After a year of construction and planning, the George C. Marshall Museum, a celebration of its namesake, is finally open to the public.
“It has been in the concept stage since the school renovation project began three years ago,” history teacher Tom Brannon said.
The idea was born when former principal Jay Pearson brought up the fact that the school possessed historical primary source documents.
The articles, which dated back to when the school opened in the 1960s, had been sitting in a box for 50 years, along with miscellaneous other artifacts.
“We knew we had a lot of artifacts that were given to the school, and we wanted a place we could display them,” principal Jeffrey Litz said.
Although faculty members helped with the project, it was primarily driven by student engagement.
“I believe strongly that the museum’s exhibits should be student-initiated and reflect the interests of our students,” Brannon said.
The group took a trip to the Foundation and Research Center in Lexington, Va. to share their vision for the museum with others and to ask for help in finding more artifacts and primary source documents.
“There is a lot of work that goes into a project like this; finding artifacts, cataloging them, and coming up with themes for the museum are just some of the aspects to creating a project like this,” Litz said about the process.
Junior Rob Collie, who helped create the museum, wants it to serve as more than just an educational opportunity for the school community.
“I hope this project fosters a sense of pride for not just our school, but the man behind the name,” Collie said.