In a series of
occasional blog posts, participants in our Mellon Scholars Internship and
Workshop programs will introduce themselves, discuss their experiences at the
Library Company, and share their goals for pursuing careers in the field of
early African American history. This program is generously funded by the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation.
Whilst typing this, I asked myself “is this
experience really coming to a close?” The thought startled me, and I had to
assure myself I had not spoken aloud. The Reading Room is for deep
concentration, not interpersonal musings. Of course, my month at The Library
Company of Philadelphia cannot be encapsulated by a blog post, but alas, I’ll
try!
I’m Chandra. In May I graduated from Scripps College
in Claremont, California with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations
and History. In September, I will move to France for seven months to work as an
English Teaching Assistant. At the Library Company, I have split my time
conducting my own research, transcribing, drafting lists of potential graduate
schools, and introspection. This internship has been an immense privilege, and
every interaction I have had at the Library Company has been a positive one.
Often, I am struck by the fact that new insights exist only a call slip—or
conversation—away.
I discovered this program through an archivist at
Spelman College. Last summer, I received a grant to conduct a ten-week long
project in preparation for my senior thesis. Spelman’s was the first archive I
had ever visited. Before the end of my first day, the archives—and research—were
no longer relegated to academics but instead were feasible career options. Upon
finding my new love affair, I hounded the archivist with questions about how to
gain more experiences related to history. She suggested I apply for the Library
Company’s internship program, I applied, and was accepted.
This program interested me because of my passion for
Afro-diasporic cultures. Through classes on Afro-diasporic communities in the
Americas, I realized that rigorous historical study is a critical place of
learning, resistance, progress, and art. Furthermore, the colonial period can
tell us much about current perceptions of race, class, and gender and how some
are treated abysmally because of their differences in these categories. The
African Americana Collection at the Library Company holds a plethora of
materials integral to remembering and learning from the experiences of people
of African descent in the early United States. Obviously, this was an
experience I could not pass up.
 |
| From Loring Daniel Dewey. Correspondence Relative to the Emigration to Hayti, of the Free People of Colour, in the United States (New York, 1824). |
While here, I have done research on the African
American emigration movement to Haiti during the early 19th century.
More specifically, I have questioned why African American men outnumber African
American women in discourses surrounding the movement, and the often masculine
rhetoric emigration literature presented as it gained support. My project has
involved looking at pamphlets and letters promoting African American
resettlement in order to understand the political and social climate that
pushed free black Americans to seek opportunities abroad. Along with this, I
have integrated a few articles that grapple with the relationship between
nationalism and masculinity into my research. Often, historians do not use
theoretical texts to frame their arguments, but I feel that theory has allowed
me to further understand the significance of the primary and secondary source
documents I have handled.
This experience has pushed me to think critically
about what I’d like to prioritize in my career. My interests in Afro-diasporic
cultures, gender studies, and art will certainly be at the forefront of
whatever I do. At present, I would love to bring art and history into
communities often disconnected from them. Thus, I believe a PhD program or
Master’s in History or Africana studies would allow me to successfully merge a
variety of my interests.
My month at the Library Company has been phenomenal,
and I am excited to see what paths the skills I have gained here will take me
in the future.
Chandra
Dickey
Scripps
College, Class of 2016
2016
Mellon Scholars Intern
No comments:
Post a Comment