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Holocaust Museum Houston - Rachelle Escobar, Week 1

 Week One! 


Early this week Hurricane Beryl landed in Houston, Texas. We experienced destructive windthrow and heavy storms. Most importantly, millions of residents in the Greater Houston area were left without power for several days. I experienced the power outage until Tuesday, but around 1.3 million Houston residents won't receive electricity until later this week. In Texas, heat is a huge issue and a lack of electricity affects our ability to evade the sweltering temperatures. Meaning that the past few days were uncomfortable, to say the least. In response to the weather conditions, many public spaces with electricity opened and welcomed people to take refuge from the heat and charge their devices. The Holocaust Museum Houston was one of the many places that offered my community assistance. 


Day 1


Due to the current weather conditions, I started my internship at HMH two days late. My first day was spent working from home and I received most of my orientation through a Zoom call. At the time, my extended family was visiting my home. Because this was my first internship and first ‘real’ work experience, I had a large cheering squad as I got off my first day of work. We all gathered around my cramped dinner table that evening ate pupusas and enjoyed each other's company. Something that could’ve only been made possible by the state of our city. I am very grateful for my family in moments like these, without the support that they provide me I would not have the confidence to try new things. I know that
my family values the work I do whether they understand what I'm doing fully or not.  


Day 2


When I was able to join the onsite team on Thursday, I got a quick tour of the three-story building that houses the holocaust museum. They have four permanent galleries: “Bearing Witness: A Community Remembers” Holocaust Gallery which gives a chronological view of Jewish communities before, during, and after 1941-1945. The "Lester & Sue Smith Human Rights Gallery" is an open space with four walls that details what human rights are to what we can do on a local level. This gallery also has the space to house temporary collections, at the moment there is a temporary gallery titled "Art in War" that features art created post-October 7th 2023. The third gallery, "The Rhona and Bruce Caress Gallery" houses diaries of young people during WWII and the Holocaust. The fourth and final permanent gallery is housed on the second floor along with the education offices. The "Samuel Bak and Learning Center" features a rotating schedule of artwork from Samuel Bak, a Holocaust survivor from Lithuania who escaped the Vilna Ghetto. His work is part of the reason why I wanted this internship and it was awe-inspiring to see his work up close.



"Study for Even-Handed" By Samuel Bak

I also received my badge and frankly, an ID Badge with your face on it is cooler.  


Day 3


    On Friday, I had the opportunity to wear jeans and attend mini-informal meetings with everyone in the education offices where my desk is located. It looks like this:



  
     I got an introduction to everyone's educational experiences and what led them to work at the education department of the museum. (Fun but not unexpected fact: almost everyone majored in History as an undergraduate) I also got to introduce myself briefly to every department in the museum, from Development which works with donors for the nonprofit to Visitor and Volunteer Services who is on the floor greeting guests of the museum. I also had the opportunity to meet Roselianne, who was the YAP intern at HMH in 2023 and we discussed her experience as an intern here and what the first year of college is like. She's also going to be supporting me during the story time so it was nice to get to know her beforehand.

    This first week was a little crazy due to how it started, but I'm excited for what's to come and grateful for this opportunity.


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