Historical Society of Harford County Post# 1

In honor of my first month at the Historical Society of Harford County (HSHC) coming to an end I am making my first blog post. While this is not the first archive I have worked in, as I am a GA in UMBCs Special Collections, this one has brought many new challenges. I have worked for Special Collections for a year and a half at the time of posting this, and as such I have been trained to deal with an academic archival setting. There were three things mentioned to me by the director of HSHC herself: territorialism, the lack of funding, and that past interns had a habit of not completing projects, thus the frequent half finished accessioning. While I did not understand the extent of the first two issues I was determined to not be an addition to that last one. The project I have been assigned at HSHC was a donation given to them two years ago that had not been touched since then. The collection belonged to Nancy Webster Barnes a local landscaper and hobby genealogist. It contained letters dating back to 1838, diaries, and miscellaneous personal papers. While I have had more experience dealing with books and photography I was excited to learn to handle these new materials.

I have found that working for the Historical Society has been a different beast entirely. The two issues the director had warned me about made their presence known from day one. I had been used to a more supportive setting, and communal use of materials purchased for the archives. At HSHC I was promptly informed that I could not use materials already purchased and present in the cabinets, and that I would have to order my own for the project I was assigned to. Everything from gloves, to boxes, to folders nothing was spared. They also had unofficially assigned seating. I had arrived at 9 am and had been working at a table for two hours, (thoroughly spread out by then.) When I was asked to move by a volunteer, even though there were other unoccupied tables available. But, in fear of causing friction on my first day I packed up and moved.

After three days I was finally invited to join their lunch hour, and during it information came to light that clarified the hierarchy and why this archive was so far behind technologically. These volunteers were the main source of donation income, much of these donations were used for purchasing the materials, thus the feeling of ownership. And I learned that until 2012 HSHC had only used the catalogue card system of tagging and accessioning. There had been no computerized organizational system until then.

However, after working there for four weeks people have started to get used to my presence, and my supplies have come in allowing me to get through a decent portion of the 553 letters. I have successfully gotten through all letters dated 1838 to 1909, and sadly encountered one filled with hair (with an ungloved hand.)

Reflecting on the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Internship

Reflecting on the internship, I know that the work I completed had truly made a difference. While the internship wasn’t paid like other’s I had heard about, I made major steps towards networking in the field. I believe the experience that I had gained from it was more than even to satisfy my needs. On the final day, my supervisor, Mike, had invited me to the meeting room and displayed were binders full of the docent guide I had created. He informed me that they were going to use the guides as a primary basis for all of the new and current docents. Not only this, but they were holding a meeting the next day to introduce the guide to them and new expectations for each member. Additionally, Shawn had offered a higher position of an “Interpreter” to me next summer. I would be one of two interpreters on the floor of the museum leading more tours around the museum and the building itself. An interpreter is also allowed to give presentations to groups of members of the committee and public, so I could potentially be given those responsibilities as well. Furthermore, it is the highest ranking a docent can hold at the museum. Although I may be young, I promise I can hold my ground when asked even the most intricate questions about Babe Ruth and the time period itself. One gentleman, who had worked at Cooperstown museum, asked me multiple questions about Babe Ruth and clarifications on his life events. By the end of the conversation, he said he was very impressed with my knowledge and encouraged me to apply for Cooperstown’s internship next summer. Equally significant, I mentioned to my superiors about wanting to apply for more internships next summer specially Smithsonian and National Geographic. Both Shawn and Mike mentioned that they would be more than happy to give in a very exceptional letter of recommendation towards the applicants if needed. I am absolutely humbled and blessed to have been given this opportunity in the field. I look forward to what the future may hold in the field!

Conclusion of Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Internship

For the conclusion of my internship, I had written a twelve page guide on instructions and information a docent at the museum is expected to know. While a docent should be well informed about the main subject, George Herman “Babe” Ruth, they should be able to tell a story along the way. My supervisors and I had agreed that it was too old fashioned to simply state facts about the subject himself. The public can’t relate and retain the information as easily making their experience less than exceptional. If the public can relate to the subject in any way, such as disliking school or sharing a passion in a sport, then they are much more likely to retain the information and have a much better experience. In addition to this, I had completed multiple side projects. One of them being a pamphlet for the self guided portion of the museum. This highlighted the main artifacts and exhibits the museum offers while still informing the public in a quick, enjoyable way. I had also helped my superior, Katie, create wristbands and baseball shaped stress balls to be given out afterwards for large school groups. We had both agreed that the large, young groups responded incredibly well when receiving a reward for answering trivia during the tour. These types of interactions with the public is crucial for museums! Without this type of interactive environment, museums will continue to get boring and unsatisfying reviews from not only the public but professionals as well. Museums should not be taken for granted and be pushed aside. They are crucial to all of society not just historians or history majors. They are how we reflect on our past actions as a community and learn from them whether it be a forgotten or iconic period.

Beginning of Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum Internship

During the first week of my internship, I began reading the required research materials which included, Great Tours! Thematic Tours and Guide Training for Historic Sites, The Good Guide: A Sourcebook for Interpreters, Docents, and Tour Guides, and Babe: The Legend Comes To Life. I had also established my main responsibilities from my supervisor, Shawn, which were: shadow current docent tours, conduct tours for scheduled groups, tour guide for busy days, research other museums’ and historic houses tour practices, and develop a public tour outline for docents and the public. One of the main docents' I was able to shadow during the first few weeks was Charles Day. He had been giving tours at the museum for a long while and had been an English teacher beforehand, so he was very insightful about reaching the younger public in a positive manner. He gave very beneficial advice for future references about tours especially when it came to recognizing the audience. While most of our tours were middle school groups, we had a few instances where they were adults instead. We then changed our approach and allowed them more freedom around the museum and more of a look inside of Babe Ruth’s life beyond baseball. The first few weeks of the internship mainly revolved around research both in and out of the field.