A Summer in Hindsight

I love working with textiles,
and this summer I got to work
with some amazing artifacts
like this Red Canadian Ensign.

Well folks, it's almost that time. As my summer contract comes to an end, I have the chance to write one last post and I figured I would talk about my experience of spending a summer at Admiralty House.

Researching the S.S.
Florizel disaster has
inspired me to learn
Morse code in my spare
time. The photo is of our
Marconi Room exhibit.
Am I good? No. Am I
learning? Hopefully.

If getting to work here has taught me anything, it is to not take what is around me for granted. Our motto here is 'Mount Pearl's Best Kept Top Secret', which I found funny because I grew up and went to school from kindergarten to grade 12 right around the corner from here and yet had only ever seen the inside of the building twice before working here. Working here has been a reminder to take a second look at those things in our lives that we walk past but never notice. I had never even noticed any of the four cemeteries we visited this summer despite having passed them a thousand times before.

Every so often, the museum
turns the page on the James
Cook Charts. I got to help
last time and it was possibly
the highlight of my summer.

As a history student, I have always wanted to explore the province. Our province has four UNESCO World Heritage Sites (which is more than most countries have in total), and I have never been to any of them. I was planning on visiting one of them this summer before a certain pandemic that will go unnamed deferred that plan. Working at Admiralty House has been a reminder to look around myself and study the history we have right here.

Visiting Belvedere was such a neat
experience. The view was beautiful,
the grounds were stunning, and the
headstones all had so much character,
either for their shape or their
stories.

A big part of my summer was working on the S.S. Florizel research project and our efforts to locate and document gravesites. What started as scanning a ridiculous amount of documents soon turned into one of my favourite projects I have ever been a part of. It reminded me to see the faces of history and not just the text. While we may not have found everybody yet, we located and documented several who we didn't even know where they were buried a few months ago. Speaking of which, the support we have received from the community in our efforts this summer has been phenomenal. I cannot thank you all enough, both those who took interest in our work and those who came forward with stories and information of those on the S.S. Florizel. It always made my day when we would bump into someone on our cemetery days who had heard about our project or when someone would call in to share a story about their relative who was on the Florizel.

While I didn't get to go on the trip that I had planned for this summer, I did get to go on something entirely different: a pilgrimage. I was initially going to describe it as a 'staycation' but I found the word wanting. I use the word 'pilgrimage' because the true intention of a pilgrimage is quite often not about the destination but rather about the internal journey and being able to return to our daily lives afterwards with a renewed sense of meaning. My experience this summer has given me a new respect for the people and places around town and I look forward to venturing forth to see more of it. It has truly been an absolute honour and I look forward to continuing to learn about this amazing city and its history.

-Tim