Service Learning Update: Recollection Wisconsin

This summer, the Material Culture Program at UW-Madison is sponsoring five undergraduate students at local historical societies and museums in the Madison area. The Summer Service Learners gain real-world work experience and put the skills they've learned in the classroom to practical use, and the host organizations receive help with projects they may not otherwise have the time, staff, or other resources to complete. In this post, Ally Hrkac reports on her work with Recollection Wisconsin, a statewide digital collection of historical resources.

I have been spending my summer as part of the Material Culture Service Learning project working with Recollection Wisconsin, developing features for the online site. I’ve enjoyed perusing multiple databases for old and unique photographs that are specific to Wisconsin. I’m thankful for the opportunity to create features that enhance my knowledge of our state and that are of interest to me and to the general public.

I like that this project has challenged me to frame history in a way that is new to me – why are we looking at these photos, and how are they relevant today? What kind of story does this collection of photos tell viewers? What is the common theme that threads all of these photos in the feature together? I have been working on shifting my writing to effectively answer these questions. The project is so much more that compiling a slideshow of photos – and so much more rewarding.

The first feature I wrote was about memoir writing. I looked at a variety of old documents – letters written by immigrants in Wisconsin to families abroad, wartime stories, environmentalist observations and reflections, memoirs about Wisconsin living – and was able to draw connections between these very different sources. I had to think realistically about why these people and historical figures wrote, and I also had to think about why we write today. I thought it was very neat to read writing from such a long time ago yet that is still relevant in this day and age. I am continuing to develop features that are meaningful and to which we can relate and reminisce.

I loved seeing my first feature after it went live on the Recollection Wisconsin site. I have a new appreciation for the writers, publishers, web designers, etc. who make these things possible. As a writer who works “off the field” for this service project, I find my desktop piling up with pages and pages of pictures, information, research, e-mails, and reference sites that help me along the process (see screen shot below).

Finally, I am currently working on integrating educational resources into the site for teachers to use Recollection Wisconsin in the classroom to meet the Common Core Standards. I just graduated UW-Madison with a degree in education, so I am very excited to be able to apply my area of study and my passion to my work with the site. I will be working on developing ideas for teachers to use the site, lesson plans, and ways to meet the Common Core.

Overall this has been a great experience – I love seeing the photos that represent our history as a state; I am learning so much and am proud to be working on spreading some Wisconsin knowledge.

--Ally Hrkac