"Pursuing an internship with the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center was one of the best decisions I made during my time in the UW Museology program....I solidified my classroom knowledge through hands-on experience, gained confidence in my abilities as a professional, and contributed to the well-being of an institution for which I have enormous respect."

Class of 2011 student Hillary Saalfeld details her experience during the Winter of 2011 working with Collections at the Washington State Holocaust Research Center...

Knowing I was still in need of two internship credits in order to graduate, I was constantly keeping my eyes and ears open for opportunities. However, when I heard Illana Kennedy speak in the fall Museum Education class, everything fell into place. As director of education for the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center (WSHERC), Kennedy detailed the numerous ways WSHERC memorializes the victims and celebrates the survivors of the Holocaust. I knew this was an organization with which I wanted to work.

With a mission to “inspire teaching and learning for humanity in the schools and communities of this region through study of the Holocaust,”[1] WSHERC serves the community in numerous ways. One of the greatest projects the Center takes on is the creation and distribution of “Teaching Trunks.” Similar to “Burke Boxes,” Teaching Trunks are sent to instructors to help them explain the Holocaust to their students through specifically chosen books, replicas, and various activities.[2] Additionally, WSHERC offers an extensive library of books, as well as audio and visual resources that are available to the public. During my brief time at the WSHERC, I witnessed their attempt to expand their resource center through the creation of a DVD commemorating the stories of Holocaust survivors now living in Washington. However, one of the most daunting tasks, and arguably one of the most important, facing WSHERC is the care of the Center’s countless collections. Donated by Holocaust survivors or their families, WSHERC’s collection includes everything from letters, passports, and photographs to Stars of David, prisoner uniforms, and their most recent acquisition, several accordions played by prisoners in their attempts to save their lives.

With my work experience in the Henry Art Gallery, it was decided I could best serve the Center by working with their extensive collections. My goals from this internship were to become more familiar with the Museological database Past Perfect as well as improve my overall collection management skills. Additionally, I wanted to increase my research skills and my understanding of how finding aids are created for artifacts. With these goals in mind, WSHERC Director Dee Simon and two collections managers, Kelly and Roberta, gave me the opportunity to work with three amazing collections. These collections consisted of satirical cartoons of Nazi death camps, a collection of over 300 letters between family members in Germany and those who had escaped, and a collection with a wide array of items consisting of everything from photographs and letters to record albums and medals. With these collections, I assigned accession numbers, completed condition reports, and selected search terms for when the artifact is entered into the database. I also had the opportunity to familiarize myself with Past Perfect, searching through their digital collections and observing Kelly’s procedure for entering information. 

I had incredibly high expectations of this internship; these were easily met and exceeded. While having more hands-on experience with the Past Perfect database would have been useful in furthering my museological skills, overall, this was a phenomenal experience. As a World War II historian, I would have been overjoyed simply to be assigned a minuscule task. However, I was put in charge of three enormously important collections. Each day, I was asked to share my opinion regarding everything from collections’ care to educational programming. I felt that my opinions were taken into consideration as a museological professional, not simply as an intern. I was also able to make suggestions regarding ways of improving care of collections. 
 
Not only was this an enjoyable experience, it greatly contributed to my overall career and academic goals. On numerous occasions, the collections’ manager asked for my professional opinion regarding the storage of an artifact. In this, I discovered a level of confidence in my academic training I had not known before. By taking such classes as Collection Management with an emphasis in Special Collections and by working with the Henry Art Gallery, I realized I now have an instinctive museological knowledge.
 
While there is always room for improvement, I feel I contributed to the overall betterment of WSHERC’s collection care. One of my strengths has always been an eye for detail. When I was asked to review condition reports completed by a previous volunteer, it soon became evident that this individual took only a cursory glance at many of the artifacts. Therefore, I reevaluated the artifacts, making note of damages that should have been included in the original report. I also exemplified my strength of working independently. Consisting of only four full-time staff members, WSHERC employees did not have the time to keep watch over me. I was left to my own devices and accomplished all the tasks asked of me. One area in which I see a need for improvement is consistency in terminology. For the last several weeks, I dealt primarily with photographic collections. Though I had taken a course with Nicolette Bromberg, head of UW Special Collections, in my first quarter, a more intimate knowledge of caring for photographs would have been helpful and would have allowed me to be more consistent in my condition reporting.
 
Pursuing an internship with the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center was one of the best decisions I made during my time in the UW Museology program. Through this internship, I solidified my classroom knowledge through hands-on experience, gained confidence in my abilities as a professional, and contributed to the well-being of an institution for which I have enormous respect. Without a doubt, I would recommend this internship to any current or future Museological student.



Bibliography
“Home.” Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center . Accessed on March             3, 2011.  http://www.wsherc.org/default.aspx.
 “What are teaching trunks?” Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center             Accessed on March 3, 2011.            http://www.wsherc.org/teaching/trunks/teachingtrunks.aspx.

[1] “Home,” Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, http://www.wsherc.org/default.aspx (Accessed on March 3, 2011).

[2] “What are teaching trunks?” Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, http://www.wsherc.org/teaching/trunks/teachingtrunks.aspx (Accessed on March 3, 2011).