Anthracite Heritage Museum 2/7/22-2/9/22

Interns' Corner, ,

Kendall Williams

Due to the reopening of the museum for the season approaching, I was tasked with continuing the process of cleaning artifacts. The majority of the artifacts that I was responsible for cleaning were those related to the silk and garment industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The machines were used in factories that produced silk, material, and clothing in the first half of the twentieth century. It was important to make sure that I was careful while cleaning the machines for multiple reasons.

One reason was to make sure that I got dust from all parts of the machine, in some cases, in hard to reach areas. If dust was left to sit on them, it could attract moisture and cause the machine to rust, damaging it. It also was important to take note of where I was cleaning and if the surface was oily. Many of the machines still have remaining oil from when they were in use, and while we did not want to remove it, we did not want to spread it onto other parts of the machine.

When I was not cleaning, the curator, John Fielding, taught me about the process of accessioning and deaccessioning items in the collection. I did not have computer access in order to be able to log items on their digital item management site, but John showed me how the process would go so I had an idea for how it would work later.

We also discussed fulfilling requests from the public who were seeking information. Often times, those who had relatives who worked in the mines will reach out for information about them, asking for documents or other materials. We went through the process of trying to fulfill requests, which was valuable within itself to do. While unfortuante, it is not uncommon that information has been lost because documents have not been saved. In many cases, it is difficult to find what some people request because it simply does not exist in the collection. This is not uncommon in archival collections, and it was interesting to see how even with such well documented mining history there is here, that there still are gaps in the collection.

Anthracite Heritage Museum 1/19/22-2/2/22

Interns' Corner,

Kendall Williams

At my first week of my internship at the Anthracite Heritage Museum, I was given a brief overview of the collection, the exhibit space, the archives, and the general day to day activities that the curator preformed there. We began our work by fulfilling a small project for Proctor and Gamble, who reached out to the Museum for small exhibits featuring photos and information about prominent black historical figures from the Wyoming Valley.

As we continued the project on into the next week, and I assisted in putting together the photographs and information for the exhibit posters, which included scanning, printing, and arranging the items. I also learned more about the history of prominent black families from the area and on their individual communities. After we had finished the project, we moved onto parts of the collection that are displayed in the exhibit area.

The remainder of the second week following into the third week, I learned more about proper artifact care. We discussed how to properly handle artifacts, such as where to support them when picking them up, when to wear gloves, and how to clean the artifacts. In order to prepare for the museums reopening in the spring, we had to ensure that the artifacts in the exhibit space were cleaned.

I had the opportunity to work on many different artifacts, like a sculpture, machinery, and textiles. Proper care had to go into cleaning the artifacts, and it must be done gently. In order to prevent any damage to the items, I had to ensure that any built up dust from being on display was removed. This is to make sure that moisture is not attracted to any of the artifacts, which would cause rust or rot to occur. I also learned how to properly clean textiles, which is even more delicate than cleaning machinery.

My first few weeks served as a wonderful introduction to much of the work that a curator does; collection care and public outreach are very important in that profession, which is something I saw at the Anthracite Heritage Museum.

Exhibit on Sister Miriam Gallagher, RSM (1887-1966)

Interns' Corner, , ,

Sara Shields

For my internship this semester with the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives, my final project was a small digital exhibit on Sister Miriam Gallagher, RSM (1887-1966).

Sister Miriam Gallagher was a dedicated professor of literature, creative writing, library science, and romance languages at College Misericordia. At the college, she served as the Librarian from 1928 to 1938, the Publicity Director from 1930 to 1940, and as the Chair of the English Department for one term. Sister Miriam was known as a prolific writer and editor of national renown, having authored two of her own volumes, Love Is Enough: New and Selected Poems and Woven of the Sky. She also edited Cedar Chips by Father Patrick Augustine Sheehan. In addition to her own books, she was also heavily involved in the student literary journal, Thinker’s Digest, and served as its editor from 1940 to 1957.

In order to prepare for the exhibit, I wrote a biography on Sister Miriam, compiled objects that I wanted to include, and wrote the metadata for those objects. After I completed those tasks, Maureen (the MU archivist) introduced me to Omeka, a digital publishing platform.

I had previously learned of Omeka in the past, however, I had not utilized it myself yet. I was surprised at how incredibly user-friendly it was! Since I already had the metadata for the objects, entering them into Omeka was very simple. Here you can see a few of the fields required for the metadata:

The fields required included: the title, subject terms, description, creator, date, and item type.

Once I uploaded all of the items and completed inputting the metadata for them, I began to design the exhibit. I specifically wanted to focus on Sister Miriam’s writing career, so the items I included were scans of the covers of Love Is Enough and Woven of the Sky, as well as the covers of three volumes from the Thinker’s Digest. Since this exhibit was on a single case, it was small, but displayed the impact that Sister Miriam left on Misericordia.

This internship, especially this project, gave me valuable experience with digital exhibits and metadata standards. Omeka is widely used in the field of public history so I was happy to gain some experience with it, as well as learning about Dublin Core, the standard for metadata. This is my third digital exhibit that I’ve curated within my time at Misericordia, and each time I feel like I learn more and more.

You can view this exhibit on Sister Miriam Gallagher, RSM here.

MU Archives Week 14

Interns' Corner,

Sara Shields

Looking back on my internship with the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives this semester, one of my favorite tasks was transcribing oral histories for the Center for Nursing History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Being able to listen to the nurses’ experiences at Misericordia was very interesting! They had tons of fun stories that were entertaining to listen to, and they were also very informative about what Misericordia was like when they attended school here. From listening to them, I can see how much the university has grown over the past fifty years. It was amazing to hear about their experiences and compare them to mine, and other students today.

As I mentioned in a previous post, transcribing oral histories is very important. Accessibility is incredibly important in the field of public history as it allows us to reach broad audiences and distribute information easily. While transcription would get tiring at some times (pausing, rewinding, editing, etc.), I really enjoyed listening to the stories of former nurses who attended Misericordia, while also gaining experience and learning new skills.

MU Archives Week 10

Interns' Corner

Sara Shields

Lately I have been working on an exhibit about Sister Miriam Gallagher, RSM, for the library & archives. It’s been interesting to learn about the Sisters of Mercy at Misericordia; I feel like students don’t know a lot of information about them. Sister Miriam Gallagher was the College Librarian, the College Publicity Director, and she also served a term as the Chair of the English department. She was a dedicated poet and an author of national renown, who also had correspondence with other authors both nationally and internationally. As an English professor, she was responsible for the founding of multiple college publications, including The College Misericordia Digest and The Thinker’s Digest: A Quarterly of Spiritual Readings. Some of Sister Miriam’s poems and sonnets were also included in issues of The Litany, which was actually the yearbook.

I’m happy to be learning the history of the Sisters who founded Misericordia. It is important to remember the dedication and hard work they put into Misericordia, as well as the legacies they left behind.

 

MU Archives week 5

Interns' Corner

Sara Shields

This week, Maureen has introduced me to Omeka, an online system used for digital collections and exhibits. The university archives uses Omeka to host their current and past digital exhibits. It’s very user friendly! Currently, I’m getting used to using it and the features that it offers. I will be using Omeka for the exhibit that I’m curating on Sister Miriam Gallagher, RSM. It will be a small, but descriptive, exhibit on her and her life, along with her legacy at Misericordia, and her impact on the university.

I’m happy that I’m learning more about digital collections and gaining experience with them because it’s becoming more and more important to know how to work with them. I feel that with my past internship, previous courses I’ve taken, and my current internship with the university archives, I’m learning so much that will equip me with the necessary skills that I’ll need after I graduate!

 

MU Archives Week 4

Interns' Corner

Sara Shields

Lately I have been working on the Sisters of Mercy project that I previously mentioned in my last post. This has been very interesting to work on because prior to this project, I was fairly unfamiliar with the Sisters of Mercy and their lasting impacts on the university. This week I have been writing biographies for seven Sisters of Mercy that influenced Misericordia. They include: Sister Annunciata Merrick, Sister Catherine McGann, Sister Marianna Gildea, Sister Eulalia Herron, Sister Celestine McHale, Sister Mary Glennon, and Sister Miriam Gallagher. Along with writing biographies on them, I have been compiling metadata on the pictures and objects in the archives that will be used for the institutional repository.

I have also started considering the topic of an exhibit that I will be curating on the Sisters of Mercy. It will be a small online exhibit using sources from the MU Archives. I am excited to be curating another exhibit after finishing one last semester. Along with this exhibit on the Sisters of Mercy, I will also be curating another for HIS 492: History in the Professions Thesis, a class I am taking this semester. I am happy to be gaining this much experience!

MU Archives Week 3

Interns' Corner

Sara Shields

Lately I’ve been transcribing oral histories for the Center of Nursing History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Listening to these stories has been incredibly interesting and enlightening. I finished editing and transcribing an oral history from 2016, and I am almost done with one from 2017 which includes two women who graduated from Misericordia in the 1950s.

While listening to these oral histories, I’ve started to feel like I was with with the interview participants hearing their stories. They provide such great detail and emotion, so you really start to feel a connection to their stories. I’ve also learned more about how the field of nursing has evolved since the 50s, so it’s really interesting to hear their perspectives.

Once I am done with the oral history from 2017, I will be starting on a project about the Sisters of Mercy at Misericordia; their lives, legacy, and the lasting impact they had on the university. I will be writing biographies for them by pulling information from sources that are currently in the archives. I am excited to start on this project to learn more about the Sisters of Mercy and their role in shaping the university to what it is today.

MU Archives Week 2

Interns' Corner, ,

Sara Shields

This week has been very interesting! I started transcribing oral histories for the Center for Nursing History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. I’m not very familiar with the field of nursing, but it’s interesting to listen to these interviews and hear about the history of the field and experiences from former nurses.

Transcribing oral histories are important for accessibility. For example, transcription makes oral histories available to those in your audience who may be hard of hearing and/or unable to hear. Accessibility plays a huge role in public history because you want to be able to get as much of your material to your audience as possible. This is also why metadata and finding aids are important; it allows materials to be easily accessible for your audience.

The oral histories that I have been working on this week include retired nurses reflecting on their time at Misericordia, the field of nursing itself, and how it’s changed. I think that their stories are incredible and very interesting to listen to. After going through photos from the collection last week, their stories provide a lot of context, especially to someone like me who is not very familiar with the field.

Along with the oral histories, Maureen has been giving me tips on how to read job listings, things to consider when looking at graduate schools, etc. These tips are incredibly helpful, seeing as though these things can come off as daunting when you first start looking for jobs and graduate programs.

MU Archives Week 1

Interns' Corner,

Sara Shields

This semester I am interning with the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives here at Misericordia. I’m very excited to learn more about archives and gain experience on what exactly archivists do. This week we’ve started off with some readings on memory, and the symbolic significance of archives. This material is familiar to me after taking HIS 341: Introduction to Public History last semester. I recognize a lot of the terms and definitions, so having taken HIS 341 last semester is really helpful. In addition to those readings, I have also been learning about finding aids, arrangement, and description. The readings that I have been assigned are very helpful and explain these terms in a practical manner. Description and arrangement are important because first, you must determine and explain the context and content of your material, and then arrange it in a way that exhibits a pattern among the material. The purpose of arrangement and description is to promote access to your materials. Finding aids are also important in this process, as they help your audience find information and material.

I have also been creating posts for The Center for Nursing History of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Facebook page. The University Archives holds this collection to collect and provide access to the history of the nursing profession in Northeastern PA. It’s been very interesting to go through the collection and have the opportunity to ask the members of the Facebook page questions about the photographs. I am very excited to hear their answers to my questions! Social media is a good way to reach your audience and engage with them, especially in a time like this.

Overall, this week has been great and I’m excited to experience and learn more about archives!

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