My Internship Experience So Far at USG's Priddy Library

  

My name is Ethan Falk and I am currently an intern at the Universities at Shady Grove Priddy Library. I began working at the library in early February. I report directly to my supervisor Nickolas Falk (no relation) and also to his supervisor Irene Munster. So far, my duties as the Priddy Library intern include creating exhibits, uploading and maintaining the exhibits and collections on the Omeka and Neatline programs, as well as, being involved in meetings for various events.

 My first task as the intern at Priddy Library was to put together an exhibit for March, which is Women’s History Month. I incorrectly assumed that one month was plenty of time to think of, put together, print, and hang the exhibit, however, it took the entirety of the month and the finished exhibit was hung March 1. My initial step was to brainstorm an idea for the exhibit. Nickolas wanted me to avoid repeating past Women’s History Month exhibits, such as, Women in Science or Literature. I came up with the idea of showing women that are depicted on currencies. I was inspired after I realized that the United States only ever had Martha Washington on a banknote (this is not including coins, like the Sacagawea or Susan B. Anthony golden dollars or the special edition Hellen Keller quarter dollar). With the help and creative input of Eileen Harrington and Antoinette Negro, I decided to name the exhibit “Women on the Money.”

I began researching different countries central banks to find women who were depicted on banknotes. Once I found women from countries representing every continent, I began research on the women and searched for images of the banknote within the public domain. Finding public domain pictures proved to be difficult and I had to reach out to private companies and central banks of countries to gain access to copy write restricted images. The Central Bank of Paraguay was extremely cooperative and not only granted me permission, but supplied a better image of the requested banknote. Aside from seeking non-copy write images, the research had to be presented in a nonbiased and informational style since the exhibit was being published by the institution.

 

"Women on the Money" Exhibit on display at the Priddy Library

Merely producing the exhibit does not include the entire scope of the project. After compiling the exhibit into a finished project, the information and images need to be uploaded onto Omeka and Neatline. These are two programs that not only backup the information, but allow the information to be shared with cooperating institutions and students. Although Omeka and Neatline have relatively user friendly interfaces, the large and repetitive amount of metadata to be entered can be somewhat daunting. On top of entering the data for the exhibit I created, “Women on the Money,” I was also tasked with cross-referencing information on previous exhibits with the Priddy Library Archived Events site, Omeka’s data, Neatline’s data, and a Microsoft Excel sheet with the backup data. All of them need to match up with each other in order for information to be shared and published on a medium accessible to the public.

Once the work on the “Women on the Money” exhibit was complete, I began preliminary research on the next event. At some point this semester, the Priddy Library will be hosting a screening of a documentary on Julius Rosenwald, aptly titled, Rosenwald, by acclaimed American filmmaker Aviva Kempner. The Priddy Library plans on displaying an exhibit to highlight the importance Julius Rosenwald has had on the educational experience of African Americans in southern states during segregation. Meeting with Irene, Nickolas, and Leah Rufus, I created an outline for the prospective exhibit and started to compile images and information about Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools.

           

Another aspect of my internship that has been an educational experience has been the ability to sit in on meetings. It has shown me the complexity and invaluable resource of interdepartmental cooperation. Last year, Nickolas worked with Rachel Carstens, Coordinator from the Center for Academic Success (CAS) on an award winning event, “Keep Calm and Color.” The recognition that the event got encouraged the Priddy Library and CAS to hold the event again and I was able to sit in on the meeting discussing the parameters for relaunching the event this semester.

Victor Mercogliano
Maryland General Assembly

                                                            The House is in Session

                               Welcome to Annapolis for the 2017 Legislative Session!! 

My internship is to gain a first-hand experience in the Maryland General Assembly. I am learning about the legislative process. As a history major, I have learned a particular set of skills that have benefitted me in my internship. I have worked with a bill the same way that I would with a research paper. I have conducted research from credible sources, made presentations, and emphasized the significance of the proposed bill. I believe that history has provided a solid foundation for me to succeed in this environment. One of the most notable benefits is my ability to introduce new ideas and interpretations on legislation. In my history classes, I have been encouraged to think outside of the box and form my own interpretation. When it comes to legislation, the new ideas have the potential to provide just the right type of support for a bill so that it passes. History has made me a dynamic thinker that is truly passionate about getting the best evidence and presenting it well.

I am loving every second of this internship. Every single day is an invigorating experience. My goodness, we are moving and working from start until finish. We are conducting research, getting calls from the house floor, hearing testimony and even sitting at the testimony table. I have done that twice so far. This experience can be overwhelming at times as it is fast-paced and requires your best effort all the time. I have had the chance to experience so many different aspects of Annapolis and the General Assembly already. I am speaking with Delegates, Senators, Staff and Lobbyists each day that I am there.

Where to begin…? Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo and I grabbed lunch in the beginning of my time in Annapolis. We were able to usurp 23 years of eating tendencies and I tried Sushi for the first time. Wow! It was unbelievably delicious. We discussed government, history, and why each of us were in the General Assembly. He is a humble guy that I could easily relate with. He was a history major and wanted to represent the people in his district. I agree with a lot of his legislation and policy that he has on the table for the session.

Next, I am thrilled that each day is full of challenges. My tasks vary from day to day but each one is filled with an array of significant challenges. It is an enlightening thought that each task that I complete and each challenge that I face in some way, shape, or form factors into making Maryland a better place. I understand that I am interning there and not a Delegate or Senator. That being said, I have not felt or been made to feel inferior in any way shape or form. My experience has been met with respect and my work has gone beyond the atypical “grunt work” tasked to interns. That is also probably due to the fact that my work ethic is like my metabolism. I am always hungry and ready for the next task.  

It is year 3 out of 4 for each delegate and senator. This means that this year is the one to get your bills passed and to build a solid resume to get reelected. This is the House Floor where the delegates will discuss, debate, and vote on legislation. There are about 140 Delegates this year so it will be a packed house. There are already over 1500 bills that have been introduced in the House up to this point.

I am interning in the Office of Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo of District 15. We are located in Room 226 of the Lowe House Building. (Feel free to stop by any time, we have snacks and smiles all throughout the day) I am incredibly pleased with the office staff and Delegates. I say Delegates because the office is a total of four rooms, one for each delegate, one for the legislative aides, and then there is the main room which I work alongside our receptionist. Delegate Kramer of District 19 is adjacent to Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo. Our office is known as the most lively office on the second floor if not the entire building.

Here’s a picture of Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo speaking at the Fracking Press Conference:

The ASPCA reception that I went to with Delegate Kramer(on the right) a few weeks ago:

                                

                   

                 

Those two lovely beagles are named George Washington and Alex Hamilton. Yes, after the founding fathers. I have attended numerous receptions while at my internship. Each of these have been a win-win situation. I have listened to issues and met with people from various organizations. I heard a brave young girl read a personal narrative in front of a room of about fifty people. This brave girl suffers from dyslexia and I was truly moved by her courage. In addition, I met with some members of the Board of Education and discussed issues in our schools. I listened to what their concerns were for the future of education in Maryland. I believe that this issue is one of the most important to me. I want our children to succeed in schools and have an opportunity to thrive beyond their imagination.

There was a Thursday night in January where my UMBC and my General Assembly worlds crossed paths. UMBC had its 2^nd annual Annapolis State Alumni Event.

This event is for any current UMBC students to meet UMBC alumni that currently work in state government. This event was a wonderful experience for all that attended. Dr. Hrabowski is on the far left, followed by current state employees; Delegates, chief of staff for Governor Hogan, and Senator. I had the opportunity to personally meet Dr. Hrabowski and Delegate Chang who is standing 2^nd to the left. Each of the current UMBC students were given a platform to introduce themselves to the rest of the room. I introduced myself and gave testament to the Universities at Shady Grove. I made sure to announce that I was loving it there under the tutelage of Dr. Nolan and Dr. Blair. The theme was that UMBC was making their presence known throughout the state. So I said “We are breaking new ground at Shady Grove as well, and we are a whole new breed.” I guess I said the right thing because everyone enthusiastically clapped and cheered at that moment. It was a wonderful event and a great “coincidence.”

My Delegate currently is on 98 bills for this session. He is the Primary Sponsor on 14, Co-Sponsor of 83, and is doing one bill per request. We spend most of our time focusing on our primary bills. I have had the opportunity to conduct research on most of these bills. We have not had the chance to introduce each of them just yet. I will certainly follow up on our legislation once we have had a chance to introduce each bill. I must say that the research aspect of this internship has played right into my wheelhouse. It is fair to say that my history classes have battle-tested me for a situation such as this one.

Stay tuned for the next segment of the Maryland General Assembly! We are midway into session and things are heating up!

At last the Finding Aid is up!

For the past year and a half I’ve worked on and off as intern at the Maryland Historical Society’s Imaging Services Department (which is led by a graduate of the UMBC’s Public History program!). I’ve had the chance to do a lot of interesting things during my time there, but I’ve mostly worked on one collection in particular: the photographs and other materials of Joseph Kohl, a Baltimore photographer who was active in the 1980s, 90s, and first years of the 00s.

For some background, here's an interview that my supervisor did with Baltimore City Paper about the collection in 2015.

It’s been fascinating to work on the Kohl collection for a lot of reasons. The Historical Society doesn’t really have any other collections like it (I mean, some of the photos in it are of people wearing gimp suits for crying out loud), and it documents an entire era of the city’s history that hasn’t been examined very much by historians or even by photographers whose work from that time has been published. A number of large-format photo books of Baltimore were published during the 1990s, but pretty much all of them feature the kind of stock images we’re used to seeing of the Inner Harbor, the skyline, steamed crabs on a newspaper, etc. Much of Kohl’s work -- his photos of queer nightlife and anti-war rallies, for example -- tells a different story about the city. What makes the collection as a whole so interesting is the mix of his commercial work as a professional freelance photographer (corporate headshots, youth sports games, etc.) and this other, wilder side of Baltimore that he pursued on his own time. He had access into a lot of different rooms, in other words, and so from a historical point of view the Kohl collection seems indispensable for anyone trying to understand what was really going on here at the end of the 20th century.

Another enriching aspect of working with the collection has been the chance to learn about the actual materials of photography themselves. Handling the negatives, the model-release waivers, the little boxes of slides, Kohl’s Zip drive from the early days of digital -- this stuff gives off a special resonance for me since my own father was a photojournalist and then became a professional freelance photographer in Maryland just like Kohl did and at pretty much same time. I have much greater appreciation now for what my father was up to all those evenings in the darkroom in our basement! Working on the collection really forces you to think a lot about the technology of photography -- the fact that photography was so much more of a specialized craft in the era of film (not that it’s not now, but you know what I mean). I know that at the point we’re able to put an exhibit together around Kohl’s work, we want to foreground those ideas in our interpretation of Kohl as part of the generation of photographers, like my father, whose careers spanned the gulf from film to digital.

In my next posts I’ll go into more detail about certain aspects of what’s involved in managing a collection like this, but the big news this week is that the Finding Aid has finally gone live! I wrote some of the introduction and much of the actual finding aid itself. So check it out!

A National Park Service Internship: Publicizing National Historic Landmarks in DC

In mid-October, I started an internship in the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks (NHL) program. I work on NHLs in the National Capital Region (all of DC and parts of surrounding states). Like the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the NHL program designates sites and objects of pivotal national historic significance.  Unlike the NRHP, the Secretary of the Interior has final say on which landmarks get historic designation. National Historic Landmark designation does not limit the actions of the property owners. It only regulates the actions of the federal government on the site.

One of the main objectives of my position is to increase public awareness of NHLs in the National Capital Region. I do not highlight sites that have received copious attention, like the White House and Mount Vernon. Instead, I choose sites related to minority groups and silenced histories. So far, three articles are on the NPS website. They focus on the homes of Reconstruction civil rights activists: Charlotte Forten Grimké (anti-slavery activist and teacher), Mary Ann Shadd Cary (abolitionist and journalist) and Bruce Kelso Blanche (first full-term black senator). I hope to expand my research to include LGBTQ+ sites. (Check out the NPS LGBTQ+ Theme Study!)

Beyond writing content, there are many miscellaneous jobs for my internship.  One cultural resources employee is conducting a study on the history of DC golf courses and asked me to scan some archival files. Sounds boring, right? The next day I held in my hand original letters of Walter White about segregated sporting facilities. Researching NHLs allows me to access a diverse swath of American history. My future tasks include fixing and creating content for NHL plaques.   

Both the website and the plaque content must convey their messages with a limited number of words.  My experience parallels Beverly Serrell’s discussion of exhibit labels. Each word matters. Less becomes more productive. She explains, “Labels tell very short stories.” [1] I try to heed Serrell’s advice and keep my articles concise, but lively. Other institutions are attempting to do the same. On James Madison’s Montpelier website, small descriptions inform perspective readers how long it will take for them to finish an article. One can choose from a five-minute read called “James Madison and Religious Freedom” to a daunting eleven-minute read titled, “The Life of James Madison.” So overtly displayed, it is hard to miss that “The Life of Paul Jennings,” chronicling a man with a much more fascinating life than his enslaver, Madison, only takes seven minutes to finish. Finally, an NPS web coordinator told my supervisor and I about the Hemingway Editor. IThe application breaks down prose to highlight confusing and unnecessary words and sentences.  I now use it for my non-internship projects (like this blog). 

The process of website writing is a collaborative one, much like our History 705 projects for the Baltimore Heritage app.  Over several drafts, at least two people edit small paragraphs many times. They still miss errors. My supervisor related one editing nightmare from years ago. 20 people reviewed a plaque description for a NHL, but they did not catch the word “symobilize.” A new plaque had to be ordered with the correct word—“symbolize.” Never have I been more conscious of how one typo can affect a whole project. Professional collaboration is of critical importance.


Footnotes: 

[1] Beverly Serrell, Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1996), 12. 

The Red Cross Archives

So what is in the archives of the American Red Cross? Before I begin, just a quick heads up, the American Red Cross has been a disaster relief with the United States since 1882. Therefore, many of what is in the archives comes from some of the less cheerful times in the nation’s history. For example, there is a large section in the archives from the Red Cross’s involvement in World War I and II. Of these include sample kits that the Red Cross gave to American Prisoners of War in camps. Many POWs have thanked the Red Cross, and many have thanked the Red Cross for saving their lives. The Red Cross also has items from other wars such as the Vietnam War, including an RPG that came in through a Red Cross field hospital.  Miraculously, no one was injured in the hospital. In the archives is also items from times when the nation was not at war, by people were still suffering. One such is a sample seed kit that the Red Cross handed out during the dust bowl, where many were struggling to put food in the ground and on their table. Also, the Red Cross has items from natural disasters from the 1881 Michigan Forest fires to the 1905 Galveston, Texas floods that devastated the town. The Red Cross also has items from more recent disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. The Red Cross also has uniforms from a nurse’s outfit in WW I to what a Red Cross volunteer would wear in Operation Desert Storm. The Red Cross also has something that is also telling, space to put items from where the humanitarian efforts of the Red Cross are needed again. Overall, this post was not propaganda for the Red Cross, (that’s in the archives too). It was that history has a lot of ups and downs. However, in those downs are people and organizations helping people wherever they may be.

Collections Internship with Save Our Seminary - Part 3: Material Culture

Possibly my favorite part of my collections internship with historic preservation nonprofit Save Our Seminary (SOS) was taking inventory of new acquisitions to the organization’s archives. One of SOS’s board members monitors sites like eBay for paraphernalia related to the school. I was surprised that there would be things sold online related to the school, but that speaks to the wide spread of the girls that attended the school. One yearbook I looked at listed girls from a huge variety of states, some even from overseas. It was rare for a student to actually be from the DC area. And like any college, the attendees had a lot of pride in their alma mater; National Park Seminary had an active alumni network even after the school closed in the 1940s.

A 1920s school yearbook. The girls all sport stylish 1920s bobs and each girl
has a fun, congenial description of her personality written by the yearbook staff. 
Another interesting note: The Yearbook was called "The Acorn" and you may be
able to see the squirrels drawn in on the blocks behind the women’s pictures.

Unfortunately, many of these alumna are passing away and their estates are being sold. The majority of the acquisitions I went through were from the collection of one particular woman who attended NPS in the early 1920s. Interestingly enough, my supervisor and I discovered through some archival detective work that this woman and her sister both went to National Park Seminary…and must have married two men who were brothers!

A note from one student to another asking to meet at one of the sorority buildings.

It was amazing how much stuff these women kept: playbills, ticket stubs, notes from friends and faculty, postcards, letters. One thing I found particularly amusing were these short notes that I dubbed “early twentieth-century text messages.” Sometimes these were warning notes from school faculty regarding money owed or dorm rooms that needed to be cleaned. Other times they were notes from sorority sisters asking the girl to meet them at a certain place later that day. It was interesting to see how people communicated before email and text.

A scrapbook featuring playbills and other paper ephemera.

A whimsical name plate pasted into a scrapbook. These name plates with characters
were common and some of the paper decorations in the scrapbooks are quite elaborate.

I also had a chance to look at yearbooks, school catalogs sent out to advertise the college to potential students, and scrapbooks made by students of their time at the school. It was fascinating to see fashions and hairstyles change over the years but also to get a sense of what it was like to be a student at NPS. Since I scrapbooked my own college experience, it was interesting to see the change and continuity between scrapbooks (and college life) in the early twentieth century and today. In fact, I decided to use the scrapbook collection as the source base for my senior thesis. All in all, after spending so much of my internship focusing on the buildings of the school, it was enlightening to get a glimpse on the lives that were lived within those buildings. 

Giving life to buildings: The field hockey team sat in front of the stone arches below

 for this picture. I found this photo interesting because school sports teams still take photos like this one.

 

• Read the first and second posts on this internship.
• For more information on National Park Seminary historic district, visit www.saveourseminary.org.
• Find public history internship opportunities.

The last few weeks of the internship, I continued working on Neatline ( interactive map) that the library has worked on as it pertains to the history of the library. I was able to organize each exhibit and or event that the library has worked on since their inception. Their inception was in 1992, but their first exhibits were made during the 2000s. Camilla had completed all the information, what I needed to do was to organize each singular event into three categories, exhibits, community outreach, and partnership with other organizations.

We also have each one of these categories in different colors, green, blue, and red. Once I completed that, there was one last thing for me to do, and that was post 2 exhibits, one was a photography one and the other was a Holocaust one in the library. The first one I put up was the photography one, which was somewhat challenging due to carefulness that went in it. Each photograph was placed in frame and there were about 26 photographs that needed to be placed on wall in the library. Again I had to be very careful about not dropping it and also not putting my fingertips on the glass frame. The last exhibit, I helped Nickolas put up, I had already finished the internship and I decided to go Nick's office and see what he was doing and I ended up helping him get the Holocaust exhibit ready.


I had not known that once I had completed the 120 hours, that the internship was over, I had hoped to continue for a couple of days in January, since I am taking a Winter course. But it could not be, but I am very grateful to have been able to intern at the library this semester, it was very beneficial. It helped me understand what goes on in a library setting, and the people that I worked with were very helpful and welcoming, finally I would like to thank Dr. Blair who was the one who recommended me, without her none of this would have been possible.