Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “Stephanie Berry Internship Portfolio”

Give your story a title.

Stephanie Berry Internship Portfolio

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

portfolio

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

Before starting this internship, I had little to no knowledge of working behind the scenes in public history. My focus is on public history, but I am still learning the ins and outs. I learned many valuable lessons on not only public history but also working with the public in an academic field. For me, some of the most useful parts of the internship were the oral histories and the ethics of the archives. I learned about the importance of transcripts and how much work goes into recording oral history. When it comes to ethics, I am still learning, but I am grateful to have experienced how JOTPY protects people's privacy and sensitive information. I am now aware of when and how to redact sensitive information and the best practices for redacting in an archival setting. I am more aware of the best file types to use when preserving digital items. I am eager to learn more about the digital side of public history from Omeka to apps.

I chose to preserve the impact of the pandemic on the food industry because of my tie to the industry and my interest in food history. It has been a difficult topic to work on, but the experience I gained working on the Foodways collection has been priceless. In hindsight, I wish I had chosen a more relatable collection because I often felt like I was alone in left field. Other interns were able to share and exchange items, that did not happen with my collection as much as others. Besides a couple of interns, I did not get the chance to network with others. Food is a relatable subject, but the industry is not. I found areas that I need to develop, including my networking skills and being confident in what I bring to the academic table. I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities through this internship, and I am grateful for the areas; it helped me see where I have room to grow. As a student with learning disabilities from a non-academic background, I was the fish out of the water, but so many of my skills did translate. The internship also gave me the push I needed to leave my comfort zone and view myself outside of the industry I've been working in for decades. If I could keep working on this archive, I would in a heartbeat, I am grateful for all that I have learned this summer.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#FoodisLife, #careerchange, #foodindustry, #academia, #HST580, #ASU

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Stephanie Berry

Give this story a date.

2020-08-22
Click here to view the corresponding item.