51视频

Biology major Lilian Whitehead wants to work for a museum of science or natural history someday.

Thanks to her work-study position as a research assistant with 51视频鈥檚 , she is getting hands-on experience with preserving and archiving special collections 鈥� and developing a newfound appreciation for the city鈥檚 past.

鈥淚 was so lucky to find a position that fulfills my financial needs and engages my interests outside of my major,鈥� the Westford, Massachusetts, native says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little incongruous with biology, but it鈥檚 a great experience for the direction I want to go in for my career.鈥�

Whitehead found the position on JobHawk, the university鈥檚 student employment site, during her first semester on campus. The Student Employment Office made it 鈥渁ccessible and easy to apply,鈥� she says.

Thousands of French Canadians migrated to Lowell in the late 1800s to work in the city鈥檚 mills, and Whitehead joined an at the center to preserve this history. The project is led by Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon, an associate professor in the World Languages and Cultures Department in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Tony Sampas, head archivist for the UML Library.

Whitehead spends eight hours a week scanning and digitizing photographs, newspapers, books and other materials from the center鈥檚 extensive French Canadian and Franco American collections. One of her favorite projects so far has been digitizing a commemorating the St-Joseph and St-Jean-Baptiste Churches, two of the city鈥檚 earliest French Canadian parishes.

鈥淚t has tons of fascinating images of cultural events, clergy and the church interiors,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all available to flip through online now, forever preserved.鈥�

She is also preserving the center鈥檚 collection of French-language newspapers by transferring them from binders to boxes made of acid-free materials.

鈥淭hat is one of the more technical skills I鈥檝e learned here that has been really useful 鈥� something they teach you as a practicing archivist,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you want any of this stuff to last, it has to be preserved properly.鈥澛�

聽Whitehead plans to work at the Center for Lowell History throughout her undergraduate years, much to the delight of Sampas.

鈥淪he brings a scientific method in analysis, attention to detail and also just plain enthusiasm,鈥� Sampas says. 鈥淭he work she does is top-shelf.鈥�

鈥淚 totally fell in love with the center. If you love libraries, it鈥檚 the place to go,鈥� says Whitehead, who has also enjoyed learning more about the city where she鈥檚 earning a degree.

鈥淎s someone who didn鈥檛 grow up in Lowell, it has definitely helped me to connect to Lowell,鈥� she says. 鈥淟earning more deeply about these groups definitely humanizes Lowell as a city more.鈥�