Intern With Me! Alycia & the LGBTQ History Museum

This is a blogging of a semester working with the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida by a graduate student at Johns Hopkins. These are my thoughts, experiences, and blurbs. Enjoy the mess.

[internwithme]

Nearing the End

“Nearing the End” sounds really morbid, but it fits, I think. So, let’s get into it.

i took break for Thanksgiving (3-4 days), but I’m back. This week I have been working on my last slide set for the museum. I am covering the AIDS epidemic and its effect on the Central Florida LGBTQ community. I spent a lot of time going through the collection, as well as the virtual quilt from the National AIDS Memorial site and trying to research the organizations that participated in the quilt. I was pleased that they offered an interactive tour of the quilt entries by state, and I'm definitely including those in that set. I saved this subject from the museum's exhibition for last because I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. I knew that I wanted to make a connection between the AIDS epidemic and COVID-19, comparing and contrasting things like government response and the relationship between science, politics, media, etc. While I like that idea, and have come across articles that have compared the two, in addition to the Bubonic Plague, Spanish Influenza, etc., I want to just make sure that I'm centralizing the LGBTQ community. Anyway, this is what I'm working on, and I'll have a better picture of how the set will behave once I finish fleshing out the activity(ies) I want to include and any visual media I can find that pertain specifically to Central Florida, if any. Other than that, i've just been doing research, reading and rereading old slide sets for grammatical errors and tweaks, and trying to hunt down more photos in the museum archive.

[internwithme]

First Looks!

Alright, let’s get into some things! This week I had a few extras on my plate, but I'm hoping it all results in more time to do school and internship work. We're going into another lock down over here, so that shakes things up. I had my weekly meeting, and this time, Martha and Sarah had sent my first slide sets to the rest of the board for the first time. I got some really great advice. David Matteson, who works with the Orlando Museum of Art, suggested that I not only create a separate PDF of the slide sets, but to run my drafts through the Flesch-Kincaid grade level test to see if my language matches the audience I'm writing to. This was a tool I had no idea about, and now I not only know how to run it, but I can also read the scores and adjust the language accordingly. He also suggested expanding my standards to be interdisciplinary, and I've already found different Language Arts standards that can be applied to the slides and their activities. All in all, this week has (again) consisted of chugging along on my next slide sets, editing, revising, and tweaking. I'm liking how the slides are coming out. I'm just hoping they're useful. We’ll see how the next few days go. I’m wanting to keep

[internwithme]

Chugging Along

I've been keeping the same momentum the past few weeks, I would say, so let’s get into it. This week went as usual, with my weekly meeting to start things off. I've submitted the final drafts for two slide sets, and will submit the third this upcoming Monday. I've learned a few interesting things this week, too, through my research for this third slide set. For example, I wasn't aware of the relationship between the famous Parliament House in Orlando - this largest gay resort in Florida - and the LGBTQ activists in that area in 80s, where owners Mike Hodge and Bill Miller felt that the establishment created a safe space for the community, and was thus at odds with the activism of the liberation movement and the visibility that brought to Orlando's LGBTQ community. Paired with the popularity of a younger Disney World at that time, the owners of the Parliament house wanted to continue to keep their activities and significance in the community under wraps. There have been a few interesting reads throughout my research, but this one particularly struck me and I wanted the class's take on their decision to not be visible in the community's fight for equality. I think I understand their reasoning for wanting to remain in the community only, for fear of harassment, harm, and the risk of that space becoming inaccessible for LGBTQ people due to the media coverage and attention.

This was (yet another) short one. I’ve hit a bit of a stride, so the work can be repetitive to write about. I think I’ll share more interesting things I’ve learned to break up the monotony as I move into the later stages of developing these slides.

Until next week,

Bye!

[internwithme]

Business as Usual

This post may be on the shorter side, so let’s get on into some things.

This week really consisted of more of the same, where I’m churning out module slide content, still researching, still sourcing, and spending a lot of time in PowerPoint. I was able to show Martha and Sarah an almost finished slide set for the first module. They gave me good feedback, including to add more hyperlinks to the museum's collection whenever possible, in addition to my hyperlinked vocabulary words in each slide set. I'm sending this first set between today or tomorrow in preparation for Monday's meeting, and will be working on completing the draft for module 3. I also figured out how to effectively link and play YouTube videos in PowerPoint, which I’d never done. It’s small, but oh well. I'm hoping to get done with the second slide presentation this week too. After that, I'll have three sets left to complete and turn in. As for usability testing, we're doing a slow roll out, where I will send Martha and Sarah the slide sets as I've completed them and they will then send them to educators for review, so that will start when I've sent the first set over the weekend. Overall, I'm optimistic. Everything seems to be coming together. The only thing now is getting that feedback from educators and keeping my head on straight.

Until next week, y’all.

Bye!

[internwithme]

Juggling Act

While I’ve gotten into a bit of a grove now, things are still hectic. I’m thinking that this is just because of the different stages I’m in for each module, so I’m having to slowly crank out different aspects of each, which can have a little juggle to it. So far it hasn’t been unbearable though, so let’s get into some things.

I met with Martha this week one on one because Sara had a previous engagement. I got answers to a couple of questions I had regarding the content for module 2, including where to find photos and clippings from the first Gay Day at Disney back in June 1991. I also had a few questions about the Gay and Lesbian Student Union at UCF, formally recognized in 1976 at the university. In my research, I learned that records on the group and their activities are a little murky for the first 16-17 years, just because of the fact that club members still operated in obscurity due to harassment. So I picked my research back up at around 1993, to which I discovered their name change to the GLBSU, their first tabling for that year's National Coming Out Day, and examples of some of their welcome packets given to students that year, even though I can't necessarily use those. The other good bit I found involved one of the founding members of the museum and current member of the board, Dr. Ken Kazmerski. Apparently, he was the GLBSU's first faculty advisor at UCF and there's a lot of material that has him in it. Right now I'm trying to see about obtaining and using a film about GLBSU with Dr Kazmerski in it. Martha told me about it but wasn't exactly sure where it was or if it'd been digitized, so I'm waiting to hear back about it. Other than that, I've been primarily working on the PowerPoint presentation for the first module, setting up the presentation for the second, and am now simultaneously moving to compile the content for the third since the second draft got approved. My hope is to be done with the first PowerPoint between today and tomorrow so that I can lay a foundation for the organization, design, and transitions of slides. It's something I've worried about, just because I'm working with a timeline of different events, so I'm hoping those turn out well. Anyway, I'm just going along, continuously submitting my drafted content to Martha and Sarah for review and getting my questions answered along the way when I run into stumbling blocks. While the workload is the heaviest, and it’s the most self directed part of the project, it’s also the more fun part. I’m no longer lost or navigating the project and collection blindly, I’m just doing the work.

[internwithme]

Continuation...

I met with Martha and Sara as usual this past Monday. The previous Saturday I submitted an initial draft to them both of my module and the guided questions I wanted to include. They both went over the material with me in the meeting and gave me some good pointers on things I could add to the presentation, like hyperlinking vocabulary words throughout for a slight interactive component, or maybe also adding some media if I can find it. Another thing I've been working on this week, other than starting to draft for the second module, is trying to come up with an activity or two that could be included in the PowerPoints for use, complete with resources for it. One of Florida's standards involves using research and inquiry skills to analyze American History using primary and secondary sources. So I think I could include a primary source document from the collection to be analyzed and discussed by students, like a fundraising card, or a flyer for a rally. All in all, this week and the following ones are where I’m really getting to the center of things. I'm bracing myself to do a lot of tweaking now. I'm also hoping that when I can get the first module finalized that I'll have a better grasp on my organization and transitions in the presentation.

That's all I have this week. Things have been chugging along without any major shifts. The work at this point just has to get done.

Until next week, yall. Bye!

[internwithme]

Module Drafting

Let’s just get right on into it.

I had my weekly meeting with Martha and Sarah on Monday, where we discussed the format my project would take. We also decided to do one lighthearted module out of my selected five so that there would be a breakup from some of the heaviness of the exhibition content. I updated them on my progress with the first module draft and am working on turning in a sample of questions and objectives for module one, to be revised and edited of course. This will be to mostly show the direction I'm going in. Most of this week has been spent drafting the content for module one and doing more research. My plan for the final format is something like an educator's self-guided PowerPoint - something you can download and teach from more conveniently. I found a few good sources and academic journals that document the events I'm using. Ballotpedia.org, for example, helped with defining different Florida ordinances and the content of repeals and laws that were passed during the time period I'm working with.   Overall, while this week was work-heavy, it was somehow less eventful - I've been working on the same thing all week. It’s intense, because I’m looking for more resources, reading - and rereading material, all while working on this too, but it's been a nice change. I don't feel quite as scrambled as before. I'm trudging on ahead. My hope is to get some notes and feedback on my rough, rough draft and nail down more logistics for usability testing. Martha and Sarah have some good ideas and know plenty of educators that could use the material, so I'm hoping that works out. Anyway, until next week. Bye!

- Alycia

[internwithme]

Back Online!

This week has been an eventful one, so, let's just go on ahead and get into some things!

First, your girl has a brand-spankin' new laptop; RIP to my old one, but I'm grateful nonetheless. Now, this week was sort of a catch-up week for me. I got my laptop Monday night and had to begin transferring files and dive back into work. Luckily, I managed to save my hard drive, so it hasn't been too difficult to do. I owe all the thanks to my partner, who initially broke open my old computer to dig the hard drive out, took me around to three different stores to get one that met my needs delivered, and taught me how to manually move over all my relevant files and discard the rest. It's a more tedious process, but this way I am forced to purge any unnecessarily hoarded files, and am in complete control of what gets moved. After I'm done, I'll wipe the old hard drive and use it as an external backup, so I'll always have a way to preserve my work, should anything else occur. Onto the good stuff. I met with Martha and Sarah through zoom on Monday. We pinned down our schedules that we would each be available on Mondays at 1 pm for a weekly check-in. We spoke about a few things, like the fact that my trying to design and complete nine modules was insane.  So we decided to narrow the module categories down to a manageable five, instead, which was a load off.  We also discussed me submitting a pseudo rough-draft of the modular content I've been able to pull together for the first module, which I can supply them with at our next meeting on Monday with any questions I have, which right now are centering on any tips for creating age-appropriate content regarding some of the discriminatory laws against the LGBTQ+ community - like Wainwright v. Stone, which essentially upheld the constitutionality of Florida's sodomy law at the time. We also spoke about locating free educational resource sites where I may be able to upload my content after its completion, which I am excited about, but daunted by, since I'm not even past my research and notes. But, it is something I'll be thinking about and trying to find through the rest of the semester. Right now I'm working on narrowing down which exhibition content I'll be using, as usual, and trying to find external resources - like newspaper archives. It's been frustrating, I will say, just because most of the very valuable archives I've been able to find that go back to the 50s, 60s, and beyond, require paid subscription. Right now I've got my finger on university archives and libraries, and I'm hoping that my JHU credentials can help me get through some of the red tape. If anyone knows of any free newspaper or legal archives that I could use, this a cry for help! I'll be continuing this for the first module and develop some sample open-ended inquiry questions for both Martha and Sarah to take a look at and revise. There's more to come, and I hope to pick up the pace here soon - I think I'm still finding my groove in a way. Anyways, I'll talk to y'all next week. Bye!

-Alycia

[internwithme]

Setbacks & Recovery Time

This week’s journal is going to be short, just to document my (much) lower productivity. While I did manage to meet with my professor on zoom and try to nail down a more consistent weekly meeting time between me and my supervisors, my work this week consistent of the same as the week before, just trying to make the pieces of the puzzle fit, at least visually, so that I can map out the modules and begin to add content to each section. As of the writing of this post, I am still on module one, with a total of 4 images.

But, let’s get into some things here. The other huge event of this week involved my laptop. On Tuesday, I spilled water all over it and, despite what I thought was a quick reaction time, the water did reach the battery and the processor. I was lucky, with the help of my partner, to have broken open the computer and salvaged the hard drive before that, too, would have gotten drowned. After several trips to Geek Squad and google searching, we managed to solve the issue, and I am now working from my phone until I can get my new laptop this weekend. So, after two days of running around and freaking out about the possibility of losing all my data, I’m moving back on track. I’ll be playing catch-up, which is going to be difficult while moving and working on other projects. I’ll update next week, hopefully with more substantial progress.

Anyways,

Bye!

[internwithme]

Slow Progress is Still Progress, I Hope.

Things are starting to pick up... I think. I feel like I've not been productive at all this week, but I'm hoping that after I'm through with this journal, I'll feel a little better about my progress and hopefully get some direction on my next steps in my project with the museum. Also, my goal is to upload every Wednesday, so consider this journal to be past due. Anyway, let's get into some things. This week I did a few things. First, on Sunday, the monthly board meeting was held with the museum - with a few other guests, so my pleasant surprise. In the meeting were the board members, myself, Josh Burford, from the Invisible Histories Project (IHP), PJ Queenen, and former board member David Bain. I was glad to be in this meeting - I missed the last one because of work - because we were all able to listen to a collaboration between IHP and the LGBTQ History Museum. Basically, IHP is vetting different digital repositories for their collections and have been trying to find more about LGBTQ history in Florida specifically. They have so far been unsuccessful, but, in the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida, have found   a good niche to work with. Martha will be working with Josh on that. I'm also happy to say that he was just gushing over the help of Gabrielle, my classmate, and her internship work with the project. The other notable piece was David Bain's presentation on the protocols for digitally archiving the museum's collections and a progress report from him. While he updated us all on what's he's done the last few months, i.e copying oral histories, publication collections, and other memorabilia to Omeka, he also shared some initial procedures that he's going to implement on the site and proposed new protocols for archiving the collections and steps to formulate a preservation plan for the museum. I was able to also update the board with my own progress for the educational modules and tell them my next steps, which I'll summarize below. All in all, my work this week has centered around saving and categorizing (as much as possible) the photos of the exhibition archives. That was a time consuming task in itself, due to me only having the exhibition checklist to work with at this point. I'm using Omeka to cross reference and see what photos I can find in the archives themselves, but it's hard to do when you're inputting key words one by one and when the items from the exhibition have different file types, may be unnamed, are not searchable by keywords from the exhibition labels, etc. After Sunday's board meeting, I was able to take a look at some previous work I'd done; creating an educational slide set for educators on Chinese Foot Binding. Though totally different in subject, I figured that that mode of inquiry and the formulation of my goals and objectives could be useful in this project, too. I pitched it to my supervisors and they both were on board, so now I do have a sort-of template for my modules. Because the material is meant for "post-visit", I can use what students would have already learned to build discussion and review exhibition content, rather than starting from zero and trying to teach the entire exhibition without any background, so that's another plus. My next hurdle is to break the exhibition down into the modular groups I'll use, either by exhibition theme, chronology, or both. I then have to finish formulating the goals and objectives for each module before going about dissecting and breaking the modules down into educational, inquiry-driven content and activities. As of the writing of this post, my goal for the rest of the week is to break down what I have into their modular parts and apply goals and objectives to each. I think this will keep me on task when I go about adding educational content and I can refer to them to make sure I'm hitting all my points. My hope is that next week I have this, and more, done, and can begin showing my supervisors my physical progress in word document form. I'll talk to y'all then. Bye!

- Alycia

[internwithme]

A Look at my Second Week

A brief (lol) introduction...

So, I'm starting this blog as a way to track my progress through my internship with the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida. They're an amazing grassroots effort set on collecting, researching, and exhibiting LGBTQ memorabilia from the greater Orlando area. They're truly one of a kind, and I hope that I'm able to contribute something meaningful to their institution. I guess I should introduce myself, too. My name is Alycia (uh-Lee-see-uh) Lampley, and I am a third semester grad student at Johns Hopkins University for museum studies. My interest is museum education and, more broadly, the informal education of youth. A couple of things; I don't think that museum learning has to be secondary to the United States' public school system's standards, nor do I look at informal education as a supplementary or ancillary service to standardized learning. I'm hoping that as time goes on, informal education as a stand alone, just as much as a supplement or collaboration, will begin to become more of a conversation and priority in GLAM institutions in the near future. But, that's enough of that.

I would - should - have begun this blog with week one, but I'm not all the way together, I suppose, so we're here now.

This week was much like the first, but it ended with a much more solid grasp of my next steps in working with the museum. My project for the semester is to create educational modules about LGBTQ history for middle-school aged youth, all based on collection objects from the museum's Pride, Prejudice, and Protest exhibition. In the previous week, I spent time gaining access to the collection and exploring for the most part, looking to see if I could access collection content from the exhibition. Initially, after only being able to locate photographs from an in-person exhibition of the content, I reached out to my supervisors. I had a few email conversations between Martha, Sara, and myself, where they provided me with information that would help me complete my "Big Picture" assignment, due for my internship course with the university. The assignment was intimidating to me at first, partly because I wasn't sure exactly how I would access the information, short of asking them for it straight up (which I ended up doing anyway), and I wasn't sure how my responses and analysis of the information provided would hold up in any class discussion. I always tend to get those kinds of jitters in the first few weeks of a course, but there's never anything to worry about anyway.

I also had a lengthy conversation with the museum's Treasurer, Rose, who also initially contacted me about my interest in the internship. She was also incredibly helpful and far exceeded my asking in terms of what I needed to know and the details. I learned quite a lot about the museum's community partner, RICHES, through the University of Central Florida.  RICHES is an interface that archives and houses public history projects, and that's keeping it really general. They link, through the Public History program at UCF, both profit and non-profit organizations to promote the collection and preservation of history in Central Florida. I found out through speaking with Rose, a UCF professor (my site supervisors, Martha and Sarah, are also UCF professors. I should've said that earlier), that the LGBTQ History Museum was one of the first community partners that RICHES worked with, collaborating on NEH grants, for example. I was able to learn a lot and not only apply it to my assignment, but learn more about the museum themselves and see how they navigate community partnerships and initiatives.

Another meeting I had this week was with David, Vice President on the Board of Directors for the museum and PhD student. Yet another amazing help. He set me on course for how I'm going to essentially begin designing the modules. My problem is always starting. I need different goal posts or benchmarks so that I can feel my way through a project, so, essentially, when I entered this zoom meeting, I was coming to him with nothing. He helped me sort of steer this museum education ship, providing me with LGBTQ educational resources and examples, including a PDF outlining the Dru Project, an LGBTQ advocacy organization that promotes Gay-Straight Alliances and LGBTQ student clubs. Through that meeting this morning, I was able to locate the official exhibition checklist through RICHES, from which I will draw content for the modules, narrow my scope to post-visit educational modules (as opposed to both pre and post because that's just too much) and locate the standards for Florida Public Schools, CPALMS.

All in all, I spent a about five hours this week working, between locating different exhibition information, being in contact with my board members/supervisors, and now, thanks to David, reading up on teaching LGBTQ history to youth - he sent me the title of a great book that I'm looking into now for Kindle.

I'll be sure to update weekly, for real this time. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say, and I'm excited to continue. The next step for me is drawing from exhibition material and formulating a draft - I guess I should figure out which topic to start with.

I'm not sure how I'll close these out in the future but until I figure that out, I'll just talk to y'all later. Bye!

-Alycia