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.