San Diego History Center - Diego Diaz, Week 4

 San Diego History Center - Diego Diaz, Week 4

Hello and welcome back everyone to my final (late) vlog for my time spent at the San Diego History Center.

It has been a fulfilling experience to delve within the broad community oriented environment I have been immersed

in for the last four weeks. This week, I was granted the opportunity to continue exploring the inner workings of a

museum, while also getting to become more immersed within the community through the children's book reading at

the San Diego Central Library. 

While both Monday and Tuesday were spent on continuing to finish the projects, I spent Wednesday at the Central

Library reading Paletero Man. The moments leading up to the event, I was extremely nervous as I spent my time

reviewing YouTube videos and reading over the tips listed on the YAP handbook. However, when I arrived at the

library I felt welcomed by the librarians and it allowed me to feel more prepared as I asked questions and got helpful

feedback on how to handle possible situations.

While we continued setting up, I was informed of the layout for the program and shortly after, people started to

arrive. We received a large crowd of 70+ and the children's center became filled with children's laughter of fun

and running around the library. 

We started off by singing a song, dancing, and playing with toys then, I began to read the book. The book reading

was very fun and I was fortunate to have had a good crowd who was not too rowdy, allowing for a seamless book

reading. After I read, we danced and sang a few songs, gave children food for snack time, and concluded with

coloring for the activity books. The whole experience was incredible, and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. 

Concluding my week at the History Center, I spent my day on what was referred to as a “field day.” We began by

going to El Cortez to drop off various donated photo prints for an exhibition event held within the week and got a

tour of the building and its brief history. Following that, we went to a restaurant to meet up with a man called Ozy,

discussing the history of various photos held within the collections to break down the history of the events as well

as add depth to San Diego historical events. The day concluded by going to Las Cuatro Milpas to take photos of a

famous historic restaurant that is soon closing down as well as taking a photo with the owner. 

This eventful last day was a powerful way of concluding my time at the History Center. It allowed me to further

grasp on to the community oriented work that goes into understanding stories and connecting them to the photos as

a photo means nothing without context. 

It has been a pleasure to intern for the History Center and I am fortunate to have gained such a diverse understanding

of a museum's work in telling the stories of our past, present, and future. 

Ha sido un placer contarles de mis aventuras. ¡Muchas gracias!

Diego Diaz