Hands-On History: Lorena De Loera’s Internship at the Texas Pythian Home

During summer 2025, Lorena De Loera undertook a museum studies internship at the Texas Pythian Home, a historic site founded in 1909 to support widows and orphans of the Knights of Pythias. Set within a castle-like structure in Weatherford, Texas, the internship offered a unique opportunity to engage directly with a largely unprocessed collection of historical artifacts while contributing to the transformation of the site into a more formally organized museum environment.

From the outset, Lorena approached the internship with clear goals: to gain hands-on experience with artifacts, strengthen her research and documentation skills, and better understand how collections are prepared for exhibition. Throughout summer, she worked independently in a quiet, immersive space surrounded by fragile and historically significant objects. Among them, a collection of ceremonial swords from the late 19thcentury required careful handling, close visual analysis, and ongoing research to determine their origins and use.

Lorena photographed, cataloged, cleaned, and assessed the condition of artifacts, ranging from swords and regalia to furniture and archival photographs. Through this process, she developed technical skills in condition reporting and collections management, and contributed to building a structured database for the institution. In one instance, she discovered that a historical photograph in the collection corresponded directly to an image published in a book on the Knights of Pythias, reinforcing the significance of the archive and its potential for future interpretation. As she reflected, this kind of research “helped [her] understand the significance of each object and deepen the historical record.”

A strong example of experiential learning in museum studies, Lorena’s work at the Texas Pythian Home underscores the challenges and the potential of working with historical collections in situ. By engaging directly with artifacts, archival materials, and institutional processes, the student has begun to bridge the gap between academic study and professional practice. Reflecting on her progress, Lorena noted that the internship allowed her to build confidence and expertise required for work in cultural heritage institutions.

MUSEUM STUDIES MINOR AT UTA: https://catalog.uta.edu/liberalarts/art/undergraduate/museum-studies-minor/