Gallivanting Across Indiana

September 24, 2014

Hello, Indiana local history organizations! I am Kelsey
Smith, the new intern at Local History Services. I am currently a graduate
student in my second and final year at IUPUI. What am I studying, you ask?
Museums, of course! I graduate in the spring of 2015 with a master?s degree in
Museum Studies.

I hail from northeastern Ohio, most of my youth spent in a
little town called Chesterland (also known as “way out east? of
Cleveland). My journey on the path to museums began at a young age. I cannot
remember a time when my family did not go to museums or discuss history at the
dinner table. When I was 12, my mother dragged me to volunteer at the local
historical society, the Chesterland Historical Foundation. As years went by, I
began to come willingly. I even volunteered at a second museum, the Geauga
County Historical Society. I graduated from Cleveland State University with a
degree in history. Inspired by my volunteer work, I hoped to pursue a second
degree, and then career, in museums. My desire is to continue working with and
in small museums, helping to expand their use and value to their communities.

With that being said, Local History Services caught my
attention as an opportunity to work with small, local historyorganizations in
a different capacity than I have previously experienced. The crazy schedules
and continuous gallivanting across Indiana did not intimidate me! I am so
grateful for this opportunity to experience what it is like to be in a field
services role. This internship will be a chance to see with my own eyes what so
many different local history organizations are doing today. Most of all, it is
an opportunity for me to help small museums in my own small way. While I am
here, I will be updating the Speakers Bureau, an excellent resource for local
history organizations looking for speakers on a range of topics. In the spring,
I will be developing a workshop focused on working with young people in
museums. The rest of my time will be spent tagging along with the staff to lend
a hand, observing what they do and how they do it.

I love visiting all kinds of museums wherever I go, and I am
excited to visit quite a few during this internship. I am also glad to have
found that the wonderful staff here at Local History Services believes in the
importance of coffee and ice cream as deeply as I do!

So, if you see me at your site, say hello! I am thrilled to
meet you all.

________________________________________________

Kelsey Smith is an intern and the Speakers Bureau coordinator for the Local History Services department at IHS, and a graduate student at IUPUI in Museum Studies. She loves a lot of things about traveling with LHS, like coffee! And local history, too.

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