First the belated answer to the “Guess the Story” post.

The images are from Der Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter), a German children’s book by Heinrich Hoffman first published in 1845. The stories were meant as warnings to children by showing them the consequences of misbehavior. Series One, called "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" (The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb), shows us what happens to a little boy who refuses to stop sucking his thumbs – a “roving tailor” tailor cuts them off. Series Two, "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" (The Very Sad Story of the Matches), tells of the dangers of playing with matches. Series Three is called "Die Geschichte von Hans Guck-in-die-Luft" (The Story of Johnny Head-in-the-Air) warns of the consequences of daydreaming. Curiously the set of cards found at HSP were missing the story the titular story about Struwwelpeter, the little boy who refused to cut his hair and nails. To find out more about these interesting (and odd) little stories check out this link.

Now onto the farewell.

Last Thursday marked the end of my internship at HSP. To say that my time at HSP was an enormous learning experience would be an understatement. Coming into this experience I had an idea that archives would be something I would like to pursue professionally, but I had no real hands-on experience. For that reason I am extremely grateful to Matthew Lyons for extending an opportunity to a novice in every sense of the word. It was a fun semester getting absorbed into the world of archives, and this internship has confirmed to me that this is really something I could see myself doing forever. This semester I also graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in History and will be continuing to study archival methods and practices in graduate school. I urge any budding archivists out there who may be reading this to consider interning at HSP – it is an experience you won’t forget.

I must also thank Cary Majewicz for her continued guidance throughout the semester. Cary showed me the ropes every step of the way, and showed unending patience as I asked her question after question (and sometimes the same question repeatedly). I also have to thank Cathleen Miller, who like Cary, was always willing to take time out of her day to guide me and answer questions. There are many other people at HSP who helped me along the way, and I extend a big thank you to them as well.

I’m hoping to return to HSP as a volunteer in the new year, so perhaps this is only a temporary farewell. I can also be followed on my personal blog Doing Public History.

Happy Holidays Everyone!