Smithsonian Freer|Sackler Internship Blog Post 3

For the past three months I have been an intern with Visitor Experience for the Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries. I have learned so much and I am happy to report that I will be extending my internship for another six months during my last semester in college. I will continue working with the F|S team to plan and execute the Freer|Sackler IlluminAsia Reopening Weekend. I enjoy seeing projects to the end so I am very happy I was asked to stay on as a reopening team member.

Currently in our office, we have large maps for the layouts for different galleries. Curators are able to put up pictures of the artifacts they are showing in their exhibits as well as the text that accompanies the art. There are also swatches of fabric for some of the galleries as well as material used for couches we are putting in the hallway. People are constantly changing their boards with text edits, adding or omitting information that they deem necessary to share with the public. We also have vision boards for the theatre in the Freer Gallery. Everything in the Freer Gallery has been renovated and our technology has been updated so it is very exciting seeing the whole museum come together. There is a lot that goes into reopening a museum. The Smithsonian Freer|Sackler Galleries are going through a rebranding as well. We are pushing the idea that they are “2 Galleries, 1 Destination.” We are hoping more people will visit the two national Asian Art museums. A lot of people don’t realize they are Smithsonian affiliated museums and some people don’t even know about the Sackler Gallery. We are going to try to make a bigger statement in 2018 for the Freer|Sackler.  

In the middle of August, I was able to accompany my supervisor to a Herman Miller showroom to pick out new chairs that will be put at the Visitor Information Desk. Because both museums are being renovated, we are getting new Information Desks and chairs for our volunteers to sit at. This was my first time ever going to a showroom and representing a company. In a way, we were buyers for Smithsonian. I really enjoyed the experience. We were brought into a display room with all the chairs the company offered in our price range and we tested them out, picked out colors, and set up a delivery for mid September.

I am hoping that once both museums are open, I will be able to work in both the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery as well as the Charles Lang Freer Gallery. I have not been in the Freer Gallery in over two years so I will be attending training in September prior to the reopening to learn about the new layout and all the new exhibits. I really enjoy trainings because the curators are able to talk about everything they have researched and we, as Visitor Information Specialists are able to share this with the public.

When I return to work in September, I will continue working on putting out the seasonal newsletters to our Docents and Volunteers. I will continue to stay in contact with those volunteering for IlluminAsia and I will continue to attend docent trainings to familiarize myself with our new exhibits and prepare for visitors to return.

Internship at Casais & Prias PLLC Law Firm 2

These past two weeks continued to provide challenging research opportunities at my internship. In court itself, note taking on rapid cases with very little time to prepare was a skillset I had to get comfortable with. It felt similar to the type of note taking associated with interviews I’ve done for historical research before. My experience with research in the history major continues to help in general research and argument forming at this internship. Constructing legal arguments uses many of the same skills as writing in the historical discipline. Where history majors tend to struggle finding those key sources that can prove your argument perfectly, lawyers can seek information then commit it for posterity. 

Following the first part of my research at Casais & Prias I began shadowing attorney Prias at dependency court. For this I took notes on defendants, retrieved documentation, and back at the office performed necessary research. The hearings provided a challenge of trying to break out the information for each case in my notes. Following that, I had to collect information and relevant case law so objections could be filed in time. 

Casais & Prias PLLC Law Firm has a contract with the state to provide representation in dependency court. When children are taken into protective custody for any multitude of reasons, attorneys Casais or Prias represent one of the parents as they either work to regain custody or relinquish parental rights. In this arrangement, the attorney does not normally meet the parent they are representing until moments before the hearing. Prosecution, defense (for each parent separately), case managers, and (if assigned by the court) guardian ad litems are handed packets detailing all the information for the case. The judge listens to whatever the hearing is for, and makes a decision if applicable. If need be, a follow up hearing is set. The decision is usually whether the parent is “compliant” or “non-compliant” with what they’ve been ordered to do by the court to get their children back.

One hearing of note was a parent whose children were placed into foster care because of her alleged drug use. According to paperwork that everyone had received she is completing her court ordered therapy and remaining clean on drug tests. Despite this, prosecution claimed to have no information that she was completing therapy. On top of this, prosecution claimed to have seen a video of her using drugs in the past month. The judge decided to file the parent as “non-compliant” with a ten-day deadline for objections on the basis that hearsay is allowed in dependency court. 

It was interesting to see how much the law is up to the judge’s discretion. Judges have a lot of leeway in recording someone’s compliance. It reminded me of Natalie Zemon Davis’ analysis of early French judge Jean De Coras in The Return of Martin Guerre. I was under the impression that modern law maintained a much more black and white style with little room for personal judgements. Natalie Zemon Davis attributed Jean De Coras’ roman style interpretation of laws to his overwhelming desire to keep families together. From my experience these past two weeks in litigation and talking with attorney Prias it’s clear each judge has their own predilections. 

Back at the office I first researched statutes for introducing evidence or using new information (video of the parent) in dependency cases. Through my research I found that the court could not use this information without an evidentiary hearing first. In addition to that rule, the video in question was a video of the original video playing on a laptop at a distance. Case law showed that videos whose origin or method of collection are as questionable as this cannot be used. Following that I got into contact with the parent’s therapy manager. I managed to get documentation for each of her therapy sessions and drafted an affidavit for the therapist attesting to the parent’s work in the program. Attorney Prias then filed the objections with the court. The strength of which should place the parent into “compliant” status. This allows her to maintain her visitation and continue her work to regain her children. 

Patapsco Heritage Greenway 2

In July, I met with the director of the Elkridge Heritage Society, Mary Bahr. She runs and maintains many of the historic documents and photographs from Elkridge. Mary showed me around the town of Elkridge, which was very helpful and introduced me to the important historic landmarks and neighborhoods in Elkridge. After I met with Mary, I realized that having grown up and lived in Elkridge all her life, she will be a valuable resource to those students that are researching sites in Elkridge.  

I also met with some local residents from Relay. Kurt and Karen Hoffman are board members of the Relay Improvement association. Not only are they interested in the history of their community, but they are also invested in preserving vital community institutions. In the town of Relay, neighborhood groups and community institutions are dwindling. One that remains at the center of Relay is the Relay Town Hall. This building is one that is rich with history for members of the community. In 1910, the structure that is now the town hall was built, and served as a volunteer fire station for the town until 1929, when it was used as a Baltimore County public library. Today, the Town Hall serves as a community center.

Talking to Kurt and Karen was very informative, as it helped me to understand certain dynamics and concerns that they and other members of the community face. One of their concerns is that the families that live in Relay do not know or try to celebrate the history of the town. Many families did not grow up in the community, and are therefore unfamiliar with its history. Furthermore, Karen was expressing that there are very few community groups where neighbors can come together. It is apparent that the Town Hall, being a historic building, is one of the last community institutions that still brings neighbors together.

On July 12th, my internship supervisor invited me to an event hosted by the nonprofit organization Preservation Maryland. It was called the Old Line State Summit, where museum professionals, historic preservationists, and advocates come together to discuss and explore various topics, challenges, and successes they have faced in the field of historic preservation. There were a series of lectures throughout the day, focusing on different topics. I was very fortunate to be able to attend this conference,as it gave me a better sense of the direction of the field, and have the opportunity to talk and hear the perspective of various professionals in the field were able to share their successes, failures, and goals for the future.

This month, I have continued to research sites in the towns of Relay, Elkridge, and Halethorpe. The challenge about these towns is that they are all so close together, yet they all maintain their own unique identities. This is something that will have to be recognized and addressed by the students who are research sites in these communities. Additionally, through my research and exploration of these sites, I recognize the importance of preserving and celebrating the history of these small towns. It is especially important, as some of the significant historical sites in these areas are crumbling or are no longer there at all. That is why public history projects and preservation efforts are so important so that the rich history of small towns is not lost or forgotten.

Talbot Historical Society 2

The second month of my internship has been just as exciting as the first.

For the majority of the month, I have continued scanning and cataloging donated photographs. The photos that I am working on come from the Laird Wise collection, and contain negatives of people, events, buildings, and various aspects of life in Talbot County. The Society was given a grant in order to digitally preserve the photographs and have obtained three computers and scanners, accompanied with the PastPerfect database.

The Society's photograph collection is primarily made up of three local professional photographers (Laird Wise, H. Robins Hollyday, and C.C. Harris), who's documentation of our region spans from 1870 to 1950. There are well over 100,000 negatives, prints, and slides in the photograph collection and I have catalogued close to a thousand photos, though that is a relatively small number compared to the grand total.

On an unrelated note, I was given the responsibility of finding a permanent storage solution for framed portraits and paintings in the vault. The framed collection was hung on peg board, but it gave in and fell down early in my internship. As of yesterday, they were being stored on the ground, leaning up against the wall. Not a good way to store them. Due to the heavy rain we got last week, the vault flooded (thankfully there was minimal damage), but today, my proposed storage solution was implemented and installed. I suggested that a more durable storage method would be chicken wired panels to get the paintings off of the ground and hung out of harms way. 

At the very end of July, We took down our Unionville exhibit in order to assemble our next exhibit: Trains and the Development of Talbot County. There were two major railroad lines that passed through Talbot County. The Baltimore and Eastern Rail Road went from Baltimore to Ocean City, while the Pennsylvania Rail Road went from Clayton, DE to Oxford, MD. We had a wealth of photos, artifacts, and information to put on display in a limited amount of space, but the exhibit turned out wonderful and a kick-off event will be held this Saturday, which I'll be attending and will later blog about.

Howard County Historical Society 3

In the final weeks of my internship at the Howard County Historical Society, I have again taken to researching the life and legacy of Joshua Barney. This research has aided me in successfully accessioning a collection of 589 items related to Joshua Barney. The collection contained a wide variety of documentary items, from journal entries, to maps, to letters.

The research that I carried out aided me in placing these items into their historical context. Many of the items related to Barney’s prolific naval career during the War of 1812. Such items included letters recounting the Battle of Bladensburg, and hand-drawn maps showing the position of the Patuxent Flotilla in 1814. Without research, these items would be difficult to place within their historical context.

The primary and secondary source research that I studied painted a detailed picture of the life of Joshua Barney during the war. Already a veteran from the War of Independence and the French Revolutionary War, Barney was a well known figure in American admiralty. Despite this, Barney refused to join the new, official navy of the United States. At the onset of the War of 1812, Barney instead opted to enlist as a privateer.  

Now Commodore of the schooner Rossie, Barney was tasked with protecting the Chesapeake Bay from British intrusion. Barney excelled at this task, and between July 12 and 10 November, Barney claimed more than $1,500,000 in plunder from the British Fleet. Using the small 13 gun schooner, Barney frequently captured small, isolated British ships taking their supplies for America and protecting the Bay communities from plunder.

In 1813, the British focussed their strategy on naval operation on the Bay. This shift placed Barney’s operation on the Rossie in danger. Privy to the dangers this new change posed, the Navy Department rewarded Barney’s good work with a commission as the Commodore of the Flotilla of Baltimore. This new flotilla was to be raised that year as a lightweight fleet of agile ships. These ships were designed not for pitched battles, but rather to harass the newly bolstered British fleet in the Bay.

Now in command of the fleet, Barney engaged the British in a series of small battles across the Bay and in the Patuxent River. Using the ships’ small sizes and light weights, Barney frequently escaped capture by sailing upriver into the Bay’s many rivers and tributaries. Unlike the ships of the Baltimore Flotilla, the British fleet found the rivers to shallow to give chase. Barney relied on this fleet to continue his harassment of the Fleet.

Barney continued to see great success with this tactic until mid-1814. The British, having defeated Napoleon in Europe, had focussed the might of their armed forces on the Americas. Determined to end the war, Britain gathered a grand fleet of 46 ships aimed at the Patuxent River. Realizing his flotilla could not stand against a fleet this large, Barney was forced to take the fleet upriver and scuttle it, preventing the ships from falling into enemy hands.

Without a fleet, Barney was forced to take his 500 sailors to land. As the British fleet disembarked from the Patuxent north of Washington, America hastily put together a defence.Calling upon all available forces, America gathered several thousand Maryland Militiamen to join Barney in defending Washington at the crossroads at Bladensburg.

The ensuing battle was catastrophic for the Americans. Many of the Maryland militia routed instantly, leaving Barney and his sailors without support. Barney’s sailors bravely held against the British veterans until Barney was shot and wounded. Immobile, Barney called on his soldiers to flee and avoid capture, but many refused to abandon their captain.

Barney was captured by the British at the end of the battle only to be put on parole by the commander of the British fleet in the Chesapeake. The British went on to burn Washington, and the war ceased shortly afterwards with neither side claiming total victory. The wound Barney suffered in the Battle of Bladensburg was never fully treated, leading to Barney’s early death in 1818 as he and his family moved from Baltimore to Kentucky.

Smithsonian Freer|Sackler Internship 2

Smithsonian Freer|Sackler Internship: July Wrap-Up

This last month at the Smithsonian Freer|Sackler galleries has been quite busy, which is why I am writing this blog post so late.

On July 4^th the Sackler Gallery closed one of our most popular exhibits, Filthy Lucre. Filthy Lucre, also known as Peacock Room REMIX, is an exhibit by Darren Waterston. It is Waterston’s interpretation of James McNeill Whistler’s (original) Peacock Room. Supposedly, it was a commentary by Waterston about what happens when money and art collide. The Peacock Room (original) is known for its decadence; the paintings, porcelain, and colors used in the room are considered to be iconic. Filthy Lucre is the Waterston’s honest opinion of Whistler, going to such lengths to produce such a luxurious room.

On July 10^th, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery closed for a 3-month reinstallation period. On October 14^th, there is a reopening weekend in which the Sackler and Freer Galleries will be open to the public again. The two day event will celebrate the renovation of the Charles Lang Freer Gallery and the new art that will be available in both Asian Art Galleries.

Because both museums are closed now, and I am employed as an intern working with Visitor Experience, my job has changed drastically. Last month, I was working out in the Gallery mostly, spending very little time in the office with my other co-workers. Now, I spend every day in the office, working on statistics for the museums, coordinating with volunteers for the reopening event in October, and doing research in the other Smithsonian Museums. It is not as active and exciting as last month, but this month I am really getting to show off my office skills. It is a bit lonely without being able to talk to the visitors and interact with guests, but it is nice staying at the desk and finishing all my work in a day. Currently, I am working on the September newsletter for our Docents and Visitor Information Specialists.

I have been attending lots of meetings and talking about preparation for the IlluminAsia Reopening event. I also attend lots of lunch meetings with the other interns from the disabilities program I am employed with. I like meeting with other interns because they are stationed in different museums and are having completely different experiences than I am. One intern named Sam is stationed at the Natural History Museum with Visitor Experience as well. His museum is much larger than my museum and has way more visitors per day than my museum. He says it’s a bit stressful because lots of children and school groups visit the Natural History Museum and children have a lot of energy. The Natural History Museum has lots of interactive things for children to experience.

During my internship, I’ve noticed how different History Museums are from (fine) Art Museums/Galleries. Personally, I find I enjoy art museums more. History museums are so informative and educational but they are very straightforward. In art museums, the kinds of art displayed vary from being historical pieces to abstract pieces in which the audience can interpret in a variety of ways. However, both history museums and art museums present culture and history in a way that everyone can learn from.

Internship at Casais & Prias PLLC Law Firm

I have completed the first part of my internship at the law office of Casais & Prias PLLC. I have primarily filled a research role in the operation. Using resources pertaining to law I have been diving through statutes and case law. It is in this type of work the relationships between being a historian or a lawyer share many similarities. For law cases, you must research throughout judicial history to then structure arguments which are then reviewed by peers through the legal process. This type of work closely mirrors the process of source research, argument construction, and peer review found in the History discipline.
Since the 24th of July I have been preparing research for one of attorney Prias' cases. She is representing a defendant who was charged with 7 counts relating to civil theft, breach of contract, and conspiracy. My research would dictate whether we would go forward with a motion to dismiss the complaint altogether or at least dismiss some of the counts and prepare to contest the ones that remain. The motion she will be filing is only in response to the complaint she received at this time, so any research or argument made had to be bound by the information in the complaint itself. Reading the complaint itself and statutes surrounding bankruptcy and alter ego, I discovered the following.
Unfortunately for plaintiff, he had purchased goods from the defendant who then filed for bankruptcy which cleared the company of any possible debt it faced. To try and retrieve what he paid, this customer included a count of alter ego in their complaint. My research discovered that alter ego is the practice of mixing your company and personal finances, as well as practicing complete control over a company to the point where it's simply an extension of yourself. If you prove this against a company it allows you to "pierce the corporate veil" and pursue payment from the owner who would normally be protected. This was established in the Broward Marine Inc. V. S/V Zeus Florida case.
I was able to use my research skills from History courses and they helped greatly in digging through case law. Although the resources are more specialized for law, I was able to extract pertinent information for my notes. I then brought the case law and my reasoning for all 7 counts to attorney Prias. Using my research, they drafted their motion to dismiss 3 of the counts (pertaining to alter ego) and began their arguments. It was exhilarating to see research turned around so quickly into action.