My internship was delayed by one week, so unlike everyone else, this is my first blog post and my first week working at HistoryMiami.
This is how it went:
Walking in, I didn't really know what to expect. A lot of plans had changed, and things were moved around, but "blessed are the flexible, for they will never be bent out of shape." My internship coordinator, Lùcia, decided to create a new internship program here at HistoryMiami and include me in it. This means that I now get to work with this amazing group of high schoolers on a new project for the museum. Our assignment was to pick an important issue that affects our community here in Miami and show how our community, especially younger people, can work to address it.My First Day:
On Monday, July 15, I came in at 10 am to meet all the awesome people I would be working with for the next four weeks. It was a sort of orientation day where we came in and discussed our projects and our schedules. Our day started with introductions and getting to know each other. Lùcia then introduced our projects, and we immediately began to toss ideas around, talking about public transportation and other issues that we Miamians can all relate to. We then discussed our schedules; Lùcia informed us that we would be working from home twice a week on our projects. After this, we had lunch followed by a private tour of parts of the museum. The tour was incredible because, since the museum was closed to the public, it was truly a private, personal tour. We went through our Tropical Dreams exhibit, which showcases Miami's long history dating back to prehistoric times. We learned about the indigenous people that lived here in South Florida and the various countries that owned Florida over the years. We learned about how Miami became a city and how it was one of the few cities in the United States to be founded by women. We then came back downstairs to finish our tour in the Miami Magic City exhibit, which showcases 100 years of Miami's history through photographs.These are some of my favorites:
Work from Home:
I was working from home on Tuesday, July 16, and Wednesday, July 17. During these two days, I was doing research and deciding what issue I wanted to address in my display. To pick an issue, I decided to reach out to people I knew who lived in Miami and ask what issue they would like to see displayed in a museum. This led me to pick the issue of gentrification, specifically climate gentrification. I did some research on this topic and picked Little Haiti, an area here in Miami that is in the process of being gentrified, as the highlight of my display, along with other areas like Overtown or Wynwood as possible examples as well. During this research, I learned a lot about this issue and how it is truly affecting these lower-income communities. I learned about how it not only brings socioeconomic change, but it also breaks apart communities that are rich in culture. If this continues to happen, Miami loses these beautiful areas that are pockets of culture and make it so vibrant and different from other big cities.Thursday
On Thursday, July 18, I was back at the museum. We started the day by talking about our project ideas and research. We were lucky enough to meet Catherine Farmer, the Miami Stories Coordinator here at HistoryMiami. She told us about her job and how we can find stories from the many that have been collected to use in our displays. We then met with Hana Squires, the Manager of Education Programs, Access, and Community Engagement, and Ingrid E. Argueta, the Coordinator of Education Programs and Community Engagement, to continue talking about our ideas and how we can accomplish them. We were able to get a lot of feedback from them and have productive conversations about our projects. By the time we were done with our conversation, it was time for lunch. I was able to have a good time and get closer to my fellow interns during this break. After lunch, we met with Adriana Jaén Millares, the Director of Collections, and the last person we got to talk to before I had to leave for community outreach. She gave us a lot of information about doing research in the museum archives and about some of the things they might have for us to include in our displays.Today
Today, Friday, July 19, we started the day with a walking tour of downtown. We saw the beautiful Mary Brickell Park and the Miami River. We were able to see the crypt built for the Brickell family. We got to look at the Miami Circle, an area discovered during construction in the '80s that proved this area had a much longer history than originally thought. We talked about the history of the area and the ethics behind museums showing artifacts that might have been stolen from native tribes. Then we were treated to lunch at a restaurant called Julia and Henry's. After lunch, we came back to the museum to set up meetings with people for interviews and develop questions to get more information for our projects directly from experts.Some pictures from our downtown tour:
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