I know that you might be thinking, “What does she know? She must’ve been just a kid then.” You’d be right, but it affected my life just the same.
I was in second grade, and it was a school day. Things got a little weird that morning. I remember the adults seeming off. I’m pretty sure we got out early, but I’m not 100% sure… the exact timeline of the day is a little foggy. What I do know, though, is that when I walked into the house, I immediately knew something was not right. September 11 is my dad’s birthday. It did not feel like a birthday at all. I remember seeing his outline sitting on the edge of the coffee table as he does often, eyes glued to the TV screen.
That image of my dad is plastered in my mind at this time of year.
No matter how old someone was on September 11, 2001, I can almost guarantee you they felt its effects. It was a tragic day. Innocent people lost their lives. First responders and brave bystanders ran IN to the chaos to help and never came back out. Military men and women were launched into an offensive, and some never came home (whether physically or mentally). Families lost members, and some desperately waited by the phone, hoping for some indication that their loved one was okay. Everyone who knew the implications of the events of that day had the victims and their families in their hearts. The thought of all the loved ones waiting with baited breath brings me to tears even as I write this.
I definitely didn’t fully understand what happened that day as it was happening. I knew something was wrong. I knew everyone was sad and scared. Being the empathetic person I am, I could feel all those things along with them. But now, as an adult, I feel them as strongly as if it were today.
Our freedom was jeopardized that day. Our sense of security in the United States disappeared. Poof. Gone. It had been almost 60 years since the last attack on us. It is truly something that will forever be remembered. And how could it not be? The causes of the events of that day are still affecting the lives of our military and their loved ones. The effects of losing someone never subside, so for anyone who did that day, 9/11 is a reminder of that pain.
I remember knowing that this was a day that was changing lives.
However, I also remember the days that followed.Despite the horrors of that day, we still found a way to be even more patriotic. The U.S. probably hadn’t been that unified since December 7, 1941. Through the pain, we came together as a country. We were proud to be Americans, and we were ready to tell the world that they were done messing with us. “Proud to Be an American” by Lee Greenwood still represents the aftermath of 9/11 for me. It felt like even though one of the worst things that could happen just did, people were supporting and loving each other. If only it didn’t take such a tragedy for that to occur.
So tomorrow, if you’re feeling pensive like me, don’t try to stop. Remember. Feel all the feelings. Then use them to be a better citizen of your community, your state, your country, and the world. The people that were lost that day and the people enveloped in the ripple effect of their deaths deserve something good to come from September 11.
***Personally, I am going to be in a classroom tomorrow, just like I was on 9/11/2001. I am going to try my hardest to make my students feel safe and comfortable no matter how I feel, just like my teachers did that day. As recently as today and yesterday we discussed ways that they can actively contribute as citizens. Those kids had amazing answers. They are passionate about making a difference. We are lucky to have them.***
Today was a tough day, and that’s okay. I do NOT write this for pity! Once again, I am taking a moment to write because it’s a little stress relief, and I’m hoping my words might reach someone.
Today, I had a panic attack. The signs have been there for days. The end of last week had me fatigued; however, I was lucky enough to spend time with some amazing friends over the weekend and laugh harder than I have in months.
When I got home, though, I was angry. Inexplicably angry. That was the second sign, after the fatigue. My sweet fur babies were just so excited to see me home, but it was all I could do to not throw them into the yard and wish they’d never come back. Yes, you read that right. Me with the insane and slightly unhealthy obsession with my animals. The animals that most of the time keep me from having any sort of emotional break. But their incessant attention drove me to anger. I chalked it up to being tired from the weekend and went to bed.
The third sign was being unreasonably upset about the fact that my students didn’t complete their SOL review packets yesterday. I have never been so angry with myself about school or so disappointed in them. They’re exhausted and need spring break as much as I do, but I was so devastated that they didn’t see the importance of getting that review in with about 5 weeks to go until that test. Luckily for them (and maybe my job security), I checked myself and gently urged them to do better on the next one.
Finally, this evening, I hit rock bottom. The dogs wouldn’t stop roughhousing on the bed, the Firestick wouldn’t play This Is Us, and I couldn’t find the remote anywhere. I just stood there, once again, screaming at my babies who did nothing except be the babies I love every other day. I laid on my bed, got under the covers, and started sobbing.
I felt guilty for yelling at my furry anxiety/depression reducers. I felt like I couldn’t reach out to anyone because there’s no way anyone would understand. I felt like calling into work tomorrow and just sitting in bed all day.
You see, depression and anxiety are funny that way. Your brain tricks you into thinking that you’re the worst thing to ever happen to the world. That no one could ever understand or love you because did you really just have a mental breakdown over a remote!?
I let my brain win about 5% of the time. I know better. I know that I have people who think I have something to give to the world. I know I have many friends and family who would listen to me complain incessantly about anything. I know that it’s not about the freakin’ remote. But this is anxiety.
Tonight I realized I’ve been out of my medication for at least a week, which really explains why my brain is having a field day. Now, I’m not the type to take medicine. I’m the kind who thinks there’s got to be a better way than putting chemicals in your body. Working out, talking with friends, watching Netflix, snuggling my fur babies, and cleaning are all ways I deal with my anxiety and depression. But for the 5% (sometimes more) of the time that my brain gets the best of me, I have that medicine to give me the support I need. I hope you have something that gives you the support you need.
I also realized that I need to pay better attention to the signs and to not be afraid to take care of me! That’s something I struggle with so much, because, if you know me, you know that I strive to take care of others first. But we have got to take care of ourselves first.
So, if you have to take medicine to take care of you, great! If you can combat your mind with exercise, fantastic! If you talk to a therapist or counselor, good for you! If you want to write like me, excellent! And if you’ve ever felt guilty for yelling at someone who’s innocent of doing anything or lost your remote (which was in the drawer of my nightstand, by the way) which caused a breakdown: you’re not alone.
It’s a daily battle when your brain is the thing hurting you, but I can promise you that the tough days can become few and far between if you can be patient with and be gracious to yourself–that’s what I’m telling myself anyway!
I have contemplated whether or not to share this story for a long time, but as writing is therapeutic to me and people are probably curious, I decided to go for it:
re·sil·ience
/rəˈzilyəns/
noun
noun: resiliency
the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
“the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions”
the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
“nylon is excellent in wearability and resilience”
Often when we hear the word resiliency we use it as a positive attribute of someone’s character, which it is. However, we forget that in order to become resilient, you have to meet other criteria of the definition. For example, you must have difficulties or something that knocked you out of shape. To be resilient doesn’t just mean you’re tough or can “spring back into shape”–it means something happened to force you to be that way. There are many moments in our lives that we all have to be resilient: after injury or illness, after a death, after spending time in a depression funk, etc. For me, the most recent and continuing event that is causing me to utilize my resiliency is my divorce.
Wow. Divorce. Every time I say it, I can’t believe it.
The summer of 2018 was a typical summer for me at the beginning. I spent my days hanging with my pups and my evenings on the pool deck.
At the end, it turned into one of the best summers of my life. I got to travel to Las Vegas and meet my brand new baby goddaughter.
On top of that, I had the dream-come-true experience of a total Harry Potter nerd and got to spend multiple days wandering the impressive streets of Universal Studios in Orlando.
I came home on the highest of highs.
A few weeks after I got home, though, I got hit with a ton of bricks. Jack wanted a divorce. To me, it came out of the blue. There was no specific reason for it. I felt betrayed, abandoned, and like nothing was the way it should be. It was not an easy thing for me to come to terms with. I don’t write this for sympathy, but for the sake of transparency and honesty. From the outside (and to me) everything appeared to be fine, but then suddenly it wasn’t.
After years of having a partner for everything, I was alone. I had to handle my three precious hooligan dogs and two crazy cats by myself. I had to learn how to shower when it was dark outside (I get so jumpy when I have to do this) and ignore the hooligans’ barking at (most likely, I always hope) nothing. I had to relearn finances and how to cook for one. I had to be prepared to come home after a late night meet to a dark house. Most of all I had to learn how to be alone. And I’m not done learning. It’s still an adjustment. The fine days far outweigh the sad days now, but sometimes it just plain sucks.
Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to look at the bright side of things. I force myself to do this because there is no point in wallowing. In this situation, I sometimes let myself wallow because I think I deserve it. After all, every day can’t be a good day–and that is absolutely okay! However, I luckily have an awesome support system. People who may not even specifically know my situation have put a smile on my face and helped me feel supported. Some of them have reached out on a day they don’t even know is a bad one and have helped turn my mood around. I am so thankful for every laugh, smile, and word of encouragement.
And in the end, I have no regrets. I was in a relationship with someone who allowed me to completely be me. I learned about myself and about being a partner to someone. I gained family and friends that I know will continue to be part of my life. I now have time to mend bridges that I let fall into disrepair, focus on my physical and mental health, and make decisions about my life without having to consult someone else. So, yeah, I’d say I am resilient: I’ve recovered pretty quickly (although it’s an ongoing process) and I am certainly bouncing back into the shape of me. I’ve been through something in the last few months, but it wasn’t for naught. I have learned so much about myself and my village. Most of the time I don’t even let it slow me down. Moving forward I know I’ll carry this experience with me, but I also know that now the door has opened to new opportunities.
I’m not special because I’m resilient. We’re all resilient. And all we can do is take life one day at a time. Take the punches and turn them into opportunities. And, most importantly, support each other.
So Week 7 was a short week, I headed down to Bedford on Tuesday, July 7th. We started another camp that day that was running from Tuesday-Thursday. It was a camp for Big Island Elementary School. I was only there the first day, but it was great to bond with the kids!
The camp was from 9-3:30 and we did activities back to back to back. I was assigned to a table, just like with the WWII Day Camp. I helped them with their activities, answered their questions, and of course gave them their snack 😉 We skipped the tour of the site that day of camp and spent a lot of time in the tent just learning lessons.
We went through a few areas of WWII, this camp was a combination of Spy Camp (which I missed the first time around) and WWII Day Camp. Each child got sworn into the Army by answering a few short & easy questions that were impossible to fail…although they definitely tried to fail each other! Haha! 🙂
Felicia then gave them a lesson on the women spies of WWII! It was an amazing lesson. I loved learning about it just as much as the kids did! A lot of these ladies risked it all, one even lost her leg and went back in through a DIFFERENT government spy agency because she wanted to help so badly. Many of them received awards after the war for their bravery during wartime. That lesson got the kids excited and intrigued about the “spy” aspects of camp.
We watched a few Disney cartoons that were put out during wartime as propaganda, which are really cute and worth a google search and a few minutes to watch. Donald Duck is hilarious, as always. Snowballing off of the video we watched we talked a lot about the propaganda used during the war and Maggie gave her lesson on the home front. It’s always fun to watch the kids guess what common everyday items are used for what.
Eventually, we were running WAY ahead of schedule, so we added in a lesson on D-Day to Victory from the website that I love oh so much (D-Day to Victory), and the kids were just enamored by the veterans’ stories. Of course, the weapons like the flamethrower helped the excitement level, too.
It was a fun day! The kids left happy and the adult that came with them was so happy to be there because she was learning a lot. By the end of the day, I had kiddos with their arms wrapped around me. It’s great to play a role in these kids lives in a way I haven’t before. Maybe one day one of them will get the urge to study history because of a little camp they attended in Bedford, Virginia.
Week 8
This week I made it down to Bedford on Wednesday when we had two programs! The first was a group of 30 kiddos from a YMCA. It was kids from Kindergarten to even some high schoolers! A wide age range is always difficult to keep entertained, but we did it. When they arrived, we took a bathroom break and split them up into three groups of twelve.
Then we took them into the tent to do stations. Paige and I were at the Victory Pin table! We preempted the Victory Pin making with the story about Winston Churchill and how he liked to throw up his fingers in a V for Victory. We made sure the kids understood that although the war hadn’t been won by the Allies yet, it was a propaganda piece for raising morale.
Churchill & his V for Victory
People started wearing “V Pins” to boost morale on the home front. So we made some of our own. I wish I had taken a picture, but basically we provided the kids with some sheets with different examples of victory pins. They got a blank small circle piece of paper to decorate based on an example or with their own creative liberties. Then, we glued an also decorated cut-out “V” on the bad of the circle so you could see the V sticking out from behind the circle. We had pins with a sticker on the back that we could stick to the paper combo and they wore their pins all day! It was a fun activity and the kids enjoyed the history behind it and the creativity of it.
Maggie did a homefront/propaganda activity at her table. First she talked about what the people did with their everyday items to help with the war. Then she talked about how the government tried to get the citizens involved through propaganda whether it be joining the armed forces or helping out at home like Rosie.
The kids love this one of the sailor getting a hot girlfriend because he joined the service!The lovely Rosie!
For the activity at her table, the kids got to create their own propaganda poster. They loved it and were really creative pulling from the different information that they learned about from Maggie’s short lecture.
At Felicia’s station, she did a shortened version of our regular program with the soldier’s gear! The most memorable moment of that program was hearing all of the “eews” when she talks about the soldiers getting seasick (they do it every single program!). The soldiers were packed 36 shoulder to shoulder in those Higgins boats on D-Day and couldn’t get to the edge to throw up. So, they puked in their helmets, rinsed them out when they could, and stuck them right back on their heads.
From a teaching standpoint, the short 15 minute stations were perfect for this group of kids with such a wide variety of age. They learned a lot as we found out in their newspaper articles they wrote at the end of the day, but they never got bored and we captured their attention for the whole time.
After they finished their activities, Paige and I took the kids on a tour. Paige took the lead on the tour and I got to watch and learn more for my final project. She did a fantastic job and the kids were very excited to learn about it all. Despite the heat, it was a successful first program.
After the YMCA group left, we went to the downtown office to have lunch and enjoy the air conditioning. We got to talk about what questions I had going forward with grad school and such. Paige goes to JMU and could inform me of the Secondary Education route as well as all the tests that go with that. Felicia and Maggie helped me with the whole History/Museum Studies/Public History aspects of that as we talked about UNC-G, which is where I think I want to go if I am lucky enough to get into the program. I left that day and bought practice books for the GRE, Praxis Subject Assessment Test and signed up for those two tests as well as the GRE yesterday and completed graduation/graduate school applications. The real world is coming up fast! Yikes. I am thankful we had the time to talk about it and for their guidance 🙂
After lunch, we had to head back up the hill for another program. This one was smaller and without the activities. Maggie gave the presentation about the soldiers gear and the kids ate it up. They love watching one of their classmates get dressed up in the gear and their appalled gasps when the classmate holds the weapons is hilarious!
This group was predominantly African American so Paige gave them a lesson about the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, which was an African American Battalion in WWII. I did not know anything about it before Paige taught them about it as part of her summer project. Anyways, basically this Battalion was one of blimps that helped crowd airspace so planes could not necessarily see the ground to cause harm to our soldiers. It is an interesting battle tactic to learn about and the kids (and myself) ate it up.
After we sent that group on a tour with Cam, another intern, we went back downtown to start cranking out posters for Family Day tomorrow (Saturday, July 18). We had 10 posters to get done and we got as many done as we could. I love crafting and had a lot of fun doing it! I made my poster about Australia. Since one of my activities from last week that I created (Week Six: Activities) I highlighted the cricket playing. I also decided to use recognizable Australian things to catch the kids’ eyes so they can say “oh hey it’s Nemo, this country/activity must be cool.” Right? I’m hoping so.
unfinished picture (forgot to take a finished one!)
There was a time in my life when I didn’t go more than a few days out of the water. Between practice, playing, or even vacationing, my hair was permanently wet. I’d go to bed with it wet and wake up with it still wet. And that was just the way I liked it. My parents’ go-to punishment was the threat of not going to practice because I always wanted to go so badly.
It was my place. Where I could escape everything and just relax. Although the initial plunge was always painful and chilly, that first stroke always made me feel better. Submerging myself in the water was like washing away all the stress of that day. The splashing of the water and the smell of the chlorine soothed me. I felt at home.
A few months ago, though, I felt a lot differently about swimming. The team I grew up with broke my heart. I went through all the phases of a break up. I was sad because things were not going to be the same. I was angry because I could not believe that anyone could treat someone the way I was treated. I projected that on the sport and forgot all of the experiences I was blessed to have. However, today I realized that I was wrong.
Although all of those things truthfully happened, for undisclosed reasons, it was not the team that broke my heart. The ERRA Barracudas were the team that started my love for the sport. Before I was even old enough to swim myself, I remember sitting on the edge of the pool when my mom was coaching and feeling so special and important when the “big kids” talked to me. I wanted to be just like them.
Those memories started a lifetime full of positive relationships. From being four with my feet swinging in the pool to my final swim meet in July 2013, I met people that changed my life. So, even though my heart aches that my time with the ‘Cudas abruptly ended last summer, I am finally at peace with it.
As I was standing around at the meet tonight, I realized how rich I am in friendships specifically thanks to the swimming.
Those “big kids” grew up to be my coaches and my role models. I grew up watching them; not only in swimming, but also through their high school careers, and their college years (though only during summers), and now a lot of them are married and starting families of their own. I love seeing their lives progress, and I still look up to them although they probably don’t even know how much of an impact they made on me. Without swimming, I would not be the person I am today, as even now I strive to be like those women.
In my own swimming career, I met so many outstanding individuals who I am happy to still call my friends. From the boys I used to race and beat badly (before puberty kicked in at least 😉 ) to the ladies I shared my first state championship meet with when I was 10, my youth was spent creating lifetime friendships all thanks to the water. All through the awkward middle school years, the girls at VAST practice were there for me and so was the water, no matter the gossip or fights that happened at school or home. My years on the Spotswood High School swim team completely made my high school years and provided me with even more friendships and role models.
my “peeps” at Age Group ChampsSydney & I after my last race ever.Our last VAST meet with Liz.My senior nightHigh School Champs meethangout at Eliz’s with the teamthe gals at Olivia’s birthdayPittsburghhhhh!the best thing swimming gave me—my possé
Although my swimming career ended after high school, I still get to give back to the SHS team that gave so much to me, and I could not be more blessed. That’s one of the things I realized tonight. Although some people did not appreciate the way that I gave back to the ERRA team, I was completely blessed to play a role in the lives of all the kids. As soon as I got to the meet, I was surrounded by a swarm of kiddos who were absolutely thrilled to see me. They told me about their lives and how much time they had dropped, and some of them were even proud of the way their strokes improved and made sure to let me know about it. I watched them swim and gave high fives when I saw them again, and all I can hope is that in my 16 years on the team I was a role model to at least one because I had so many myself.
Almost even more heartwarming were the parents that took the time to talk to me. Leaving the team was not my choice, but a lot of the parents don’t really know the true reason why. It was comforting to hear them ask how my life was because they care about me. Relationships with parents are another way that swimming has touched me. A few of them especially who always offer to help me out if I ever need anything. Their kids have made an impact on my life, but so have they, and I am so thankful for that.
As all of this was happening at the meet, I was surrounded by a group of my peers who have been with me throughout my whole life, thanks to swimming. Girls & boys who are younger than me, but who were there on the toughest days, and who played a major part in me becoming who I am. They’re also role models to me. I look up to them and the way they look at life and I have for a long time. They have always given me a positive outlook on life because things couldn’t be so bad with them around.
At the end of the day, it isn’t about winning or losing or the drama involved. I know what really happened with the break up. Instead, it’s about a love for and knowledge of the water that was instilled with me that I hopefully helped instill in my kids. Today, it was a blessing to attend a meet where I could see the 5 year old girl who was too young to swim on the team finally get into the water and to see a few of my high school swimmers swim in the last meet I’ll ever see them in.
Swimming has given me a lot in my life, and that is something nobody can take away from me. The experiences, but most of all the relationships, were life changing. Hopefully I’ve given at least one kid the opportunity to experience the same love for the water that I have.
After all, you can take the ‘Cuda out of the water, but you can’t take the ‘Cudaout of the girl.
Hey y’all! I’ve been MIA for a few weeks because my schedule has been wacky. So here’s a long post to catch up on what I’ve been doing for the Memorial for the last three weeks:
Week Four
Week Four I didn’t actually drive down to Bedford to save on gas money and because we were basically getting prepared for WWII Day Camp & Spy Camp. I wrote up some lesson plans at home for both of the camps.
The first lesson was about censorship during WWII! The government was really strict about what kinds of information was allowed to get out to the public. They went so far as including photos with policemen and workers in the background so that the destruction in Europe looked under control, which was a picture I included in my lesson along with questions.
The second lesson was a jeopardy game on Soldier’s Gear in WWII. I created the game through an online template and came up with the information from the program kids sit through when they come on a field trip. You can check out the game here: jeopardylabs.com/play/soldiers-gear-jeopardy
The third lesson I came up with was one on Victory and the Aftermath of WWII. I used the SOL’s as a background for this with a lot of my information coming from a kid’s website (Ducksters Aftermath WII). I’m not sure how to link my PowerPoint here, but it was short, sweet, and to the point. It talked a little about the trials of war criminals and the UN.
I spent the leftover spare time I had that week brainstorming about my kid’s tour! I still have to get started on it, but I’ve just been thinking it through.
Week Five
Week Five was an exciting one as we had our WWII day camp! We headed down early Wednesday morning to get there in time for camp. Camp was from 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM—Wednesday-Friday (June 24-26). It was a great experience getting to see how the kids learned from the history of the site and which activities they loved and how they learned best! I got to teach some of my lessons, too.
Each of us interns were assigned to a table of four kids. There were about 15 kids there that week. My table was amazing! They were super excited to learn and really happy to be there. They always went the extra mile. (Disclaimer: I can’t remember the actual order of events, but this is what I think they were 😉 )
Day One
The first day we spent a lot of time inside just kind of going over the basics of WWII. That day I got thrown into teaching my lesson on the Overview of WWII and it was awesome. They responded really well to the questions I asked and I was happy that I got the information across to them for them to absorb it. We went over the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers and the Leaders of each. It was really funny when I got to Stalin, because like some of the visitors to the Memorial (they had to put the Stalin statue into storage), some of the kids were upset that he was considered a “good guy.” We explained to them that although he wasn’t a good person he did fight with the Allies during WWII.
I also got to give the kids a quick tour of the Memorial that day. We were sending them on a scavenger hunt the next morning before the Memorial opened, so I had to go over where we were hiding the clues without them knowing that was what I was doing. They were very attentive and respectful and it was a great chance to see what caught their attention for the purpose of my summer project! The best part of the tour was again the wedding ring statue! I told the story and showed the kids when we got to it about the man who got his friend’s ring all the way back to the states through the entire war and how when they couldn’t find the friend’s wife they donated it to the Memorial. One of the girls who had been to WWII Day Camp FOUR years in a row didn’t know that. I taught her something new after four years! I felt WAY accomplished that day. 🙂
Day Two
The next day we started out with the scavenger hunt and my group won *insert victory dance.* A lot of the kids got mixed up by one of the clues, but they figured it out first and won even though they were one of the last groups back to the tent they took the time to get it all right and victory was ours!
Segueing from that—we talked about Victory that day! Paige and Cam, the other interns, gave lessons on the End of WWII and the Pacific Theater, respectively. We tried to wrap it up a bit that day. I gave a lesson using the ddaytovictory.ca website, which I highly recommend you check out if you have not yet. We were short on time that day but we ran through some of the videos of the vets and the weaponry. The kids really loved it and were really moved by some of the stories. They wrote newspaper articles about their days each day kind of like a diary and a lot of them at my table wrote about something they heard about on the website.
We did a few activities that day in stations. We did a tank game with water guns at my station. They paired up and one kids would shoot while the other would choose the best angle for them to get the most water into their buckets. Then they would switch. We had a rain in a jar game to represent the weather on D-Day. The kids got to look through some of the artifacts we had at another station. The last station was a Piggly Wiggly game where they used their ration stamps to go shopping as they would have done on the Homefront during WWII.
We ended the day brainstorming for our posters that each table was assigned for the Canteen/History Fair we did the next day for parents/visitors to come check out. My kids decided they wanted to build a Higgins boat and a mushroom cloud for our poster since we were assigned weapons from WWII. They came up with the information they wanted to put on the picture that they each had and then headed out for the day!
Day Three
On Day Three we did Victory Activities! The kids got to make Allied flags with markers and popsicle sticks. At my table the kids got to make V for Victory pins, which were super cute. At another table they wrote down what they saw about the artifacts. These activities were a good way to wrap up the week. I had to do my final lesson though about Victory in WWII. This was the lesson where I used the kid’s website for the SOL’s (Ducksters Aftermath WWII) and just did a super brief lesson! I asked the kids what might have happened if we did not win WWII and they reflected on that. I focused most of my lessons on the D-Day Memorial’s motto: valor, fidelity, and sacrifice, and I think the kids really understood those three things by the end of the week.
While we were in the tent, the WWII reenactors we had coming that day were getting set up, so when we finished with our lesson/activities we went outside. The guy playing General Omar Bradley lined them up military-style. Then his major taught the kids about all the stuff they had set up in their camp. He spent about 30/45 minutes going over that and then the General came back and taught them about the battles throughout Europe from D-Day to Berlin. The kids really enjoyed it and asked a lot of questions. We had to cut them short though because their families were coming for our Canteen.
The Canteen was really awesome. It was adorable to see how excited the kids were to show their parents what they had learned and how into it the parents were. We had each group standing at their own table so that they could teach the people coming up to them about their topic. My kids had their Higgins Boat and mushroom cloud set up. They liked each other so much they even got a group picture in the photo booth, which was awesome! It was great to see how much they could learn and open up in three days with each other and with me.
I think passing our knowledge of history down is really important otherwise it would disappear! And a camp like that was a great way to get the kids excited about our nation’s past and understanding that it being Americans comes at a cost to somebody, whether it be the soldier’s fighting, their families at home, or the destruction caused by the fighting.
Week Six
This week I also stayed home! Saving on gas is helpful, especially when I can create activities just as well here as in Bedford. Everyone is working hard this past week on things for Family Day that they have at the Memorial. We set up tables that represent the countries of the Allied Forces. I was instructed to come up with three activities: one for the Pacific Powers table about New Zealand or Australia; and two for the European Nations table about Greece, Czechoslovakia, or Belgium.
For the Pacific Powers table I chose Australia, and since we were allowed to talk about their culture OR role in the war, I chose the game Cricket, which was a huge part of their culture even during wartime. The articles I found were about how important Cricket was to the country and how its star players went off to fight in the war. However, the articles also talked about how it was played in the war camps by the British and the Australian soldiers and from these games came the newest star players after the war.
I came up with the instructions and a simplified version of the game (you can click if you want to see it bigger):
Then for the European Nations table I came up with activities for Greece and Belgium. For Greece, I found articles about how popular songs in Greece, even now, came from the WWII era. Greece was occupied by the Axis Powers during the war, and they suffered great losses. Most of their cities were in rubble and the destruction really ruined their spirits. I found a song called Cloudy Sunday and translated it for the worksheet for the kids. Then I gave them the opportunity to create their own song about a victory or loss they knew about for the U.S. in WWII:
This is the background information sheet.This was the actual worksheet! The black box is around the lines 🙂 The bottom of it has a place for the author to put their name.
The final activity I came up with was for Belgium! I used the Belgian Freedom Fighters and how they influenced the war in the lesson part of that activity, which I thought was imported especially after hearing Dame Mary speak (Dame Mary). I loved this activity. It was a little scary at first trying to figure out how I would make the men fit onto the template but once I figured it out I think it worked well 🙂 :
And that’s it for this super long blog post, I am going to write three paragraphs about readings in my book if you care to continue reading. As of right now, though, I have 70 hours in, which is half of my internship hours!
“At Historic Sites and Outdoor Museums: A High Performance Act” by William S. Pretzer
“Doing history publicly means acting as a politician, diplomat and translator, performer, curriculum developer and teacher, and, always, knowledge worker” (259). This quote encompasses what Mr. Pretzer says in his essay: a person’s specific job as a historian is not as important as how the person uses their knowledge to get as close to the audience as possible. He says that just doing what we want to do through research isn’t good enough as a historian, you must always know how to teach the information, too. Pretzer then goes through each role a historian plays. As a politician they have to listen to the constituents and create a meaningful interpretation. He uses Menlo Park, which was important to Henry Ford and Thomas Edison as an example. He could not just use one person or the other to represent, rather both needed representation. As a Diplomat, a historian has two jobs. When establishing a new site, it is establishing relations with the public and the professional worlds that surround that site. The second part of a historian-diplomat’s job is to produce usable public platforms. A historian as a performance artist has to understand the importance of audience needs in its exhibit preparation. You have to keep your audiences’ attention and provide them information in a way that they want to see/hear it. As a teacher, a historian has to facilitate others’ growth and push the students to come up with their own interpretation. Finally, the historian as a knowledge worker is someone who brings their intellectual and social skills to the table and works to make their institution better using those skills.
My response to Pretzer’s essay is again that the historian plays an important role in relaying history to the public. They play many different parts in the relaying of information. I think the most important part of relaying the information is the getting as close to the constituents as you can part. Without the public, public historians would not have a job. That statement sounds a little bit obvious, but so much goes into making sure that the public has a good experience. Public history is all about customer service. As long as one customer has a good time, it can bring so many other people to the museum/memorial and the knowledge of history can be spread. Everyone has something to bring to the table and I think those different skills create the defining experience for a visitor to a historic site. I think that it is important to understand all of the roles a historian plays in their public’s life. The attitude makes a difference, which I learned with the kids we taught at Day Camp. The happier we are to teach them about history, the more excited they are to learn about it.
“At Historical Parks: Balancing a Multitude of Interests” by Bruce J. Noble Jr.
A park is a legislatively defined dare that consists of a multiplicity of significant cultural resources (280). Parks exhibit a combination of natural and cultural resource types (280). Noble gives examples of legislative decisions that affect the historical parks in the United States. The Antiquities Act of 1906 sought to prevent the removal of archaeological treasures to anywhere outside the U.S. (281). The second was the National Park Service, which Congress created in 1916. The NPS was created to preserve and protect fragile resources while making them available to the public (281). The Historic Sites Act of 1935 authorized the identification of “nationally” significant historic sites that might warrant eventual inclusion into the national park system which led to the foundation of the National Historic Landmarks program which is still administered by the National Parks Service. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 created a National Register of Historic Places. Parks, like public historians have a lot of culminating factors that make them what they are.
There was a lot of information in this essay about the legal aspects of a public site. This was eye-opening to me because I had never really thought about all that goes into making a historic site a national landmark. There are obviously things that need protecting but I did not think about them needing actual legislation. It makes perfect sense, though, that those places can focus on representing the history they are trying to and not have to worry about the artifacts or the land being taken away. Without the legislation the sites may not exist and the smaller parks, like individual houses, may not exist in the modern day. National parks interact with many volunteers and associations to make sure that the public has a pleasurable experience. There is a lot that goes into making sure a site is protected and functioning and I learned a lot from this essay about the legislation that makes it possible.
A Business: Hired, Not Bought” by Philip L. Cantelon
Cantelon starts his essay talking about the misconceptions people have about historians only being able to be teachers in the professional world. He explains how this idea exists because historians that are not teachers do not necessarily do a good job presenting their work. He explains how the field is starting to shrink and lose job opportunities for those coming out of graduate schools because the job market is no longer for those who have an inclination towards presenting history to the public. Instead, it is about making money. He talks about how historians that don’t teach actually still have to teach. He says that the difference is that the clients are more demanding. The business aspects of the history business is about selling themselves and their history. He discusses who hires historians and the difficulty of getting hired. However, he concludes with saying that the people in the history business are on their way out of the business so the job opportunities for young historians should be looking up.
This article made me pretty scared, honestly. It is already scary enough being a senior in college and trying to figure out which path I want to take; however, knowing that the job market is constantly fluctuating is even more terrifying. I am hopeful that everything I am learning at the Memorial adds to my resumé and can give me valuable skills I can add to a work environment. i am really passionate about bringing history to the public and I would love to do so no matter the avenue. Fingers crossed that he’s correct about jobs opening up in the business.
WOW. That word pretty much encapsulates how amazing the day was on Saturday. Jack and I woke up bright and early to head down to Bedford to volunteer at the Memorial during the 71st anniversary celebration. I was really looking forward to it and so was he, and we were NOT disappointed.
A shot of the Memorial before the ceremony, June 6 2015
When we arrived, there were not too many people on site, so we parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up to the tent where we met the rest of the Education interns/staff. We were closing the tent 15 minutes before the ceremony so we were just waiting for that time to close up shop. While the others were taking advantage of the A/C in the tent, Jack and I made a lap around site. We went up to the top to look at what the set-up was and so I could show him my favorite statue with the ring on the finger 🙂 Then, as we came down we saw some WWII re-enactors and went to talk to them and look at their stuff.
The site before there were too many people.Selfie with the Overlord Arch.WWII reenacting stuff. This stuff was from a company representing the 29th infantry. You can tell by the white and blue yin yang on their equipment.The British camp re-enactment.
On our way back to the tent, we got voluntold to help take the wreaths all the way from the gift shop, across the memorial and put them next to the airplane. They smelled wonderful and looked beautiful, but were VERY heavy! The wreaths commemorated some specific battalions, companies, etc. Jack and Connor even almost got to lay the Canadian wreath because the Canadian attaches did not show up, but Felicia enlisted the British reenactors to do it instead, thankfully!
A close up of the gorgeous wreaths.A shot of the whole line of wreaths!
When we got back to the tent, the headlining speaker was there. She was quiet and cute all decked out in red, white, and blue. When someone came in and asked her if she was from Belgium (more on that a little later), she said, “No! I am an American citizen” as proudly as anyone I’ve ever heard. That feistiness showed through in her speech that happened a little later on.
Anywho, we got to sit down and talk to a WWII and D-Day veteran named Buster who was an engineer that took in the first few loads of people from the ships stationed 10 miles out from Normandy all the way into the beaches and back out again several times. His first trip contained the 2nd Ranger Battalion (HOOAH!), and several trips after that contained some of the guys from the 29th Infantry (Central Virginia Boys, including the Bedford Boys). It was a cool experience to get to talk to him. After he finally decided that he did not want to wait for his son to come get him anymore and reassured us that he could still walk, we headed out to the ceremony.
The 29th Division band played music at the beginning, and then the Drum and Fife part of the 29th Division band played too. The colors were presented and the Star Spangled Banner played. The Chairman of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation did the welcome. Next, someone read Eisenhower’s Order of the Day from 6 June 1944 and someone else read Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer.
Eisenhower’s Order of the Day: “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark on the Great Crusade towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you! The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world……………….”
Then Shenandoah was played and the wreaths were laid. During all of this we were on patrol for people falling because it was pretty hot that day. Luckily only one person fell and they were rescued immediately by the Rescue Squad. The Purple Heart plaque was on the wall behind where we were standing, so these guys with the purple heart wreath ended up standing next to us. We offered and got them some water and they were very happy about it even when I saw one of them a few hours later!
Taps was played by a bugler after the wreaths were laid. Then someone introduced our speaker (remember, the quiet lady we hung out with in the tent before the ceremony?) and she got up to speak. Dame Mary Sigillo Barraco is 91 years old, and she was 17 years old when the war broke out in Europe. Before the war, she lived in the United States with her mother and father until the depression when her father moved to Canada and she moved with her mother back to her mother’s homeland of Belgium. She was in Belgium when the war broke out.
After Germany invaded Belgium, Mary Sigillo as she was named then, joined the Belgian Resistance called the Belgian Freedom Fighters. She and her fiance were captured and taken to separate prison camps where he was executed and she was sentenced to 16 months. In that 16 months, Mary was beaten, broken, and sterilized. She spoke about the small 4′ by 4′ locker she was forced to stay in and how when she was finally let out, she could not stand up straight because she had not in so long. She told us how she had almost given up when one day she heard American bomber planes flying ahead and they gave her the strength to push forward because she knew she had not been given up on.
She made 9/11 parallel to that of what happened when she was in Belgium and it was invaded. She talked about freedom and the United States and how we cannot take anything we have for granted. I was moved to tears and to laughter and enjoyed her loud, powerful voice and message through the telling of her story.
These were some of my favorite quotes:
“I have lost my American freedoms once and by God I never want to lose them again!”
Talking about post 9/11 in the U.S.: “One thing has not changed: we still live in the greatest country in the world!
On her title as torchbearer of Freedom: “I wish to pass my torch of freedom to each and everyone of you with the hope and the prayer that you will take that torch of freedom and carry it proudly for the whole world to see.”
It is only after we have lost our freedom we appreciate its value!
On Nazi Germany’s oppression: “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything away!”
She pushed so hard for us to not take our freedoms for granted because she had seen them all get taken away from her. There are no words to describe how amazing her speech was. She is truly a hero. After the war, she got married in 1949 and was widowed by Mr. Barraco in 1978. In 2004, she was knighted by the king of Belgium hence her name: Dame Mary Sigillo Barraco.
After that, the rest of the ceremony was kind of a blur. Some more people spoke and the band played. The Coast Guard Silent Drill team performed for the WWII veterans, which was really cool. Afterwards, Jack and I were stationed in the hospitality tent and I got to talk to some more of the veterans and bond with the other interns. We helped clean off tables and such, but mostly we just took in our surroundings.
When it was nearing the end of the day, we headed back into the tent. Some people with kids came in and out asking questions, and to my surprise I could help answer a lot of them. The best part about the end of the day was the moment I got to take a picture with the Dame, though. I told her she had made me cry and she apologized. I made sure to let her know that they were not sad tears and that she had just moved me, and she looked at me with a smile and appreciation in her eyes (as cheesy as that sounds). It was an absolute blessing to get to experience someone who had been through so much approach life with such a positive attitude.
Today I semi-finished up week three of my internship. I say semi because I’ll be heading back to Bedford on Saturday to commemorate the 71st Anniversary of D-Day itself. I think I’ll save that for a post of its own, though, so here’s the unofficial week three 🙂
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
We spent the first half of the day doing clean-up at the downtown office. They moved into their building in November, the week of Thanksgiving, and had accumulated collections, junk, etc., and it had all been piling up. We organized where stuff went, sending some back to the collection room, some to storage in the dungeon under the stairs, and some we just made look neater. I love organizing and it was a fun morning (I’m weird, I know). I think the fact we spent the morning cleaning up just solidifies the fact that the public history world is full of all sorts of jobs and at a small foundation like ours, a historian has to be willing to do a little bit of every kind of work involved.
We took a break for lunch and then I got to work on my lesson plan for Spy Camp. There are two camps at the Memorial this summer, the first is a middle schooler Spy camp, and then there is the World War II Day Camp. Each of the interns has to make a lesson for each camp. I worked on my lesson plan for Spy Camp on Tuesday. That lesson was just a general overview of WWII including: the Allied/Axis Powers, leadership, turning points in the war, etc. I talked about the causes of the war, the leadership in both the Allied and Axis powers, and several battles. All of the information was supposed to be based on SOL benchmarks, which is my first interaction on the teaching side of standardized testing. Luckily for me, I found a history SOL specialist’s website who helped me lay out exactly what the kids were supposed to know. I just followed along the benchmark outline and tried to keep it interesting for the kids with interactive questions. Also, since I won’t be there for the Spy Camp because of my Civil War Workshop class, I had to cue up the animations so that the questions and answers did not pop up at the same time and put “click” cues on the outline I had for whomever teaches it. I got my Spy Camp outline and presentation done complete with pictures all on Tuesday. It’s kind of a mile marker for me, because I haven’t been in any core education classes yet so that was my first outline. Hopefully it goes well. Fingers crossed.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
So, today I got to sit in on a presentation and do a tour for our last school group of the season because “schooooooooool’s out for summahhhhhh.” It was a group of about 35 middle schoolers and their chaperones. They were very responsive inside the education tent throughout the program. They gave good guesses on questions and were actively learning. When I took them out on site, I let them know that we had a lot of veterans around because the VA had brought a few mini buses full of them to visit the Memorial and that they needed to be respectful. The kids did an amazing job. I was so impressed. They were quiet and listening to me on site even though they were cold and miserable and wet because it would NOT stop misting today (I was thankful it wasn’t scorching hot for once). It was only my second tour and we had to do some improvising because there were so many tours out and about, but I think (and hope) that it went well. I got to show them my favorite statue on the museum and they were just as amazed by it as I was:
This statue has a wedding band melded into it. The story behind it is a phenomenal one. The owner of the wedding band was dying on the beach on D-Day and gave his band for his buddy to take home to his wife when the war was over. His buddy carried it all through the campaign to liberate Europe and when he got home, he and HIS wife tried to find the owner’s wife but couldn’t so they sent it to the Memorial. Although it is sad that the ring never found its way to the wife, I think the fact that the ring made it all the way from the beaches of Normandy back to the U.S. speaks to the bond that our servicemen and servicewomen have for each other.
The ring is on the standing guy’s ring finger on the hand closest to us.
After the tour, I waited with them in the gift shop until they were all through and then headed out for some lunch. We all met up downtown to discuss what was going on on Saturday, and let me just say, if anybody does NOT have plans for Saturday, Bedford, VA would be a cool place to be. There are going to be food vendors and music, as well as speakers from out of the country and veterans to WWII and D-Day. It will be a special day.
Anywho, after lunch I got to work on my second lesson plan, which is for the WWII Day Camp and is an interactive video lesson about the campaign for Europe from D-Day to Victory in Berlin. They gave me this AMAZING website to use (you should really check it out): ddaytovictory.ca. The website has super cool graphics and information about the six major battles that were fought between D-Day and the liberation in Berlin. Each battle scene has multiple weapons to learn about with veterans talking about whether or not they were effective and what their uses were. Each scene also has personal accounts of several veterans talking about their experiences during the battles and the war in general. My job was to choose one weapon and one personal story from each battle and create a fill-in-the-blank worksheet for the kids, which I did.
However, I also wanted to make sure the kids understood the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the men and women who told their personal accounts, so I made a powerpoint defining those terms and preluding the videos with questions such as: “were they or weren’t they afraid?,” if they were/were not afraid, why?,” and “who did they count on/fight for?” I’m hoping the kids keep in mind these questions as they watch the videos, and I included some fill-in-the-blanks related to these questions to emphasize the point. I highly suggest checking the website out yourselves, but I thought the coolest part was how the veterans said that they did not have time to be afraid because they had to do what they had to do and they had to do it because of their buddy next to them. Wordy, I know, but hopefully you get the point. Our armed forces face obstacles and fear everyday, and they still fight for the cause because they have to for each other. This is the truth no matter the time period, and I think it is important that the kids come away with that understanding.
It touched my heart to hear these veterans talk about how much their battle buddies meant to them because every day that I am in Bedford all I can think about are the personal stories that each one of the soldiers we are commemorating has. It is a special thing to be in a place where those who made the ultimate sacrifice can be honored and those who appreciate their sacrifice can come to understand it farther.
Anyway, I probably sound like a broken record, but if you get the chance you should definitely make a visit to Bedford, VA to check out this special place. And if you’re free on Saturday, what better day to go visit the Memorial than a June 6th?
Public History: Essays from the Field, edited by James B. Gardner and Peter S. La Paglia
I read “Becoming a Public Historian” by Constance B. Schulz
Ms. Schulz talks about how to go about becoming a Public Historian. Since the field has always been defined as what it is NOT (an academic field), a lot of academic institutions did not have good programs in it, as I’ve talked about in other blog posts. She discusses how, at first, the only way someone could become a public historian was to actually go into the field and just do it. However, as interest sparked in public history, some professors added programs at their school the best that they could. Ever since public history was added to academia through a specific program, those who work in the field and have not gone to school go to workshops to help them catch up/keep learning about public history. Schulz emphasizes how important it is to have an interdisciplinary education when it comes to public history because it involves a little bit of everything.
I think that the reoccurring theme in this book and the field of public history seems to be the interdisciplinary aspects of it. It makes complete sense that it would need to be, as the field, especially in a small museum requires jacks of all trades, like I’ve talked about before. I think it is interesting how public historians emphasize how important it is to go to school for public history if you can. I would imagine and hope that those programs involve a lot of in the field training whether it be forced or highly recommended. I think that public history is something that will always continue evolving because of the technology that we are continually coming up with, etc. Therefore, I don’t think there can ever be a set curriculum for the program and I think that workshops like Ms. Schulz talked about will always be necessary. To me, though, that is an exciting concept because there are constant opportunities to grow and develop.
Today I wrapped up 27 hours in the past three weeks. I can’t believe it’s only been three weeks though, I already feel welcome as part of the crew. When you love what you’re doing, it’s not like a job, and although I’m not getting paid ( 😉 ) I never thought I’d be able to say that. Thankful for the opportunity more and more everyday.
I got to the site at about 9:30 on Tuesday morning, all geared up for a full day of field trips. I sat in on the first program in the M.A.S.H./Education tent. Sometime soon, they are hoping that the Foundation can raise enough money to get a permanent building set up on site so that they can set up the already existing exhibits as well as the ones that the site does not have room for. Which would be an amazing, air-conditioned, and educational experience that everybody could enjoy at all times instead of just field trips when the Education coordinator is in there.
Anyways, I went on a tour with the field trip group to gain more ideas of what my field trip tour script could be. It was a small group of kids, so the tour went smoothly and they seemed to enjoy it. After I finished that tour, I turned right around and went on a public tour. This tour guide focused a lot on the symbolism of the scenes, statues, and set-up of the Memorial and I learned a lot of cool stuff. For example, the beach scene of the Memorial all funnels into one statue, the one that climbs up over the waterfall to the Victory Arch, just as the Allies did on D-Day. There are many more interesting tidbits about the architecture of the Memorial; however, you have to go to hear more about them 😉
Felicia and I talked about how the symbolism tour is good for adults because most of them know more about D-Day, and the normal informative tour is good for kids. I fed her my brainstorms about my “summer project,” including the idea of making it personal. If I follow through with this one the idea would be to assign each child a name of a person who landed D-Day and their role in the day and give them a name tag with the information on it. Then we would try to keep the personal aspects consistent through the tour and find out what happened to their person at the end. Something like that, anyway…still brainstorming ideas 🙂
After I finished my tours, Maggie and I went to the downtown office to figure out some scheduling things and figure out what we should do with the rest of our day. We ran some errands in town and I got to see the variety of responsibilities that people in the Public History world have to deal with. Let me just say, these two ladies are jacks of all trades. They do so much for the Memorial and it’s great to see some behind-the-scenes.
THURSDAY——–
This morning I gave my first tour! SURPRISE! They didn’t have enough tour guides and we had a large field trip group come in so I jumped headfirst into my first tour. There were 40 kids, so my swim coach voice definitely came in handy (I got a little mic, too). I think it went pretty smoothly for how nervous I was. It’s nerve-wracking relaying information about such an important day in the world’s history that even I JUST learned about. The kids were very well-behaved for 7th graders and it was great to have them for my first group. They had open ears and were super grateful at the end, despite the relentless heat. I even got a hug!
After the tour I was grateful to get back to the A/C. I helped Felicia clean up the tent and then headed to the downtown office to work in the archives. The other intern worked on some pieces of uniform and I got to look at some medals and ribbons. Some of them were easy to find the names of and others I still don’t know for sure. They were all in excellent condition—
This is a Good Conduct Medal. It reads “Efficiency-Honor-Fidelity.”
This is the Crest for the 116th Infantry (s/o Bedford Boys, 29th division)I took this one to show the sheets that we have to fill out. The front has general info about the specific artifact and the back talks about the quality of it.This shows the tags and the numbers we used to archive them. The first number is the year, the second is for this batch of artifacts, and the last number is the number of the artifact.This is a pin for a uniform—a Presidential Unit citation for the Army-Air Force.
It was a great day full of exciting information. I am so excited to explore and learn more about the field and about D-Day itself.
Now onto Public History: Essays from the Field, edited by James B. Gardner and Peter S. La Paglia
This week I read the Essay titled “In Local Historical Agencies, Museums, and Societies” by Robert B. Patterson, Jr. He begins his essay with the story of Clarksville, Tennessee where he moved and attempted to help start a Museum in the 1898 post office there. The museum suffered from lack of funds and lack of support for the museum from the residents. He had to publicly promote the idea of museum through different mediums. He played the administrative and curatorial roles. He deals now with board and personnel issues, trouble shooting, and raising money. He says that local history museums and societies are all different. Local museums get there visitation excitement from the region and the character of the local economy. Overall, his essay talks about how different the paths of museums are and how difficult it is to compete with other non-profits. Other non-profits and profitable amusement centers in smaller cities have to work together to provide a broad experience and a successful museum. Historical museums have to adapt with the times and use new technology to represent the past.
I think this essay helps show how small town museums are difficult to maintain. A museum in a small town can have the small town charm, but it has to have enough appeal to bring people from outside of that town to it for funding reasons. The essay also showed how many hats the person in charge of a small museum has to wear, and as crazy as it sounds that is appealing to me. Having a busy schedule and something to be passionate about can always be frustrating, but working for a small museum would be a good way to memorialize the history of a unique place. There would be politics involved, of course, but it would be worth it. The essay taught me more about those things, but I have already seen them at play at the D-Day Memorial Foundation. The small town of Bedford takes pride in the Memorial and that is how it is still running, and they throw so many marketing events for veterans which helps raise funds. The ladies I work with wear many hats, too. It is exciting to see what I am reading at work, and I get more excited everyday about finding something I would love to do in the future.
After this week, I’ll probably just post one post for the week so everything is done at once. Anyways, day number two at the Memorial was a different kind of exciting. When I got there, there was another intern and he and I got to start the day out in the archives. 😀
I had never gotten to work with historical documents before, so Felicia showed us how to fill out the paperwork and let us start in on this box of paper documents that someone donated to the Foundation. We got to look at Yank magazines, Army Field Manuals, and travel guides for different places in Europe.
Yank Magazine Vol 1, No. 1 (didn’t take)This field manual is similar to those we were looking at (didn’t take)
There was a funny (or not so funny) letter in one that was asking for advice because his wife had written him (the letter from the wife was published within, too) letting him know she was leaving him and taking everything but his clothes and his typewriter. She told him she hoped they could be friends because she still thought of him as a friend and one day she hoped he would think of her as one as well. The soldier was just asking the advice columnist what he should do.
It was that kind of thing that was most interesting to me. The social aspects of World War II that we talk about, but don’t really know into the mind of a soldier. It was amazing to see the personalities of all the people that were individually represented within the magazines, but it was also funny to see that not much about the Army has changed (based on how friends in it talk). There was a little box talking about how there wasn’t any money so everyone was going to have to cut down on their haircuts. 🙂
Anyways, we spent the first half of the morning in the archives, after a brief break because we were supposed to have a field trip group come in and do a program for them; however, they did not show up.
At around noon, Felicia had to go do a lecture at an old folk’s home in Lynchburg, so the other intern and I went up to the Memorial. I gave myself a personal tour of it, going through and reading all the plaques so I could try to gain as much information as I could. All the while I was brainstorming some sort of way to make something so serious an entertaining and informative experience for younger people. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to do my field trip tour using the S.H.A.E.F. symbol as a badge giving me (and kids) access to special info or something—I’ll figure something out eventually. 🙂 It was a nice first week at the Memorial for sure (10 hours total), and I am looking forward to continuing my time there.
Now onto Public History: Essays from the Field, edited by James B. Gardner and Peter S. La Paglia
I read the essay entitled “Administrators: Students of History and Practitioners of the Art of Management by Michael J. Devine:
He talks about how most Historians don’t believe that working in the administrative part of the field is actually being a historian; they think that only working in academia is being a historian. He goes onto say that is not true, that administrators in museums and at memorials work hard to preserve history just the same as historians in the academic world. He talked about how an administrative historian has to have specific goals and must be willing to work for those goals wholeheartedly. Administrators have to be knowledgable about business as well as history. They must also deal with the boards of the museums who may not be qualified to make decisions on a museum and that is when the administrator has to stand by their goals. He emphasizes the importance of continuing education and that if done, more people who know about the administrative aspects will be teaching about public history instead of people who do not believe in it.
I thought this was a very realistic introduction into public history. It goes along with what I was thinking in my head, and it is a career direction that sparks my interest. Although it may not all be fun and games, administrators get to push for what they believe in and they have the power to make it happen. People/boards may try to get in the way, and I love how he does not sugar coat that, but the idea is to relay the information to the public so that they can understand the stories of the past. There are more aspects to history than just reading and researching, and I think that’s what I like so much about Public History.
oh the places you'll go 