Yesterday’s conference sessions were really interesting. Yesterday was a pretty good day all around. My lunchtime program for the museum with our guest speaker went very well. This was my first time hosting a virtual event like this with another speaker. I introduced the speaker. I had written a nice introduction if I do say so myself. The speaker gave a fascinating talk on women warriors through history, and when it came time for the Q&A portion, I came back on the screen and acted as a moderator, having some lovely banter with the speaker. All in all, I don’t really think it could have gone any better.

The only hiccup in the day was that for some reason, the desktop computer in my office would not let me load the conference webpage, but that wasn’t too bad because it meant I had to go home early and participate in the conference on my laptop at home. I will be leaving early today to do the same thing. Today’s sessions are not as attractive as yesterday’s, but they may surprise me. Today, there is one on publishing books based on oral histories and then a session on museums and oral histories. The plenary session (a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend) will be a live oral history interview, which might be interesting, but we will see. I’ve watched people conduct oral history interviews before, so it might be interesting to see someone else’s techniques.

The thing about all conferences is that in the conference program, they list all of the sessions with a title, a description, and a list of the participants. As a general rule, you can only count on the list of participants being correct. Session titles and descriptions never convey what the session is actually going to be about because when you propose a session, you send in an abstract. Then you have basically until the conference to write your paper. I think most people who have ever written anything will say that the end product is rarely what you initially imagined it would be. At least, that is how it is for me. Even with these blog posts, they have a life of their own once I start writing. My first session yesterday was like that. The description didn’t convey what the session was about, and it ended up being about highly technical issues, which quite frankly went over my head. I should have realized that because I have seen one of the speakers present numerous times, he is always over my head with the technology and programs he is discussing.

The other session, though, was one of the few that lived up to its description. I was about the Human Rights Campaign Oral History Project at Columbia University. Something happened at the beginning of the session that surprised me and probably would not have occurred if it had been in person and not virtual. I logged onto the session a few minutes early so that I wouldn’t miss anything. I did not expect that the lead facilitator for the panel would start up a conversation with me. It caught me off guard, and I had to scramble to turn on my microphone to answer him. We had a friendly little chat as everyone was setting up and getting ready. He also later gave a fascinating talk using some of the oral histories from the HRC project. If this had been an in-person session, I would have come in, sat down, and probably busied myself with my phone waiting for the session to begin. I have struck up conversations with someone sitting next to me at these things, but I have never had one of the presenters strike up a conversation with me. The exciting thing is that I would love to work on this oral history project about the HRC, especially if they were to delve into the campaign to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. With my oral history and military history background, I would be well suited for that aspect of the project. Who knows, maybe I made a good contact yesterday.

As a general rule, whenever I mention who I studied under for my oral history training, people are inevitably impressed. One professor went on to become the head of a major oral history project in North Carolina and was on the board of the state’s oral history project. Another professor is now the head of the Baylor University Oral History Project, which, under his leadership, has become the most respected oral history program in the country. Both, I believe, were also past presidents of the OHA. My third professor is the Executive Director of the OHA Executive Office. In the history field, it’s not always about where you studied or where you work, but about who you studied under, and I studied under three of the best.

One of the things I enjoy about the OHA’s Annual Meeting is that I never feel out of place or out of my depth. Yes, some of the technical issues about website design and such is a bit over my head. I am not a computer science person, though I know my way around a computer for the most part. However, when it comes to oral history, I do know my stuff. I have researched legal aspects of the discipline, best practices, and methodologies. I have taught oral history workshops, and I give an annual lecture to my current university’s historical methods class on oral history and its importance. I don’t often toot my own horn, but I am very knowledgeable about oral history. There are still things to learn because no matter what your field of study is, there is always more to learn. What I am saying is, I feel confident when I discuss oral history. I can’t always say that about other things.

This week is the annual Oral History Association (OHA) Conference. As a member, I do like this conference. I’ve been to several academic conferences in the past, and some can be very contentious and pretentious. Academics want to show off in front of each other, and they can be very critical of historians presenting a paper at one of these conferences. When a historian presents a new interpretation of historical sources, other historians like to stand up and tell them what is wrong with their research. I always hated this about conferences. The Southern Historical Association (SHA) was always the worst one I attended. I loved the various places it was held, but the personalities were horrendous. The SHA is somewhat unique in that its members both comprise historians who study the American South and historians who are in the American South, so there is always a wide range of topics presented. However, the bulk of the panels are about Southern history. By the nature of the organization, you have many groups and cliques that just don’t get along: neo-confederates (a dying breed in academia), the Civil Rights historians, Civil War historians, African American historians, etc. You can see how this could be a contentious group.

The OHA, on the other hand, is an enjoyable conference to attend. The main topics are social justice, how to advocate for oral history, and best practices for oral history. They rarely ever argue on the methodology of oral history; in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen an argument at the OHA. They are, by nature, a delightful group of people. Basically, if you are an asshole, you will not make a very good oral historian because you won’t have the people skills to conduct a good oral history interview. I have to admit that some of the social justice people are a little overboard at times because, for them, no one should be marginalized in history, and there is always a new cause for which to fight. (Museum professionals are the same way at their conferences.)

The other conference I try to attend since I became a member of the organization a few years ago is the Rural Women’s Studies Association (RWSA). You won’t meet a nicer group of women. I seem to be one of the few male members, and while some women’s historians don’t like for men to study women’s history, I was welcomed with open arms by the RWSA. If you read the Washington Post, you will often see historian Katherine Jellicoe interviewed for various historical subjects. She is the co-chair of the group, and she is so kind. She took me around the first night of the conference introducing me to nearly everyone. I had presented a different version of the paper I presented at the RWSA conference at a graduate student conference in Mississippi. Since it was about a community of female African American landowners, I was criticized for telling the African American community’s history when I am white. It’s not a fair assessment as a good historian can write about anything as long as they are objective. I reworked the paper for the RWSA conference a few years ago, and it met with great applause and interest. I have an essay in a forthcoming cookbook being published by the RWSA. Their triennial meeting is next May, but they have already decided to make it virtual. It was supposed to be at the University of Guelph in Canada, which likely meant I would not be able to attend, but I will be able to participate since it is virtual, and I will be able to go to the virtual book launch.

Speaking of the RWSA conference being virtual, the OHA conference this year is also virtual. It was supposed to be held in Baltimore, and I was hoping to get to go. It wasn’t sure I would have been able to afford it or that the museum would have paid for me to go, so the fact that it is virtual allows me to attend this year. Monday, I had a pre-conference workshop, which went very well. I am not sure I learned anything new, but it was nice to discuss issues with people in the field. Yesterday was not as pleasant. The two sessions I attended were not exactly what they had advertised them as being and turned out to be quite dull. Had I been in Baltimore for this conference, I’d have likely snuck out the back and gone to my room or a café and gotten a coffee. I hope today’s sessions will be more enjoyable. There is one about the Human Rights Campaign, so I am looking forward to it. 

Today is going to be a hectic day. I have my next COVID test today. (We are being tested every three weeks at the University.) At noon, I am introducing our first live virtual program with a speaker on warrior women in history. It should be interesting. After that, I have two different one and a half-hour sessions to attend virtually for the OHA conference. This evening, there is a welcoming reception, which I sincerely doubt I will participate in because, at the same time, is the annual Pritzker Gala in Chicago, which will also be virtual. Col. Jennifer Pritzker (the first transgender billionaire) owns the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, which hosts the Gala. Col. Pritzker is also a major benefactor of my museum. Today will be a busy day. It’s going to be a busy week too, as the conference doesn’t end until 5 pm on Friday.

At our museum, we are coming up on a significant anniversary of an event in the life of one of the university’s alumni. My boss decided that we needed to have a small ceremony to commemorate the occasion since we are also receiving a priceless artifact in connection. I say it’s invaluable because it is illegal to sell the object we are getting. The family must donate it, and the family is finally ready to give the item to us. I know I am being cagey about this, but it is a big secret, and I can’t even tell you, my readers.

Late last week, my boss gave me the task of creating an exhibit unveiled at the museum’s ceremony for receiving the object. Let me first say, I am in charge of education and public programs for the museum, not exhibitions. We have someone else that handles the museum’s collection and the exhibitions. However, they decided I was more well-versed in this particular subject than they were, so they tasked me with doing it. Usually, we have months to work on an exhibit. They gave me less than a week, and only four hours at the museum to set it up. Since I work on Thursdays with our exhibits person, yesterday was the only day I had to set it up, since I needed her help to do some of the things only she can do.

I’ve busted my butt getting all of the labels (that’s what museum people call informational panels) written, picking out the other objects that will accompany the new artifact, and put together all of the visuals. As I said, this usually takes weeks, if not months of planning. Yesterday, I was working flat out to get it finished in time. What I ended up being able to do was show the exhibits person my design and give her all the material to be printed. She will be the one to install everything. The preparation is often more work than the execution. She says she will be finished with it on Monday in time for the ceremony.

The problem, though with everything I did yesterday, is that it aggravated my hip. By the end of the day, I was so tired, and my hip hurt so much that I had to go home and rest on a heating pad. Hopefully, when I wake up this morning, it will feel a little better. My hip generally feels better first thing in the morning but begins to hurt as the day progresses. Luckily, I have another appointment with my physical therapist on Monday morning. The ceremony we are preparing for is in the afternoon, and I will be rushed to be at the ceremony and then get to my doctor’s appointment after that. Monday will be another busy day, but hopefully, my doctor will be able to do something about the bursitis in my hip, and I will feel better afterward.

I do have to work today, but I am working from home and can take it easy. I can rest when I need to rest. I won’t be running around the museum, trying to make sure everything is done correctly. I just have to hope that our exhibits person executes my plan as I planned it. What had been done when I left yesterday was looking pretty good. I hope the final product will look as good as I imagine it will.

What do you do when it’s Monday, and you have no clue as to what you are going to do at work today, especially when you are working from home and you have to log your work hourly? I know, I shouldn’t complain because I have a job, I mostly like working from home, and I don’t have to go anywhere if I don’t want to. However, trying to find something to do all the time can be a bit exhausting too. I had this problem a lot when I was in the office, but since I’ve been home, I have actually been very productive, much more so than at the museum. I’ve created videos for virtual public programs. I’ve written several new curriculum guides. I’ve done a ton of research, endless webinars, virtual meetings, and even a class. The webinars are often quite boring and not all that informative. The meetings are all a waste of time. Working for a university makes things a little uncertain right now, so no one really knows what’s going on. The plan (and the “plan” has changed many times) is for students to come back to campus and take classes but the public won’t be allowed on campus. The museum can’t have public programs, we can only teach limited classes, the public can’t come to visit (meaning no tours either), and students can’t use us as a walkthrough to the library. What are we even going to be there for? I’m honestly scared the administration is going to figure this out and furlough us all, but they keep saying they are going to “keep the family together.” So, today is another day. I will probably do research most of the day. I can’t even watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on BBCAmerica because they are doing what looks like nature shows this week. I’m not sure what else to do. I’ve just about exhausted all of my projects.

Anyway, that’s what I was thinking about last night before I went to bed.

Over the weekend, I finished a four week online class that I was taking. It took up a lot of my time, but I refused to work on it outside of work hours. It was a class for work, so for four weeks that was mostly what I worked on from my home office.  Now that the class is over, I have to catch up on everything else I’ve needed to do over the past four weeks. So, it’s been a pretty busy week. I’m still behind. I have to work on some outlines for a book proposal; I made a video for a Fourth of July program that the museum will put on our Facebook page Saturday; and I’ve got a thousand other little administrative tasks and emails to read, write, and answer. At least it’s giving me something to do while I work from home. I have been busier working from home than I ever was when I was in the office. There, I spent most of my days trying to figure out what I needed to do next. At home, there are lots of webinars and projects to keep me busy. 

I’m probably busy because of a stupid decision made by my idiot boss. He’s a fairly nice guy, just stupid and being a museum director is way over his head. He wasn’t even very good at his previous job at the museum. When we started working from home, we were told by the administration that we had to keep a log of what we were working on to make sure we were actually working from home. My idiot boss submitted to his boss an hourly work log for us to fill out each day. That was not what his boss had in mind at first. I’m pretty sure the administration just wanted a weekly report of what we did, not a blow-by-blow, hour-by-hour report. He’s such a colossal suck up, and he does all these stupid overly complicated things to impress his superiors. He just needs to man up and concentrate on doing his job and not trying to impress his bosses. No other department is doing hourly work logs. We are the only ones keeping such minute logs, and we have to justify all 40 hours that we work each week.

I love my job, but damn, I could have listed five projects and been done with it. One quarter of the time, I just write down stuff that only took me an hour to do, and I put it down for 2-4 hours. I do this because some things don’t take a full hour to complete and I’m not going to give a minute-by-minute report. I’m not in any hurry to get back to the museum every day. I actually like working from home, and there is almost nothing that I have to do at the office, especially when classes are virtual and we cannot have any public programs. Anyway, I just keep plugging along.