While this is the second week of my UCF internship course, this is the first week of my internship for the Library of Congress. I’ve been looking forward to starting since the end of the 22’ Spring semester. Fortunately, my first week has exceeded my expectations. Everyone I’ve met at the library is friendly and passionate about history.
On Monday I received an introductory email from my supervisor. The email contained the meeting schedule for my internship. The email additionally provided guides on legal terminology and practices. On Tuesday I attended an introductory zoom session going over the structure of the internship. I learned that I had the first three weeks of the internship to come up with potential blog topics. Once a topic is approved, I’d spend the next few weeks further researching and writing about my topic. Finally, my blog would go through the editing process. I already have four ideas for blog posts (three of which are follow ups to my 2021 Florida Conference of Historians paper on Civil War-era Key West.) I was warned that the editing process can be painful for writers. Despite this I am excited to learn about the editing process. I want to have a career as a writer and working with editors is an essential part of the job.
I spent Wednesday reviewing the legal guides. As a History Major I have a familiarity with the United States’ legal system however I wasn’t familiar with all of the legal system's terminology. What I did know was how to quickly read, comprehend and explain new information. My experience this week has reinforced my ability to write about a variety of different topics. I just have to do my due diligence of researching the topic and reading style guides.
On Thursday we had a meeting covering what the library wanted out of their blog posts. They stated that a crucial part of the Law Library’s audience is historians, lawyers, judges, and other researchers. Thus, the goal of the Law Library’s blog posts is to present a full unbiased view of our chosen topics. This meeting, in conjunction with the blogs I had previously read, gave me a good idea of the tone the library wanted.
On Friday I attended a virtual lecture going over the history of the Library of Congress. I knew a lot going in, but the meeting filled in some surprising gaps. For instance, I knew that Thomas Jefferson donated his personal library to the Library of Congress, but I did not know that a fire destroyed two thirds of Jefferson’s donations in 1851 (along with two thirds of the library’s entire collection.) Thankfully the Library has found replacements for many of the destroyed books. Jefferson’s donations remain as an exhibit at the Library of Congress which is pictured in this blog. I was also unfamiliar with Daniel A.P. Murray. Murray was the second African American who worked on the Library of Congress’ staff. In 1881 Murray was promoted to assistant librarian. Murray is truly an underrated figure in Library History.
Picture Sources:
“Thomas Jefferson's Library.” The Library of Congress. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/item/event-403250/thomas-jeffersons-library/2022-01-05/
Cole, John Y. “Daniel Murray: A Collector's Legacy.” The Library of Congress. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/collections/african-american-perspectives-rare-books/articles-and-essays/daniel-murray-a-collectors-legacy/
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