TO live up to its name, the CNMI Museum of History and Culture intends to make as the center of its exhibit artifacts depicting Chamorro and Carolinian history and culture.
Gigi York, the museum’s newly hired curator and acting executive director, said she plans to group together all artifacts relating to local culture, and place them in the main hall of the museum.
“We plan to do that to give the local culture the prominence it deserves,” York said.
The museum’s main hall currently displays its priced collections of artifacts recovered from the 1638 shipwreck of the Concepcion galleon.
York said these items would be moved to an adjacent room which would also be renovated and enlarged.
The museum holds valuable illustrations and paintings as well as tools depicting early life in the Marianas.
York said she is working on getting grants to be able to undertake improvements in the museum. The museum board earlier agreed to get funding for the construction of a new and bigger building for storage and exhibit purposes.
“We need a curatorial facility to do all the work needed to improve the museum,” she said.
The museum also exhibits World War II artifacts from the Nimitz-Groehn collections.
The museum said it received 14 boxes of “Groehn” items from Nimitz Museum.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz served as commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Command and military governor of the Marianas.
Some of the items are Japanese dolls, rubber and wooden slippers made mostly by Japanese civilians at Camp Susupe and Camp Churo on Tinian.
