91ÉçÇø

I am entering my third year at 91ÉçÇø, where I am majoring in Honors History and minoring in Political Science. My primary area of historical interest is the American Revolution (or the 18th-century United States in general), although I have been pursuing a broad temporal and geographical history curriculum at 91ÉçÇø.

This internship grabbed my attention because of how personal it was. The task was really to delve into a single woman’s life through her library and letters. Getting to learn about individuals and their inner lives is what I love most about history, so the chance to do that appealed to me greatly. I also wanted to learn how to approach historical figures through different avenues, in this case through a library inventory. Finally, the internship sounded great because it would give me a chance to apply my classroom skills to real, self-directed research, and allow me to figure out if that was a path I would want to follow professionally. My main objectives were to develop my ability to find and think critically about sources, and then to find ways to use limited available evidence to answer very open-ended questions.

I interned for the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens. This museum, which used to be Elsie Reford’s hunting and fishing lodge, is dedicated to preserving her extraordinary gardens, as well as the memory of her accomplishments as an active participant in her society.

As an intern, my job was to figure out what Elsie Reford’s library says about her. In order to accomplish this, I organized and analyzed her library, went through her personal correspondence, and researched how to approach reading habits and libraries as sources. I ultimately answered my question by comparing Reford’s reading habits and library to those of her contemporaries.

One of my highlights was definitely reading through Reford’s letters, particularly those she exchanged with Lord Albert Grey. They provided essential context for her library, but they were also just very interesting. Her personality shone through in her correspondence, and it was so much fun, and such a privilege, to get to see it through such an intimate and honest medium. I am also very happy that I picked up so much knowledge about Canadian history along the way – I knew so little about it before, and I learned a ton of cool things.

The biggest challenge, for me, was how self-directed the internship was. I was given sources, and I knew what question I needed to answer, but figuring out how to get from A to B was up to me. I got through it with a lot of brainstorming sessions and a fair bit of trial-and-error regarding what research avenues would be fruitful. Due to the difficulty of this task, it was super rewarding when I finally formed my conclusions!

This internship has equipped me with the tools that I will need for the rest of my degree and beyond. I have improved my research skills, learned how to analyze data meaningfully, and gained a new sense of confidence in my ability to break down and then tackle difficult historical tasks. I think that all of this will improve my university experience by enabling me to produce better work in my classes.

Although, I did not receive academic credit for the internship, I funded thanks to the generous financial support of Mary Wemp through the Bryce Arts Internship Award. I would like to sincerely thank Mrs. Wemp for her help, as her funding allowed me to focus on my internship without having to worry about finances.