The Jenks Society for Lost Museums — mostly graduate students at Brown and RISD — has won a national award for the “Lost Museum” project and exhibition, which is on display in Rhode Island Hall through May.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Members of the Jenks Society for Lost Museums and its “Lost Museum” exhibition have won the national Graduate Student Project Award from the National Council on Public History.

The Lost Museum,” on display in Rhode Island Hall through May, reconstructs part of the natural history collection of John Whipple Potter Jenks, anthropologist, taxidermist, curator, and 1838 Brown graduate. Jenks established and fitted out Brown’s Museum of Natural History and Anthropology at his own expense. Most of that permanent collection was eventually discarded.

The award recognizes the students for their “collaborative historical and artistic re-imagination” that has brought the story of Jenks and his museum to the public “in a playful and thought-provoking fashion,” according to the NCPH awards announcement. “The team demonstrated dedication, ability, and a willingness to collaborate with other disciplines to bring the story of John Jenks to their immediate and larger community. Their hard work yielded an exceptionally professional presentation, and their efforts received extensive media coverage and have drawn in many visitors from beyond campus and online.”

Students recognized by the award include Lily Benedict, Elizabeth Crawford, Kathrinne Duffy, Sophia LaCava-Bohanan, Jessica Palinski, Rebecca Soules, and Jamie Topper of Brown, and Raina Belleau, Layla Eshan, and Kristen Orr of the Rhode Island School of Design. The award is given “to an outstanding public history student project initiated as academic coursework and implemented and recognized beyond the classroom for its contribution to the field of public history.”

The NCPH will recognize the members of the Lost Museum team and the winners of all NCPH awards Saturday morning, April 18, 2015, during the organization’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.