Q: You recently worked as a Citizen Archivist for the Guildford Court House Revolutionary War Pension Project. How did that relate to your studies?

A: I am currently researching 18th and 19th century American history and my experiential learning opportunity deals with transcribing Revolutionary War pension files. Through these files I have been able to learn extensively about the 18th century American pension process and much about the war itself. I also have gained much insight into the lives of ordinary people and their families which is something that is often not shown in history, espericlaly at the high school level.  

Q: How did this project differ from a standard internship?

A: It was mainly different in regard to the independence I had. Transcribing can be a very difficult process due to factors such as poor handwriting, faded words, and even uncommon language. Due to this, people are allowed to come up with systems and implement others in order to transcribe as effectively as possible. There were guidelines and helpful tools that were given but many of the issues I ran into I solved with my own processes.  

Q: Is there a specific story you can share from your experience you enjoyed?

A: There was one file that was particularly interesting as the soldier and his family personally knew President Andrew Jackson, at the time General Jackson. The soldier had difficulties obtaining a pension as he did not keep the required documentation and could not remember the names of his commanding officers. However, Jackson vouched for the soldier which granted him the ability to receive a pension.