Hi y’all, as I’m sure everyone is somewhat aware by now, I’m Joshua. I’m a rising second year majoring in history and hoping to add another major in political science. I’m excited to get to know everyone this summer, and I hope I don’t bore you too much with the odd rambling on a niche topic. To me, community is at its most base form a support network and place for belonging. While it can be based on your area and local community, it doesn’t have to be; it can take on a very amorphous shape. I was interested in joining DCERP because of my interest in learning more about urban history and the history of Detroit specifically; a lot of communities, especially in Detroit, have been severely damaged by not inevitable changes in the past. One skill I think I’ll be able to utilize is a strong mind around research, which will help me learn about the photographs I’m digitizing and describing. However, not being from Detroit, the main strength I want to develop this summer is a working knowledge of Detroit history, which I hope to do by talking with my site mentor and looking at the post-war history of the city in photographs. Even though I’m not expected to finish this project by the end of the summer, I’d be proud to get through a good chunk of it and be able to describe some of the photos I’ve digitized and explain their historical significance.
