*warning* contents contain nerdy raving
so i found my way to the haggin without much trouble, although i was weirded out by the group of people lounging on the car parked next to mine while they stared at me as i walked back to my car and drove off. weird. but aaaaanywho. so the haggin is part of victory park, a very tiny but pretty park, with a small lake with ducks and everything! it's a cute little community park, a bunch of people were on their morning walk around the park. getting into the building was less confusing than i was afraid it would be, and it was quite fun to buzz in with the intercom so i could be let in. like i was granted access to a top secret facility. or something.
when i got inside, i was introduced to the person in charge of the education department, and she took me first to the collections department to meet with the people who were there. the person in charge of collections is a pacific grad, which was fun, but she treated the 'meeting' like an interview, which threw me a little, but i think i got through it okay. but with many uses of the word 'exciting.' at least i didn't say gung-ho! heck. but a lot of the people who work there, or at least the people i'd be working with (including the person in charge of the archives) are all fairly young and all seem very nice, which put me at ease. in each department (collections, education and archives) i was given a basic description of what goes on and what they are working on, as well as projects i will be working on. it turns out they're basically letting me choose which department to work in! excitement. whichever department i choose, i will end up helping set up an exhibit which will be shown in a few months! that's CRAZY. so crazy, so exciting. i mean, i know i want to do research and all that stuff, but in the meantime this is going to be an AMAZING experience. i have so many options to me, all of them appealing to my nerdy history major self. i can't even believe what a huge blessing this has become! far beyond what i imagnined or hoped.
so, for right now, i think i'm leaning towards working with the archives most. the person there (kimberly) found out that i'm interested in world war ii, and has set me up with a really cool project. a resident of stockton who was in the army during wwii has donated all of his personal letters and memorabilia from that time. he was apparently an insane collector, so he has not only all of the letters he sent home, but all the letters from home as well (including from his sister, who was in a sorority at pacific at the time, and according to kimberly, she was quite 'sassy'). my task would be to go through all the letters, sort and organize them, number and catalog them. after that, i'd set up a finding aid for the collection (key words and such for researchers). and, eventually the collection would be showcased in a little display and i would get to write up a summary of the collection AND i would be credited as the person who cataloged the collection! i can't even believe it. every historian LOVES to get their hands on primary documents, and i would get to do more than just search for relevant materials, but actually work with the collection itself!
man. so excited. so nerdy.
rave over.
when i got inside, i was introduced to the person in charge of the education department, and she took me first to the collections department to meet with the people who were there. the person in charge of collections is a pacific grad, which was fun, but she treated the 'meeting' like an interview, which threw me a little, but i think i got through it okay. but with many uses of the word 'exciting.' at least i didn't say gung-ho! heck. but a lot of the people who work there, or at least the people i'd be working with (including the person in charge of the archives) are all fairly young and all seem very nice, which put me at ease. in each department (collections, education and archives) i was given a basic description of what goes on and what they are working on, as well as projects i will be working on. it turns out they're basically letting me choose which department to work in! excitement. whichever department i choose, i will end up helping set up an exhibit which will be shown in a few months! that's CRAZY. so crazy, so exciting. i mean, i know i want to do research and all that stuff, but in the meantime this is going to be an AMAZING experience. i have so many options to me, all of them appealing to my nerdy history major self. i can't even believe what a huge blessing this has become! far beyond what i imagnined or hoped.
so, for right now, i think i'm leaning towards working with the archives most. the person there (kimberly) found out that i'm interested in world war ii, and has set me up with a really cool project. a resident of stockton who was in the army during wwii has donated all of his personal letters and memorabilia from that time. he was apparently an insane collector, so he has not only all of the letters he sent home, but all the letters from home as well (including from his sister, who was in a sorority at pacific at the time, and according to kimberly, she was quite 'sassy'). my task would be to go through all the letters, sort and organize them, number and catalog them. after that, i'd set up a finding aid for the collection (key words and such for researchers). and, eventually the collection would be showcased in a little display and i would get to write up a summary of the collection AND i would be credited as the person who cataloged the collection! i can't even believe it. every historian LOVES to get their hands on primary documents, and i would get to do more than just search for relevant materials, but actually work with the collection itself!
man. so excited. so nerdy.
rave over.