Teen Interns Reflect: Personal Journeys in the Library’s Collections

This summer, a cohort of teens learned about the Library of Congress as part of the High School Summer Internship.  The interns were introduced to Library collections and initiatives, including the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and the Preservation Directorate. While the interns learned more about the Library, they also shared their perspectives and insights with Library staff, providing detailed information about what they found interesting and wanted to share with other teens around the world. The work they completed this summer will serve as a resource for Library staff in upcoming projects.

As the interns learned about the Library’s collections, they also discovered items that sparked their own interests. Follow along as five of these interns preview The Source: Creative Research Studio for Kids, the Library’s new education center, by sharing about collections items that resonated with them. The interns below found their own connections to personal journeys that are preserved in the Library’s collections, in photos, films, audio recordings, and more.

Immigration Journeys

“I can almost imagine myself sitting in that classroom in 1982, where students talked to each other in a mix of Khmer and English, with the chalkboard filled with painstaking script. This photo at the Khmer Village School from the Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools Collection in Houston caught my eye not just because I am Khmer, but because it speaks a tale I know. It shows a group of Cambodian American children in the front of a classroom. Even though it seems like just any regular classroom, it signifies something more. These children were likely refugee kids, learning and finding normalcy again after their families had fled the Khmer Rouge. I wondered what they would be studying that day…English? Khmer history? Both? At this school, while the children learned Khmer to stay connected to their heritage, many of their parents were learning English in adjacent classrooms, bridging generations through language. The chalkboard, the students’ smiles, and their postures bring me back to my own school days, but with the added weight of cultural survival and the need to hold onto identity in a new world. Seeing their faces made me reflect on my own story and how important it is to feel seen and heard in the classroom. Does this classroom photo remind you of your own time in school? What feels familiar to you in their expressions, their setting, or the atmosphere? Take a moment to imagine what their day might have looked like and what lessons they carried with them beyond the classroom.”

-Ethan Ty

“Can you imagine packing your entire life into a suitcase, saying goodbye to the streets you grew up in, and trading every familiarity for the unknown — all for the promise of a new beginning in a distant land? Over 12 million American immigrants who passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1956 lived out this experience. For many, Ellis Island was more than just a port of entry into the United States; it was the “Golden Door,” as Emma Lazarus’s coins in her poem “The New Colossus,” to possibility. In this photo, a young boy stands on Ellis Island, pointing towards the Statue of Liberty — a patriotic symbol that greeted millions of immigrants on their way to the immigration station. Though we only see the backs of this family, what do you imagine their faces reveal? Awe? Anxiety? Hope? These are timeless emotions — ones that thread through so many immigrant stories. While my parents immigrated to the U.S. long after Ellis Island closed, their journey was shaped by similar tides. With less than two hundred dollars in their pockets, my parents left China, driven by the hopes that carried so many before: access to education, economic stability, and a chance to build a better life they could call their own. Can you find a collection item that captures an aspect of your own lived or inherited, familial experience? What memories or stories come to mind?”

-Claire Tang

Veteran Stories

Vietnam Remembers, Mark Ryan Black Collection (Veterans History Project, Library of Congress)

“Why is learning history important? While everyone has different reasons, mine is to learn and preserve stories from the past that would otherwise be forgotten. As a docent on a naval battleship, I interviewed veterans to create a new exhibit showing their experiences. My experience working with veteran stories drew me to the Veterans History Project, specifically the recordings of Mark Ryan Black from his time serving in Vietnam. This is an example of oral histories effectively preserving stories from the past. In the recording, I was shocked not only by Black’s emotionally raw account of his service, but the humanity he wrote with as well. Descriptions of the deaths of fellow soldiers (12:46) were accompanied with comparatively trivial matters like building a bachelor pad (10:56), or celebrating a birthday with banana cake and grape frosting sent from home (10:34). What stuck with me most, though, was how his observations about food, family, and life away from Vietnam made the conflict more real than any textbook. His words remind us that while history is often learned through generalizations, the nuances that come from the study of individuals and everyday details make the personal impact of this education much more powerful.  However, the most impactful way to experience these stories is from someone in your own life. If you are 15 years old or older, create your own Veterans History Project recording by interviewing a veteran you know!”

-Ryan Chiou

“This picture of 18-year-old Phyllis Ann Marxson Clark working on a B-17F navy bomber’s transparent nose in Long Beach, California captivated me with its quiet strength. The photograph reflects the stories of thousands of women who entered industrial jobs during World War II and is considered part of the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” era. A distinct visual contradiction drew me in: Phyllis’s graceful posture set against the industrial machinery, her red nail polish clashing with a bandage wrapped around her finger. To me, this detail highlights the tension between the harshness of her labor and her desire to maintain a sense of femininity and identity amid the societal shifts, new roles, and expectations brought on by wartime. However, these elements provoke more questions than answers for me: What is this woman’s story? What meaning did she associate with her work? Did she have to leave it behind after the war ended and reenter a world that no longer believed her skills were necessary? This photo is a powerful reminder that wars aren’t just fought on battlefields. They’re shaped by the steady movements and quiet dedication of workers like her.

To learn more about women like Phyllis, explore this helpful “Rosie the Riveter” research guide or watch this video on the lives of women workers during WWII.”

-Emmy Poteralski

Survival Through Hardship

Government Camp Song from Shafter FSA Camp, August 8, 1941. (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)

“Every summer, hundreds and thousands of American kids gather together at camps. From American Legion Boys and Girls States to local YMCA’s, these camps leave their mark on our youth. When I first heard about the piece I selected, I thought it was written at a summer camp. I found out instead that it was written at a Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp: a place where migrant farm workers lived during the Great Depression. This song was written by two young girls with gleeful voices, but the song is not about happy experiences. Instead, the singers cope with their own reality, which is something I’ve observed about songs from the Civil Rights Movement. That is the reason that I picked the song. Everyone—no matter race, gender, religion, or sexuality—knows what it feels like to find something that comforts them in times of despair. As a rising senior, my comfort is watching movies because they give me hope. Hope is the greatest tool that we have, as it reminds us that this too shall pass. In your own trying times, I ask you to find something that comforts you, whether it is from the Library of Congress or somewhere else.”

-Dylan Lewis

These teens discovered meaningful connections in Library material featured in The Source. What connections can you discover in the Library’s collections? Follow along as we share more of the Summer High School interns’ explorations into the Library’s collection over the next few weeks.