>> Hello, everybody. [Inaudible] Office at the Library of Congress, and welcome to today's Online Office Hours, the Library of Congress. Today we're going to be hearing from our two junior fellows in the Learning and Innovation Office, Keely Shaw and Liza Whitfield. Really happy they're able to join us today. Just so you know, this event will be recorded, and any questions or other participant contributions may be made publicly available as part of the Library's archives. As I said, we're really glad that you're able to join us either live today or by recording. If this your first time joining us, welcome. If not, welcome back. These Office Hours, as many of you know, are meant to be short and informal conversational sessions. There's going to be a 20-minute presentation, and then we'll open it up for Q and A and conversation. And you'll have an opportunity to talk to the presenters and each other via the chat. So we're going to just get started with the chat. Keely, if you can go to the next slide. So all of you, if you could just let us know where you're joining us from, the subjects and grade levels that you teach, and your first name, that'd be really helpful. As I said, today's episode is focused on our junior fellows, and we're excited to hear about their research and their reflections on what the summer has been like as a virtual intern at the Library of Congress. We're joined by Liza Whitfield. She's from New Orleans, Louisiana. And Keely Shaw, she's in San Angelo, Texas. If you have questions or comments at any point during the presentation, please feel free to post them in the chat box. We'll also be posting links there and can answer any questions that come up, or of course I'm happy to pose them to Keely and Liza during Q and A. So now I'm very happy to pass things over to our presenters. >> Hi. So I'm Liza. I will be kicking things off. This is Calling the Shots. It's a compilation of primary sources that are all available online, and it has to do with American nursing during the interwar period. That's the period between World War I and World War II. So a little bit about me. That's me right there. I just graduated from Loyola University New Orleans. I got a bachelor's in history. And I have about a year or two's experience in Loyola's Special Collections and Archives. And my senior year I was really fortunate to be able to work on an independent research project with a few of the faculty members in Loyola's History Department, and that project had to do with mosquito control. So my interests primarily lie in medical history and epidemiology, but I really love New Orleans history as well. And I've really loved, you know, learning from Keely and her interests and sort of finding where those merged and letting our interests just guide our project. >> And I'm Keely. [Inaudible], and I go to school here at ASU, which is Angelo State University. I study history and I focus on gender and sexuality, with a specific focus on lesbian communities in the 1940s and '50s. I previously worked on something called the War Stories Project, which was a National Endowment for Humanities-funded oral history project that aimed to collect stories of veterans from basically any point in the 20th century. And some stuff in the 21st. But I currently work in our university and regional archive West Texas Collection. Been there for close to two years now, which is pretty exciting. And it's a small archive, but I've gotten a lot of hands-on experience there. And I was really looking to branch out with this internship into more kind of the educational side of things. I'm exploring career options still. I still have another year of college. But yeah. So I was really excited to get this internship and to be able to work with Liza and Steven and Kalina [assumed spelling] and everybody at the Library because you guys have all been so wonderful. But to talk more about our project, like Kalina said, if you have questions or anything, just put them in the chat box. But to speak more about our project, Liza and I are very different people. And it became immediately clear that we weren't sure where exactly our interests were going to intersect. It was -- epidemiology and gender studies seemed like on the surface very, very different things. And they are. I'm not going to deny that. But with our broad topic of public health we started poking around and trying to decide kind of where we might be able to both be engaged with the material and bring our own expertises to it. So we started looking at nurses. And we eventually settled on, like, the interwar period. A lot went into that. Because Liza and I, we really wanted to provide a set of sources that was not only timely but, like, practical in a classroom setting. And so we knew early on that we were going to have to fill in the gaps in our experience with educators and by talking with our office's staff and attending as many online seminars as we possibly could, which I think we both did. We got a lot of professional development this summer and really learned a lot. But between all of that, between, like, our consulting with everyone that we could possibly consult with and our own interests and the current pandemic we're like, oh, perfect. We'll talk about Spanish Flu for a while. And so we did. We started digging around for the Spanish Flu, or Spanish Flu-related sources, and realized that the time period was of interest. There's lots of cool things. It seemed really fitting for teachers working during a pandemic to be teaching the sources about a pandemic. So it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool. But we also realized that there was potential for a larger focus than just the pandemic, especially if we started looking specifically at nurses and not just -- just the Spanish Flu as a whole. So we started to really expand. And this is where we ended up with the interwar period and nurses. So we ended up with some central questions around the idea of nurses. So like, how and why did public nursing grow in prominence during the interwar years? How did nursing change during this period? And how did gender impact nurses' work? And we found some really wonderful sources, including music, photos, interviews, and even a film. And we'll talk a little bit more about how these sources are being used or could be used towards the end of this presentation. But I really want to talk about some of the really cool sources we found. So first off is this awesome film. It's called The Forgotten Frontier. It was created by the Frontier Nursing Service in 1930 and it is fascinating. So it's a silent film that reenacts some of the tasks and situations that nurses handled on the Service or had already handled at some point in the past. And it's interesting for a number of reasons beyond the fact that it's just old. It shows how these women worked and the kind of work they completed. It shows them the social situations. It shows little glimpses into how they might have lived and the horses -- ride horseback to reach their patients. Who would have thought it? It makes sense thinking about it, but it was really weird to see for the first time. And they wore their hair super short. They wore pants. And so beyond, like, this imagery, there's also this commentary offered by the film itself. During the silent film it has little slides that come up with little comments in white text. And so the way it frames their work and what they're doing is quite interesting because I'm not sure anyone would consider Appalachia the frontier, even in the '30s. But that's how the creator framed their work, as if they're serving a land forgotten by time. And so even just looking at, like, the kind of commentary created by this film, it's a weird kind of tension between, like, rural nursing and urban nursing. And so kind of getting to look at that as well as all the gendered implications of the film has been quite interesting. It's about 45 minutes, but seriously, just, like, five minutes of it is plenty to kind of get these tensions to come to the surface. Next up we have a couple interviews I wanted to touch on. So both of these interviews were -- well, I'm going to talk about this one first. So this is an interview with a nurse that is still working during the 1930s. And so she has a slightly different perspective than any of the earlier photos or interviews, and even the interview that we're going to talk about next, because she's still working as a nurse. So she's talking about a few of her experiences as a nurse and explains how nurses are not able to treat patients once a doctor is called. And it kind of shows the structure of nursing in a way that we don't really get from the photos. It's a lot to take in. It's a short interview. It's only about six pages. But some of the stuff she talks about -- and I highlighted it right here -- she's talking about this child that has a really bad case of pneumonia. And she says it's a pathetic case but only one of many, which implies that these are the kind of things that she's seeing all the time. So we get a lot from this interview in terms of viewing the structure and the kind of problems that nurses are dealing with. But this interview, in my opinion, is equally if not more interesting. So this was an interview completed in the same year by a different person. It's much longer. It's over 20 pages long. But it's with a nurse that hasn't worked during these hard times during the Great Depression. So she worked as a nurse from, like, the 1920s. She got her certificate in nursing, which is also a different change from what we had seen before. And it also offers this look into not only the structure of nursing and how it was growing into, like, a proper profession that was being -- where you have exams and things to pass, but also into the personal life of nurses and some of the economic hardships that some of these nurses are facing, which ties us into our next source. I stole this one from Liza. She normally talks about the photos. But I thought that this one fit really well with the discussion I'm about to have. So this photo is of a nurse working with a tuberculosis patient to show her how to create her own paper cups. It's quite sweet. She's very close to a tuberculosis patient. I am no expert, but that does not seem like six feet, and she does not have on personal protective equipment. But it's quite sweet. She's showing how nurses could fulfill this other role of, like, emotional caretaker. They weren't just in charge of medical well-being for a lot of these patients. They were also there to help them and comfort them, which is not always the way people view nurses. And it shows kind of the double duty that a lot of these nurses were playing. And it could also lead you into questions about why nurses were the ones that were expected to be the emotional caretakers other than anyone else, which leads me into a whole different gender discussion. But the other reason I wanted to include this photo was because this source is one of the few that we pulled that included photos of a black nurse. And there weren't many to be found, which is unfortunate because we know that black nurses were around and doing work and doing good work just like white nurses were. But it's hard to find sources for that. And this is one of those times where we have to really examine why those sources might not exist and have that discussion. It's an important discussion to have because it's not just for nurses. It's for a lot of different resources. So teaching about why these sources either weren't created or weren't considered valuable by archives or museums or suppositories is an important discussion to have because it does shape our historical narrative. And with that, I'll toss the ball over to Liza. >> Thank you. So I thought that -- I have just a few newspaper clippings for you all. But the first one I'm including is -- was published in 1940 starting towards the end of our period, but I thought that it would be great to provide some supporting evidence for the Frontier Nursing Service. And so of course Mrs. Breckinridge is the woman who formed that service. And so Keely and I really think that The Forgotten Frontier, the silent film that Keely discussed earlier, really is the gem in this collection. We were absolutely over the moon when we found it. And so I thought that this would be a really great example of how some of the sources in our collection can be used in tandem. And so if you have a student asking questions or making assumptions about the silent film, I think that something like this, which is -- you know, comes out a decade afterwards can provide some deeper insight and can be used to support claims. Additionally, I think that this is really great because it ties into this sort of east versus west discussion that Keely touched on a little bit earlier. And so even though Mrs. Breckinridge is working primarily on the Eastern Seaboard, we still get the sense that there's sort of a, you know, undertones of western expansion. And even in 1940 it makes it so interesting because that's so -- you know, it's pretty far along into the 20th century. So you can go ahead and go to the next one. So these next two sort of work in tandem as well. So this is a bit earlier. This is 1918, and of course this is at the tail end of World War I and during the Spanish Influenza pandemic. So this is published by The Evening Telegram of New York. And so this is a quote from this Mrs. L. S. Higbee, who is chief of the Navy Nurse Corps during this period. And so a lot of what we found, especially in newspapers, was this discussion that was going on between medical professionals and the actual journalists themselves. And so medical professionals would utilize these publications to call for, you know, nurses. Because of course during this period, you know, you're going through a pandemic, you're going through a war, you are experiencing a shortage of not only medical supplies but the medical personnel themselves. And so we have people like Mrs. Higbee who are, you know, reaching out and they're saying -- you know, advocating for this nursing service. They are -- you know, they're really begging for, you know, women to fill these roles. And, you know, here we see that Mrs. Higbee is looking for a really practical sort of person to fulfill a really practical sort of duty. And so if we look at our next one we have something that is very different. So this is by The New York Tribune. This is May 4th, 1918. And so this discusses a young nurse who comes from a Park Avenue family. And so, of course, we have the lovely picture of her. And so I thought it was great because the -- well, of course she talks about having to eat horse meat in Belgium and things like that, and she was actually rewarded [inaudible] for her bravery. She did a lot of great work in Belgium. But this journalist is really marveling at the fact that, you know, this little woman, you know, this beautiful young woman can perform such daring, you know, feats. Can be so brave. And not only that, but can want to go back. Of course, when this is published she's visiting her family, and, you know, this male journalist is, you know, amazed that she could want to do that. So again, we just thought that that was great. So moving on. I only have one photo for you today, but we have several to choose from. And so this is a photo of the St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps. This is in October of 1918, so around the same time that those articles were published. And Keely and I like this one because it provides a good example of the versatility of some of our pieces. And so of course you might be struck by the style of the uniforms. You know, it's very practical, sort of rugged. And of course, you know, if we're talking about teaching during a pandemic, you know, how -- you know, how more fitting can you get than a photo of women, you know, wearing their masks over a century before our time. You can go to the next. And so of course posters, especially when we're talking about World War I and World War II, are always a favorite. So, you know, we love that there's a written component and illustrations as well. And we really like this artwork. I was immediately drawn to the fact that it -- that, you know, this nurse is portrayed in such a -- you know, such a rugged sort of way. Of course, it harkens back to the discussion about Frontier Nursing Service. You know, she is riding her horse. She's very independent. You know, she's doing whatever it takes. And I thought that it was interesting that she's depicted -- it looks like she's depicted riding astride, which is, of course, one leg on either side of the horse rather than sidesaddle, which is the traditionally feminine way of riding a horse. And of course in 1918 that still would have been common. And so, you know, if we're talking about mass consumption of something like this, which is really almost like an advertisement, and we're talking about, you know, views of women during this period and how we're portraying women, it's rather interesting that this woman, this nurse, is portrayed in a really masculine sort of way. You can go to the next. And so the last thing that we have is this really great find. It is sheet music. And so this tune is called "I Never Believed in Angels Until I Met You." And again, this is 1918. This is by Peter DeRose and Robert Roden. So we really like a lot of things about this. We really like the lyrics and how they tie into our discussion and how beautiful the artwork is on the front page. I've included the chorus on this slide. I'm going to read a little bit of it to you. And so it goes, You are sweetheart and mother to sad hearts that yearn. You brighten their sweet dreams of home-fires that burn. You were sent from above on a mission of love. I never believed in angels until I met you. And so of course, this goes along with this great imagery to your left. And you can see, you know, if we're talking about nurses and we're talking about how people are thinking about nurses during this period, then you can see how providing something like this to students, you know, popular music from the time, could add really something extra to our understanding of those views and sort of the dynamic nature of nursing during this period. So yes, we're going to ask you about possible uses. We have loved getting feedback during this entire project. And so, you know, if we think about all of these together, we're really excited because we think that this can provide a really great picture of nursing on the whole in America during this time. And we're really hoping that teachers will jump on the opportunity to discuss, you know, change in fashions, labor practices, you know, racial differences in the field, and, I mean, more broadly, gender roles as well. So and these are just a few. You know, we're really excited to be able to provide quite a lot to all of you. And we really hope that teachers are going to get a lot of use out of this in the coming months. We know that, you know, the landscape is going to look very different, so we wanted to provide something that was really, really practical. And, you know, we have loved getting to work in the Learning and Innovation Office with Steven and Kalina and everyone, and I know that this will stay with me for a long time. I'm sure Keely feels the same way. So we hope you enjoyed it, and we'd love to answer your questions now. >> Great. Thank you so much, Keely and Liza, for your presentation. I see Steven in the chat, and, you know, we both have really enjoyed working with you. And I definitely enjoyed learning, you know, through you and from you on this, I guess, research journey. So I have a couple of questions, and I hope that others will post their questions as well. I just saw that Danna mentioned your -- the link to the Display Day website. So I hope that everyone will be able to check out the work that you've done that's displayed on that page, as well as the other junior fellows. And so couple of questions that I have for you. So you -- I think, Keely, you mentioned kind of earlier on the idea of filling in the gaps, and I was really curious about just how you see this summer experience and the research that you've done sort of fitting into your sort of overall research interests or any of your career considerations, if at all. So let's talk about that. >> Yeah. So I, as we have discussed in the past, am nothing but a lowly undergrad who is still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. >> An important point. >> Yes. It's important to question yourself and what you want to do. But I generally settled more on the educational side of either a museum or an archive or a library. And I had kind of sensed that's where I was headed when I applied to this internship, so I was just trying to confirm for myself some things. And they were confirmed. But yeah, like, in terms of filling in the gaps, not only personally but just looking at this research, like, stuff with black nurses and trying to figure out where resources are and looking not necessarily for resources themselves but where they would have been or reading between the lines is very similar to kind of some of the research I've already done. Queer history is hard to do. It's hard to study. It's hard to look for sources. A lot of sources aren't marked in archives. It's a difficult journey. And I think this just honed some of those skills for me a little bit further in terms of research skills. But yeah, overall I think it's given me some clarity in terms of what I want to do with my life, which is nice. But yeah. >> And what about you, Liza? >> Yeah. I think that -- echoing Keely, I think, you know, of course undergrad is a lot about, you know, not knowing, exactly what you want to do and trying to find yourself. And I think that, you know, I -- you know, I'm a recent graduate now, and I was definitely looking for some direction. And I was, you know -- Keely and Steven and Kalina know, I was originally supposed to be a reading room attendant. So my role was going to be very different. And so I really jumped at the idea, actually, of taking on something that I, you know, didn't necessarily have that much experience in. I think that it's made my, you know, time as a junior fellow that much richer because I've gotten to really get out of my comfort zone and do something that, you know, I never thought I might have done. And it's definitely sparked, you know, a bit of a passion as far as, you know, interacting and creating and working with K through 12 educators. I think it's been a really special experience. I'm very grateful for it. >> That's great. Well, I know it maybe wasn't what you initially intended, but I'm, you know, glad it's been -- you've been able to, you know, exercise your sort of flexibility, and I guess, you know, also gain new skills that maybe you didn't anticipate, you know, gaining this summer. >> Yes. I've gotten to convert her a little bit on some of these things. I'm quite proud. >> No. That's great. So yeah, say some more about that. You know, what did you learn from each other, you know, reflecting on the gaps that you saw sort of early on? >> I learned so much about mosquitoes you would not believe. But, like, more seriously, Liza just knows so much about so many things that I don't know about. And it's so great to be able to work so closely with her because I feel like sometimes I also get stuck in my little gender bubble, which is comfortable, but I like to reach out of that. And it was really nice to have somebody there that wasn't exactly in my normal field of study. It was really wonderful to try and learn how our fields connected. And we found connections quite easily actually, which I was not expecting. But it was really wonderful to, like, learn how to bridge that gap on an everyday basis. You know what I mean? It's not just one presentation where we're looking for connections. It was every day we were looking to share something that the other might not have thought of, which was wonderful. >> Yeah. I loved -- I loved the fact that, you know, this sort of combination was a bit unconventional. I think, you know, considering -- I mean, it was helpful that, you know, Steven and Kalina, you know, provided sort of a broad, you know, place from which to sort of jump into things. But I mean, it was definitely an exercise unlike anything, you know, that I've gotten to done -- I've gotten to do in undergrad. Yeah. But I think that, you know, Keely is -- it helps to work with someone who's very, very passionate about, you know, what they are studying and what they're -- what they'd like to explore. And so of course, like, you know, Keely could have been studying anything and, you know, just, you know, her passion for it just, you know, is very -- truly, it is - it's really inspiring. It's very, very nice to work with someone who cares. So that's what I'll say about that. >> No. That's great. Well, that's great that you were able to, yeah, just forge that connection, you know, despite I guess never having met in person, right? Like, you are virtual interns and also virtual, I guess, partner interns. >> Oh, that's crazy to think about. Oh, man. >> That's pretty cool, actually. Well, I guess going back to this idea of passion, Savannah has asked, since you both have experience working in archives and working in libraries, what would you suggest archives -- archivists do to make collections more accessible and to make it easier to find these unique resources? So I guess the resources that you came across. Ooh. Any advice? >> I don't know about advice. I've been the person working on digitizing things for a long time now. And that -- I think part of the limitation for us was that we were looking strictly with what the Library had completely available online. Because I know we came across several different resources that we might have had access to at the Library that would have been quite helpful. So, like, the founder of the Frontier Nursing Service, like, all of her papers are at the Library, and that could have really offered us some insight. The journals with some of the photographers and interviewers for some of the resources are also available at the Library. And that is a question of location and digitization capabilities, I think. Like, if we had been in the Library it wouldn't have been a problem, but we're not. So the only way to overcome that is a huge digitization project, which I would never wish on anyone. I have been part of those digitization projects. And they're very valuable and I am glad I did all that work, but it is a long, long process. And I imagine with the Library's resources it would be -- I don't even know where to start with that. But that -- oh. I don't know. >> But you made it work. >> We made it work. We made it work. And I think a lot of it is knowing and accurately teaching researchers or students how to search for things. I know Danna taught us, and I have had many people teach me different ways and tricks to search for things that are online. So, like, finding the things we did was a long and arduous process of searching and searching in different ways. At least it was for me. I imagine Liza went through a similar kind of searching. >> Yeah. I think that -- I think that -- you know, actually, I really liked searching through the Library of Congress online. >> This is good. >> I think that -- I mean, I don't think that any system, you know, right now is perfect. I think that libraries in general have some catching up to do when it comes to online access. But, you know, if we're talking about searching just through, you know, when we log onto loc.gov, it's a very -- it's not -- it doesn't feel very intimidating, and that's what I think that -- where you can run into trouble, especially -- I mean, I've seen that in, you know, when we're talking about university archives and things like that. It's, you know, pages full of, you know, multiple, you know, text boxes, and they're asking for things that feel like -- you know, search terms that, you know, people just really aren't familiar with. And so I'd say the fact that LOC, you know, just looks, you know, fairly easy to use, you know, anyone can -- you know, almost anyone can just, you know, type something into just a search bar. It's fine. And then I think just, you know -- of course I always think about this, but just sort of making it known, you know, how practical a lot of the Library's resources are. Especially if we're talking about, you know -- you know, if we're talking about discussions about pandemics, you know, teachers are, you know, maybe scrambling, you know, to say, oh, my gosh. You know, students, you know, may be asking about -- or students may be having a hard time grappling with the fact that they have to wear masks every day, or, you know, this, that, and the other. And so if we're thinking about something like that picture of those women or the nurses wearing masks, we're thinking about anything like that, I mean, we can call on history to help us sort of understand and better adjust to the current times in which we live. That's a really practical way I would say that we could use that. But yeah. >> And -- >> Right. >> -- just to chip in here. And this is not nearly as serious, but one of the photos I came across -- when we were initially starting to research our project and we were focused on the Spanish Flu, one of the photos I came across I actually had seen a couple weeks before on one of my social media accounts. It had been posted by somebody and gotten really popular. And then I saw it when I was looking through our archives, and I was like, oh, my goodness. The worlds do connect. >> That's pretty cool. And Danna just -- I don't know if you're looking at the chat, but she says -- and I think it's for the follow-up, too, but the question, she says, what about description and ways to identify collections relating to women, LGBTQ, and people of color? So I guess this gets at your question or what you mentioned earlier, Keely, about some of the challenges that you found even in your own research -- >> Mm-hmm. >> -- in coming across sources. So what do you think? >> I mean, this is -- I'm sure Danna knows this -- it's a complicated question. And I don't have an expertise in archives. I've not been formally educated. I've just worked in one, and I've created finding tools. And I was actually talking to Meg, our reading room specialist for women, gender, and LGBTQ+ studies. And so they've created a really interesting and extensive lib guide for the Library of Congress for collections that fall in any of those categories basically, specifically for the LGBT grouping. But stuff like that is extremely helpful. I mean, obviously you're not going to catch everything. There's no way. But as it stands with a lot of different areas, you won't know something in an archives is there that could be posted into, like, LGBT history unless the archivist knows the collection and has worked with the collection enough to see that stuff. Because it might not have been marked like that when it was originally processed if it was processed, say, even 20 years ago, never mind before that. So I don't know that there is a super great way to handle that. It would be nice if it somehow got magically fixed overnight. Like, just the fairies came down and fixed it for us. That'd be great. But I don't know where one would even really start. And that was kind of the conversation I was having with Meg because how does something like the Library of Congress go back and address those issues, especially if it's from collections we might not have really worked with or looked at in a long time and were processed over 50 years ago? Like, how would you know to identify that as something related to LGBT studies? I think it might be a little bit easier for women and minority studies. I think not for everything, but I think you could easily mark those things in a way that isn't as easily questioned as for LGBT stuff. But, I mean, adding a finding term to your -- like, your subtopics term could be helpful even if it's -- I think it's better than nothing, if that makes sense. But again, I don't have any formal training in archive work. I've done on-the-job training as both a researcher and as a worker, but... >> Yeah. That's a great question. And yeah, definitely, you know, an opportunity. An opportunity for growth. And that makes me wonder kind of for both of you kind of what your -- what some of your, I guess, lingering questions are, or kind of where does your research go from here? And Keely, you talked about, you know, your interests in black nursing or black nurses. And I wonder, you know, what other questions you have. And Liza, same question for you. >> Liza, you can go first. >> I think that -- I think that -- well, moving forward I definitely, definitely am going to incorporate more -- well, I mean, as it always should, I think I definitely have an interest in incorporating discussions pertaining to gender. I think that when you get into medical history it can almost feel like, you know, things become very systematic in a way. I think that, you know, especially when you're talking about -- I don't know -- health or public health it feels very -- it feels very black and white. It doesn't feel like there are very many gray areas. But I think if anything this has taught me that, you know, I don't think that any area of history is immune to, you know, sort of the issues, the social issues, of its time. You know? And this is made perfectly clear when we're talking about nursing because nurses are, you know, directly influenced by, you know, gender and racial norms of the period. Sorry about that. So I think moving forward I'll just -- you know, it's going to raise, you know, even more questions. I mean, it's -- you know. >> Yeah. >> So for me I -- I mean, obviously I've been looking at gender a lot of the time, nearly all the time. Even when I'm working on projects that aren't strictly gender-focused, it's always in the back of my mind. Because, I mean, I've recognized that it for a while now is something that influences your actions and how you interact with the world at all times, even if it's something that's supposed to be disconnected from those things. So for me I think it just -- it kind of reenforced a lot of those gaps that I'd already seen. So a lot of the time I had been looking for more LGBT-related stuff, but -- and this came across when I was writing one of my last papers. I mean, the stuff that I do find for queer history and for lesbian communities is largely centered on white lesbians. That's what was collected, and that was what was kept basically. And so a lot of the resources we do have from people of color from the lesbian community is actually oral histories. It's stuff that came much, much later. Which, I mean, oral histories will always hold a near and dear place in my heart for all the work I did with them, but it's a very different type of resource than photos or diaries or journals or what have you. And I think recognizing both that gap and different ways we might overcome it through oral histories and, again, like, learning to read between the lines and recognizing the influence of black women on these communities, and specifically, like, working-class black women on these communities, has become steadily more important to me as I've continued my research. And I think this also kind of reenforced that. I'd also like to just do more with, like, black nurses. I think they're super fascinating, and the fact I didn't find much on them is a travesty. So I'd love to do more research about it and see what I can find and dig up from other places. Just because I think they deserve to be recognized, and I think it's fascinating, and I think other people should see it too. >> Yeah. It's not -- it's -- you know, it's disconcerting to find such a lack of -- such a lack of narratives when it comes to black nursing. But it's almost nice from a historical perspective because that, you know -- you know, it's something that you can really dive into. I think that Keely would probably feel that way too. It's always nice to find something that, you know, is sort of untapped in a way. >> I mean, it's sad that it's untapped, but -- >> Well, no. Exactly. But it's something -- if it's something that you can become passionate about I think it's something to -- >> Oh, yeah. >> -- like, feel proud to have, you know, sort of worked on and sort of discovered. It's always nice to honor something that should have been honored a long time ago. That's how I see -- >> Mm-hmm. There you go. >> That can be part of your contribution at the LOC. Steven has asked, what surprised you during your time working with the Library? >> I was surprised -- I was pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone was. Not that I thought that -- >> I was going to say that too. >> But it's like, everyone was just -- I mean, especially considering the remote work, it was like everyone was so willing to help out at any time. And I think that everyone on the team knows that I'm a bit of a night owl, and so I like to work at, you know, those late hours. And, you know, it's funny how often I will get a response past 6:00 p.m. when I don't think that anyone is working. No, it's been a very, very positive experience. I definitely -- I hope I've made some lasting relationships here. >> I was going to say the same thing. People are so nice. It's wild. And I mean, that's not a reflection on, like, where I worked before. It's just, like, we are here for ten weeks, and these people are so nice to us. We don't know anything, and yet you're answering all of our questions and happily answering them. We're not irritating you. That's wild. But yeah. I mean, just how nice people were. And I don't know why that was so surprising but it was. Especially since we were, like, virtual, not seeing your faces in person. But I think it was also interesting to see -- it was surprising to me how, like, different everything -- like, all the offices are in the Library of Congress. I know objectively that you all do very different things, but to see kind of how separate everything is and then to realize how many people work at the Library of Congress. Again, something I objectively knew until I had to go through my address book on Outlook. Yeah, it was just really shocking and surprising. In a good way. Because everyone that I have met and talked to has been super passionate about their job and excited to do the things they do, which is fantastic and not the case at every workplace. >> I think another thing for me has been just -- you know, I don't think that any institution is perfect obviously. But I think that I have been pretty impressed by, you know, the sort of sense of self-awareness that staff members hold at the Library of Congress. I think that, like, you know, even -- you know, not everything works and not every idea that's thrown out there is necessarily the best one. But I think -- I really do think that, I would say, the vast majority of the people who I've worked with and who I've kind of listened to who talk about community outreach and sort of accessibility and things like that, you know, it's so refreshing to, you know, be able to work with people whose hearts are just so in the right place. I really do. I really do believe that. It has been really, really nice to sit in on those discussions. And it makes me feel good about the future of accessibility when it comes to libraries. Because, I mean, of course the Library of Congress sets the standard, and it's nice to know that there are constant efforts to, you know, go further, to do more. >> Agreed. >> Well, thank you for that. Thanks for -- it's been wonderful to work with both of you. And I definitely, you know, appreciate -- appreciated your thoughtfulness, your passion, your curiosity, and just the energy that you've both brought to our virtual office, and also to the work that you've done. Steven is saying you're making us blush. All of your kind words. And so, yeah, it's been great to work with you. And I do hope that we'll be able to stay in touch and that you'll let us know, you know, what you're up to, you know, how your research takes shape from here, and that, you know, the lasting relationship is definitely sustained. Yeah. Steven has echoed that. He says, I've been very fortunate to work with Keely and Liza. And that's totally true. I totally cosign that. I think, Keely, you mentioned the LGBTQ+ Studies Resource Guide. I think you mentioned that earlier, and I found it so I'm going to just put that link in the chat box if anyone's interested in looking at those resources. >> It is fantastic. It's so good. >> And also, yeah, Steven has called my attention to the blog posts that you both are working on, and they'll, you know, soon be up on our blog. And Steven posted the link there. So yeah, we'll definitely be hearing from you in print. But no, but it really has been a wonderful summer, and thanks for sharing your -- like I said, your passion, your questions, and your work with us. And it's been a great time. >> Thank you for having us. >> Yes. It's been wonderful. Learned so much. >> Great. And thanks to everyone who's joined us today and those of you who are listening to the recording. Next week we will be hearing from [inaudible] and Stacy [inaudible] and Mary Johnson, and we'll be talking about the Teaching of Primary Sources Consortium and our network of educational partners and grantees across the country. And we'll also be providing an overview to the TPS Teachers Network. So we hope that you can join us next week, and thank you very much for joining us today. And we hope to see you soon. Take care.