Internships Blog

Last week I began an internship with the OsborneFletcher family law firm in Lexington, KY.  The firm specializes in local family law, representing clients with nuptial, custodial and child care related conflicts.  The firm has agreed to take me in for a month, throughout July I will likely be versed in the firm’s filing systems, the courthouse’s filing system and courtroom antics/attorney jargon.  I look forward to this incredible opportunity to explore and envelopment myself in the legal world.

Naturally, my first tasks have proven to be rather mundane.  Filing case information, organization of filing room, labeling of files.  Lots of files.  Luckily, my advisors and fellow office dwellers are incredibly accommodating and friendly.  This has made my grunt work far less agonizing.  I understand the need for these humbling tasks and I eagerly anticipate my first appearance in court.

The first project for my internship is down!  I have finally submitted a two page long paper detailing various grants, organizations, and business the RVPF can hit up for money.  It only resulted in frustration and a messy desk for me.  This is not the work I was expecting to do during my internship but it is far better than writing a 30 page paper on anything or doing nothing in a museum for several hours straight.  This project has definitely shown the lengths non-profits have to go to get money for their projects.  Some of the organizations and businesses that were asked to donate include Colonial Dames and Bank of Botetourt.

I am now starting work on a couple of projects that involved cemetery preservation and another project on endangered historical sites in Roanoke.    The first two involve me emailing someone at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for information on cemetery preservation and making an FAQ out of the information.  The other project sees me interviewing foundation members on the current status of various historical sites in Roanoke and updating our list of endangered sites.  I still can’t believe they’re trusting me to work on some of these projects.  You would think they would keep interns away from vital projects especially ones that involve funding or finding historical information.

 

May Term is now over and I can begin working on the projects the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation wants done.  There are six in total and range from quick and easy to time consuming.

The first two deal with “interpretive markers.”  I honestly thought interpretive markers were historical markers that provided people with information to help them determine if a historical event or place was real.  It turns out “interpretive markers” is nothing more than a fancy term for historical markers that tell you about a place or event.  The projects I’ll be handling involve finding sources of funding for interpretative markers that will be placed in the McClanahan and Persinger cemeteries and assisting with research for interpretive markers that will be in McClanahan cemetery and Washington Park.

The third project deals with endangered sites.  Endangered sites are historical places that are in disrepair or in danger of being demolished.  What I’ll be doing is updating the list of endangered sites by researching their current status and taking oral reports from members of the Endangered Sites committee.

Th fourth and fifth projects will see me dealing with cemeteries in general.  I will be contacting a Tom Klatka from the Department of Historic Resources for information from cemetery workshops and creating a FAQ for cemeteries which will be placed on the RVPF’s website.  The information will deal with the preservation of the cemeteries.

The final project I will be involved with this summer involves Green Books.  Green Books were travel guides for African Americans that would assist them in their road trips.  They would provide locations of restaurants, hotels, gas stations and more that serve or are friendly to African Americans.  I’ll be helping the committee in charge of the project compile a list of Green Book locations in the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia.

 

 

This past week has been quite busy in terms of events.  I’ve attended two events already and will be doing another one on Sunday.  It can be safely said that participation in various events is a major part of working for the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.

The first event was on Thursday and dealt with a sign unveiling.  It was at the Crystal Spring Pump Station where the site was getting its own “interpretative historical marker.”  I watched the sign get unveiled, listened to the history of the site, and saw the old pump run for a little bit.  It was quite an impressive piece of machinery and I found hard to believe people used to build stuff like that without aid from modern design software.  This event was actually two parts with the second part being a meeting at the Fork in the Alley restaurant for a “Pub Talk” on local history.  Not much can be said about that event besides it involved a lot of drinking and a map of the local area.

 

The other event I attended was more hands on than the other ones I’ve been to.  I went to Villa Heights Park on Saturday for a “Community Work Day” where we worked with a group called Restoration Housing to beautify the park’s main building.  I spent my time that day cutting roots and vines with a hatchet, digging holes to plant bushes, and cleaning up garbage.  We also had someone from a TV station come by and get footage of us and interview the person in charge.  A bike group on a historical tour showed up late to park where the lady in charge talked to them about the park’s history to them.  The event ended with a presentation created by the RVPF on endangered historical sites in the Roanoke Valley.

 

The final event I will be attending is another sign unveiling in Botetourt County.  This one is for the Lewis and Clark Trail and will be done in Fincastle.  Not much else will happen beyond the sign unveiling and I’m glad that will be the case.  These events have been exhausting and May Term has not been helping.

Today is the start of my internship at the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation.  Because the organization does not have a building to itself, my internship is a little different than most.  It consists of showing up on various events and working on small projects they assign me.

The very first thing I did on my internship was attend a historic walk in downtown Roanoke.  We walked to various historical sites in the downtown area with a group of people.  We went to Fire Station No. 1, Ponce de Leon apartments, the former Patrick Henry Hotel, and more.    We heard some of the history of the landmarks and the foundation’s work with some of them.  After the walk, I had lunch with the members of the foundation and learned a little more of what they do.

 

 

 

At the beginning of my internship I was very unsure on many aspects. I was unsure of how this would work with my schedule, how I would be able to learn new skills through a historical memorial, and how I would be able to engage in a new era of history I had not previously focused on. I found that all of these doubts were disproved by my first week interning at the the memorial. With the help of my supervisor Maggie and many other individuals I was able to learn and improve various skills. I was able to learn how to make a lesson plan and how to doctor it to the various levels of school groups I presented to. I was able to work on my own to create this lesson plan to meet educational requirements, and while that was hard in the beginning I learned from it and learned to also enjoy it.

My internship also gave me the chance to improve my communication skills as well. Prior to my internship I was used to giving presentations to small groups or within my job as a Maroon Ambassador but with the help of the internship I learned how to project my voice and lectures to larger crowds. Through my internship I was able to engage with a variety of individuals from veterans to business owners and through this I learned how to improve my social and communication skills. Although I learned new skills I also found a new love for this era of history. Prior to my internship I was not interested or informed much on the effects of World War II on individuals or communities. Thanks to this opportunity I have found an interest and want to know more  on the topic as well as have been honored with hearing personal stories from World War II veterans. Reflecting on my internship I would say that I was able to grow as an individual and further my skills to help me with my future career endeavors. If I had the opportunity I would do this internship again and recommend it to my peers. I am beyond excited to come back in June to  be apart of the 75th D-Day commemoration.

I have had a great time interning at the VMT this semester!  Reflecting back, I remember how hard it was to make it fit into my schedule, and there was a brief moment when I thought it might not work out.  But boy am I glad it did!  I finally had the chance to try out museum work, and I feel that I have solidified this field as one that I want to go into.  It was not what I expected, but what it did end up being was something that I enjoyed.  Yes, plugging things into the computer can get a little bit boring, but I realize that a big part of why I did that all the time is because I was the intern who did not have the wherewithal to handle some of my boss’s other duties.

During one of my last few days at the VMT, the older volunteers were helping to move some of the cars that have been offsite back into the auto gallery.  What this day ended up looking like for me was a fun day when I got to sit in really cool old cars and steer them as everyone else pushed.  It was a fun activity to end the semester with a bang, plus it gave me a chance to say my goodbyes to the older gentlemen that I had met and learned so much from.  It’s been a good semester, but now I think it is time to steer away on to new opportunities.  Next stop: Saint-Lô, Normandy, for an internship at a museum there!  I’ve gotten a taste of transportation history, and now it is time to study up on WWII and D-Day history…

Today we had a few visitors come into the museum and our mission was to show them the various wagons that their deceased grandfather had been keeping in the VMT on loan.  This sounds simple enough, but the problem is that we did not have adequate records of these wagons nor did we know precisely where in the museum they were located.  And mind you, it’s a rather large museum… with what feels like an even larger storage space in the back that is not open to visitors.

It took a little bit of walking back and forth and comparing different wagons to finally determine which ones were her’s… she only had her vague memories of riding around in the wagon as a young girl when she was on her grandpa’s farm to go off of.  And of course, we did not have the needed paperwork either.  So this experience just reiterated to me just how important it is to maintain complete paperwork for anyone in any job; if you don’t keep track of things, then it will come back to haunt you later on.

Granted, none of this was the curator’s fault; in fact it was mainly a result of the person in her job before her, and she was forced to clean up the mess that was left.  This is another lesson, too: even when we are no longer in a job, our legacy lives on with how well we carried out our work and whether we furthered the mission of the organization/business/what have you.  So we all need to be good stewards of whatever is in our possession, including a job!

I will say that although finding these artifacts that belonged to the woman who came in did involve some rigamarole, it was still fun listening to her stories and memories with the wagons in question.  It reminded me that all of the artifacts and objects in the museum have touched many people’s lives in meaningful ways.  So even if I see an old rusty wooden wagon, it is so much more than that to other people, and thus it is worthy of being in our museum.

Benvenuto, sadly this is the last blog post of this internship. Naturally, I have saved the best for last. The picture below is part of my exhibit, which centers on one particular sewing machine. This machine is not just any piece of machinery, for it came out of the Preston Place (a really really old home here in Salem). It is a Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine from the mid-19th century.

I knew that I wanted this mini exhibit to be different because Alex told me every intern wants to do medical stuff; I want to be different and remembered this sewing machine. In this exhibit, I focus on this company because it has an interesting background. I have displayed the founding’s of the company, advertisements, and patents. Note this exhibit starts in this corner but continues up the staircase. As an extra piece, I have included an interactive exhibit, which I’m going to keep a secret, you will have to go to the Salem Museum and find out for yourselves 😊.

 

The past two weeks have been slower as we are doing a lot more behind the scenes planning for the 75th of the D-Day invasion. I have been helping out my supervisor Maggie with education tours that are coming up this month. I was able to see behind the scenes of programming in different school groups as well as the various education programs done during tours. I also was able to sit in and observe my very first tent program in which was based on a soldier during the war. I helped with the setup and take down as well as had the opportunity to learn new information on artifacts as well as the memorial itself.

This week I spent much of my time planning prizes for the annual 5k run the memorial holds. I was able to look at new ideas in order to help Maggie plan door prizes as well as the grand prize. I have had a lot of fun being behind the scenes and planning various events such as this. I was also able to sit in on a meeting with some live historians for the 75th and learn a lot about the command center as well as land plan for the day. I am very excited to see how these plans play out on June 6th.