I’m honored to be the
Delta Flight Museum Archive’s Summer Intern. Currently, I’m a PhD student at
Georgia State University and I work as a Digital Projects Graduate Research
Assistant in the digital archives along with other roles at the university. This
is my first experience working in a physical archive, and I’ve been fortunate to
begin my position simultaneously with the arrival of a new archival collection.
When I first heard about Delta Flight Attendant Jewel Van Valin’s “Plane Art” program
she created in the wake of 9/11, my first thought was, “Wow!” Her idea of encouraging passengers to draw on the cloths lining their tray tables was so
simple and innovative!
Through drawing landscapes, cartoon characters, planes,
people, and so many other images, passengers felt, at once, eased and excited.
The calming act of putting pen to paper, or crayon to paper in this case,
allowed Delta passengers to briefly be lost in their imaginations and forget their fears;
something sorely needed after the tragedy of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers
in New York City, NY.
Jewel donated thousands of drawings she collected over her career
to the museum, and I’m so lucky to be the person unpacking the materials and
processing the art! Over the course of my internship, I will work with museum
exhibit and archive staff to organize, document, store, and hopefully display
these drawings.
One of my favorite drawings from the collection
depicts an elephant walking away through the jungle. It is goofy, whimsical,
and perfectly captures the purpose of this project which was for passengers to
have fun and forget about their fears, if even for a brief moment.
My directors and mentors are exposing me to the processes that
go into taking archival material from its arrival to being displayed in the
museum for everyone to see.
This is one of the coolest projects I’ve ever been a part of as
well as one of the greatest educational experiences of my career. I want to
send a special thank you to the archive and museum exhibit staff for teaching
me and for the opportunity to take part in this fascinating collection!
Rachel Elena Woods
Doctoral Student at Georgia State University (English Rhetoric and Composition)