I’m Mitchel Watts and I am a senior at Central Michigan University. For the past four years, I have been studying public history as a major and museums studies as a minor. I began working for Marian in the Fall of 2019 when I heard there was a job opening for an archival position.
When first came to CMU, I knew I wanted to pursue something history-related, but I had no idea specifically what kind of career I wanted. When I saw the job opening for an archival position, I thought I give it a chance. It ended up being a great decision.
In my first couple of weeks, I started off doing something simple typing box and folder listings for the massive collection of UComm (184 cubic feet). Once that was completed Marian started to guide me on what would be my main duty while working here and personally my favorite part, processing collection. I started off with small collections that were just half a box and over the time I eventually processed a large collection including one that was over 80 boxes, the Rose Train collection. I also took HST 583, taught by Marian, to gain more knowledge of archival theories and practices. During my time at the Clarke I got to see a myriad of historical materials while processing and learned a great deal about Michigan and CMU history. In addition to processing collections, I also learned how to create the finding aids and encoded them for each collection. By the end, I processed a dozen collections that are now available for public research.
Part my of minor required that I find an internship in the summer to gain more hands-on experience in the museum field, but due to the Covid pandemic, that greatly minimized my options. I was thankful that Marian and the Clarke offered to let me intern in the summer. So, in the summer of 2021, I got to experience more digital archival work. Which included more encoding experience and archiving for digital COVID/BLM materials. I also help Marians update her coursework for archival class.
Working at the Clarke with Marian for the last two years helped me narrow down what I want my future to be. I loved the work I have done and want to continue on this path, expanding my knowledge in the archival field. After graduating from CMU, I will be continuing my educational journey in the fall with a master’s program at the University of Michigan in the School of Information. This master's program will further enhance my knowledge of archives and will help jumpstart my career. I am so thankful for all I got to experience at the Clarke, and I am excited to see what is in store for my future.
Mitchel has accomplished so much wonderful work for me over the last two years. First UComm and then tackling Rose Trianes' mammoth initial pile of materials pulled from her home, weeding, processing and describing it, down from 81 cubic feet to 6. He worked on many other collections, diverse in size, format and content, inventorying, processing and describing, and encoding finding aids. He also helped me box and haul and inventory CMU Honors (37 cu. ft.) and box and haul CMU School of Music recordings (31 cu.ft.). And saving materials documenting COVID-19 and BLM. Due to his internship he has worked continuously for me now for two years. It has been a pleasure Mitchel. I am so proud of you! I'm confident you will excell at UM. Best wishes for your future. I am really going to miss you. Marian
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