My internship is at the HistoryMiami Museum which focuses on the historical significance of Miami, how the city developed, and how Miami fits into the big picture of national history. For instance, there's a section in the Tropical Dreams exhibit that is dedicated to World War ll that has pictures of soldiers training in Miami Beach. Something that I never knew was that Miami was quite the hub for training soldiers during the war. Hotels in Miami Beach became barracks for the soldiers and they would march down the streets of Miami Beach.
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| WW2 Soldiers training in the sand of Miami Beach |
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| WW2 Soldiers marching on Collins Ave |
On my first day I met with my internship coordinator who introduced me to everyone and then talked to me about what I wanted to get out of my internship. We ended up with the little chart you see below where I am a gallery aide two days a week, and I work on projects the other three.
Me on my first day
(I was really happy about getting my name tag)
For gallery aid duties, I basically walk around the exhibits with an educator and help visitors with any questions they have and get to learn how tours come together. It's really fun to be a gallery aid because you get to spend time looking at the exhibit yourself so it doesn't really feel like work.
I actually love research days because my internship coordinator let me choose which project most interested me and I'm now developing a Women's History tour for the current exhibit. I get to learn about local women who contributed to history that aren't given the credit they deserve and create a list of women I think should be included. Not only that but I have to think about how to incorporate them into the exhibit because it has to make sense within the space. Thankfully the group project prepared me for this because my first day consisted of reading six different proposals with a bunch of articles and information attached. The stress during Washington Week is saving me a lot of stress now because I don't have to ask a million questions about what a proposal is supposed to include, as well as knowing which questions I have to ask to understand what the objectives are.
So that's basically what I'm doing at my internship! Everyone has been so amazing. My favorite part so far has been simply talking to the museum educators because they know so much. My conversations with them have been so insightful and our discussions have already taught me so much. There's so much about Miami's history that I didn't know about as well as museums. Being inside a museum before it's open for instance means walking through an exhibit in the dark while an educator tells you ghost stories about how the museum is haunted (I laughed and walked faster at the same time). I've learned how much work goes into developing a script for a tour, sat in meeting to learn about the nuances of running a museum, and I've realized how much history is just waiting in museums that so many people just don't know about.
I'm going to share a few more pictures below (with more to come).
I took these pictures in front of an actual trolley that ran in Miami from the 1920s-1940s. It actually had to be restored because the inside was stripped for metal during World War II. Some parts are still missing because they've only used the authentic parts they were able to find.
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| This is an actual Cuban raft they recovered that was used by Balseros. Fun fact: Five people came in this small raft. I love seeing this one and the raft in the other building because I feel connected to the exhibits. |
With love,
Jessica Pupo
PS: Thank you Emily and Madeline so much for preparing me for the research work! Your twenty sticky notes and hours of discussions were invaluable. Thank you of course to the programming team for sticking together through the stress and the tears (literally).
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