During this past week I went through a guided tour of the Crandall Printing Museum on Center Street in Provo, Utah.  The Museum has been open for about eleven years and has been constantly improved upon throughout its existence.  The curators are very animated and sincere people, who started in the printing business as fourteen year old boys.  As a result they were able to say in a more personal way, “We used this type of machine until advancements were made to speed up the process.”  Although in some aspects the tour was a bit rehearsed, it was also informal enough for us to openly ask questions about items we saw.  I would recommend this museum to anyone who is able to go.  In fact, this is better than learning about the power of print in a classroom removed from the experience. 

    First of all, the webpage for the museum is well designed for a broad audience and is simple to navigate.  It is located at www.crandallmuseum.org which I suggest you visit to know what I am talking about.  One of the interesting features of the museum is that it follows a flow in time as you move from room to room.  First you are learning about the difficulties which Guttenberg experienced trying to invent his revolutionary printing press.  Throughout this and the other rooms you are introduced to the scientific events, the religious influences, and the outcomes of important documents which impacted mankind.  For example, the book by which virtually all literacy was developed began with the Holy Bible which was the major product of Guttenberg’s printing.  I consider this a major turning point in the Reformation and the eventual Restoration of the Gospel in these days.  The stage was being set for the Restoration which can be seen as the museum connects this with the printing of the American Revolution and the preparations for the printing of the Book of Mormon in 1829.  It is by no means a coincidence that such advancements (and numerous others) were made in all areas of society at this time, and that this has continued on to the present day. 

    We almost take for granted the amount of inspired men and women who have given us everything we have as a society.  In fact, one of the things that sets this museum experience apart from others is this is a research museum which draws from the community’s academia in order to maintain the discoveries which might have been made by using these resources.  This is personally important to me because history is not only for the making, but for the interpreting.  In the last few years my uncle has started a living history business in the mountains of San Diego, California.  One of the prominent features is a locomotive train ride which I was able to help him construct during the summer after my senior year of high school.  We went through the long and articulate process of “working on the railroad” including bending tract around hillside slopes and engineering a bridge which you can drive a car across and underneath.  Wow, a hands-on experience is the way to go and seeing the finished product develop was well worth the work.  The Crandall Museum helped me remember the spirit of history and the life which once flowed through it. 

Tags: Museum History Printing Railroad Restoration

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