"...not all research experiences are 'happy' ones."

You know that feeling you get when you wake up and your head feels like it is the size of Mt. Rushmore, and your body feels like you've been hit by a bus? Yea, that's how I felt Wednesday morning. I could feel the symptoms starting on Tuesday, but they really took over on Wednesday. Thus, the only day I got anything pertaining to my internship done this week was on Tuesday. So let me tell you about that!

Tuesday morning I brought the Brian Arbogast collection out of the storage unit and to my work space in RICHES. I started processing the first box, getting an idea of its contents. Brian Arbogast created the first chapter of GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to Florida. The documents I inventoried and processed were amazing! He was able to get the Florida chapter of GLAAD registered with the ILGA (The International Lesbian and Gay Association) in the early 1990s! Making the Florida chapter the first American chapter of GLAAD registered with the ILGA! Most of the contents in this box consisted of newsletters and correspondence between the FL GLAAD chapter and other chapters of GLAAD throughout the United States. It also included newsletters and correspondence between the FL GLAAD chapter and the ILGA. 

Going through this box really paralleled with one of my readings for my History and Historians class. We had to read some selections from a book called Beyond the Archives: Research as a Lived Process edited by Gesa E. Kirsch and Liz Rohan. (for all intents and purposes this is my citation for what follows). The book is a bunch of essays written by various authors. "The collection on the whole addresses what inspires our work, what attracts us to our research subjects, how they attract us, and the role of serendipity, place, and cultural memory in making knowledge." In reading the introduction I came across this section that really resonated with me (albeit not at the moment of reading, but later):

     "...not all research experiences are "happy" ones. Archives can re-inscribe power structure and imperialist discourse, particularly when the researcher is both the object and the subject of research."

This portion of my assigned reading resonated with me later when I was going through the Brian Arbogast collection. I was going through two of the folders that contained the documents from the ILGA. In it there was correspondence and newsletters about a ILGA conference to be held in Mexico (I forget the year, I am fairly certain it was 1990). Though this was the past, I was very excited for the members of ILGA! But then I continued to turn the pages and found that the conference had been canceled due to many anti-gay protests and death threats. This saddened me, and I immediately recalled that sentence (mentioned above) from my reading. This internship, though amazing, may not always be a happy one. I am going to come across the anti-gay rhetoric of society, and it is going to hurt because I can be considered both the object and the subject of this internship (I am a part of the Central Florida community, and I am gay).

Alas, I can not let the negative aspects of history bring me down. For another section of the introduction to this book also stood out:

     "We are convinced - and our chapters bear this out - that the most serious, committed  excellent historical research comes from choosing a subject to which we are personally drawn, whether through family artifacts, a chance encounter, a local news story, or some other fascination that sets us on a trail of discovery, curiosity, and intrigue."

Who knows? Maybe as a result of this internship I will end up writing something that could be considered an "excellent historical research" pertaining to the Central Florida GLBT community. One can most certainly dream. After all, it is rather serendipitous how I landed this internship. 

Until next week,

-Kyle the intern

PS. Have no fear, I thought I had the flu, but my body actually just was not satisfied with having a sinus infection. It decided it wanted to have an ear infection as well! Alas, I have some good antibiotics and a steroid to help me power through this!

Sunday Board Meeting!

Sunday, January 20, 2013 I was invited to attend the GLBT History Museum of Central Florida's monthly board meeting held at The Center. It was an interesting experience for me, because I have never attended anything like that before. However It was very nice to be able to meet more people from the museum, who have dedicated their free time to collecting and preserving the GLBT history of our area. Each member took turns going over what their acting role is responsible for going over. I even got a chance to explain what all I have done so far. Like how I've organized the storage unit and all that fun stuff. I was even given some feedback from the board on things to keep my eyes out for and things to research.

Overall it was a great experience! It is making me feel much more professional than I am usually comfortable with, but it is a welcomed challenge!

Before I part, I have to mention the highlight of my day today. As we were in the middle of our meeting, a drag queen in a fabulous Lady Gaga looking costume appeared at the back door of the room we were in (Bananas, a 24 hr. diner run by drag queens shares a wall with The Center). Nobody flinched, they just continued on with the meeting as if that were an every day occurrence. It made me giggle quietly to myself. Then it made me think: "This is my world. These are my experiences, and I am blessed to be able to share them openly!"

Until next time,

-Kyle the intern

And now we start the tedious work...

TUESDAY

What a week it has been! It started off when I left my binder (that contains everything pertaining to my internship) at home on Tuesday. Which meant after my 9:15 am History and Historians class I had to drive all the way back to my place in Kissimmee, and then back to UCF for my meeting with Dr. Beiler and John at 1:30! I made it back to UCF with about an hour before the meeting. I worked on some stuff pertaining to our weekly activities. Basically answering questions like:

Q: How is the collection organized?

A: Umm... It was not organized. I organized it in a topical manner. Publications on one shelf, posters/banners on another shelf, special collections on the middle shelf, etc.

Q: What general topics do the collections cover?

A: The general topics the collection covers is Central Florida GLBT history. Covering local people, places, businesses, organizations, etc.

Q: What time period do the bulk of the collections cover?

A: The time period the bulk of the collections covers is that of the early/late 70s to the present.

Q: What types of items make up the majority of the collection?

A: The items that make up the majority of the collection are newspapers, magazines, newsletters, legal documents, correspondence, inventories, and photographs.

I answered these questions and went to the meeting with Dr. Beiler and John. The first topic that came up was our blogs. This is a new thing for all of us, and we are still learning from it. John felt that his blog was too dry (I need to get his blog so I can link to it, and read it!), whereas I felt that my blog may have come off as too humorous and not serious enough. Dr. Beiler on the other hand has assigned her Colonial History class to post a blog entry in response to one of the topics they are covering. Thus, she asked us, "what do you think makes a good blog?" My response is that a blog can be many things. It can be dry, humorous, instructional, formal, or even informal. It is a means for one to express their views and opinions to the world via a online platform. Personally, I want my blog to be reflective of my personality. I want people reading my blog, who have never met me, to be able to know what makes me tick. For instance, I love comedy. I practically live for comedy (that may be a bit dramatic). Because of this, I think what makes a good blog is one that can take the seriousness of life and balance it with humor. (I do not claim to have mastered this technique!) There are plenty of good blogs out there that are just straightforward academic, with no humor or anything. That is that particular author's style, and it works for them. Personally, I prefer a little bit of humor to keep me engaged. 

So that was a long rant, and I'm sure you are thinking "Okay, get to the point Kyle! What did you do this week?! Did you get chased down by a rabid raccoon?!" The answer is, Yes... I got chased by a rabid raccoon!... Okay, okay, no I did not get chased by a rabid raccoon, though that would have been much more humorous than forgetting my binder at my house! (Yes, I am still bitter about that! I don't know if I can ever move on from it.) 

Moving on. We finished our meeting with about 10 minutes to spare, so I could get a look at where I will be working when I get to the detailed inventory process. My work space will be in the RICHES office in Colbourn Hall. RICHES is the acronym for "Regional Initiative for Collecting the History, Experiences and Stories of Central Florida" They have a fun little website located here that you can look at if interested. I worked with RICHES last spring when I conducted an oral history interview with a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. I am very grateful that they will be allowing me to utilize their space for my collections processing!

I then headed up to the storage unit to complete the task of organizing everything. I spent about 3 hours moving things around to get it all situated to where I felt it all belonged. I can honestly say that when I open the storage unit now, I am very pleased with the way it looks, and how accessible everything in there is! It is worth mentioning that the entire time I have spent organizing the collection, I have also been taking an initial inventory. This involves me opening boxes (all Nancy Drew like) and going "Ok, 1 box filled with various documents: legal, correspondence, newspapers, newsletters, flyers, etc. This will be the John Smith Collection." That initial inventory ended up being about 7 pages handwritten. Once typed up it became like 3-4 pages long. By doing this I have become quite intimate with the collection. Granted, I couldn't tell you where correspondence between so and so is, I could probably make a general guess. However, I hope that through the process of creating a more detailed inventory I will be able to answer such questions!

THURSDAY

Create a detailed inventory is just what I started on Thursday afternoon! I started inventorying publications, more specifically the 2 plastic bins and one box containing Central Florida's very own Watermark newspaper. This is the beginning of the more tedious work. I started jotting down the volume and issue number, as well as the date and the front page headline. I would have loved to use my lap top, but there is no power source at the storage unit. (I don't start bringing things to the university until I get the clear from Dr. Beiler) This is a long process, but the end result will be worth it. I did this for about 3 hours and then headed over to my acting supervisor, Alan's house. We had a 2 hour meeting over dinner where we went over my syllabus and what all was expected from me and when certain deadlines were to be met. 

FRIDAY

Friday I met with the vice president of the museum, Dawn, at the storage unit to get certain questions about specific boxes answered. (Like, "Is this box considered a special collection?) I also obtained a little more background information of some of the collection. For instance I learned more about the collection containing various things from Out and About Books, which was one of the first gay owned businesses in the ViMi district (the area of Mills and 50). Having these questions answered marks the completion of the organization and the initial inventory. From now on I will be doing the more detailed inventory. 

REFLECTION

While continuing on this massive endeavor this week I have had multiple conversations with different people about the current generation. More specifically the current generation's lack of interest in not only the preservation of their own history, but their overall lack of interest in learning their history. I feel that the majority of the current generation has become complacent in their role in society. They understand that they are more socially accepted, but there are still things they have to keep behind closed doors. They don't fully realize the sacrifice that many people before them had to endure in order to get to where we are now. It truly makes me fearful for the future of our community. In the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s we had people active and fighting. We still do today, but you don't really see much of the younger generation, and that's a shame. What happens when there is no one left to keep the fight going? Will the young generation pick up the pieces of the older generation and keep it going? Or will our history remain locked away in a storage unit and become the thing of myth? (I will admit, this observation is severely limited to my life and my observations. I have been working at Disney for nearly 7 years now, and it has been the bulk of my life observations. I am also fully aware that this is a very broad and generalized statement. I do know that there are younger people who are active, and will keep the fight strong. I hope so at least.)

I know I'm being a bit dramatic and critical of my generation, but I've never really felt like I belong in my own generation. However, I won't lie, being on the other end of the scope I can see how easy it is to be complacent. Why do something when others will do it for you? I can only hope that the work I'm doing, and the blog I write will keep people in our community active and fighting for equal rights across the board. It is one thing to say you will do something, but it is another thing to do! Tough I may not be out there protesting, I am doing something! There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that you are DOING something. 

Alas, I fear I may have been long winded again, but what do you expect when trying to sum up a week's worth of work? I do hope you all enjoy my blog!

Until next time,

Kyle the intern

**Next week**

This Sunday I will be attending the Museum's board meeting, so look forward to that! (I'm going to try to publish that as a separate blog).

Next Friday I will be going out of town to celebrate my significant other's birthday. I will try to have my blog posted Thursday night for all you beautiful readers! :)

First week: Introduction, meeting, and an adventure!

Hi there! My name is Kyle Messamore, and I am a history major at the University of Central Florida. I am currently doing a Public History internship with the Central Florida GLBT History Museum for the Spring 2013 semester. I have been tasked with going through the GLBT History Museum's collection and taking an initial inventory. I am to then process the collection and create a finding aid. I will also research different methods of storing documents and items and compose a cost analysis report for the Museum. Oh! I will also be running this blog! My posts will be weekly (my goal is to have my entries posted by Friday afternoon/evening), and will encompass a variety of topics. I will give an overview as to what I have done each week, with added humor (I have to keep you readers engaged!) I will reflect on what I am learning from the process of my internship. I will also reflect on how I am doing history for the public, since this is after all, a Public History internship.

First thing is first, a little about the Central Florida GLBT History museum. It was created by a group of activists who realized that there was nothing being done to preserve the Central Florida GLBT history. With no formal training, they banded together with a mutual cause to collect and preserve documents, publications, books, journals, photographs, etc. They have no permanent residence, that is, they do not have a physical brick and mortar structure that houses the museum. The museum is in the form of a virtual museum housed here, and it also takes form in a mobile museum (which is housed in a storage unit just outside of downtown Orlando). The museum board and staff is entirely made up of volunteers from the local community who put together the mobile museum, maintain the online museum, and meet once a month for a board of directors meeting (I will be attending one of these, possibly more, so look forward to a future blog).

Alright! So let's get started! shall we?!

I met with Dr. Rose Beiler, my internship adviser at UCF on Tuesday (January 8, 2013) afternoon, as well as another intern, John (he is interning at the Public History Center up in Sanford). It was a successful meeting, a lot was discussed, including discussion topics such as: "define archive" (archives are not only the physical buildings that house archives, but they are also usually literary items such as publications, letters, photos, books, etc),  "archivist profession" (the archivist profession is the responsibility to preserve materials and to make them accessible to researchers and the public), and "what is an administrative archivist" (an administrative archivist deals with a lot of the paperwork involved in running an archive, such as deeds of gifts, insurance policies, etc. Furthermore, they may be required to do an overview of the collection and provide a cost analysis report which would inform the owners of the collection how much it would cost to care for the collection in the long term). In addition to these discussion topics, we also discussed what was expected of us, and what to expect/anticipate as we take on our respective internships. Needless to say, I left the meeting feeling a little overwhelmed. Okay, I left feeling very overwhelmed! I was anxious to get started, and was also left wondering, "what the heck have I gotten myself into?!" However, I realized that I have an immense amount of resources and services to help guide me though this process. I know most of my nerves will filter away as I get my hands messy in this endeavor.

Then Thursday happened. That was a stressful morning on campus! (Dealing with unrelated course drama, add/swap/drop deadlines and what not.) I was supposed to meet up with the Vice President of the Central Florida GLBT History Museum, Dawn, at 2 pm. The goal was to organize the storage unit into a more categorical manner in order to make things easier to access, and to kind of separate the exhibit supplies and what not from the actual archival material. Well unfortunately Dawn was sick and had to cancel on me. I was slightly disappointed, but I did not become discouraged. Aside from my meeting with Dr. Beiler on Tuesday, I hadn't really put my hours in. So I went to the storage unit by myself.

Side note: Something to keep in mind, the storage unit is indoors and located by the Orlando Executive Airport off of highway 50. So, my overactive imagination is convinced that I am going to end up the product of some episode of CSI. This is conflated with my mother who is constantly convinced that the world is unsafe, and therefore I am constantly in the line of danger (There is a point here, I promise!).

Anyways, I arrived at the storage unit at 2 pm and proceeded to the second floor (it is an indoor, climate controlled, storage unit). I had been to it before, but had misplaced the new number of the unit. I proceeded to walk around the area I thought it was in, as I was pulling up the e-mail that had the new number from the President of the GLBT History Museum, Ken. So I'm walking, no noise is made (other than me cursing myself for not knowing where the unit was), and I've got the general sense that I'm alone. Here. On the second floor. By myself. (Did I mention I have an overactive imagination?) Anyways, I FINALLY found the e-mail with the new unit number, and proceeded to the unit to open it. Here is where I panic.

Almost immediately after opening the storage unit I hear what sounds like someone got out of a chair and started walking around in another unit either behind, or to the corner of, or next to ours! Immediately I think to myself, "Oh my god! Someone is living in the storage unit next to ours!! OH MY GOD! THERE IS GOING TO BE AN EPISODE OF CSI BASED OFF ME!" I almost bolted.... I seriously needed to calm down! (I mentioned I have an overactive imagination right?)

I Cher slapped myself and said "Snap out of it!" This calmed me down, and I made mental notes of alternate routes out of the building and proceeded to stare blankly at the contents of the storage unit (as I reflect upon this moment, I kick myself for not taking before pictures!). I stared blankly at the contents because it seemed so disorganized, boxes and bins everywhere! Some on shelves, and some stacked on the floor. I took a couple of deep breaths and remembered my mother's advice "when you have a pile of something to do, you deal with it like you would eating an elephant; one bite at a time." (What my mother is doing eating elephants I do not know. That is her business, and if she ends up in jail for it I will find a way to bail her out because that is what good sons do.)

So I started this task. One that seemed daunting at first, but as I got going I found I could not stop myself. Every box I picked up had so many different items! However, they were not just any items, not just the items of Joe Schmoe, but rather, they were the items of my community. My community of Central Florida. My home for 23 of my 25 years of life. Furthermore, they are the items of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender community of my home; my people. It is simply fascinating to come across such unique items and exhibits like, "The History of the Parliament House," (which I used to frequently sneak into when I was younger, *cough* 17 *cough* just to catch a drag show. Shh!) to an extensive collection of Central Florida's GLBT newspaper, The Watermark. There are many more publications that I had never even heard about! I came across books, photos, correspondence  flyers, t-shirts, flags, etc. All representing the history of my community and my people.

The whole experience was so exciting, I felt like a real life Indiana Jones.... Okay, bad analogy because he was essentially a grave robber. My point is, it was just so exciting to be able to go through everything with my inquisitive nature and uncover so much of the region's GLBT history! I think it is so easy as a Gay "citizen" of Central Florida to just chop up your history to, "there are people like me here, we have GLBT clubs, and a bunch of GLBT people work at Disney." To be able to realize that it is so much more than that, and that things have not always been as open and accepted as they are today, is truly eye opening. It is so important to know your roots, and know what others have sacrificed and endured in order for you to be open and proud of yourself. I think if one is able to recognize this, they can be a better member of their community and society. The way to get one to realize this is through the preservation of their community's documents, photos, publications, etc. Which is why I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity at hand. I am helping to preserve the history of our GLBT community here in Central Florida, and it is a truly rewarding experience!

Here are the after photos of the storage unit. This is the result of 5 hours of organizing:

I really should have taken before photos...

Thank you for taking time to read my blog. I apologize for it being lengthy, but I have a lot to say! :)

Until next week,

-Kyle the intern.