How I Spent My Summer Vacation:
During the summers of ’22 and ‘23, History major Susannah R. interned at the Highland House Museum, where our “can-do” youngster organized our extensive art collection and guided visitors through our exhibits. At the Cobb Library Archives, Susannah catalogued files and volumes of photographs into our data base, and helped us puzzle-out what our ancestors might’ve had in mind, in the17th century, when they recorded their meetings, their resolutions, and their deeds. (How, for example, did someone become a “Yeoman”, back when the “Pamet Lands” were a District of Eastham and Eastham was a Township in the “Colonie of New Plymouth”? And, for gosh sakes, how come the letter S so often looked like the letter F?) Susannah recently graduated from Pennsylvania State University and we asked her to describe her experiences at the Truro Historical Society
“I have been fortunate enough to intern at the Truro Historical Society for two summers now, and these summers have acted as incredible learning opportunities that I will cherish forever. While my experience at the THS has offered me incredible insight into archiving and museum work, it has also allowed me to connect with this area on a deeper level.
“My family has been in Wellfleet for four generations, so this area is dear to my heart. Staying here for the summer and working with the THS has allowed me to further connect to my family ties. As I have learned more about my family history, I have also seen how essential family history is to this town. I watched as excited visitors came to the Cobb Archive, eager to learn about their connections to the founding members of Truro. In turn, I got to see how these visitors were able to reconnect—or connect for the first time—with these people or this place. It proved to me how people are, and always have been, the foundation of Truro. And this concept is what the THS reflects in their work. The Highland House Museum and the Cobb Archive are the center points of this town; they are the places where people come together to socialize, support their community, and ensure the maintenance of local history. And in return, a much larger concept is shown: community in action. Such a concept shows us that History (the passion and focus of the THS) is not just about our past, it is about the present and future as well.”