We regularly feature the interns whose hard work positively impacts the Library. Today’s interview is with a 2023 participant in the Archives, History and Heritage Advanced (AHHA) internship program, Le’Evelyn Hammett. The Library is accepting applications until April 22, 2024 for the fall cohort. Read more about the internship and how to apply on the AHHA 2024 internship opportunity page.
Describe your background.
Hello, I’m Le’Evelyn! I grew up in a rural town called Lake City, South Carolina and currently live just outside of Washington, DC in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
What is your academic/professional history?
Becoming a graduate student in 2021 catapulted me into a career field that combined my education, passions, and experiences. I earned my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina with a minor in African American studies. After teaching middle and high school in Tokyo, Japan and in the Washington, DC area, I decided to return to enter a graduate program for African American studies at Morgan State University. I spent a summer before my final year of graduate school interning with Frederick County Preservation and Planning Department on an oral history project. I then began part-time work as an adjunct professor at Prince George’s Community College to focus on writing my thesis. I have been completing my thesis on the emotions expressed by African American women singing the blues and gospel music in the early 20th century.
How would you describe your internship to other people?
The Supporting Culturally Relevant Pedagogy internship project was an opportunity for us to develop resources for K-12 educators using the primary sources from the digital collections at the Library of Congress. I worked with a fantastic mentor and supervisor in the Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives (PLOI) office at the Library who gave us weekly feedback to hone our ideas and develop projects. The expected outcome of this project was to make the primary sources more relevant and accessible for students in marginalized communities. My internship project focused on the American Folklife Center’s Civil Rights Oral History Project to develop curriculum and lesson plans. The lesson plans focus on intersectionality and a few of the varying organizations and efforts that powered the Civil Rights Movement. I selected clips from ten oral history interviews of women of color for the students to explore the intersections of identity and the intersecting missions of the differing organizations and efforts (NAACP, SNCC, CORE, bus boycotts, voting registration, school integration, etc.)
Why did you want to work at the Library of Congress?
As an educator and historian, I am always thinking about unconventional ways to teach history in engaging ways. I enjoy creating innovative ways to teach latent history that would foster the buy-in of all students that identify in all ways. When I saw this opportunity, I knew that it was a perfect way to fuse my interests, passions, education and experience all into one project. I was looking forward to learning more about the Library of Congress and how the employees there used their own resources. I also wanted an opportunity to work with like-minded professionals to help me hone my research skills and to show me the various ways to think about archival collections.
What is the most interesting fact you have learned about the Library of Congress?
I was thrilled to find out about all of the available resources that the public has access to through the Library’s digital collections. Federal organizations can appear intimidating to many and may make people feel less inclined to access the available materials. However, I learned how much is accessible at the Library of Congress and how to find what you are looking for using research guides, the Ask a Librarian feature and simply toggling through the various filters.
What is something most of your co-workers do not know about you?
My co-workers probably don’t know that I am learning to sew and do special effects make-up. In my spare time, I am trying to find a way to fuse my interest in historical fashion into my academic and professional work.
Visit the AHHA Overview page to hear Le’Evelyn and fellow AHHA interns share their experiences and project discoveries.
Comments
Le’Evelyn is a super young women whose drive is exceptional. She knows what she wants for herself academically but she is mostly focused on using her experiences and acquired knowledge to make this world a better place. I have worked with her a personally she was always pleasant and caring in her social relations. I found her to be a young woman who is determined to go far and take others with her with love and an ever-sharing spirit. Bravo Ms. H!