MMC Students Help Expand Access to Valuable Historical Documents
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Like most history majors, Alexa Ramirez ’25 and Spencer Dias ’25 have spent hours combing through JSTOR while working on class assignments; the digital archive of journals, books, reports, and primary sources is an indispensable tool for research. But, thanks to a semester-long internship made possible by MMC, the two got to experience a different side of the platform this spring—and went from studying history to expanding access to it by making previously unpublished historical documents available in the JSTOR library.
The students interned at the Center for Migration Studies of New York, a think tank and educational institute founded by the Catholic order the Scalabrini Fathers and Brothers. It studies international migration and advocates for public policies protecting the dignity and rights of migrants and refugees.
The center has a trove of archival material documenting the immigrant experience that dates to World War II. But until recently, it was inaccessible to most scholars; the material—including ship manifests, family photos, and typescripts highlighting the work of aid agencies—could be viewed only in their physical form, requiring treks to the center’s far-off location in Staten Island. Not only was the site inconvenient for researchers, but it also made it challenging for the center to recruit interns who could help scan and process documents for use online.
That changed after the center moved to Manhattan a few years ago and began to bring on interns like Ramirez and Dias to upload documents to JSTOR and create keywords and detailed descriptions to help researchers discover the work. Now, scholars worldwide can access items from the center’s collection through JSTOR.
“JSTOR is my number one go-to when I’m looking for specific documents, but I’ve always been on the receiving end,” said Ramirez, who holds a double major in English and World Literatures. “It was nice to be on the other side of that and contribute to public information.”
Dias noted that some of the center’s items, including a document signed by Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party from 1953–64, had made his jaw drop. “There’s so much here that is so, so valuable,” Dias said. “We just want everyone to see it.”
The students were steered to the internships by their faculty advisor, Lauren Erin Brown, Ph.D., chair of the History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies department and associate professor of History and Politics and Human Rights. However, the Center for Migration Studies has long had an MMC connection through archivist/bibliographer and faculty member Mary Brown, Ph.D.
Dr. Mary Brown came to MMC in 1985 as an adjunct professor and continues to teach in the College’s HEOP program. Over the years, she has also helped organize the College’s theatre archives, which now total 10 collections, and worked full-time for the College’s library from 2005 to 2023.
Dr. Brown has had ties with the center since 1979, conducting research there for her dissertation, and has managed collections for its archives since 1995. She is also working on a book about the Scalabrinians’ work advocating for immigrants, a core tenet of the order since it was founded in 1887.
Ramirez and Dias took Brown’s Archival Methods class at MMC last semester and were eager to work with her again at the center.
“In class, we learned how archives work and why they’re important,” Dias said. “We got to use the archives in the MMC library. I had so much fun doing it that when my advisor asked if I wanted to intern with Mary Brown, I said yes because I’m literally her biggest fan.”
Dr. Brown said that the internship provided further opportunities for students to see how functional archival tasks—such as organizing items and preparing descriptive text—connect to the bigger picture. Moreover, she said, expanding access to the center’s collection helps support informed debate about immigration. “Often, the debates we hear about immigration are not operating in an environment of facts,” she said. “There’s a lot of wild misinformation out there. The center’s archives help to build up an environment of factual information.”
In the end, Dias said the internship had helped shed light on his career path, inspiring them to dive deeper into archival studies or library science. “Working with the center made me realize that doing this kind of work is a real possibility for me,” he said.
For Ramirez, it underscored goals she had long been planning for herself; she hopes to get her master’s degree and Ph.D. and continue pursuing historical research as an academic. She had been especially thrilled, she said, to interact with outside researchers using the center and ask about their projects. Ramirez will continue her internship under Dr. Brown at the center during the fall semester.
“I’m very lucky to have that opportunity because I love the work I’ve been doing,” she said. “I’ve always loved history, and I have always had archival work on my radar as something I could potentially do. It’s the best feeling, holding a historical document in your hand and thinking of how many people have touched it.”
Published: June 26, 2024
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