Brigitte Internship Report

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Internship Report

Summer 2010

Stones River National Battlefield

Brigitte Eubank

M.A. Public History candidate

Middle Tennessee State University

8 November 2010


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Brigitte Eubank8 November 2010

Internship Report

I. Description

During the summer of 2010, I interned as a museum technician at Stones River

National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I started the internship during the first

week of June and finished with approximately 300 hours by the end of August. I typically

worked three days a week (Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) for eight hours a day, but

the schedule gradually became more flexible as I became more independent in my duties.

The internship was a volunteer position, as opposed to a paid or employee position.

Although the internship was unpaid, I still found it highly valuable because it solidified my

interest in a future career with the National Park Service and provided me with an excellent

opportunity to get my foot in the door with such a well-known and respected

organization.

The major project of my internship was to create an archival collection. Mr. Gibb

Backlund, the Chief of Operations at the park, asked me to collect information on each of

the historic structures within the park and organize the collected information into an

archive. Aside from the major project, I also helped out with general museum duties. These

duties included, but were not limited to, the following: assisting with annual collections

inventories, learning National Park Service procedures for cataloguing artifacts,

cataloguing artifacts, properly labeling and storing artifacts, helping the volunteers and

staff in the visitor center, checking the temperature of various exhibit cases and the

museum storage room, as well as general maintenance duties (cleaning exhibits).

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I began the internship by participating in the annual orientation for new employees

and volunteers. The major topics and items covered during orientation were the following:

information about the National Park Service as a whole, information about Stones River

National Battlefield, guided tours (driving and walking) of the battlefield, guided tours of

local Civil War sites (Carnton Plantation, the Cater House, the Lodz House all of which

are located in Franklin, Tennessee), and learning how to interact with the public.

The orientation was helpful in providing a broad overview of the significant people,

places, and events involved in the Battle of Stones River. Additionally, by participating in

typical activities performed by visitors (such as taking guided tours and filling out the

parks Junior Ranger packet), I gained a more comprehensive view of the visitor

experience. Finally, the orientation was also important in serving as an excellent

opportunity to network and make friends with fellow staff and volunteers, who work in

various departments within the park. I met staff and volunteers who I would normally

never, or rarely, come into contact with, and was able to know these people in a more

personal way (playing a National Park Service trivia game and filling out mini biographical

surveys).

During the first week of my internship, I spent most of my time observing the

parks museum technician, Mr. John George. Like me, Mr. George is also a student in the

Public History program at Middle Tennessee State University. He is a Ph.D. candidate who

is now working on his dissertation. In addition to being a student, Mr. George works full-

time, approximately 40 hours a week, at the park. He is responsible for taking care of all of

the essential museum duties: cataloguing, inventory, accessioning, deaccessioning, creating

and maintaining exhibits, research, light maintenance (changing light bulbs, repairing

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interactive elements within exhibits) general housekeeping (cleaning glass on exhibit cases,

ensuring that exhibits and artifacts in museum storage are at proper temperature), etc. Thus,

for the first week, my primary chore was to observe and learn from Mr. George and, of

course, helping him in any way that I could. For the remainder of my internship, I

performed this chore on an as-needed basis.

For the most part, however, I spent the summer working on one major project:

creating an archive of the historic structures located in Stones River National Battlefield.

There were approximately 25-30 structures total. For each structure, I used an individual

file folder, labeling each folder accordingly. The contents of each folder were to include

any kind of documentation relevant to said structure deeds, newspaper articles,

maintenance work orders, pictures, inventories, etc. The central focus of my research was

to find documentation that detailed any changes and/or alterations to the historic structures.

Thus, I especially looked for the following documents: maintenance records

(regarding/surfacing of roads, repainting/repairing monuments, cleaning headstones,

replacing headstones), articles detailing major weather catastrophes (damage caused by

flooding and thunderstorms), and articles detailing criminal activity (vandalism and/or

stolen property). I also took note of any changes and/or alterations of the surrounding land

for each historic structure (i.e. creation of new parking lots or fences, removal of trees,

etc.).

The following is a list of the historic structures involved in my internship research:

Artillery Monument, General William S. Rosecranss Headquarters, General Braxton

Braggs Headquarters, U.S. Regulars Monument, Redoubt Brannen, Fortress Rosecrans,

Curtain Wall Number Two, Lunette Palmer, Lunette Thomas, Stones River National

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Cemetery grave markers and wall, Hazen Brigade Monument, Hazen Cemetery markers

and wall, Standing Cannon markers, Bivouac of the Dead marker, Michigan marker, Old

Nashville Highway, Van Cleve Lane, and the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.

I began the project by searching for deed records. I used tract maps to aid in finding

the locations of each of these historic structures. Then, I made use of documents that

detailed the land acquisition for the creation of Stones River National Battlefield.

Unfortunately, the park does not possess a single collection of these deeds. However, I

occasionally, with luck, stumbled upon copies of deed records while searching through the

existing archives at the park.

Next, I searched through standard park publications, old and new. These

publications included Cultural Landscape Reports, General Management Plans, and

Historic Resource Studies. If one of the historic structures was noted in any of the above

publications, then I proceeded to make a copy of the relevant information and place it in

the designated file folder for each structure. These publications often contained detailed

information on the major historic structures (such as Fortress Rosecrans or the National

Cemetery) but did not contain much information on less-noticeable structures (such as the

Bivouac of the Dead marker and the standing cannons).

However, in order to obtain the needed and more in-depth information about these

structures, I had to search through almost every single archival collection in the parks

museum storage room. In other words, I thoroughly browsed through several large boxes,

each containing several file folders full of documents. Although this seems like an easy,

simple task, it most definitely was not. More often than not, I could not simply browse

through a box of documents. I had to thoroughly look through each folder of a collection so

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as not to miss any important information. There were several times in which I would only

find one relevant document in a collection. There were several times in which I found no

relevant documents in a collection. It was extremely important to be careful and

conscientious in my research, and, thus, I spent several hours simply researching, searching

through box after box repeatedly.

After examining all of the available documents, I then proceeded to browse through

the archived photograph collections which are located in the museum storage room.

Browsing through the photograph collections took approximately three to four days of

work. In addition to the hard-copy photographs, there were also a set of CDs which

contained digital photographs. Unfortunately, I was not able to browse through all of the

CDs in that particular collection; the file size for each individual photograph was too large

for the computers to adequately load and process. I was able to print some of those

photographs, but eventually my bosses decided that it would be best to hold off on the

digital collection until access to better computers was available.

After I copied a photograph, I proceeded to write the following details on the copy:

the subject of the photograph, the approximate date it was taken, and the storage location of

the original photograph. Ideally, I needed to have a photograph of each historic structure on

a timeline from its creation to its current conditions, with special emphasis on any major

alterations. Luckily, for most occasions of weather damage or criminal vandalism to the

historic structures, park rangers typically had taken several photographs for evidence and

documentation. There usually existed so many pictures of a single event or time period (i.e.

showing damage from all sides and angles of a single historic structure), that I often had to

select only a few of the best.

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My final work product ended up being much larger than I expected. The complete

set of file folders fit, at maximum capacity, in a 15-1/2 L x 12-3/4 W x 10 D acid-free

box. Please note that I have included pictures of my final project to supplement this

internship report. They are in Appendix A, at the end of the report.

Upon completion of my project, I spent the remainder of my hours observing and

learning the tasks required to work in the visitor center. Unfortunately, the biggest

requirement needed for working the visitor center is knowledge about the Battle of Stones

River. Because my internship was a behind-the-scenes experience, I was not required to

possess an in-depth knowledge about the battle and thus was not adequately prepared to

work in the visitor center. However, I was able to catch on to the types of questions visitors

asked, for future reference. Visitors typically asked questions as basic as Where is the

bathroom? or How often are living history demonstrations offered? When will the

cannons be fired again? simple questions regarding directions and programs offered by

the park staff.

II. Self-Assessment

Overall, my internship went fairly well. When I look at the experience as a whole, I

feel very lucky for being able to work for the National Park Service and, in particular,

Stones River National Battlefield. I am confident that having this experience will be of

immense help in obtaining future jobs. Despite the limited experience that Ive had with the

National Park Service, I have already noticed the respect and exclusiveness that is

associated with NPS careers. I now feel as if I am forever a part of an elite organization and

that I can connect better with other people who have also worked for the National Park

Service.

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However, looking back on my experience, I now wish I had done certain things

differently. The biggest concern I have is that I feel as if I did not gain as many skills as I

would have liked. When I first read the directions for this report, I was terrified. I thought:

oh no did I learn any skills? Was my internship not good enough? I had no idea how I

could possibly write ten pages about my internship when it could easily be summarized in

one or two paragraphs.

In actuality, however, I suppose I only wish that I would have been assigned more

responsibilities and duties. In particular, I wish I would have engaged myself in more

hands-on opportunities. I wish I would have been more involved in the cataloguing process

both in storing the information digitally and in labeling and storing the tangible artifacts.

I also would have liked to have created another tangible project such as a temporary

exhibit. Lastly, I regret not having more interaction with the public although, at the time,

I was terrified most of such a task. I definitely think it would have been helpful to have

gained experience as a tour guide or visitor center assistant.

Nonetheless, I still think that I walked away from the internship with skills,

knowledge, and abilities that I previously did not possess. I learned useful information on

cataloguing, how to prepare artifacts for storage, how to complete an inventory using

National Park Service standards, and the importance of checking temperature and humidity

in various locations, multiple times a day. I gained my first professional work experience

with this internship.

Most importantly, though, I learned about overarching processes. I learned how a

national park operated behind-the-scenes. I learned about all of the departments within the

park and the various careers, from a volunteer to Superintendent, that one can have in

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working with the National Park Service. On any given day, I was able to talk to the Chief

of Operations (Gibb Backlund) and the Superintendent of the park (Stuard Johnson) and

see some of the responsibilities and duties they faced on a daily basis. I was able to form

close relationships, above and beyond mentors, with two of the full-time rangers at the

park: Mr. John McKay and Mr. Jim Lewis.

The biggest struggle, pertaining to my internship at Stones River National

Battlefield, was that I primarily had an archival internship. Although I was working in

the curatorial department, the major project that I created was one best suited for archival

students. Although I have only taken one museum class (Essentials of Museum Studies), I

still consider myself as being on the museum tract with the Public History Masters degree

and am certain that I want to work in the museum world upon graduation. By contrast, I

have not taken any archival classes yet and, until my internship, I had very little interest in

the archival field. Regardless, there is definitely a strong overlap between museum work

and archival work, and the archival experience will be a wonderful resume enhancer.

III. Analysis

My participation in the Current Issues in Public History Practice course of May

2010 was the most significant influence on my selection to intern at Stones River National

Battlefield. The course, led by Dr. Rebecca Conard and Dr. Stephanie Toothman, was

taught in Vancouver, Washington at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Fort

Vancouver regularly offers field schools for undergraduate and graduate students. The staff

at Fort Vancouver kindly welcomed our class to the site and, through a series of lectures by

various park employees and cultural resource management professionals, provided a

similar, but unique, version of a field school.

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The site is famous for being an early 19th century trading post (the headquarters of

the British Hudsons Bay Company). At present, of course, the site is located within the

city of Vancouver, a city which has steadily been facing population problems and pressures

due to its location directly beside Portland, Oregon. The overall goal of our course was to

learn about the problems and achievements that the staff at Fort Vancouver has faced in

recent years. Dr. Conard wanted us students to select a single element in which Fort

Vancouver excels, an element that could be incorporated at Stones River National

Battlefield.

For the class project, I partnered with a fellow graduate student, Mona Brittingham.

The two of us selected field schools as our theme. The two of us believed that, because

of its proximity to Middle Tennessee State University, that Stones River National

Battlefield could easily adopt a similar model. Upon returning to Murfreesboro, we

developed a proposal plan and presented our idea to the staff, including the Superintendent,

at Stones River National Battlefield.

Before taking that Maymester course, I had tossed around the idea of interning

with the National Park Service. In fact, I had actually applied for a few internships via the

Student Conservation Association. I had received offers to intern at Mount Rushmore and

New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park but unfortunately had to decline due to

financial concerns. I originally dismissed the idea of interning at Stones River National

Battlefield as I was uninterested in Civil War history. The only knowledge I had

concerning the battlefield came from Dr. Conards Introduction to Public History course, in

which I had to research deeds of various families who lived in the former community of

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Cemetery, an African-American community that was dismembered when the government

bought land to create the national park.

However, my interest in NPS solidified instantly with my experience at Fort

Vancouver. That experience contained so many highlights that I will always remember: a

behind-the-scenes glimpse of administrative issues at a single park, guided tours of Fort

Vancouver (curatorial, archaeological, audio tour), being taught by National Park Service

employees and cultural resource management professionals in a small, comfortable setting,

guided tours with the U.S. Forestry Service at Mt. Hood, participating in Fort Vancouvers

annual community outreach event (volunteering at the Junior Ranger table), attending a

lecture at which Jonathan Jarvis (Director of the National Park Service) was the lead

speaker, having a private lunch with Director Jarvis.

My ultimate career goal is to work at a museum preferably as a curator or director

of education or programming. Upon completion of the Maymester course and my

summer internship, I now know that I will also search for National Park Service jobs when

I obtain my degree. There are several museum technician and collections curator positions

available at NPS sites. However, with the National Park Service, I would not mind taking a

position that is not directly related to museum work. In fact, I think it would be quite

interesting to work as a ranger. For instance, at Stones River National Battlefield, John

McKay does most of the educational programming and outreach. In Dr. Martins

Essentials of Museum Studies course, I created an educational lesson packet that

correlated with our class project on the World War II Home Front in Rutherford County. I

thoroughly enjoyed creating the lesson plan packet and could easily convert that skill into a

different subject. Because of my internship, I can now imagine myself pursuing an

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education or interpretation related job within the National Park Service especially if I am

fortunate enough to find a park that has an interesting history.

Appendix A

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Figure 1: Shelving system in museum storage room at Stones River National Battlefield.

Figure 2: Another view of museum storage area.

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Figure 3: John George discovering a board game for the Battle of Stones River.

Figure 4: I always stumbled upon the most interesting items while researching.

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Figure 5: My project in the final stages.

Figure 6: Final project.

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Figure 7: Myself and a volunteer, Mr. Bob Turpin, in the visitor center.

Figure 8: Gift shop. Entrance to museum workroom is on the left side of the shop.

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Documents

Brigitte Internship Report