Day 7 January 27th

I finished sorting through Box 8. Now I'm working on Box 10.

Day 8 January 31st

Going through Box 10, I found a manual for young officers. It was from 1907. I know that George Watson was born in 1881, which means he would have been about 26 years old when he got that manual, and presumably became an officer in the army. It was interesting to think about that- I'm 26 years old, and I just can't even imagine what it would be like to have that kind of responsibility at my age.

As part of the advice for the new officers, I found two quotes I thought were interesting:

"DON'T, if you are well off, perpetually boast about the largeness of your purchases. Nothing is more offensively vulgar than telling people "what you gave" for this or that, and the chances are that you are only advertising your own folly or guillibility."

"DON'T set undervalue on pedigree or family connections. NOBLESSE OBLIGE should be your patrician motto. Remember Lord St. Leonards' answer to the snob who reminded him that his father was a barber. "Had your father been a barber," was the rejoinder, "you would have been a barber too." There is no need to declare yourself a born gentlemen, if you behave as such."

I wonder if that means that officers at this time in history were often from well-off, rich families. Nowadays, people don't really associate the social elite with the army, so it's interesting to consider that at one point this was a popular career path for American blue bloods.

Day 9- February 1st

I continued working on Box 10. While there, I had a conversation with Colleen Camp, and the other intern, Amanda Peters, about historic preservation. The Clark House, which is where part of the historical society is located, has been under the threat of demolition quite often. It made me think of my own experience of being from suburban Delaware, where historic preservation for everything not belonging to the du Ponts is an uphill battle. Newark, Delaware constantly tears down older buildings to make way for the new, or they "preserve" buildings by gutting the interior and leaving only the facade. It's one thing I really like about Indiana, PA- you can see all these older buildings.