Today was mostly a day of general housekeeping not only for us interns but also for the Library and Research Center as well. We said fond farewells to the dust bunnies that have lined the walls since week 1 as WWPL maintenance staff dusted and vacuumed around us before proceeding downstairs to mop the hall.
After they left it was just Ashley and I and no more furry friends left in sight.
Cue Paul McCartney’s classic “Another Day”.
I managed to get through two collections during our day long shift — our only one this week since Mark left on his trip. Normally it’d take me four morning shifts to knock out two collections, but there’s something to be said about working 9-5 or, well, 9:30-5. I’d like think Miss Parton would give me some leeway there.
The press statements collection was fascinating to go through, researching Joseph P. Tumulty even more so. Before interning I really knew nothing about Wilson’s staffing of the White House let alone the fact that Tumulty’s secretarial position paved the way for what we now as a White House Chief of Staff. Delving into the working relationship between Tumulty and Wilson was honestly a click hole I should have known to avoid, but it was an interesting chain of events to follow in terms of Tumulty’s opposition to Wilson’s second marriage and his offer of resignation among other things. It was better than daytime TV, basically.
After that I moved onto the Manning Gift collection which is entirely just letters and envelopes from correspondences exchanged amongst the immediate Wilson family. I didn’t try to actively transcribe any of the letters, but boy did I try. From what little chunks I could make out the typical conversations seemed to include daily life, work and inquires about health. The envelopes were honestly my favorite part; there’s just something cute about them. They’re like little vehicles of communication that show where your letter’s been and where it’s going and boy did these envelopes have some travel diaries. The ones sent from Pondicherry in French India were the best — the stamps on them were still vibrant and came from somewhere I’ve only ever dreamed of visiting. At least I can say I’ve actually touched something from there, right?
Enjoy the little things.
