gvbowker

It is hard to think that the internship is almost over, I have learned and still am learning so much throughout this time.

Looking at military troops and divisions from Salem has been really interesting, I have found so many major divisions from both World Wars that participated in many major battles and were highly decorated. The book on the history of Salem has been a really interesting read and shed a lot of insight on what went on in Salem during World War II and the role of Roanoke College during that time.

My COVID data collection has been keeping me busy, I have talked to eleven people so far, all in different areas of the community and all have provided a unique perspective to my project. I am still hoping to talk to a couple more people but am not quite sure who to reach out to. I am excited to see how this project ends.

There has not been much change since my last post, only the amount of information that I have in the different areas that I am looking at.

One of the pictures I have attached is a short list of military regiments originating out of Salem and other divisions and areas within the military that men from Salem were a part of. The other picture is another book on the history of Salem, going back to the Civil War.

 

 

I have spent the majority of my time working on the COVID information so far. I am finding it hard to get people to respond to me and actually set up a time to talk, a lot of people have been referring me to other people and being noncommittal, which has been frustrating. I have been able to get in touch with four people, a couple principals from local schools, restaurant owners and local business owner and all have had very different and interesting stories to tell. I am waiting on responses from ten other people in areas such as the police department, city hall, and the Salem Civic Center. Collecting this information has taken longer than I thought it would because people are taking days to respond and then another week to actually schedule something. I sent out 8 more emails today and am switching focus to the military information while I wait for responses. The museum did receive a call from the Communications Director for the city of Salem asking about me, I am glad that my name is getting around the community it has helped me get responses from different city officials.

I do not have an update on the military information as most of my time has been spent on COVID, but I will be dedicating time to that over the next few days.

 

 

 

 

 

Starting at the Salem History Museum I was assigned two areas of study, one of which is looking at various military troops and another looking at COVID in Salem.

My first area is looking at military troops that have originated out of Salem in different wars throughout history. There are many in the Civil War, and both World Wars. I am excited to look more into this as military history is an interest of mine.

My second area of study throughout this internship is creating a questionnaire or survey of some type about how COVID has impacted different areas of the Salem community. I have set up meetings with a couple different school principals, and local businesses and restaurant owners. I am still looking for more people to talk to and get different perspectives and stories. I am really excited about this because I get to be in control of creating questions, networking, and gathering my own information.

I appreciate the museum giving me the freedom to collect my own information, it will be a great experience and interesting to see what I can learn.

After a couple weeks, the internship has definitely matched my expectations going into it.

I have talked to three people so far in my COVID study, one school principal, a local restaurant owner, and a local salon owner. All have had very different stories to tell and it has been fascinating to listen to them and hear what the business or school has done during this time. Listening to the principal was especially interesting because he focused a lot on community support and the ways that he saw the community come together to help the students. I could tell that he was really passionate about the school and his students, it was amazing to listen to and talk with him. The restaurant owner was also very passionate and even got a little emotional telling me everything that the restaurant has gone through and the fear he had that he was going to lose the business. Listening to these people has kept me motivated to find other people to talk with and share their stories.

The military research has also been going well, I have found that there were a number of people from Salem that were first to land in Normandy on D-Day. The museum gave me a book called “Salem: A Virginia Chronical” by Norwood C. Middleton that talks about the history of Salem and every notable person, event and place. It is a really interesting read.

Overall, the internship so far has been interesting and enriching. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that I have had to do.