At the end of May Evie joined the Archives and Heritage Team at the Staffordshire History Centre for a week of work experience. We asked Evie to write a blog to share her thoughts on her week with us.

“Hello, my name is Evie and I’m a first year A-level student at Blessed William Howard Catholic High School. I first heard about this work experience from my grandma who absolutely loves the Staffordshire History Centre and thought I ought to email and see if there was a placement available. Fortunately, for me there was. I’ve always been deeply interested in history but had no idea where the subject could take me in terms of a job role. This has been a truly enlightening experience and now I know what heritage and archiving is. I’ve lived in Stafford my whole life and learning more about it was such a rewarding experience.

Monday

In the morning, I was shown around the site and I was surprised at just how big the Staffordshire History Centre is and how much actually goes on behind the scenes. Everyone that we bumped into to were absolutely lovely and so welcoming, making it a relaxing work environment.

After the tour, I was introduced to Lizzie the Learning Officer, and given a brief insight into her job role. I learnt about all the wonderful things she does with the local school including walking tours and an array of activities. Working with children has always been a passion of mine so her job sounded really incredible. Then, I was tasked with making an activity for the county show. This involved me researching different items and writing a small bit about them which was incredibly interesting. I had to then laminate everything which I’ve never done before so that was really exciting!

In the afternoon, I was introduced to Lisa, the service Conservator who tasked me and a college group to make folders and boxes to conserve the history in some of the books that were falling apart. I love a hands on activity so this was great for me and whilst it was quite challenging at the beginning after a while I got the hang of it and it was brilliant. Lisa was very encouraging and lovely to be around making the experience that much better. One of my boxes actually made it on the shelf so I found that really fabulous. This was all in all a very rewarding day and I now can appreciate the amount of work and effort that goes into everything at this site.

Tuesday

I was first tasked by Lizzie with making posters to explain the science behind cyanotypes, which are an old way of making photographs. This was great as I got to research the history of them, and it allowed me to build my creative skills immensely. I made two other posters one of Anna Atkins and another of fun facts about photography. Both of which are going to be used over the summer, so this was very fulfilling. Then, I helped with bringing in the items for the new exhibition, this allowed me to see how much organisational and physical work goes into what the Staffordshire History Centre does.

After lunch, I was directed to the William Salt Library and told to research about the weird and wonderful which will be made into a page that acts as a challenge for the children who visit the centre. This was fun as I got to look through a bunch of old magazines and it improved my research skills greatly.

Later, I was introduced to accessioning which is how all the historical documents get recorded and labelled. This gave me an insight into just the sheer amount of work that is put in to ensure everything is recorded and documented. I was allowed to sew on a label to one of the items which was so amazing and showed me just how delicately everything is treated so the history can be preserved.

Wednesday

In the morning, I was given the task of making bunting for the country show. This entailed me cutting out flags of felt and cloth and stapling them to a string. I found this extremely mindful and thoroughly enjoyed doing it! Later in the day I was introduced to Claire and Amanda who are both History Centre Assistants, and they talked to me about what their job role is. Their job seemed to be incredibly fast paced and involved a lot of time management. I was shown how the documents were filed and how they answer emails about people wanting to access the archives. All-in-all I have gained a deeper appreciation of what they do and just how amazing their job is, I’m now considering going into the archiving field.

Thursday

In the morning, I was introduced to Rebecca, one of the Collections Officers. She took me up to the strongrooms, there I got to see just how many historical documents the centre has. I was then shown how the volunteers index all the documents allowing them to be accessible to the public. Rebecca tasked me with indexing the Werrington Boys Approved School Index which I found to be really interesting and mindful. It allowed me to see the effort that goes into the centre’s catalogue. I had a really amazing time and would definitely do this again. 

In the afternoon, I was introduced to Ben, the team’s Digital Officer who gave me the task of using Staffordshire Pasttrack to research any photos to do with archaeology in Stafford and then write their reference numbers down. From this I have gained valuable research skills and greater confidence in using online databases. It was really interesting to learn about all the history that has been right in front of me, but I never saw before.

Friday

I was tasked by Sarah the Engagement and Access Manager to write this blog in order to reflect on my time at the Staffordshire History Centre. This experience has been truly enlightening and has meant I now know what careers a history degree provides. I hope through this I have passed across my gratitude and respect for all the workers here, I thank everyone for allowing me into their work and giving me such great support and guidance through my time here. Thank you once again for this opportunity and I hope I will come back soon.”