Museum of Natural History
Forever...The Museum of Natural History is the workplace of anthropologist Sharon Wagner, linking the institution in the novel to both the possibility of field research and a school effort to introduce students to professional careers. Its role is described through Wagner’s employment and public presence rather than through its internal organization or museum activities.
Identity and Connection
Sharon Wagner works as an anthropologist at the Museum of Natural History. She hopes to join a field trip, perhaps during the summer, though the account does not say whether that trip is organized by the museum or whether she ultimately goes. The museum is thus associated with her professional identity and her anticipated fieldwork, without further detail about its departments, collections, or operations.
Career Day
When the student narrator hears about Wagner’s work, she invites her to speak at the school’s Career Day in April. The invitation reflects the rarity, in the narrator’s view, of students getting to meet an anthropologist, and the guidance counselor is seeking engaging speakers, especially young women. Wagner agrees enthusiastically. The museum’s connection to the school event is through its employee: the evidence does not suggest that the institution itself sponsors or organizes Career Day.
At the event, held on the last Thursday in April, the narrator serves as Wagner’s hostess and has lunch with her and her grandmother in the teachers’ cafeteria. After a special assembly in which guests give short talks, students divide into groups to visit three speakers of their choice. Wagner is among the most popular guests, with full classrooms at all three sessions. Her strong reception makes the school invitation a concrete success, and the guidance counselor thanks the narrator for helping bring the speakers to campus.
Narrative Significance
The museum’s limited but distinct presence gives a recognizable professional setting to a broader emphasis on career possibilities. Wagner’s work as an anthropologist is not merely named: her appearance before students turns that occupation into something they can encounter directly. Her popularity at Career Day also answers the counselor’s concern about finding interesting speakers, particularly women, while keeping the institution itself in the background.
