This is the end

This week was mainly me preparing the final preparations of my project and presenting it to Dr. Lindsey and the other interns. It was a nerve raking experience that also had me full of excitement ready to share my experiences. Putting together my poster was a difficult process, finding out which graphs and information to put was difficult. There could not be too much information or too little so finding out a good balance was essential. In the end however I kept putting up too much information into the poster, so shortening it was the hardest part. As learning historians we can tend to be a bit wordy with our sentences. I did finally get better though with the shortening of sentences and seeing how my writing needed to be which was short, sweet, and too the point. The graphs were a different story, with the excel spreadsheets I could have created a few different graphs with the information. In the end I decided to create graphs dealing with gender for both cemeteries, iconography comparing all genders in both cemeteries, marker material and one dealing with each cemeteries iconography vs the ones with no iconography. I am proud of how it looks like, it was a lovely poster, the only problem was when I presented it to a bigger audience the poster looked a bit small and the information could not be seen. The way I created it was in power point with the dimensions 4 ft by 3 ft. I did think the font would show on the big screen we used to present, but unfortunately not everything was readable including my charts, only the bones of the project could be seen (graph, and paragraph layout. Overall this semester has been everything I hoped for. I wanted to try something different, to see what else my history degree can be used for. Many of us get into the thought of thinking all we can ever do is teach. That is not the case, and was something that I never really wanted to do in the first place. I did not just want to work strictly in anthropology, I wanted a middle ground between the two. I found that I can do both, maybe not what I did exactly for my internship, but something similar. I want to do field work and be behind the scenes interpreting data and doing research before hand. During this semester there were things that had to be adjusted, but was difficult to adjust mainly my problem of writing, as history majors we are almost trained to write a certain way. In different they might require you to write in a different way, which was the case for me, I love adding little details and making my writing seem almost narrative. The problem with this is that it is not short, sweet, and too the point which is needed in this type of environment. So it too took a bit too adjust. This is something that I would recommend for other history majors, to see if what you want to do is something you want to do after an internship. It gives an incite into the work environment of someone who works in history. I hope to do more work like this in the future and get more opportunities to do field work. 

Final Steps

Currently I am working on the final steps of my internship deliverable, I have collected my data and input it all into two separate spreadsheets. The cemeteries I went to are segregated, and only a few minutes away from each other. Which originally I found odd, but when you look at the dates of the white cemetery it makes sense. In the white cemetery their were people in there born in the early 1800's. So racism was alive and well when both cemeteries first started, but what is even weirder is that both cemeteries remain segregated, this is not due to racism however. It has most likely remained due to habit from both sides as well as them wanting to be buried with their families. What I did see from both cemeteries was that people with Hispanic last names were in both of the cemeteries, but there were not many. I am not sure what that means exactly, but I did find it interesting. So far after looking at both cemeteries further after finishing the spreadsheets I see some similarities and some difference, mostly differences. The white cemetery is the older of the two from looking at the birth dates on the tombstones. I noticed that the white cemetery has a lot more marble markers then the black cemetery. Any marble markers that the black cemetery had were usually military men, I also noticed that they had a large quantity of metal markers which just have the name, birth date and death date on it or sometimes just the name, birth year and death year. Other difference I noticed were the amount of unmarked graves in the black cemetery compared to the white one. They were usually either metal or concrete. The white cemetery was the harder of the two to collect the data from due to the material of most of the markers which was marble. It was so smooth at the time that it made it almost impossible to read the names, dates, or even iconography. The problem with the marble markers is that they can be readable if cleaned with enough pressure. The problem with that is that you do not want to rough up the marble with cleaning it. So the best I could do is clean each marker with a soft cotton cloth. Over all my experiences on the field went well and I enjoyed collecting all of the data. It is something that I would do again if given the chance to do field work, it was a great learning experience. The other thing that I have been working on this week is my rewrites of an assignment I had done earlier. The way i wrote them the first time was similar in how I write my blog, which is semi academic with a relaxed tone. While instead I needed to make sound more academic. Hopefully I was able to make my rewrites sound alright, I have also been working on my CV this week. It is still empty, but I did not expect it to be full due to me not doing much volunteer work. Now that I know that people are always looking for help with field work I hope to get some opportunities to be able to make my CV something I will be proud to show. Tomorrow through Tuesday I will be working on tweaking my poster and working on the final touches and making sure it is ready to present for my deliverable. It has been a lot of hard work and a great learning process and I am looking forward to presenting.  

Coming Together

Another busy week so far, on Monday I was able to get to the white cemetery and finish collecting the data. The idea of taking photos of the markers was one of the best ideas I could have thought of when it comes to saving time. What would normally be an all day affair took on a few hours, and through photo it is in fact easier to see what is on the marker. This cemetery however was much harder to collect data from. While the other one had graves in various places and in rough conditions, many of the graves were legible. The trouble I ran into in the white cemetery was the material of the marker. Many of them were marble, the problem with marble is that it tends to get dirty if it is not taken care of. Also due to weather over the years it can ware down the stone to where it makes it almost impossible to read due to it turning smooth. That was the main problems I ran into while collecting my pictures. The main marker material used in the other cemetery tended to be either a metal marker or granite. Which are much easier to collect data from because it does not wear down for a long while. I did run into some of the same problems as I did the other cemetery in which sometimes the grave is a few feet under ground. When that happens I have to literally dig it out, the most buried  one I came across was under a few inches of dirt which was not too bad. I did have a volunteer come with me, and while they took the photo I would be prepping the graves for their photo opt. As I was collecting the data I realized that their were quite a few family plots. Many of them were lined with marble with a small entry way. After the pictures were taken and the cemetery completed I began my input into the spreadsheet I created. By no means have I completed with this cemetery, In a few days I will be and I will write the major differences or similarities I find if any. I did however finish the data entry from the first cemetery I collected data from. What I saw in the data was that many of the graves had religious iconography, specifically Christianity. The typical symbols I would come across were crosses, roses, flowers, grapevines, but mainly prayer hands. Other symbolism I found was some Freemason symbols and Order of the Eastern Star symbolism. What I found that was interesting was that if their was a shared grave and the husband was a Freeman the wife was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Many other the ones that were Freemasons were also part of the Order of the Eastern Star as well. The other thing that I have been working on this week is my rewrites that I mentioned last week. I have not yet been able to write them to my liking. I am being a bit picky with my wording. I am also learning on how to create my poster, and working on updating my CV, it is a bit too empty for my liking, but I am starting out. I realize that I may not have an impressive one now, but I will eventually with my continuation of volunteer work over the summer. For next week I will hope to have a draft completed from what my poster will look like.

The white cemetery that I collected data from, it had much more tree coverage then the other cemetery. It also had a better location, while the other one was off a State road, this one was located behind a neighborhood.

Came across a few of these when I got to some family plots, the carving of the marble was done with a great amount to detail, on the grave you can see the family name. On the other side of it it has the names of those buried inside, sometimes a few, and sometimes only one person is buried in it. 

Data Input

This week has been a busy so far I went and finished up the cemetery I was working on last Friday and got every grave accounted for. Instead of writing the information down on paper I decided to put to the test my idea of taking a photo of each grave. I must say that was a great idea, not only did it save me time, bu the pictures have more detail in photo then me looking at them with my eyes. It also is good for not having to look at others handwriting and wondering what they meant to say. The way I went about with the photos was with a partner. My significant other would take the photo while I would prep the next few graves. I would also sometimes have to clear out some ant piles that were on top of the graves in order to get all of the information. As well as dig up piles of dirt from a grave that had begun to get buried under inches of dirt so that all the information was readable through photo. After I had finished with Oakland Cemetery it was time to put in the information into excel, I have yet to finish all of it due to multiple things I have been working on this week, but I am close to being done. So far I have noticed similarities between markers and that in this particular cemetery most of the markers are either granite, cement, metal, or marble. Interesting about the marble is that it was almost all exclusively military men and all of the had a cross referencing them as Christians. Most likely this coming Monday I will be going to another cemetery to collect more data. I will try to get to as many cemeteries as possible so that I can gather a well rounded information. This way I can see what are the similarities between cemeteries and what are their differences. I especially want to see if their is a difference between urban and rural cemeteries.

This is me prepping the next grave, so that a detailed photo can be taken with all of the information with nothing being covered.

The other thing I have been working on is the beginning stages of my poster, so far I am writing rewriting some early draft paragraphs for weeks earlier. Making it more for an academic setting, when I wrote it the first time I made it a bit to blogger oriented and it did not sound academic enough. I am also working on my CV and updating it with the things I have been doing for the internship, my internship supervisor was kind enough to give me his as an example of how it should sound and look. So busy things this week and I am excited to get to the new site and start working on collecting much more data. This coming week will be just as busy for me with various things needing to get done so I am optimistic and awaiting the challenge. I do know that the next grave site we will be going to will not be as organized as this one was, I am hoping that it will still be easy enough to follow.

First Day of Field Work

This week I have been getting ready for the field work portion of my internship which happened today. This week I was given an assignment to answer a few questions, purpose and goal of project, methods (how did you collect data), background of Florida history, focused on European occupation, especially focusing on Territorial Period and after, and a short couple of lines about what you hypothesize you may see in data collection. The third question I needed to answer is taking longer then I thought due to Florida history being so vast, and me forgetting all I used to know about Florida History which I learned in the fourth grade only. It is all interesting and relevant to the work that I am doing. Depending on the changes going on at the time in the state it can have an effect on the iconography of the marker. A problem I had answering these questions was that I did not make it academic enough, I realized after rereading it was that I wrote it as if I was writing for my blog. I have come accustomed to writing my blog and unintentionally forgot to write in a more academic manner. It has been a little since I have written a paper so I need to practice my writing, because if you are not progressing you are digressing. What I also needed to do was to get volunteers to help me collect the data. In the end I could not get many volunteers to help me collect the data today, but I did have my significant other come to help me put. It was exactly what I was expecting, and it was simple to gather the information that I needed to get. The way I wrote down the information was in sections, each grave that I went to I wrote the number, name, birth date, date of death, material of the marker, and the iconography (the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation on these). As I was collecting the data I had an idea of how to make my data collection more efficient which is to take pictures of the graves this way I can enter the information straight into excel and even add a hyperlink if possible. I am still dabbling with the program to see what will work and what will not work. It is all about testing the waters with excel it is a testy program that can be useful if one knows how to use it. By no means am I done with this cemetery, but I now understand first hand what needs to be done and just having an example of what I need to do helps me tremendously. Something I noticed while collecting the data was that not all graves are in even columns or rows some are a bit scattered and it can get confusing to follow a specific order. I was told that this cemetery is in a better order then the other one so I will need to be careful not to mix things up, but I am optimistic. I was also given directions to the White cemetery, another cemetery I will be collecting data from. In all today was productive for me and has me enthusiastic about going out again and collecting more data. Monday I will be going out again and I have two volunteers coming to help me out this time instead of one so we will be able to collect more data. 

Here is a photo of me collecting the data, these are concrete covered graves, the one I was working on had no information about the person, no name, gender, birth date, date of death, or iconography. The only information I could gather from it was the material of the grave. In the back was a another concrete covered grave, but it had at least a metal marker with the persons name, and the year they were born and died.
  

Field work planned

This week I have learned that I will finally be doing some field work, the long awaited time has come to pass. The first day of field work will be taking place two weeks from today, the 27th of this month and I am very excited. All of the planning is what brings me to the field work portion, the research I have been doing is the main thing that will help me. The place my internship supervisor said to meet at will be at the Oakland Nature Preserve, then we will head over to the cemetery. It is kind of hidden so this way I can just follow his car there until I have it memorized and then I can get there on my own. One of the main things we did talk about was visiting more then one cemetery, that way the data will be more broad. The other main thing was that he was going to help me get volunteers to help out with the data collection due to it being a large scale collection of data. The more help I get, the more I can use to compare and contrast which will be helpful, because I am just one person and just me going an collecting the data would not be enough to get a well rounded analysis to answer my research question. The data template I made will be coming in handy when I start with the data collection, it will also be used by the volunteers. The goal is by the end of the day after the data is written down in the template I will be looking at all the information and putting it into the deliverable poster. This is also where my knowledge of  Florida History will be needed, to see if any of the changes in the cemeteries happened because of a major even going on at the time of their death. With the book I will be looking at will be population, the Indian removal act, seminal wars dealing with the relocation of settlers, urbanization, and soldiers being sent to train in Florida during WWII etc. This way I know what was going on. All of these things in Florida History will be considered variables, as each of these things could explain changes. This week has been very busy for me so far, as I have begun to outline the book I mentioned last week, Gannon's The New History of Florida. I keep wanting to just read it through in order due to habit, but that would just be a waste of planning. After my internship is over I am planning to read it fully because it is an interesting read and what I like about it is that it is not just like reading a textbook which can get boring. The reason I do not is strictly time based, due to all of the work I will be doing with the data collection, I have no choice but to just do an outline of changes that would effect cemetery change. Such as the things I have mentioned sentences above. I realized when I begun reading it that I needed to buy some colored tabs to make it easier to find the things I am looking for in the book. Instead of buying colored tabs though I decided to make some out of old construction paper I had lying around. It was a good idea and makes it much easier for me to find what I am looking for.

Sources I am using for as of late:
- A Study of Duval County Grave Markers
by Lucy Ames Edwards
- Gone but not Forgotten: Wakulla County's Folk Graveyards
by Sherrie Stokes
- Graveyards and Social Structures
- Map and Database Construction for an Historic Cemetery: Methods and Applications
by: Johan Liebens
- Necrogeography in the United States
Published by: American Geographical Society
- Cemetery symbolism of prairie pioneers- gravestone art and social change in Story County
by: Coleen Lou Nutty
- Under Grave Conditions; African American Signs of Life and Death in North Florida
by: Robin Franklin Nigh
- Using Cemetery Data to Reconstruct Immigration and Migration Patterns: St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida
by: Sarah Elizabeth Patterson
- Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology
by: Frederick J.E. Gorman and Michael DiBlasi
- The Historical Archaeology of Mortuary Behavior: Coffin Hardware from Uxbridge, Massachusetts
by: Edward L. Bell

- Death's Heads, Cherubs, and Willow Trees: Experimentral Archaeology in Colonial Cemeteries

by: Edwin Dethlefsen and James Deetz


Books:
- In Small Things Forgotten
by: James Deetz

- The New History of Florida

Edited by: Michael Gannon


Sears Catalog:
-Special catalogue of tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers. (1902) Sears Roebuck & Co. Chicago, Ill.

Data Template

I had mentioned in my last blog that this week I as given an assignment due on Tuesday to create a spreadsheet through excel of how I will be recording my data when I start my field work. So far in my spread sheet I will have different sections where I will write the information, name, date of  birth and day of death, iconography (what symbolism is on the marker), marker types (cement, granite, etc.), whether they are male or female, along with a photo of the grave that I will hyper link in etc. This will be instrumental in organizing my data, this way when I create my deliverable poster I will have everything organized. The point of the poster is to answer a research question that I will create when I get to the field work portion, and to better answer that question; organizing my data is key. When I get to the field work portion I will post pictures to give an example of how I am putting in the data after I see the marker, it will make much more sense after I get pictures. The other thing that I have been working on is finishing up on my last bits of reading from the papers and journals I had to go through. At the bottom of the page is the full list of journals, articles and book that I will be using throughout my internship most of them I have gone through and read the only exception is the New History of Florida because I had just gotten it as of yesterday after it finally became available via library. I did request it using the inter library loan but it was taking too long and I needed to get started on outlining the book. So far what I will be looking at will be population, the Indian removal act, seminal wars dealing with the relocation of settlers, urbanization, and soldiers being sent to train in Florida during WWII etc. All of these changes in what is going on in Florida at the time can affect a cemetery especially its iconography. So going over the book and outlining these key changes in Florida History will be my main priority in these next coming week before I get started on the field work portion of the internship. I will not by any means be reading the entire book, that would take much too long, but I will read in depth about the things I will be outlining (mentioned in the above sentences). Surprisingly when I started to read a few paragraphs I realized that I regrettably do not know much about Florida history. I am aware of what was going on in the United States at the time as a whole, but not specifically of what was going on in Florida due to policies that were created, urbanization, civil war, etc. The last time I had to learn about Florida history specifically was in the fourth grade in social studies class and much of what I learned was till 1865. So I think this book will be a great asset to me when I collect my data, this way I know what changes occurred and what it means in reference to the tombstones. 

Sources I am using for as of late:
- A Study of Duval County Grave Markers
by Lucy Ames Edwards
- Gone but not Forgotten: Wakulla County's Folk Graveyards
by Sherrie Stokes
- Graveyards and Social Structures
- Map and Database Construction for an Historic Cemetery: Methods and Applications
by: Johan Liebens
- Necrogeography in the United States
Published by: American Geographical Society
- Cemetery symbolism of prairie pioneers- gravestone art and social change in Story County
by: Coleen Lou Nutty
- Under Grave Conditions; African American Signs of Life and Death in North Florida
by: Robin Franklin Nigh
- Using Cemetery Data to Reconstruct Immigration and Migration Patterns: St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida
by: Sarah Elizabeth Patterson
- Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology
by: Frederick J.E. Gorman and Michael DiBlasi
- The Historical Archaeology of Mortuary Behavior: Coffin Hardware from Uxbridge, Massachusetts
by: Edward L. Bell

- Death's Heads, Cherubs, and Willow Trees: Experimentral Archaeology in Colonial Cemeteries

by: Edwin Dethlefsen and James Deetz


Books:
- In Small Things Forgotten
by: James Deetz

- The New History of Florida

Edited by: Michael Gannon


Sears Catalog:
-Special catalogue of tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers. (1902) Sears Roebuck & Co. Chicago, Ill.

Continuing Research

As I stated in my last blog I have been finishing up on the readings I had from last week where I got a whole new list of papers and journals. I have finished all but one of them so far, since it is a long paper. Each of the papers and journals are informative and give me an incite into the type of research I will be doing when I get to the field work portion of my internship. These works are mainly about how to gather and understand the iconography, with maps of their location and any changes that were going on at the time. They also talked extensively on the important of preservation of cemeteries because of how much history can be found in them. This week was especially important, for it was the week of my long awaited midterm evaluation. During the meeting I was told the things I need to work on and what I have been doing relativity well so far. The main thing I need to work on is communication, as a student and history major I am given an assignment and I work on it on my own and turn it in. I learned that this does not work in the working world, what I learned in the meeting was that I need to communicate things better, such as things I feel do not need to be mentions, need to be mentioned such as the books I am finding or catalogs, etc. This is something that I never thought to do because I am so used to producing works on my own and turning it in and that is the end of it. It is a process, the best example he gave me was that if two people are doing the same amount of work, but one is more vocal about it and informs the boos of what they are working on, who is the boss going to think is up for a promotion? The answer is the one that is vocal about their work. So it was important to learn, because that is the point of an internship to get experience and learn how things are in the field. Along with what is expected from me in the time to come. We also spoke more in depth about what I will be doing for my deliverable, which is create a conference level poster. Which will need to be filled with information and pictures of my findings as well as a main research question I had, and how I solved that question. My internship supervisor during the meeting also gave me an assignment to work on this coming week. What I will be working on is using Microsoft Excel to create a spread sheet of how I will be recording my data when I start my field work. In the spread sheet I will have different sections for name, dates, iconography (what symbolism is on the marker), marker types (cement, granite, etc.), whether they are male or female etc. I am currently waiting on the book of Florida History that was recommended to me by a University of Central Florida professor, I hope that when I get it I can find some good information which I am certain I will. When I get the book what I will be looking at will be population, Indian removal act, seminal wars and the relocation of settlers, urbanization, etc. All of these changes in what is going on in Florida at the time can affect a cemetery especially its iconography. These are all things that I will have to read about and put it into my finding when I get to the field work portion of my internship. Over all this has been a productive week filled with a list of things that need to be done in the next coming week.

Sources I am using for as of late:

- A Study of Duval County Grave Markers
by Lucy Ames Edwards

- Gone but not Forgotten: Wakulla County's Folk Graveyards

by Sherrie Stokes

- Graveyards and Social Structures

- Map and Database Construction for an Historic Cemetery: Methods and Applications

by: Johan Liebens

- Necrogeography in the United States

Published by: American Geographical Society 

- Cemetery symbolism of prairie pioneers- gravestone art and social change in Story County

by: Coleen Lou Nutty

- Under Grave Conditions; African American Signs of Life and Death in North Florida

by: Robin Franklin Nigh

- Using Cemetery Data to Reconstruct Immigration and Migration Patterns: St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida

by: Sarah Elizabeth Patterson
- Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology
by: Frederick J.E. Gorman and Michael DiBlasi
- The Historical Archaeology of Mortuary Behavior: Coffin Hardware from Uxbridge, Massachusetts
by: Edward L. Bell


Books:
- In Small Things Forgotten
by: James Deetz

Sears Catalog: 

-Special catalogue of tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers. (1902) Sears Roebuck & Co. Chicago, Ill.

A blueprint to follow

For this week I have been concentrating mostly on reading my new sources, due to there being quite a few of them. As I mentioned last week the main purpose of getting my new sources was to create a new blueprint for me to follow. I have not been able to go through all of them this week since there are nine of them and they are not short reads either. Many of the new sources have to do with Florida cemeteries which is very helpful and it gives me an idea of what I will be seeing. In most of the sources the biggest thing that I noticed while reading them was the process of getting iconography (the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation on these). One of the journals that I read this past week that gave me the biggest incite into this was by Johan Liebens, not only did it have to do with a cemetery in Florida, but the mapping that he did helped me to understand where I needed to go. In his paper he extensively maps out a cemetery in Pensacola and uses a program to do it called GIS. He was able to record his findings into a database and could edit it with the GIS program and put in different filters for what he needed. Although I will not be going to the extent that Liebens goes to I will need to put my findings into a spreadsheet database so it was helpful to read how he mapped out the cemetery and put it into his database. Another thing that I had mainly been doing this week if trying to find a book on Florida History. At first I did try to find one myself, but the ones that I was looking for was not the right time frame or I just could not get it through most means other then buying. Normally I would take the time to get it myself because I know I can eventually get a copy of what I need, but I am running on deadline. So instead I messaged a UCF professor specializing and Florida History and asked if he could recommend me a good book. They got back to me right away and I was able to find it, just currently waiting to get it through the inter library loan. From just the title of the book it seems like it will be helpful, because it is good to know what was happening at the time. This is because if their are any major changes in iconography during a certain time it is good to check what was going on in the area at the time. This is whether their had been any changes in Florida economy, social, religious changes, etc. With next week coming and my midterm evaluation coming up, my main focus will be finishing up the journals and papers on the list below. Another thing I hope to get done with at least half way would be the book on Florida History. Then hopefully the next faze of my internship will be starting where I will be doing the field work portion. Being able to go around to different cemeteries and practicing what I have been researching  all this time will be a challenge, but one that I am looking forward to. 

Sources I am using for as of late:

- A Study of Duval County Grave Markers
by Lucy Ames Edwards

- Gone but not Forgotten: Wakulla County's Folk Graveyards

by Sherrie Stokes

- Graveyards and Social Structures

- Map and Database Construction for an Historic Cemetery: Methods and Applications

by: Johan Liebens

- Necrogeography in the United States

Published by: American Geographical Society 

- Cemetery symbolism of prairie pioneers- gravestone art and social change in Story County

by: Coleen Lou Nutty

- Under Grave Conditions; African American Signs of Life and Death in North Florida

by: Robin Franklin Nigh

- Using Cemetery Data to Reconstruct Immigration and Migration Patterns: St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida

by: Sarah Elizabeth Patterson

A new direction

This week was a bit different, it saw a change in a new direction in my research, the main reason was due to a set meeting. Yesterday I had the meeting with my internship supervisor and my internship adviser and it was informative and helpful. My internship supervisor suggested that we go in a different direction with the research I have been gathering. It is not to say that the research I had already gathered was bad, not in the least, it is that I needed to gather a different type. The main articles and journals I had found were mainly about tombstone descriptions that were found and explaining the changes over time. The new direction of the research will be focusing on articles and journals that go into the process of mapping out and finding the tombstones and then describing what the iconography (the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation on these) was and explaining it. I will be using the research I have gathered so far more as informative rather then a blue print. As for where that leaves me right now, I have a long list of new information that has been given to me that I will be sorting through throughout next week ( it was given to me today). These new articles will then be my new blueprint to work with. Although as I said before I will not be using most of the research I have gathered, but I will still be using two to three I have gathered because they will still be relevant to my internship. So now that I know of what kind of articles I need to be finding for my new blueprint the search should be easier. As I have talked about in my last blog I did find a sears catalog from 1902. The main reason that it was important that I find this is because, we want to see if Florida cemeteries bought any of the molds for headstones. Many of the headstones in Florida cemeteries seem to be similar size and shape. What would be interesting to find out is if Sears sold their headstone molds to be used by others. Florida cemetery headstones tend to only be made of either cement or garnet so it would not be a far stretch to say that they could have bought two to three molds. It will be something that I will be looking into throughout my internship process and maybe it will lead to something or maybe not, the point is to try. That is what makes this internship so valuable that it is more of the journey rather then the results. The main thing is to go through the process of gathering research and then putting your research into findings. Another thing that happened at the meeting is that me and my supervisor talked about me getting at least one book on Florida history, that way I understand what was going on when in Florida. It never would have occurred to me to get a book on Florida history.It does make sense since I will be looking at Central Florida tombstone iconography and the difference between rural and urban cemeteries to know what was going on at the time, so it will be something I will be gather in the coming week.

Working on my CV and continuing research

This week I have been given the project of starting on my CV, as well as continue working on my research. What I had learned was a CV is similar to a resume, but instead focuses on what you know and have done throughout your career and studies. Since I have until next Wednesday to turn in my first draft of if this week I have been focusing on reading other people CV's mainly ones that are in the field that I want to follow. The biggest thing that I noticed when I gathered them is the amount of effort each person put on their CV each one was impressive and well written. It at first made me feel intimidated, I felt I simple do not compare. Then I remembered I am still in a learning process and will one day make it to that level of excellence through hard work and diligence. Through this internship I will be able to add something to my CV when I create it and will keep adding to it. Along with working on my CV as I have stated before I am continuing my research of journals on iconography (the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation on these). In my past blog I have mentioned that I was facing some difficulties finding journals in this subject area, as of late it has been getting easier and I found two more to add to my growing number. However research is never an easy and I have found a new hurdle to overcome which is trying to find journals that do not talk about puritan tombstone iconography. I have found many journals this week, but many of them were about the same subject, and that was puritan tombstone iconography. By far the most interesting thing I found was an old sears catalog from 1902 that sold tombstones, monuments, tablets and makers, I am not sure what to make of it. It is a semi long document and I gathered it just yesterday so I have not gotten a chance to fully read it yet so I only skimmed it. After I finish reading it I will be sending it to my internship supervisor to see what he thinks. We have mentioned looking up old sears catalogs that sold these types of things, but I am not sure if I found a good one, or how I will be able to incorporate it into my research if it is a good find. This is something that I will get back to on my next blog post hopefully it was a good find and I am hoping to find more and in the same great shape as this catalog since it is a full catalog and was easily accessible. Sometimes the hardest part of finding papers is not finding them, but getting them, sometimes I find a good one, but I have to go on various sites until I can even get a pdf copy. I have come to learn that I genuinely enjoy doing research.


Two new sources I have gathered thus far:

-The Face of God: Puritan Iconography in Early American Poetry, Sermons, and Tombstone

CarvingAuthor(s): Lynn HaimsSource: Early American Literature, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 15-47

-A Key to the Kingdom: The Iconography of a Mourning Picture
Author(s): Anita SchorschSource: Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 41-71
Sears Catalog: 

-Special catalogue of tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers. (1902) Sears Roebuck & Co. Chicago, Ill.

Steadily coming along

I have found three more sources to add to my existing three so my research is gradually coming along. I am still in the research phase of my internship and am enjoying it thus far. As I gather my sources it tends to become easier finding them from when I first started. I have sent some of the journals I found to my internship supervisor in order to see if I am on the right track research wise. One of the major problems I have come across is surprisingly trying to get access to some of these journals. Usually I have never come across this difficulty while conducting past research in my own domain. After quite a bit of searching however I did eventually get access to the journals through another site other then the ones I am using. I also think one of the major problems this week might have been more of a server problem rather then my searching skills, but you never know nonetheless I was able to find them. What I will be looking at when I get to the field work portion is iconography or tombstones, and the difference between urban tombstones and rural. What differences they have, similarities, or if they are identical. I will mostly be going around to cemeteries in Central Florida I am not sure of the number yet but enough to make an accurate finding for my research question, so a lot of driving around is in stored for me. When I think of doing these things it does seem a little intimidating but I am sure I will gain more confidence and understanding when I get to do things hands on. The main point of this internship is to learn and to build my skills in learning how to record such findings. Something else that will be a big priority for this internship is creating a CV, this is originally something that I had no knowledge of and now that I know what it is I am excited to build one up for myself with the help of my internship supervisor. This experience is something that I will be able to put on my CV and will be gradually updating it and am hoping to have an impressive on one day.

Three new sources I have gathered thus far:
-Transition Symbolism on Tombstones
Author(s): Carl LindahlSource: Western Folklore, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Jul., 1986), pp. 165-185
-Epitaphs from down East
Author(s): Joseph W. HendrenSource: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Sep., 1938), pp. 524-540
-Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology
Frederick J. E. Gorman and Michael DiBlasi
Ethnohistory
Vol. 28, No. 1 (Winter, 1981), pp. 79-98

Currently working on finding at least ten references for research purposes, the search for valid ones is proving difficult to find. So far I have three that I can use that were given to me two of which are pdf files and the third is a book. The pdf files are Death's Heads, Cherubs, and Willow Trees: Experimental Archaeology in Colonial Cemeteries, by Dethlefsen and Deetz, and The Historical Archaeology of Mortuary Behavior: Coffin Hardware from Uxbridge, Mass, by Bell. The book that I am reading is In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life, by James Deetz. With the pdf files it helps me to understand what I will be looking for when I start getting into the field work process of identifying iconography (the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation on these).

Getting started

What I want to gain from this experience is knowledge, I want to learn what is out there for a history major besides teaching history. I have always been interested in archaeology from a young age and am excited for a chance to put into practice something that I have always wanted to try. Currently I will be gathering various amounts of research, before I start on any field work.