Cataloging and digitizing project at the Haskell museum will help tell the university’s story

A museum studies student is cataloging the vast collections at the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum to improve access to and knowledge of Haskell’s history.

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council announced in April that it was awarding $27,500 for a KU Museum Studies graduate student to “document, rehouse and digitize the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum’s collection of approximately 3,000 Native American historical artifacts and photographs, as well as pieces of artworks, basketry, pottery and more.”

HCCM Director Travis Campbell, Cherokee, Choctaw and Delaware, said the project will primarily benefit researchers, students and the museum’s ability to serve patrons. 

“In the past, everything (the museum’s catalog) was recorded electronically, but those computers no longer exist, and so the files were not saved or backed up anywhere else,” Campbell said. “The paper files were removed from the facility here many, many years ago and sent to Washington, D.C., and they have been unable to locate them. So we are starting over from square one.”

Madison Preuett, a master’s student in museum studies at KU with three years of museum experience, waded into this monumental task in August. She thought she’d worked through about 100 boxes of items. Campbell figured she had already cataloged between 750 and 1,000 pieces. 

Preuett takes her winding path down to the collections and storage rooms in the basement of HCCM three times a week. Her first task is to wash her hands before handling delicate materials. Then, she starts opening boxes.

She said developing a catalog is critical for a museum’s mission, giving an institution agency and control over its materials. The freedom to build from the ground up enticed Preuett into applying for the job.

“I thought it was really cool that most people in my position would be having to fix issues (from older cataloging systems), but we get to kind of create a new system from scratch,” she said.

Step one is trying to identify an object as accurately as possible. Sometimes, a piece will have an older catalog tag from its original accessioning. More often than not, she is working with limited provenance information.

That’s when Preuett puts on her detective gear. She might search the internet, comb Haskell library’s collections or, as a non-Native person, speak with folks who have cultural knowledge of the object. Campbell often serves as a point of reference for the collection’s materials.

Even then, she can’t always answer “who,” “what” and “when.” Preuett only logs information she’s confident about into her catalog spreadsheet, acknowledging a future worker may be able to fill in the gaps.

Once an object is accounted for, Preuett or another part-time worker might photograph it for internet denizens to browse on HCCM’s website in the future.

“Right now we are primarily focusing on the three-dimensional collections … and hopefully getting photographs of the pieces on the website so visitors can kind of scope out what of our collection we’re not able to have up here spatially,” Campbell said.

HCCM opened its doors in 2002, but Campbell said folks started rounding up items across campus for a collection in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s.

Preuett is finding buffalo hides, band uniforms and ample student art. 

Dusting off these pieces inspires Campbell’s curatorial spirit. He hopes to display items illustrating Haskell’s transition from offering high school classes to serving as a vocational school and eventually becoming a junior college, along with student art. He is particularly excited for Preuett to come across student jewelry made in the ‘70s and ‘80s when silversmithing was taught in the Haskell art department. 

In the museums field, which has a fraught legacy with its treatment of Native objects and people, HCCM and its collections redefine and reclaim space.

Preuett says that, unlike other university museums she’s served in, HCCM is alive with visitors. She frequently chats with community members about their connection to the space and hears the tapping of their footsteps above her head as she works.

Preuett emphasized how important it is for people to know Haskell’s history and impact on the community.

“I would just want people to know that this is an important place for Indigenous sovereignty,” she said. “… I think people should come here and should learn about the history.”

Realistically, one person cannot catalog, photograph, and rehouse — a process in which a new and more appropriate storage container is created for a delicate item — the museum’s vast body of objects by May, when the grant ends.

Preuett and Campbell both hope the county will renew the funding next year so that she can keep blazing a trail in the HCCM basement. 

Contribute to the collection

Campbell said the museum is still actively adding to its collections. They are constantly seeking objects specifically related to the history of Haskell and other past boarding schools, as applicable. 

Those interested in contributing art or other relevant objects can reach out via email at museum@haskell.edu. Campbell said the more background information about an object, the better, and advised against using tape on any documents or photographs.

The museum also accepts financial contributions here.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

Carter Gaskins (he/him) has been a photographer for The Lawrence Times since April 2021. He has also been a photographer for 10-plus years in photojournalism and sports.

Check out more of his work at Gaskins-Photography.com. See his work for the Times here.

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