New museum director connects with the past

When Virginia Parker took her first official tour of the Saratoga Museum, she came in ready to share her knowledge.

She examined the diorama of Indians hunting buffalo explaining the materials the early natives used to create their spears. Then, she moved on to the basement, depicting where the family would sit in a Victorian living room.

In the attic of the museum, Parker found an artifact that really caught her attention. It was a quilt - with the signatures of several names she recognized stitched on it.

"It's a friendship quilt," She explained. "A group of people got together, signed this and gave it as a gift to somebody."

After her discovery, she was all smiles.

"I can't believe this is my job," Virginia said.

Virginia Parker's new job as museum director at the Saratoga Museum will consist of guiding visitors into a new place and time - which is just fine for a history-buff like herself.

The 22-year resident of the Platte Valley sees the world through a historical lens. When most people look at the sign marking the Overland Trail outside of Saratoga, Parker sees the way the world was.

"I've stood there for over an hour before and just looked around," Parker said. "I can just picture the wagons and the people and hear the animals ..."

Parker was surrounded with history at an early age. She grew up in Oregon, near the sites of the California Gold Rush, her mother was personal friends with "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo and a large portion of her family were military veterans.

"All of my uncles were in the military except for one. I cut my teeth on Pearl Harbor when I was little, so history was huge."

As she moved to Carbon County in 1991, Parker attended her first Mountain Man Rendezvous. She spent days re-enacting gatherings of pioneer fur trappers. Parker said she enjoys going without modern technology and sleeping under the stars during the rendezvous.

"Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong century," Parker said.

Parker served on the board for the Grand Encampment Museum before she accepting her position at the Saratoga Museum. Upon receiving the call from Saratoga Museum Board President Liz Wood offering her the job, Parker said she screamed in excitement and almost "broke [Wood's] eardrum."

"I didn't expect to hear from her that soon, and her signal dropped. All I hear was 'will you accept -' and then her signal dropped. She could hear me but I couldn't hear her, so I was just screaming 'Yes' at the top of my lungs," Parker said. "I was excited, very excited."

Being a student to history may be Parker's favorite pastime, but teaching is where her heart is. She said that she loves sharing her vast knowledge with other people and is excited to have an opportunity to do so with her new position.

"I'm a teacher at heart," she said. "I see [the museum] as an incredible educational opportunity, but I would also like to see the older people come through the museum who lived through these times."

Parker has big plans for the museum. She wants to switch up exhibits to keep people coming back to see new items and work closely with the Encampment Museum. She has a strong desire to get the community involved and work alongside volunteers.

"Volunteers are the backbone of any museum," Parker said.

There is a bond between the museum and Wyoming, Parker said. The museum depicts the “It’s a friendship quilt,” new Saratoga Museum director Virginia Parker said. Parker brings a life-time of experience with history to the Saratoga Museum.