stuff, absolutely. And trying it once – or, you know, might need to do twice, or three times, just to see if it works or not. Because what works in um Washington D.C. might not work in Augusta. What works in Augusta might not work in New York City. But let’s give it a shot and see if it works here. There’s something called – this is something that’s been – I’ve been trying to get it going, but it’s expensive; it’s called Augmented Reality. I told you about this collection of photography we have from all the way back. Um, Augmented Reality is going to an area downtown: there’s a building down on Broad Street called The Marberry Center. The Marberry Center one time was the headquarters of the Fire Department and you can still see the Fire Department – the names of; that’s still there. But now, it’s in that event center; it’s still venue; they have special events. We have the photograph of the fire department: all the guys still out there; it’s a panoramic. How cool would it be to take – you go down the street your standing in front of the Marberry Center, this building. And you have a special app on your phone, and you hold it up there, and all the sudden you can see what it was in the past. We also – there was a place over where the post office is down here. It was a train station; it was called Union Station. Beautiful facility. Greg Norman or something – just a gorgeous building; it’s gone; torn it down, there’s a post office there now. You can go there as a tourist, or as a resident, a new person in town. You put your phone up, and you can see that building right there in front of you as you’re looking at this new structure. You can see what it was in the day. I mean that’s cool stuff. (37:10)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, you’re trying to buy the application? (37:12)

Nancy Glaser: I’m trying to get the application built, bought, yeah. It’s going take somebody to sit there and knows how to program it, and that takes a little money. That takes money. But we have the collection to pull it off. So, I’ve floated the idea out there with a couple of different people, and we’ll see if it flies or not. But it’s a great program, and I have some um collection assistants who have been working with these collections. And as they come across something, they’ve been putting it in our little folder that says Augmented Reality. (37:44)

Dr. Christodoulou: Augmented Reality? (37:46)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah. It’s cool. Yeah, that’s something I want to see here happen. We’ll see. So yeah, I mean the ideas are there. Some of them, you don’t have the money to take care of them yet, or do it. But still, it’s possible. (38:03)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, when you first got here: how, how things were different? I guess things were different, right? (38:12)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, quite a bit different. (38:14)

Dr. Christodoulou: The first year, the first day, you arrived here, how was it? (38:29)

Nancy Glaser: There was infrastructure that needed to be taken care of. Um, there – We were having some problems with our H.D.A.C.: heating and air-conditioning, and, we, we’re having some issues with our roof. Um, we were having some issues with our security system. These are things that people don’t necessarily see, but we have to fix. I spent the first five to eight years to continue to taking care of this infrastructure. Um, there are um – I’ve run out of exhibit space. I was fortunate, the museum was fortunate, in the last round of S.P.L.S.T. that we were able to expand. So, I’ll have some more exhibit space: little things like that. Just the – and those first days you just sort of ordering. You’re trying to figure out: Okay, what’s the best way to proceed to get these things fixed. It’s getting your network up. In you world, I’m sure it’s just a matter of knowing who to contact, and who to call, and get certain things done. It’s not different than what I had to deal with. So, whether it’s at a local level, or a regional level, or national level, or an international level; that’s what you work towards. You start making the networking; you make those connections in order to get things done. (40:02)

Dr. Christodoulou: What are the differences you’ve noticed in all the museums you have worked? Do you see any difference? (40:22)

Nancy Glaser: I can see that we’re doing a lot of things right. I wish I had more money so I can do more. Um, but we can – I can see things that we can actually try here that we’re not doing yet. But it’s a matter of shifting these sources, both human and financial, in order to get those done. But I have been very fortunate; my entire career has some wonderful people to work with: good staff as well as boards. So it’s – I don’t think anything can be done, that’s not in my vocabulary. It’s just a matter of how do we go about getting it done? What is it going to take? (41:09)

Dr. Christodoulou: So again, lets go back to your earlier years. Did you have any discussions with your mother? Do you remember anything, telling you anything, about the place where she used to work? (41:38)

Nancy Glaser: Well my – Yeah, my experiences: I mean growing up in her children’s museum were not always positive. I mean, she made me go there after school sometimes and there was a whole animal section, and I had to clean out the cages. And that wasn’t fun; that wasn’t fun. But then, I started saying, “Oh jeez, you know, this still looks pretty cool.” And when I was teaching, and kids, I decided, “Well jeez, maybe I’ll do a little volunteer work at the museum, local museum.” So, I did some volunteer work at the Natural History Museum, and the art

museum. And I did some pretty cool stuff getting into this. And then, I – because my mother was not an um – She got out of the directing the museum. She was in – She got into teaching, and she traveled all over the world working with museum professionals and making those intuitions more professional. Brought a lot of people from this mausoleum lectures and she helped different institutions around the world. I didn’t go that direction. Um, I just wanted to make a difference somehow. And I found that you know, the classroom was one way of doing it. I just wanted to switch classrooms. This is just a little bit more informal. Um, but I don’t know. I just then I made the decision: Once I was in Pittsburgh to finish my degree and get my master’s. And it just, more, more- I just got more drawn in, and I got tired of the four walls in the classroom. I need a little, wanted a little, more room to grow. And, one: I guess, I just got lucky. I was able to work with some great people. It just kept me wanting to keep going forward and wanting to improve myself, and wherever I worked. (43:35)

Dr. Christodoulou: Do you have connections with schools here? I mean public schools, or the university? (43:45)

Nancy Glaser: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. We work – we work, closely with Columbia County as well as Richmond County. And actually, the superintendent of schools, she just joined our board, Dr. Pringle. And uh but it’s not just the public schools, you also have the private schools, and another group that we’ve started working with is the home schoolers. That’s a whole other group; they’re all different. They all come to the museum with different expectations, which is fine. I would like to do more with Burke County and getting those schools more involved. (44:23)

Dr. Christodoulou: So it’s… (44:29)

Nancy Glaser: We used to – We don’t do enough reaching out to them. But they are part of our mission, and we do have collections from there. You know, that’s were Plant Vogtle is. Um, we have – I had board members from the Waynesboro area and from Burke County, but it’s – I would like to get them in, more involved. We get some students from North Augusta. There’s something about the Savannah River, getting them to cross that river. So Edgefield and Aiken, I’d like to do more with them, um McDuffie County. We probably are more involved with the Thompson area rather than the county itself. So, there are ways that we should be improving and getting better relationships with the public schools. Now, we do better with the private schools in those areas, but they have fewer restrictions on travel. (45:24)

Dr. Christodoulou: That’s private? (44:25)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, because they’re private, and we certainly have – much easier working with the homeschoolers, and getting those folks to cross the river. So, you see what’s out there, and you try to work with whatever group you can in, making those, making those connections work. (45:42)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, what kind of collaboration are you talking about? Do they come here? Do you go there? (45:48)

Nancy Glaser: Mostly, they come here. But it’s finding ways that we can work within their um curriculum. One of the ways that we’ve been working recently is looking at using primary sources. Primary sources can be a document, or a letter, or a newspaper that we have in our collection. We do reproduction, and we make those available to a school when they’re here to visit. So, we may do a whole lesson on um industrialization in this area; that can be everything from the mills, to the canal, all kinds of things. Well, the head of education here – We had made collections available to her for replication and then she makes it available for a special curriculum, and a field trip for that particular school. And it could be a gifted and talented program for people from Columbia County or it could be other schools. It doesn’t matter. But now, it’s there, and people can sign up for it. And I think she’s working on World War One and a World War Two. Uh, things that involve the whole region in one way or another. (47:05)

Dr. Christodoulou: Is there anything that I forgot to ask? Is there anything that I should have asked and I did not? (47:19)

Nancy Glaser: No, I think you covered just about everything. I think you want to hear more stories: I was trying to think of a few more that I could talk about. (47:26)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes, those would be very interesting: stories. (47:29)

Nancy Glaser: I think I – Yeah, I, I went through Leadership Augusta here which is like Leadership Georgia. I don’t know if you have anything similar where you are from. But it’s a way of introducing, um future; they call future leaders to all aspects of the community. (47:29)

Dr. Christodoulou: Heard about this… (47:53)

Nancy Glaser: Yes. And I went through it, and I realized what you go through. And you realize how much you don’t know. (48:01)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, you went through it – (48:01)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, I went through it in 2007; it was a couple of years after I was here. And that that introduced me to a lot of different things that I – I mean it wasn’t so much the medical. It wasn’t the obvious things that it introduced me to like History and the – you know, things that were going on at Fort Gordon. What introduced me was the connection I made with the Sheriff’s Department, and that was pretty cool. I had, um you know, I had some difficult experiences in Pittsburgh: teaching inner city in a large city like that. Um, you, you – There is some really tragic stories to tell. But I had the opposite during Leadership to go on patrol with a deputy. And it’s a whole side of life that you’re just glad that there are people out there that are willing to take on that responsibility. Because I’m certainly not going to be one of them. If – and I do – anything I can do to help the Fire Department, and the Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department; anything I can to make their lives easier. Just knowing what they do for us, and a lot of people never see. (49:19)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, what are these kinds of things? That you – (19:21)

Nancy Glaser: That I saw that night? Jeez. (49:24)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, it was at night. (49:25)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, yeah. It was, yeah. Um, we went to the projects. (49:30)

Dr. Christodoulou: Here in Augusta? (49:32)

Nancy Glaser: In Augusta. Um, whether it was a shooting or a disturbance and I was on patrol with, a, a young lady who was probably about five feet-two [inches], just a little thing. And it didn’t stop her. And we had – We went to one person’s home where there was a dispute, and I asked if I can go in with them which was a little – probably not the smartest thing I ever said. And she said, “okay,” but just stay to my – so I can see you out of this eye, and stay over here, and just follow me in. And it was it was a dispute between a husband and a wife; they were going at it. And no, I didn’t grow up with that; I never saw that. Um, we had another stop where there was some guy laying in the middle of the road; he was shot. No, that’s not something that I see everyday. So, in knowing what they have to do every single day – and I was only doing it for eight hours. That was an eye-opening experience for me, yes. (50:39)

Dr. Christodoulou: Oh, yeah. I’m sure… (50:43)

Nancy Glaser: To see those kinds of things and knowing that – had I even known a kid being shot, yes. I mean, I had a kid in my classroom, in Pittsburgh, where he was blind in one eye because his father shot him, and the bullet was still there. I mean, I saw those kinds of things but not while it was going in. I saw the result, but this was – this was an eye-opener for me, and it gave me a whole other level of appreciation. We did a whole thing in the hospitals in monitoring patients on the floor. Again, it gives you a whole other level of appreciation of what these people do for a living; and what you do for a living; and what I do. We’re very lucky because we’re not coming in contact every day. Now, I don’t know what your upbringing was but mine – I was not – I was brought up in a very liberal household. But I was not introduced to that kind of things. That was not part of my life. So, I have to appreciate that you bet you it did. And that’s what that – what that whole training session seemed to be for me, that’s what it gave me. So yeah, it’s um – and I did – I did something similar to that in Kentucky, but it was just different here. (52:09)

Dr. Christodoulou: I was going to ask you if this leadership program – (52:13)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, no. I hadn’t done… I had done things similar to in Kentucky but nothing that exposed me to this kind of stuff, no. (52:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: Is it because here you get more of these kinds of things? (52:25)

Nancy Glaser: No. No. I just um on a, you know, working for, a, a state government and going through Leadership Kentucky, or statewide is not quite the same as you are in a community; it’s a little different – I’m sure. Um but believe me, I mean, I saw things in Pittsburgh, and I saw

things in many of the cities that I was in. And you can say, “Oh jeez,” you know. I’m very fortunate [knocks on wooden table] that I have the life I have. (52:30)

Dr. Christodoulou: Um-hm. (52:30)

Nancy Glaser: And I thank myself every day. I mean, you know, I’m able to get up every day, and I love what I do. I’m able to come to a great place; work with great people, and I get paid for it. It’s terrific. No, I’m very lucky. I really have felt very lucky. Like I said, “When I left teaching, I felt like I have been on vacation for over 30 years.” It’s terrific. (53:17)

Dr. Christodoulou: But not while you were in teaching? (53:19)

Nancy Glaser: No, I wouldn’t say. I enjoy the kids, but I didn’t enjoy the bureaucracy. It’s tough when you’re dealing in a big city system, and there’s a lot of bureaucratic stuff you have to deal with. It was just dealing with the classroom and the kids it would have been a whole other thing. (53:39)

Dr. Christodoulou: What were you teaching? (53:42)

Nancy Glaser: Um, Art. (53:43)

Dr. Christodoulou: Art. (53:43)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, my major was Art Education and Art History. So yeah, I was in that so – I mean, it was a whole different world for me, going from Nashville, Tennessee, and Charleston, West Virginia, to the inner cities on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a different world for me. (53:05)

Dr. Christodoulou: Excellent, yeah. (53:07)

Nancy Glaser: No, I love what I do, though. I mean, I really do. I mean, I never know – it’s different day, every day. I mean, coming here, sure wouldn’t know I’d be doing. I mean, I have my little schedule, but most of the time, but most of the time, it doesn’t. (53:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: So, are you creative … flexible with this? (54:24)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, yeah. It’s always something new every day. Every single day. (54:29)

Dr. Christodoulou: You said you’re not interested – So, you said how your mother collaborated a lot internationally, trying to get others to help. Um, did you ever go with her? Which countries did she work in? (54:37)

Nancy Glaser: All over the world. Name it. She’s been to your country. (54:51)

Dr. Christodoulou: Cyprus, too? Greece? (53:53)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Um, I’ve been to Greece., not because of her. But yeah, I been there – just wanted to see Athens and all that stuff. Now, you name the country: She’s been there. Oh, she’s been all over the world. Did that kind of thing: South America, Central America, Australia, Middle East, Africa, Europe. Of course, Europe. U.S.S.R. when it was the U.S.S.R. (55:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes. (55:22)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, she was all over. She – wherever they wanted her to come. She would put a team of mausoleum professionals together and all the museums whether it was how to deal with collections, or curatorial, or just government. You know, how do you – running a museum could be security. Whatever the country wanted to hear about, whatever that group wanted to hear about. She would put a team together and take them over there. (55:21)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yeah, and you took a different – (55:54)

Nancy Glaser: I took a different – (55:55)

Dr. Christodoulou: You prefer the more local community. (55:56)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah. Yeah, I wanted um – it reminded me too much of – this is nothing against university but it reminded me too much of that. And I’ve done the university; I taught the University of Oklahoma. Um, and I – it’s a little too white collar for me. I wanted to be – to have more intersection. It’s nice, and I enjoyed it. Um but, I’m not sure I can ever do what you’re doing. No. I’m not interested. Certainly, I’m not interested in teaching undergrad. I would teach graduate level. Not that I’m not intersected in doing the research stuff that you do. Um, I’d like more of the interaction. Yeah. I want the people stuff; that’s what I find fun. (56:49)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes. That’s why I do this as well. (56:51)

Nancy Glaser: Yeah, no, no. Yeah. (54:54)

Dr. Christodoulou: Is there anything else you want to share? (57:05)

Nancy Glaser: No, I guess that’s about it. (57:07)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes. (57:08)

Nancy Glaser: All I can think of about now. I enjoy working with these new kids that are coming out. I don’t know how old you are but most everybody here that works here, is under 30. And I can handle that. So, I mean, I think this one is: she’s in her mid-thirties. There’s’ a few that are in their mid-thirties, but most everybody is babies. They get a charge out of that. They sort of – the juices flowing again, too. (57:37)

Dr. Christodoulou: There’s a different energy, right? (57:39)

Nancy Glaser: Oh, yeah … different mindset and everything. (57:44)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes. It keeps you also alive and energetic. (57:47)

Nancy Glaser: What I look for is – I just want – I don’t care if they come to me with a lot of experience. I just want them to be smart. If their smart, I can teach them everything else. (58:01)

Dr. Christodoulou: Smart in what sense? Because they’re reading a lot of different books? (58:12)

Nancy Glaser: Like combination there-of .I just want them to be smart in thinking, and not getting along. I don’t like yes-people. I don’t. I can honestly say there aren’t any yes-people. They’re all going to challenge me. And I like that. (58:30)

Dr. Christodoulou: What was the most difficult situation you had to face here with a team you worked with? (58:36)

Nancy Glaser: Um, there were, there were a couple of individuals when I got here that um were not ready to change: were not ready to move forward. And I had to take what the board, my bosses, Board of Trustees, wanted me to do. And I tried the best I could to bring them along, and some of them didn’t want to do that. And they left. But that’s the most difficult. And whenever you’re dealing with um in a staff situation: management of people is always going to be the hardest. After about a year, I had to let one person go, and it was not easy, it never is. So yeah, you know, you’re always going to have good with and a few bad things. That happens wherever you are. I’m sure you experienced the same thing. It’s never perfect, but the good is – in my in my experience, the good has always outweighed everything else. So, I’ve been fortunate. (59:58)

Dr. Christodoulou: Do you have an appreciation for – Do you think that history is important for us? How important it is to be in touch with your roots, and history? (1:00:18)

Nancy Glaser: Well, I wish I could say that I’ve been in touch with my own roots. But fortunately, I have an older sister who is able to do all our genealogy. I’m not terribly interested in doing that part of my history. Um, I think it is important that people have an understanding of where they come from, and they’re – where they grew up, and understanding it’s history. So, they can learn from any – you know, the past. I mean, I think we always learn from the past. You don’t want to repeat mistakes and the only way you’re going to assure yourself of not, and not doing that, is to know what came before. So yeah, I think it’s pretty important, and there’s a lot of ways that you can and easier ways to digest that history. You know, some people find it easier to read a book; other people find it easier going to a museum; other people find it easier um going to a living history; or, you know, taking a casual tour. Or, you can take whatever. However, you want to learn. Just find some way of learning a bit of it. I think that’s important. (1:01:40)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes. And there are different. You are right. (1:03:40)

Nancy Glaser: There are different ways people can learn. Um, but I think it’s important that you, you find that comfort zone, and figure out a way to learn your history. I think it is critical. (1:01:55)

Dr. Christodoulou: And technology, as you said before, opens a whole different world.

Nancy Glaser: Oh jeez, it’s a whole other layer. Yeah. Oh my goodness, yes. I mean, I’m not, I’m on this end of the end of my career um I tell you there is so much that’s going on that we can try and experience with to make it so much easier, to, to, to impart that stuff, to impart that knowledge. You know, I can see a little six-year-old, and she was sitting here playing this game, and she was just – it was all problem solving. And I tried it on my own and could do it, and so she comes over and – little six-year-old. She’s going on that little I-pad, doing all this stuff. I mean, you can see the wheels turning. I mean that is awesome, and it’s all technology. So yeah, I mean, that’s one way, but also you see kids going to the museum, and they’re getting excited looking at stuff. There're all different ways of learning. (1:03:05)

Dr. Christodoulou: Yes, which is nice. (1:03:05)

Nancy Glaser: And yeah, I mean it has been great times in our society right now. It’s just taking advantage of all of it. I mean, I don’t want a missed opportunity. I want to take advantage of all this; that’s what I find exciting. It’s one of the things I find exciting. (1:03:17)

Dr. Christodoulou: That’s true. And here, you have all these different – this world of like offering, contributing in this way to the C.S.R.A. And I think it’s beautiful. And so keep doing it. (1:03:30)

Nancy Glaser: Thank you, I will. Good luck with your project. (1:03:34)

Dr. Christodoulou: And thank you for your time. (1:03:35)