Southold Indian Museum planning new exhibits around town
You may soon find glass cases containing Native American artifacts at local businesses and other public spaces around Southold Town. The exhibits are part of a plan the Southold Indian Museum is working on to gain exposure to the museum’s collection of artifacts.
Indian Museum vice president Joe Townsend said his organization is pursuing a $5,000 grant through Suffolk County to set up the displays at various locations, including wineries, galleries and libraries. A display would also be set up at the Downs Farm Preserve/Fort Corchaug site.
“We feel we have an opportunity to do something here that will spread the word of this museum,” Mr. Townsend said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session, where the organization was seeking an informal endorsement from the board to go ahead with the project. “There’s some interest in this already, so we’re enthusiastic about it.”
Mr. Townsend and town planner Mark Terry, who serves on the museum’s board of trustees, said the “cultural awareness” project has a nice tie-in to the town’s ongoing 375th anniversary celebration, since many of the museum’s artifacts come from the collections of the town’s founding families. He said pieces from museum founder Roy Latham’s collection are at some of the nation’s finest museums, including the Smithsonian.
“And we have the very best of his collection,” Mr. Townsend said.
Mr. Terry said the museum is also working on obtaining grant funding to digitize its collection, making items searchable through the Internet.
