Before becoming the museum's curator, Evarts was in charge of carpentry for the Fellowship of Friends. A lot of eyebrows were raised when Burton appointed him as museum curator; even Evarts was surprised, and he admits that "I entered this field in a state of nearly complete ignorance."
出任博物館館長之前，柯悌思是友朋會所屬的木工房總監，波頓這項任命不但在當時令許多人跌破眼鏡，柯悌思本身也大感意外，坦承他是「幾近無知地」踏進這個領域。