Almost every NPS site has more interesting items in its archives that it has room to display to the public, so choosing the ones to exhibit is an on-going challenge. The staff at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site had one solution last year—letting the public "co-curate" an exhibit by voting on-line for items to be displayed. It was such a success they're repeating the program and expanding it to a second site, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park.

Last year's project to choose items to bring out of the "back room" and into public view was dubbed "Raiders of the Lost ART," and a park spokesperson offers this explanation for the program:

"In your online world, you are in charge of your own content—you choose what to read, what to watch, what to post, what to comment on. But when you go to a museum, your experience is managed by others. With the return of "Raiders of the Lost ART," you and your friends in the online community get to design an exhibit of actual museum objects from the two parks' museum collections.

"We asked our online community on Facebook to co-curate an exhibit display. Through a weekly online voting process, our online community on Facebook brainstormed ideas for a theme, then they selected the theme for the exhibit, and finally they selected the assemblage of museum objects to be included."

Once the winning items had been chosen, Student Conservation Association (SCA) Museum Interns helped make labels and assisted park staff with installing the exhibit in an empty museum case in the park's visitor center.

Last year's effort was such a success it's being repeated and expanded by adding items at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. The project is now an official event in the celebration of the National Park Service Centennial.

The project's announcement notes, "Both parks are working together to make this year's Raiders bigger and better by featuring more objects from their two amazing collections. Online users will not only vote on the theme and select objects, but their comments will provide additional content for the exhibit's labels."

Want to participate in this year's selection process? Just go to the parks' Facebook pages, where you can cast your vote for one of two themes for the new exhibits.  Voting for objects will occur throughout April as the public helps the staff move closer to determining the next Raiders of the Lost ART exhibit. The exhibit will then be installed in June and on display through July.

You'll find more information on the Facebook pages for Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site and for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park.