Becca Drustrup
Internship at the State Historical Museum of Iowa Reflection
I began my internship at the State Historical Museum at the beginning of February,
meeting with my internship supervisor Millie Frese to discuss my role as an intern in the
Education Department. One of my projects would consist of researching information about a
museum object, and compiling that information into an educational component for the museum.
Another main component of my internship was assisting with National History Day events.
Possible responsibilities included: being a judge in the competition, and preparation and set up
for events.
The first object I started researching was a mourning needlepoint that was donated to the
museum in 1970 by the wife of Homer B. Chase. His wife Helen had stated that the May family,
who was depicted in the needlepoint, was one of the first families to settle in Iowa in the mid
1800s. The needlepoint depicts a woman in black mourning over the grave of Caleb and Isabel
May, who died in 1801 and 1809 respectively. Through a basic Google and Ancestry.com
search, I was not able to track down any helpful information about either family. I began a free 2
week trial on Ancestry.com which gave me unlimited access to birth, marriage and death
records, as well as census records. I was able to track the May family to New Hampshire and
Connecticut, and started piecing together a family tree. A further look at the needlepoint, I found
a signature on the back of the frame with the name Betsey May. Betsey was the daughter of
Caleb and Isabel May, and most likely the creator of the needlepoint. I created an educational
sheet that described my research process of the needlepoint, as well as discussed the history of
mourning needlework and mourning rituals in the 1800s. I wanted to create educational sheets
that would be beneficial to teachers if they were to use them in their lesson plans, or for anyone
who wanted to learn more about history and objects from the museum.
The next educational research I wanted to focus on woman suffrage and the women who
helped change history. Millie suggested that I research women suffragists that have an Iowa
connection, as it would cover two topics: women's studies and Iowa history. She thought the
state library and archives would be a good resource to search for documents such as letters,
journals, periodicals that would connect these women to Iowa. I began researching influential
Iowa women I had heard about, such as Arabella Mansfield, Carrie Chapman Catt and Mary
Edwards Walker. I created short bios about the women, and explained their connection to Iowa. I
wanted these bios to be teaching materials to be used by teachers in schools, or by adults at
home. I met with Stephanie Wager who works for the Iowa Department of Education. We
discussed my research I had done for the museum and she thought that teachers would most
benefit if I were to compile the information into lesson plans.
I was told by Millie that the next research project I began working on could stem off of
the mourning needlepoint project I had just completed. Possible topics included: the Victorian
time period, mourning practices across the world, needlepoint stitchery and mourning attire. I
was not confined to researching those topics, but Millie wanted a topic that I could create another
educational sheet. I would also try to find a museum object that relates to the topic and the
information I was researching. I began to research the Victorian time period and Queen Victoria,
as it was a time period that I have personal interest in. Awhile later I began to question whether
the English Victorian time period would be taught in local schools. I decided that if I were to
write about the Victorian time period, it would make more sense to cover the American events
during that time period.
I had worked on a provenance project when I was a student at Iowa State, but did not
have much luck in finding additional information. I believe that I was lucky in that Ancestry.com
supplied me with plenty of records and documents so I could create an expansive family tree of
the May and Chase families. I spent many hours researching this project, and did not always find
the answers I was looking for. I knew that this was typical of research, and through persistence I
was able to uncover most of my questions.
I also helped out with a program called History through the Arts, that included workshops
and an opera performance of The Three Little Pigs. The first day I assisted Millie in showing the
students museum objects that were related to pigs. I would hand the objects to Millie as she
would describe the objects to the students and their significance to the museum and Iowa history.
The next day I led the workshop, repeating much of the information that I had heard from Millie
the day before. Due to a blizzard the first day, not as many schools showed up, and schools were
sent home early. Unfortunately for the museum, they were still required to pay the opera for two
performances even though they only gave one performance that day. They also lost even more
money thanks to the two schools not showing up. Even though all the schools showed up to the
next day's event, the museum lost money on this program. While volunteering at other museums
and events, I have realized that this is unfortunately a common occurrence.
Another part of my internship has been helping Millie, and Katie Craven with National
History Day competition events. Katie is a new hire to the museum to be the full time Iowa
coordinator for the National History Day. I went to a National History Day at St. Ambrose where
I was a judge in exhibits and interviewed seven participants on their topic and creation of the
exhibit. The theme for this year's competition is Rights and Responsibilities and the students
were allowed to address one or either components. Several interview questions we asked focused
on their knowledge of the topic, and how well they could express that knowledge onto a display
board. We asked them how the theme related to their topic, as well as how they conducted their
research. Out of the seven my fellow judges and I decided on our top two exhibits to move on to
be judged in the final decision to qualify for state competition.
For another History Day competition, I was a website judge in Iowa City. Typically
judges receive the URLs of the websites before the event, but I had not previously viewed them
as I was a last minute addition. I sat with two other judges as we listened to eleven presentations
by students. This was my first experience judging websites and I was impressed how well the
middle schoolers were able to create a website using Weebly. After deliberation we chose two
websites to qualify for state. We took the rest of the time comparing notes and writing
evaluations. We wanted to be relatively consistent in the checklist component of the evaluations,
then we were left to write our own constructive criticisms to the students.
The next day I attended the National History Day event in Council Bluffs where I was a
door monitor, making sure only students and judges were allowed in to the exhibit area. Parents
and teachers would be allowed to look around once all the judging rounds were over. This
History Day set up was differently because they had all the students stand next to their exhibits
while the judges walked around, instead of the students coming in close to their judging time.
Even though it meant that they were standing for a longer period of time, it seemed to work out
just as well as other methods. I was told that not as many students participated in History Day
this year compared to other years, at least 40 to 50 less students. I could also tell that their district
did not have as many participants because the judging and evaluation did not take as long and
they were ready to have the ceremony after only four hours. Other competitions I had been to
typically have the ceremony closer to six hours after judging has begun.
The last district competition I attended was at Grandview University in Des Moines, and
was very similar to the past events I'd been to. I was assigned to be a judge in individual exhibits,
meeting with ten students. My fellow judge was a history professor and wanted to discuss the
topic in depth with the students, but due to time constraints I directed the conversation back to
the student and their project. I was glad that he was taking an interest in the students and their
work, but I wanted to be fair to each student and stick to the time allotted on the schedule.
Afterwards, we took some time deliberating and picked our two participants that would advance
to the final judging round.
I thought that the state competitions went just as well as the district competitions, even
though the state competition is even bigger and therefore requires more time and work for
preparation. The registration days gave the students the opportunity to check in, set up their
exhibit and know which room they would go to speak with the judges. We were well prepared
for both events, doing our best to accommodate for the hundreds of people that would be at the
museum all day. I was a judge both days, but also helped out with any tasks when needed. My
fellow judges were great people to work with, and we did not have any issues in deciding on the
students that would advance. I helped organize student documents so the museum could keep a
copy in case any plagiarism issues were discovered. I helped with putting up and taking down
signs and schedules, which was necessary since the building can be confusing to those unfamiliar
with its layout.
I have greatly enjoyed my time interning at the State Historical Museum. I have learned a
lot from Millie and Katie on becoming a professional in the workplace. They have shown me
how much hard work and dedication goes into planning and running an event. Even though many
days I spent printing, copying and organizing papers, I knew that my work was taking less off of
their already overflowing plates. I knew that these events required a lot of preparation, although I
was still amazed that both Katie and Millie would spend many late nights at work making sure
they were ready. I've been interested in the education aspect of a museum, especially in creating
a healthy relationship with the local schools and the museums in the community. I have been
lucky that throughout this internship every project I've worked on has done just that. My research
will eventually be on the museum's website as lesson plans to be used as educational materials, I
helped with an event that discussed history and museum objects with children, as well as devoted
most of my time on National History Day which promotes history, research and learning to
thousands of students across the country. I have learned so much from my time at the State
Historical Museum, and am glad I was able to tailor my research and work towards topics of
interest to me as well as my focus on education within museums and schools. Although my
requirement for the internship with Museum Studies has been completed, I will be continuing my
work and research for Millie and the Education department for the time being.