As I conclude my time interning with the Baltimore Museum of Industry, I am proud of what I have accomplished. I utilized my research to construct historical narratives for each tour site and as a result I have brought awareness to forgotten history. In late April, I uploaded my tour sites to Explore Baltimore Heritage and it made me proud to know that I was making the public aware of these sites that either were not talked about a lot, or that were forgotten. A memory that I will always have is googling "The William G. Scarlett Company" and seeing that the first link that came up was a link to my tour description. Here is the link to access my tour of Harbor East: https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/tours/show/34.
My time at the BMI has taught me what it is like to be a historian. I acted like a detective, finding traces each company left behind and even though I have never met the founders of each company, I feel a personal connection to each of them from my research. Sometimes my research cases went cold, but I kept digging and eventually I found new leads to follow. It is gratifying to know that these companies once lost to public memory will not be forgotten all due in part to my research. I also enjoyed how my research manifested itself in a different final product from my usual research. For classes at UMBC, every history class that I have taken has required my research to be presented in the form of a term paper. It was refreshing to present my information in the form of a virtual walking tour because I know that more people are likely to view this tour than read my academic papers. The tour also allows me to reach a broader audience and it excites me to think that even people who do not consider themselves as history enthusiasts could possibly take my tour.
In addition, I have realized that while I enjoy bringing back forgotten pasts and researching the history behind places, I do not enjoy the physical cataloging of objects. I think for future endeavors, I would like to focus on bringing back these forgotten pasts. Overall, I found my internship at the BMI helpful in my introduction to the field of public history. At first it was challenging to write for an audience made up of the general public rather than for an audience of academics, but in the end I found the process more rewarding. Very few of my friends and family members enjoy history. However, I believe that through the creation of this tour, I have found a way to get them involved in history.
