Leilah Hovey

My project focuses on the Valparaiso University theater, namely identifying photos in the archive that are unidentified.  At the start of the semester, there were over a hundred photos where it was unclear which show they depicted or even what year they were from in most cases.  My work towards identifying the photos has involved using resources such as the archives’ digital collection of The Torch and the Beacon to help determine what performance or year a play was from.  After I identify the photos, I then label them providing as much information as I can about the photos and production and then work to store them correctly to preserve them in the right folder and box.  Through using the resources available to me, as well as with the help of Judy Miller, Special Collections Librarian, and Rebecca Ostoyich, Archivist, I can proudly say that I have managed to identify over half of the photos given to me at the start of the semester.

As a historian in training, this has been an amazing opportunity to work first-hand in an archive as well as gain experience with handling old documents and photos.  This has taught me a lot about researching and made me feel like a true historian investigating these photos.  It was something amazing to look at a history that not many people could identify and be able to piece together the story and timeline that goes with each photo.  Before I began this internship, I was not entirely sure what work went into creating and keeping an archive and the collections they hold, and now I can say that as I think about where I want to go with my career as a historian, working in an archive has become a truly appealing option.

UPDATE:  After my internship in the archive, I went on to become a student worker in the archive to better gain experience and knowledge about working in an archive. I also spent four months in the fall of 2018 in Ireland studying abroad. My plans for the future after graduating from Valpo include spending two months in Tokyo, Japan doing an internship of teaching English as a foreign language to gain my TEFL certificate. After I return from Japan I will be taking the fall semester off before going to graduate school to pursue a masters in Archival Sciences.