Long weekends come and go, but the experiences you gain from an internship stay with you forever. One thing about internship experiences, is that your experience is unique to you and you only. This past weekend I traveled to Roanoke to do the in-person part of my internship, interning all day Friday and Monday, and half a day on Saturday. This past weekend was a little different compared to other times interning. I was tasked to add to the accession records donations from 2011 that had been put away to be dealt with at a later date after the Museum moved from Center in the Square. While tasked with this job, I found it difficult to really decide on which items should stay or go- because it either fit within the museum’s scope or it did not, or it was a question if the specific item would add to any narrative that the museum may present. For the two boxes I went through of donations from 2011, almost everything was kept and added into the accession register, although some items were missing as it was expected since it is nine years after the fact.
My other tasks this weekend was going through and cataloging letters between a mother and daughter, for whom the mother resided in Roanoke, between 1929-1932 and photographing a large donation of China from the Lewis-Gale family. The letters between the mother and daughter pair are interesting in that they offer insight on what life was like in Roanoke back in the girth of the Great Depression and the most pressing problems and worries families faced during that time. Some commonalities of the letters included family updates and recollections of life back home, who was sick, who was have the most difficulties, weddings, babies, etc. Earlier this month, the Lewis-Gale family had donated a plethora of China that was owned by the family throughout the years, with the oldest pieces being dated back to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. The china was in superb shape and you can see how the different styles of china and the designs/colors used on the porcelain changed with the trends of the 20th century. Although I am not at my internship weekly, I am very thankful with the flexibility and willingness of my mentor, Ashley Webb, during this time. I am truly enjoying the different things I am tasked to do and the variety of objects I get to handle.
