Atlanta History Center - Week 1 [Julia Martinez]



Banners found in the Gatheround Exhibit
Salutations comrade!  

    My first week interning at the Atlanta History Center was filled with collaborative meetings, significant research, and exhilarating exploration! On Monday, I attended an orientation workshop to learn more about the mission of the Atlanta History Center and its integral role in the surrounding community. My internship location is a history museum and a research center, the campus spans over 33 acres and is home to the Swan House, Kenan Research Center and the Tullie Smith Farm.  I also met my internship supervisor, Calinda Lee, who introduced me to her ongoing projects and her impressive contributions to the museum as the executive historian. After our brief introduction, she encouraged me to check out the Gatheround Atlanta exhibit to gather more insight as to what my assignments would be focused on the next couple weeks and also explore the rest of the majestical campus.
A glimpse of the lush gardens

In addition, I created a binder organized by the different themes that will be featured in the Howell Station/Knight Park gallery. I collected photos of artifacts, newspaper clippings, and photographs that correspond to key events in Howell Station’s history for my supervisor's meeting with the community. I was able to aid her in finalizing the pieces that will be showcased to share the story of a working-class neighborhood that has faced industrial encroachment over the century.  In addition to the work I’ve been doing, I have also had the opportunity to sit in a community and professional meeting. I ventured off campus with my supervisor to WAWA (West Atlanta Watershed Alliance) in Oakland City/ Bush Mtn. and witnessed first-hand collaboration between community leaders and museum professionals. My supervisor is tremendously invested in her work in representing communities that she also works on projects outside of AHC’s walls that continue telling the rich and deep history. In partnership with Emory University and the AHC, Oakland City/Bush Mtn. will be creating an app for the community to commemorate the complex but intricate history of both neighborhoods for the rest of Atlanta to learn. 
Furthermore, I have been learning about the necessity of documenting and celebrating Atlanta's local history that compliments the knowledge I learned during Washington Week. Before starting at AHC, I was not aware of the significant contributions of independent neighborhoods to the overall city of Atlanta. Throughout reading and researching these historical communities I recall the value of representation and the influence it has to empower people. My supervisor is very intentional with her work as a museum curator, she strives to always ask the important questions when interpreting whose story it is and who is telling it. The goal of Gatheround Atlanta was to highlight communities whose stories are often forgotten and dismantle the prestigious “white” space that permeates in museums. I have enjoyed receiving a behind the scenes tour of exhibition curating 101, every day has been different and I can not wait to see what else is in store! 
           Stay real baby seals!
                Julia Martinez 



     p.s. - here are some new terms I learned throughout the week, ugh, my mind is expanding!!

Sweat Equity- an interest or increased value in a property earned from labor toward upkeep or restoration
Raze- completely destroy
Vernacular- architecture concerned with domestic and functional rather than public or monumental buildings.
Memorandum- a written message in business or diplomacy.
Parse- analyze (a sentence) into its parts and describe their syntactic roles.
Semantic- relating to meaning in language or logic
Protracted - lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual
Porcelain Washington Monuments I found at The Mandarin Shutze: A Chinese Export Life gallery in the Swan House that brought back memories from the night tour we did!

Selfie of me in my very own cubicle #thankyouford
                   Large compass I found outside that gives you accurate directions!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 4: History Colorado Center

The last week of my internship was also one of the bests (and I apologize for the lack of pictures again, I'm honestly really bad at remembering to take them). As the last four weeks came to a close, I spent my time putting the finishing touches to any work I was doing. Whether that was meeting about the after school program or getting a few more sketch ideas in for the illustration book, I didn't want to leave anything undone or untouched by the time I was finished.  But, I didn't just work. That isn't to say that I sat around and didn't do anything, either. The last four week, however, was spent hanging out with my supervisor and a few others. On Wednesday, they took me out to lunch at an amazing phở spot on Capitol Hill. The lunch was spent having great conversations and some realizations too. Although I learned a lot  about people in Colorado and the roads that they mapped out, I also learned how it felt to be valued and appreciated for my ideas and c...
Read more

SAMA - the last week

July 29 - August 5th On Tuesday, I was also able to take a mental break from computers and art and had a refreshing storytime at the San Antonio Public Library - Las Palmas branch. Even though our participation level was low (two kids and a grandmother), I still had an incredibly fun time with them. After Criztian and I read the story and did the drumming activity, the kids wanted to show us the songs and dances they learned from the librarian, including If you’re happy and you know it, Frogs on a Log, and Shake the Sillies Out. Seeing how well the children interacted with music and dancing was such a great experience, which fit perfectly with the theme of Tito Puente and his music during storytime. Seeing how well they interacted with the music and the stimulation to their young brains was so inspiring.  On Monday the 5th, the other intern and I paired up for the gardens presentation. In case you aren’t up to date here’s a recap of last week: I had an idea to expand the...
Read more

Giovanna Ferreira - WEEK 3 at S.C.C.

Image
Third week of interning at Smithsonian Institution Building has been an adventure. Since we had meetings every single day at every single hour plus doing translations and working on the website for about two weeks, my supervisor decided to give me a little break and sent me to different Smithsonian museums (and the zoo). National Museum of African American History and Culture Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Smithsonian National Museum of American History One of my favorites was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport, VA. The location is, in my opinion, the coolest, because while you are going around exhibitions you can also observe real planes flying over the museum.  Lockheed SR-71A “Blackbird” was by far my favorite of the whole center. It was a spy plane operated by the United States Air Force and it set a speed record by flying from L...
Read more