The%SLNM%was%formally%opened%in% 1957%(?igure% 10),% due%in%part%to%work%of%Sir%Robert% Hall,%Governor%of%Sierra%Leone%between%1952%and%1956,%as%well%as%the%activities%of%Dr.%M.% C.% F.% Easmon,% Chair%of% the% MRC.% As% discussed% by%Basu% (2012),% the% establishment%of% a% museum%in%Sierra%Leone%was%the%result%of%amateur%enthusiasms%rather%than%directed%by% of?icial% colonial% policy.% This% included% Hall’s% concern% over% the% loss% of% Sierra% Leone’s% traditional%arts%and%crafts%which%he%argued%were% at%threat%from%the%‘constant%impact%of% foreign% imports% and% foreign% skills’% (Basu% 2012:% 158).% Hall% was% instrumental% in% the% establishment%of%the%Sierra%Leone%Society%in%1953%and%outlined%his%vision%for%a%national% museum%during%the%inaugural%meeting%of%the%Society%in%1954%(ibid).%During%this%speech,% Hall% highlights%the% relative% disinterest% of% both% the% State% and% the% public%in% a% museum,% re?lecting%the%increasingly%symbolic%nature%of%his%role%Governor%(2012:%159).%
Hall%was%not%alone%in%his%campaign%for%a%national%museum%but%was%joined%by%the%other% members% of% the% Sierra% Leone% Society% consisting% mainly% of% British% expatriates% and% members%of% Freetown’s%Krio%elite.%The%latter%included%M.%C.%F.%Easmon,%a%physician%and% amateur%historian% who%was%educated%in% the% UK%and%remained% in?luential% at%the% SLNM% into%the%postCindependence%period%(ibid).%Easmon%played%a%crucial%role%in%coCordinating% the% opening% of% the% then%Sierra% Leone% Museum% as% Chair% of% the% MRC,% the% Sierra% Leone% Society%and%the%newly%established%Museum%Committee.%Collections%for%the%new%Museum% were% assembled% by%the% MRC% and% organised%in%display%cases%in% the% disused% telephone% exchange%offered%by%the% Government.%As%Basu%notes,%photographs%taken%at%the%opening% of%the% Museum%in%1957%show%how%the% display%cases%have%changed%relatively%little%over% the%last%50%years%(?igure%11)%(2012:%162).%This%is,%however,%beginning%to%change%with%the% training% and% capacity% building% initiatives% currently% taking% place% at% the% Museum% as% discussed%below.
The% Museum% thus% began% as% an% institution% that% represented% rather%British% concerns%over%the% loss% of% indigenous% culture,% carried% forward% by% a% British% educated% Krio% elite.% As% noted,% Easmon%was%assigned%as%the%?irst% Curator% of% the% Museum.% This% occurred%as%it%became%clear%that% the% Museum% Committee% would% n o t% b e% a b l e% to% ra i s e% t h e% sponsorship% funds% required% to% employ% a% trained% curator% (Basu% 2012:% 161).% Easmon% was% later% joined% by% Gary% Schulze% who% served% as% Acting% Curator% between%1962%and%1963.%Schulze% was% an% American% Peace% Crops% volunteer%who%had%been%posted%as%a%history%teacher%at%the%Albert%Academy.%He%followed% with% an% internship% at% the% SLNM,% which% then% developed% into% an% of?icial% post% (Gary% Schulze% pers.%comm.).%Perhaps%one%of% Schulze’%most%signi?icant%legacies%at%the%SLNM%is% the% now% iconic% image% of% Bai% Bureh% in% an% old% Kuranko% gown% and% a% tasselled% hat% as% depicted%in%the%lifeCsize%plasterCofCParis%statue%from%the%SLNM%commissioned%by%Schulze% (Basu%2013a).%Schulze%is%keen%to%tell%the%story%of%how%he%commissioned%the%statue%from% a%Krio%artist%named%J.%D.%Marsh.%With%no%known%photograph%taken%of%Bai%Bureh%from%the% front,%the%artist%was%asked%to%use%his%imagination%to%construct%the%face.%This%image%of%Bai% Bureh% now% features% on% the% Le1000% banknote,% and% as% noted% by% Basu,% has% also% been% recreated%in%the%new%Peace%and%Cultural%Monument%which%commemorates%the%civil%war.%
Dorothy% Cummings,% a% South% African% primary% school% teacher% who% travelled% to% Sierra% Leone% in%the%1960s,%succeeded%as%Curator%after%Easmon%retired.%Mrs.% Cummings%began%
!
Figure 11. The Sierra Leone National Museum’s main gallery, prior to the changes made by the British Museum’s Africa Programme. It remained largely un- changed from when it was first curated by Dr. M. C. F. Easmon. Photo: author.
working% at%the% SLNM% in% 1966% without% any% prior%training% and% so% learned% on% the% job,% following% Easmon% whom% she% still% affectionately% refers% to% as% ‘Doctor’% (Dorothy% Cummings% pers.% comm.).% As% Curator,% Mrs.% Cummings% remembers% that% new% objects% which%entered%the%collections%were%often%bought%to%the%Museum%by%traders%selling%rural% produce% in%Freetown.%She%commented%on%her%own%lack%of% knowledge%concerning% these% objects%when%I%visited%her%in%2010%and%noted%that%in%many%cases%the%traders%who%bought% them%in%often%had%little%information%regarding%their%use%or%origin.%
Though% Dorothy%Cummings% retired% in%1998,% she% still% has% strong% links% with% the% SLNM% through%Bertha7,%the%current%Acting%Curator,%who%speaks%to%her%on%an%almost%daily%basis.% Bertha%started%work%at%the%Museum%in%the%1980s%as%a%‘secretary%cum%conservator’,%again% she%also%received%training%in%museum%work%on%the% job%with%no%prior%experience%in%this% ?ield.% Celia% Nicols% succeeded%Dorothy%Cummings% as% Curator% and% worked% at% the% SLNM% until% 2008.% Like% all% the% Curators% at% the% SLNM,% Celia% Nicols% began% her% post% with% no% training,% however%this% soon% changed% when% she% received% a% scholarship% form% the% West% African% Museums% Programme% to% study% for% an% MA% in% Museum% Studies% at% Leicester% University.% In% 2008,% however,% she% moved% to% Dubai%and% the% SLNM% gained% little% bene?it% from%this%training.% Nicols%was%Curator%at% the%SLNM%when% the%British% Museum’s%Africa% Programme% began% working% in% Sierra% Leone% in% 2007% and% was% also% the% main% point% of% contact% at% the% National% Museum% as% the% Reanimating% Cultural% Heritage% (RCH)% project% was%being% developed% (Paul% Basu,% per.% comm.).% Of?icially% no% new% appointment% for% the% post% of% Curator% has% been% made,% however% Bertha% remains% committed% to% keeping% the% institution%running%as%Acting%Curator.
During% my%?ieldwork% there% was% a% discernible% tussle% for% authority%with% the% arrival% of% Joseph8,%the%greatCnephew%of% M.%C.%F.%Easmon.%Joseph%was%born%and%educated%in%the%UK% and%‘returned’%to%Sierra% Leone%after%the%civil%war.%He% was%clearly%recognised%by%staff% as% ‘Krio’% at% the% SLNM,% referring% to% both% his%ancestry%but,% perhaps% more% importantly,% his% general%demeanour.%Being%‘Krio’%was%in%this%context%associated%with%‘bluf?ing’%(showing%
7 I have used a pseudonym to partially protect the identity of my informant. 8 Ibid.
off)% and% behaving% as% if% ‘you% are% bigger%than% us’,% though% in% others%it% was%also%used%to% denote% a%Christian,% educated%and% urban%identity.%Joseph%spoke%with%a%cutCglass%English% accent%and%was%frequently%frustrated%by%his%life%in%Sierra%Leone,%which%he%was%very%vocal% about.
Joseph% highlights%a%number%of% reasons%for%this%return,% including% a% wish% to%reCestablish% links% with% his% parents’% homeland% and% to% provide% support% for% the% cultural% sector.% A% perpetually% busy%man,% Joseph% was%involved% in% projects%across%Freetown% including% an% attempt%to%establish%a%greater%pro?ile%for%Sierra%Leonean%?ilm%through%the%Freetown%Film% Festival%which%he%initiated%in%2007.%More%signi?icant%for%the%SLNM%was%his%appointment% as%a% commissioner%for%the%MRC,% and%later%his%employment%by%the%RCH%project%in%2010.% The% MRC% had% recently% made% plans% to% create% a% permanent% of?ice% space% in% the% new% building% at%the% SLNM,%but%Joseph’s%presence% was% consolidated%in% 2010% as% he% began%to% digitise% the%collections.%Joseph%took%on%an%authoritative%role%at%the%SLNM% based% on%his% membership%of%the%MRC,%his%broader%role%in%monitoring%the%RCH%project,%and%his%family% connections%to%Easmon.% As%the%SLNM%is%technically%managed% by%the% MRC,%Joseph%felt%a% responsibility% towards% improving% the% Museum% and% attempted% to% implement% this% by% calling% a%series%of%meetings%during%which%the%Museum’s%future%was%discussed.%This%was% despite%no%formal%training%in%museum%work%and%these%meetings%were%often%resented%by% staff%who%felt%Joseph%was%trying%to%take%over.%