Due to an unforeseen scheduling error, I actually began my internship on Wednesday, May 21st. But it was a busy day! I started off learning how to add archive papers and objects to the digital catalog, where a record of every single artifact is stored. I added three small collections (about nine artifacts) to the collection catalog. I assembled the collections after adding them to the catalog and rehomed them in an archive box specifically for small collections. I also started on organizing and sorting a larger collection of memos that tell the story of the desegregation of Des Moines public schools, along with a few Black Panther Party memos and messages.
Ready to sort!
To explain a bit more about the Black Panther Party, they were a Civil Rights Activism group. While they are often portrayed as the “dark side” as opposed to followers of non-violence, that’s not at all the case. The Black Panther Party was all about community service, knowing one’s rights, and being able to protect oneself if need be. A lot of parallels can be drawn between their demands and the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is ongoing today. There were chapters all over the country, with the most well-known being in Chicago. But little did I know, there was also a chapter in Des Moines too!
Unfortunately, there are quite a few racist artifacts that have wound up in the museum’s collection. While it does make me (a white person) a little uncomfortable seeing that stuff, it just reinforces to me the importance of making sure that we tell every part of a story so that accountability can be clear. None of these artifacts were made by African Americans, they were all made, bought, and sold by white people, for white people. It is a very uncomfortable and disturbing history, yes, but a history that white people must face.
Thursday was no less busy! Today was all about finishing sorting the larger collection and finding it a home in the museum collections room. It ended up being huge! I filled one and a half archival boxes, and needed to store some oversized things as well. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of Black Panther Party things, but the documents I sorted through helped tell the story of how Des Moines public schools became integrated.
That battle was a hard one, starting in the late 60’s and moving into the mid 70’s. After a few less-than-successful voluntary transfer programs, the Des Moines Public School Board ended up redrawing the lines in the entire school district so that schools could be properly integrated. That isn’t to say that everyone got along, they didn’t, and there were many white parents who were vehemently opposed to sending their children to learn alongside Black students. But in the end, integration in the Des Moines Public School System did happen.
I also got to photocopy old newspaper clippings to preserve them, since the originals were incredibly brittle and VERY prone to tearing. If there’s one thing I learned today, it’s that newspapers are no joke! As a child of the digital age, I never really got to intimately understand newspapers and how they worked, only picking out the Sunday comics on occasion, so it was really interesting to see how things were organized. The most interesting newspaper I found was a copy of the Des Moines Tribune printed in April 1968, announcing the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Finally, Friday was a bit more relaxed, but it was just as educational. Today taught me two things: how to scan photos, and more importantly, how to switch tasks when something goes wrong unexpectedly. Scanning photos was much more work than archiving documents, since I had to go through the scanning process itself, but due to some computer problems I ended up learning a lot more! Since I couldn’t scan a lot of photos due to the technical difficulties, I helped the curator of the museum, Felicite Wolfe, move around some large folder stock.
In the afternoon, I worked at the front desk of the museum. It was a pretty slow day, with only about ten people coming in from noon to four. But even that taught me something too. I learned how to run a digital cash register software, and that it’s the little things and little people that keep things running smoothly. The museum wouldn’t be able to function without its desk volunteers, and I admire them much more now!
View from the front desk
This week was so much fun!