Quinn Albert

The project that I am working on is centered around images taken and purchased by Valparaiso University alumni Katherine and Charles Bowden between 1900 and 1910.  These images are of the Oberammergau Passion Play of 1900, the Paris Exposition of 1900, and of a production of the Hiawatha play performed by actors Odawa and Ojibwe.  These images are printed directly onto light sensitive glass called lantern slides.  Part of my project is to view each slide and create a catalog of the slide’s condition and what the slide is showing.  Another part of my project is going through the paper documents that the Bowdens left the University and making sure that these are stored safely.  The photo shows me examining one of the slides and determining its condition.

As a History major I was very interested in being involved in this internship in the Valparaiso University archives.  This internship gives insight into what it would be like to work in an archive, and this internship in particular lets you know that the research that you are doing is useful.  All of the work that we are doing contributes in one way or another to the narrative and history of Valpo.