Tales from the Interns | Jamee

Hello! My name is Jamee and I am the Indiana State Archives’ Governor’s Intern for summer 2022. I will be graduating with a degree in History and a Museum Studies certificate in the Spring of 2023. This is my first internship, and it has been a pleasure working with everyone for the summer. I am considering attending graduate school for a Master’s in Library Science and this internship has been a great opportunity to learn more about the field and discover what I enjoy working on. Before this internship I had not done any archival work.

My first week I processed a box that contained optometry licenses. I learned how to remove staples, clean documents, and re-folder documents and pictures.My next and more extensive project was from the Department of Corrections Farm Department. This series contained 10 cubic feet boxes which I weeded (removed non-archival records) and processed. The records were mainly between the years of 1939 and 1952, with the majority coming from the 1940s.

While processing the documents I learned about the different state institutions that had farms such as the Madison State Hospital and the Indiana School for the Deaf. The farms allowed inmates to learn vocations and were also used to help make the institutions self-sufficient during World War II shortages. One of my favorite parts of the series was seeing photos of cows at institutions along with building plans and farm maps.

A majority of my summer has been spent in the stacks processing, but that is not the only work I have been able to do. I also have been busy working on projects to help prepare the Archives for its move in 2024, including barcoding records and digitizing finding aids. Barcoding large and old books is one of my favorite parts. Seeing the old handwriting and paper is interesting. Additionally, I have learned bits and pieces about the conservation work here, like how to mend a document.