FFSS Internship (Fall) Week 5

 Hello! Here is this week’s update on my internship with the Florida France Soldier Stories project:

Since my last post, the graduate students and I were present in Dr. Lyons' HIS3600 class on Tuesday (9/16) and Thursday (9/18) to help out with various parts of the primary source packet project that they were in the process of completing by Thursday (9/18). 

On Tuesday, we helped the students with their workshop session after submitting their drafts of the project before the deadline on Thursday. In class, Dr. Lyons briefly discussed the types of sources that the students had found so far in their research, including the sections of Early Life, Military Service, and Legacy/Post Service Life. Many of the students had numerous examples of sources that fit these sections, with some of the students even having found pictures, high school records, marriage records, and other not as common sources. Some of the students had struggled with their primary source research, which could be due to either lack of sources available on their veteran, or perhaps they missed them in their research process. 

Beginning this type of research process can seem overwhelming, but sometimes it just takes a little push to get the students to find what they need for the final packet. Since the project had a shorter timeline than the usual biography project in HIS4150, the amount of research is not necessarily as extensive in the sense of secondary sources and other avenues of discovering the entire narrative of the veteran, their service, and the overall timeline of the unit they were in. However, it is important that the students include all of the sources that they can find in the amount of time they were given to produce a well-rounded primary source packet so that it is in good shape to edit and send to the Colmar Museum in France. 

After the brief discussion, Dr. Lyons had each of us assigned to a small group (about 4-5 students) to look through their draft packets and to help them with any questions or concerns they may have before the deadline. I was assigned 4 students and I was able to help them understand where their strengths and possible weaknesses in their packets were. I helped one student in particular look through some sources that they found, to make sure they were credible and accurate to their veteran. The workshop process was rewarding to participate in, and I enjoyed getting that "hands-on" experience with students. 

On Wednesday, I helped Dr. Lyons go through one of the students' sources to make sure that they were finding what was necessary before the project was due. The student was concerned about not finding enough information, but that was because not as much information on their military service was digitized, which can be common in this type of research. 

On Thursday, I was present in Dr. Lyons HIS3600 class for their discussion of the final primary source packets that were due before class began. The discussion began by the students talking about their findings in each section of the packet, as well as sources they found to be interesting. Many of them were unique to the history of the overall project, and it was very fun to listen to their mini presentations. I especially enjoyed listening to the student's appreciation for the type of research that this project entailed. After, the class discussed what this project could be like for the following semesters, since this was the first time this project was done. 

Overall, this week was very rewarding, and I am glad I could be present in the classes! 

See you next week!