Ready, Set...Intern!

I have officially survived my first week as an intern.  It has been a whirlwind week - moving to Halifax, starting a new job, and meeting a lot of new faces.

I am arriving at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (CMIP) during a time of transition. The most noticeable change is to the building itself, with the installation of a new HVAC system.  While this hasn't kept the museum from welcoming visitors, it means that behind the scenes everything is a bit cozier than usual.  Some staff members have had parts of their offices turned in alternative storage space. Apparently it is quite a miracle they even found me a desk to work at.  I quite like my spot, sharing space with some friendly faces in IT, Communications, and Public Programming.

The most significant transition at CMIP comes with its recent (2011) designation as Canada's sixth national museum. With the designation, the CMIP has been able to expand its mandate to explore Canadian immigration across the country and throughout different periods of history. Previously, it had primarily been focused on telling stories specifically related to Pier 21's immediate history as an immigration port from 1928-1971. I had the opportunity to attend CMIP's First Annual Public Meeting yesterday and they outlined the various ways in which they are endeavouring to fulfil this new mandate.  For example, the upcoming temporary exhibit will explore the cultural landscapes of different ethnic communities across the country, using oral histories collected in the past months to highlight the ways immigrants affect their social spaces.

My own research at CMIP is also a part of the shifting focus.  Currently, I am conducting research into Black Refugees that fled the United States during the War of 1812 and eventually settled in Nova Scotia.  Researching this important part of Nova Scotia history allows the museum to expand beyond the stories of 20th century European immigration.

I have been delving into the sources for about a week now, and there is a wealth of information available.  At this point, my days are spent sifting through digitized primary sources.  The Nova Scotia Archives has digitized the entire series of documents relating to the Black Refugees.  At first I was quite thankful for their technological foresight, but after a while, it gets a bit tedious zooming in and out of the same document trying to determine if Mr. Nineteenth Century Poor Handwriting wrote "bubbly" "chubby" or "scrubby".  Believe me, all options seem equally likely. I really shouldn't complain too much though - the quality of the digitization is AMAZING!  You can tell you are a nerdy historian when high resolution digitization is the highlight of your day.

Look how close you can zoom in!

The ultimate goal of this research is to create a twenty-five page academic paper, as well as a five-page paper to be available to the public. The research has revealed a lot of possible directions in terms of an analytical approach, and I am quite excited that I have been given the opportunity to explore such an interesting topic. More to come on this later. 

While researching can be a lonely endeavour at times, just being at the museum has opened up opportunities to meet people in a variety of different positions at the museum.  Just today I was fortunate enough to meet with the chief curator and hear some practical advice about working in the field of public history (while enjoying a delicious Banana Cream steamed milk I might add!) All in all, I feel quite privileged to be a part of the CMIP, even if it is only for a short while.  After all, how many places provide you with a view of the ocean as you eat lunch?