AHHA Intern Spotlight: Jala Robertson

This blog post features Jala Robertson, one of the Serial & Government Publications Division interns from the Library’s 2024 Archives, History, and Heritage Advanced (AHHA) program. This fall, Robertson researched and wrote 10 research guides about African American and Hispanic American people and groups from articles in the Chronicling America* Historic American Newspapers database.

In this interview with Robin Pike, Head, Digital Collections Services Section, Robertson shares her research interests and background, her internship experience, and more about the project “Increasing Access to African American and Hispanic American Stories in Chronicling America.”

Tell us a little about your background. What led you to apply for an Archives, History and Heritage Advanced (AHHA) internship?

I am a current graduate student at Simmons University for the master’s in library and information science with a concentration in Cultural Heritage Informatics. In Spring 2023, I completed my Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in African American Studies from the University of South Carolina. I am pursing professional opportunities that contribute to my career and personal interests. The AHHA program combines my passions for research, writing, and cultural anthropology which focuses on diverse narratives of human memory. I also applied to AHHA because I knew it would challenge me to work with primary resources, improve my information organization strategies, and my understanding of content management systems such as the Springshare LibGuide application. AHHA was also a chance for me to experience working in a government library and understand if whether I would like to pursue government work in the future.

What project did you work on this fall?

I worked on “Increasing Access to African American and Hispanic American Stories in Chronicling America” in the Serials & Government Publications Division. In this project, I created “Topics in Chronicling America” research guides that use newspapers as primary sources and highlighted African American and Hispanic American people and organizations that were featured in the 19^th and 20^th century press.

The research guides I created cover:

• Arthur Ashe
• Eartha Kitt
• Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. (Muhammad Ali)
• Constance Baker Motley
• Gabriela Mistral
• Gregorio Cortez
• Lillian Holland Harvey
• Roberto Clemente
• Tuskegee Airmen
• Zora Neale Hurston

Why did you choose to research these people and organizations?

I selected topics that could be engaging for the intended audience of middle and high school students. With a background in African American history and a special interest in Southern Studies, I also selected topics which I have worked with in the past and believed they would benefit from the program’s goals of increasing access to primary source material. I found joy working with a significant amount of entertainment figures and professional athletes and I hope that current and future students will have the same excitement when using the guides.

What was the most interesting thing you found?

While researching for the Tuskegee Airmen guide, I discovered a vast amount of contemporary newspaper coverage. In addition to learning about military terms and the growth of the squadrons to accurately attribute titles, ranks, etc., I saw how language and attitudes describing the group shifted over time. I collaborated with colleagues in the Library’s Veterans History Project to fact-check the Tuskegee guide. I felt supported by the ability to work with experts across the Library.

Beyond my research on the Tuskegee guide, it was exciting to see nearby articles in the newspapers which highlighted consumerism trends, concerns, and local events.

Is there anything else you would like to share about the newspapers in Chronicling America or about your research?

I want to highlight the value of Chronicling America and the potential of the Topics in Chronicling America research guides to continuously expand and improve access. As of fall 2024, Chronicling America offers digitized newspapers up to 1963, 327 African American titles, and 88 titles in Spanish, but that does not mean African American and Hispanic American history concludes there. As more newspapers are digitized and uploaded to the repository, we will see more coverage of geographic regions and across all years. I am interested to see how newly-digitized newspapers will enable future additions to the research guides and enhance existing information.

*The Chronicling America historic newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.