Introducing the Assistant Director Program

The Paul Gray PC Museum is excited to announce a new partnership with the Webb Schools! Starting this year, one Webb student will serve as the museum’s Assistant Director for the year, working alongside our Executive Director from CGU’s Museum Studies program to get hands on experience with the ins and outs of a wide range of museum work.

Our new Assistant Director will assist with cataloguing our collection of software and printed materials, including manuals and reference cards, user group newsletters, games and computing periodicals, and adventure game feelies. Using the process of cataloguing to get to know our collection and learn about computer history, she will also participate in research for both our blog (keep an eye out for her work on our Collection Spotlights!) and for multiple exhibitions throughout the year.

This academic year, our Assistant Director will have the opportunity to help plan and curate our exhibit table at Vintage Computer Festival SoCal 2025 (you can check out last year’s exhibit here). She’ll be helping to develop a focus for the table and to select and research objects, allowing her to learn about general exhibit curation as well as the considerations that go into developing a traveling exhibit and writing exhibition texts with specific audiences in mind (in this case, vintage computer hobbyists).

Additionally, we plan to update our permanent exhibitions in 2025 in conjunction with Claremont Graduate University’s centennial. The Assistant Director will be working directly with the Executive Director throughout the process, giving her a chance to develop a range of competencies involved in developing and installing a larger scale exhibition from start to finish.

The Assistant Director program provides a unique opportunity for a high school student to get to know the ins and outs of museum work at a high level. By working closely with the Executive Director, who runs all operations of the museum, the Assistant Director will be involved with a breadth of projects that provide a well-rounded base of experience in the variety of different skills that go into running a museum.

Here’s a message from our first Assistant Director, Sophie Lin:

I am so thrilled to introduce myself as the Assistant Director for the 2024-2025 school year at Paul Gray PC Museum. As a Junior in the Webb Schools, I’m passionate about biotechnology, performing arts, and exploring the intersection of technological innovations and social activism. I look forward to working with Anna to continue to build on the legacies of Paul Gray.