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BOALSBURG – Starting with a sixth grade History Day project about the tank on display at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg, and ending up as the administrator of the same museum, Tyler Gum of Lewistown, feels that he has come full circle.
Gum, a 2004 graduate of Lewistown Area High School, was appointed as the site administrator of the museum in June by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Gum succeeds Charles “Chuck” Smith, who retired after years of service to the PHMC.
Gum comes with a wealth of experience in the academic and business communities. During the past eight years he has worked as a national park ranger, a history lecturer at Penn State Altoona and most recently the director of client relations and legislative liaison for Benefit Management Group, Inc.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in American history at Penn State University, Gum earned a master’s degree in applied history at Shippensburg University, where his studies focused on American and military history.
In 2007, Gum interned with the National Park Service and, after graduating, stayed with the NPS as an interpretive park ranger with duties such as battlefield walks and tours. He also participated in special events with dignitaries and held leadership and educational conferences for schools.
In the fall of 2011, Gum and his wife moved back to Mifflin County and he joined Benefit Management Group, where he worked on basic and advanced human resource issues, business development plans and researched legislation to see how it would affect clients with whom he worked.
Having a degree in history taught Gum how to research topics quickly so he could see what happened in the past to project what will happen in the future and look at trends.
Gum is also involved with the Mifflin County Planning Commission as former vice-chair of the Parks and Recreation Council, and he serves on the board of the Mifflin County Education and Scholarship Foundation.
But, Gum always wanted to get back into the history field, his first love.
He applied for the position at the museum a year ago and his application was held in the system until Smith retired. Gum was then contacted to see if he was still interested in the position.
“Working at the Pennsylvania Military Museum is a dream come true,” Gum said. “Visiting the site as a child is where my love of history began. As the new site administrator, I look forward to strengthening our ties within the community and finding ways of connecting with our veterans. Without them, our comfortable way of life in the United States would not exist.”
Gum said its been a whirlwind since college to the present, as he has played the role of part historian and part businessman, which, he said, is important to balance the needs of the museum and of the public. He plans to look at what the museum can offer the community and its surrounding area.
Most museum visitors come from Centre, Mifflin, Juniata and Blair counties.
“I’ve seen a lot more familiar faces coming over,” since starting this summer, Gum said.
With Mifflin County steeped in military history from the Logan Guard to the Lincoln stone at Monument Square, Gum feels guests from the county are drawn to the museum’s rich Civil War memorabilia. Gum hopes by increasing programs and marketing, more local citizens will visit the museum.
The museum’s emphasis is to preserve and honor 18th century to 21st century military history, with a special focus on the 20th century, interpreting for citizens and visitors the story of the commonwealth’s “citizen soldiers,” civilian activities on the home front, and the contributions of Pennsylvania industry to military technology.
“Not everyone likes military history,” Gum said. “We’re not just weapons, tanks and trenches. We give a personal perspective from the front lines and the home front, both that contributed to the effort.”
The museum offers a variety of educational programs – five formal programs, as well as several other options that include an educator traveling to a school for a nominal fee, or customizing a program to the customer’s needs.
Other events a the museum include encampments, re-enactments, bivouac, speaker series on a wide range of topics, kids day, museum tours and the big event for the year, Celebration of Service in May.
This special service celebrates the members of the 28th Infantry Division for their service and for its fallen. The museum is the site of the infantry’s shrine on the original training grounds of Col. Theodore D. Boal’s mounted machine gun troop.
This traditional service takes place each spring, when soldiers and airmen from armories across the commonwealth gather for the thoughtful remembrance.
All of the items on display on the grounds of 68-acre site, which includes the shrine, monuments, museum and vehicle building, have been carried, worn, used, driven by a citizen of Pennsylvania. Many of the artifacts in the museum have come from private donations or collections, from estates, from other museums in the state system or from military units or soldiers. Each artifact is catalogued and either safely stored in the collections room or put on display in the museum for the public to view.
When asked to identify his favorite artifact displayed at the museum, Gum said, “Asking a historian for a favorite is like asking a parent which kid is their favorite.”
After much thought though, Gum pointed out two of his favorites, the first being a Civil War artillery display with a Napoleon cannon. The former Civil War park ranger is fond of artifacts from that era, and is very excited that the museum owns a Napoleon.
Gum’s other favorite is the collection of military Jeeps.
The 1940 Bantam Reconnaissance Car is one of Gum’s favorites as well. The car was produced in Butler at the American Bantam Car Company. After working on restoring a 1982 Jeep with his family, Gum has a particular fondness for Jeeps.
Much thought goes into which items are displayed in the museum and, depending on which special events are taking place, the items on display are rotated. Preserving and protecting all the artifacts is of utmost importance to Gum.
“You have to do it right to honor the sacrifices,” Gum said.
Gum plans to update the exhibits in the years to come after looking at the artifacts list and learning what they have and what story they can tell with the items.
“It comes with a story, which makes it special,” Gum said.
James Vaughan, PHMC executive director said, “We are very fortunate to have someone with Tyler’s historical training and business experience to lead the Pennsylvania Military Museum.”
“It’s hard to call it work when you love it so much,” Gum said.
Patrons may visit the museum from March through November, and during the winter the museum is open for tours by appointment and for special events.
For more information about the museum and a schedule of events, visit www.pamilmuseum.org.