Week Eleven in which the intern is nearing the finish line

     Well dear reader we are quickly reaching the end of summer and thus the end of the internship. I have finished the final segments and have sent them in to Dr. Brotemarkle and now I am putting the finishing touches on the historiography essay/what have I learned essay. I have been busy putting in twenty to thirty hour weeks on the internship on top of working on projects for class and life in general. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it is getting bigger and bigger every day.
     On the subject of "what I have learned" thus far, I have recently finished several essays that dealt with film documentary and what they have to say is very illuminating. The arguments are that documentaries, either in a visual or audio medium, are not less accurate or different than the written output from historians. This has to do with the fact that both essay and book are constructs from the historian just as documentaries are constructs from the film/radio producer. This also has to do with Benjamin's theory of Aura of Authenticity which states that the only true point of authenticity is the exact moment when an event occurred. In terms of radio documentary the true points of authenticity are when the interview is taking place and the moment of description. This all relates to the historian's aim of objectivity and trying to interpret the past as accurately as possible. However a true and 100% accurate narrative is impossible. It all relies on the interpretation of the sources by the historian which is the same thing a documentary creator does when creating their work. Yet while a scholarly work by a historian will contain layers of meaning and interpretation, that deep insight and research does not translate well into documentary. The audiences are different. Scholarly literature has as its audience other scholars while a documentary, both visual and audio, is aimed primarily at the general public. This difference then makes documentary as a form of public history. The documentary though must still remain historically accurate but to present an event, historical actor, or historiographical trend such as a scholarly essay or work does is nigh impossible. The general audience will either become bored or will not understand such an approach.
     When producing my segments this is what I had to keep in mind constantly. I would love nothing more than to give a deeper meaning and tie the segments into a greater historical theme but I only had five minutes to present in and these segments are meant to be listened to by a larger audience rather than other scholars. Believe me I would have loved to go into greater detail on subjects dealing with consensus history and the interviewees memory but I simply did not have the time. Nor would the audience listen. The radio dial would be turned as soon as they became disinterested. Which is not the point the segments should make. They should be listened to but remain historically accurate. Its meaning then is a result of negotiations between myself as producer, the interviewee and subject, and the listening audience.
     That is what I learned this week. Next week I will wrap up this blog and tell you dear reader, how the presentation on the internship went as well as how the historiography essay is going. Until then.

Weeks Nine and Ten, in which our intern is really, really, REALLY busy.

    Greetings and salutations dear reader. I have been extremely busy these last two weeks with the internship, class, a side project, granddaughter, and well...life in general. Remember the picture I posted of the guy juggling chainsaws? Well these last few weeks someone keeps tossing more chainsaws into the juggling act.

Fig. 1. One of the wood-burning trains of the Orange Belt

    Have no fear oh reader. I have it all under control (well that is what I have been telling myself in between doses of omeprezole and tagamet). In between bouts of panic I have managed to complete another segment for the Florida Frontiers program. As I stated earlier, I have dumped the previous ideas for the back up ones. This latest segment is on the old Orange Belt Railway which ran between Lake Monroe (Sanford) and St. Petersburg. The owner was Peter Demiens, owner of a sawmill in Longwood, Florida who took over the railway after the builders defaulted on payment for railroad ties. The first spur went from Lake Monroe to Oakland in west Orange County. The arrival of the railway to Oakland really transformed the town as it became a Railroad town and center for the Orange Belt Railway.

Fig. 2. Orange Belt Railway Pass c. 1900

     The point of the whole segment was that railway history in Florida always seems to center on Plant and Flagler. But what about the other guys who had railways that crisscrossed Florida? What about the ones whose success was not as stellar as the two Henry's? Men like Levy and Demiens built railways that transformed Florida's landscape too but their stories seem to be overshadowed by Plant's and Flagler's. Demiens' and the Orange Belt's impact on Florida was pretty transforming for the west central portion of the state. St. Petersburg was named after Demiens' hometown in Russia and the railway, along with the Florida Midland, carried citrus from the groves to the American public. The impact of the Orange Belt was a pretty big deal.
     The other thing I wanted to stress in the segment was that railroads were not always a success for their owners either. Demiens failure to make any money with the Orange Belt is an example of how risky railroad investment was not only in Florida but the rest of the country. However the transformative element of the railroad altered towns like Oakland, Withlacoochee, Winter Garden, Clermont, Tarpon Springs, and St. Petersburg.
     One last thing I have discovered in the last few weeks that I have been unaware of is the methodology of my work. It really didn't hit me until class discussion on Wednesday. The idea of explaining macro themes through micro stories was explained to us as a growing trend in the present historiography. Ah. The light bulb went off inside my head. By telling these stories I am creating a narrative that ties into larger themes. Not only was I intrigued by this concept I now have something to add to the historiography paper I have to produce at the end of this semester. It all clicks into place.

Week Eight, in which the intern debates switching things up a bit.

    Time, expediency, schedules...three things I am quickly running out of as the summer session winds its way down. Some of my interviewees will not go on tape. I did not schedule things well enough in advance on others. But all is not lost. I have back up. See, I am not new to the oral interview rodeo. I know that reluctance or scheduling conflicts happen. Therefore I put a back up plan in place. Let's hope that doesn't fall through. Otherwise its fly by the seat of my pants time.
     I did send in the first segment. It was received well with minor technical issues which I will fix and resubmit. All part of the learning curve. Again not everything is going according to plan but seriously, did I think it would? All the best laid plans yadda yadda yadda.... What I turn in will be of course, on par with what I originally planned, but I have to think of those three topics that I placed at the beginning of this blog. I am dedicating three to four days a week on this. I am getting my "Stuff" together. I am going to get it done. Am I saying this to reassure, and if I am reassuring whom? Hopefully all involved. As they say in the vernacular "the proof is in the pudding" or "put up or shut up".
     Oh and did I mention that I have not one, but two historiographical essays due? Ah yes, the fun of being a grad student. The ubiquitous historiographical essay. They say, and we all know who they are, these essays are the backbone of graduate work. They are. These essays are also a proverbial time killer whereby they eat copious amounts of time in preparation. Reading, analyzing, notes, rough drafts, final drafts... more reading, more note taking, until you get to the point and say to yourself "OK enough, it needs only to be fifteen pages not fifty." Careful scheduling is needed here and I am a bit anxious (a-hah! an understatement) about getting it all done. Let me just say that it is difficult to write essays and conduct interviews clinging to the ceiling. Loud noises and life's little dramas send me right up into the rafters at this point in the game. Yet all is not bad. Somehow I have this sick ability to use anxiety as a great motivator. Sort of a "flight or fight" response. Thank you amygdala! So I will get all the necessary tasks completed and they will all be executed in the high standards that I place upon myself. This is the sort of mantra that I repeat to myself over and over again in an effort to un-cling myself off of the ceiling at night. Grad students understand. Anyone that has gone through this process understands. I just need to lay off the caffeine.