Tell us about yourself and your future school plans.
I have been working for the University Archives since the summer of 2022. My name is Melissa Gonzalez-Tapia and I will be attending UC Davis in the fall as an incoming freshman. I am still undecided on my major, but I am interested in the Forensics Science MS program and it requires an undergraduate minor in Entomology to enter the program at UC Davis. I am passionate about investigating and learning more about the world around me. I am very interested in pursuing a career in forensics science and becoming a crime scene investigator. Having a background in entomology and attending a graduate program in forensics science will be a valuable asset where I will be able to develop my skills and knowledge.
How did you get introduced to UA’s internship program?
My high school counselor at East Palo Alto Academy introduced me to this internship program last year in 2022. I was in my junior year of high school and wanted to find something productive and fun to do in the area over the summer. I enjoy reading and was a member of a book club held by my school's vice principal. My counselor recommended various internships, and I learned about the Stanford Libraries, which piqued my interest. I was drawn to the Libraries because I enjoy reading.
This is your second internship here, right? What collection did you process last year?
Last year, I examined a series of letters to and from Stanford professor Mark Mancall. The letters dated from 1952 to 1996 and he wrote to his parents almost every day. We began with a box full of letters of varying condition; some were very old and fragile, while others were written on telegraph paper, aerogram-wrapped, and so on. We had to filter through all of those letters chronologically. The Mancall Collection consists of 13 boxes in all, with his letters filling 8 of them. To acquire a deeper picture of Mancall's life, I also listened to his 6-hour-long oral history recording and read the 331-page transcript.
What have you been working on this year?
This summer I have been working on a collection that was recommended to me by Adán Griego, the Curator for Latin American, Iberian & Mexican American Collections, and recognizes the career of Jorge Ruffinelli, a former professor at Stanford University. Ruffinelli taught Latin American literature at Stanford University and is a well-known literary critic. He is highly regarded for his work studying Latin American literature, analyzing literary creations based on their language and sound. He is also a translator and translated many writings from Spanish to English. While working on this collection, I learned about the history and development of Latin American literature and the life and work of the most prominent literary critics in the field. I also was able to gain insights into Ruffinelli’s research methods and the process of conducting literary analysis and criticism. Before he became a professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Stanford University in 1986, Jorge Ruffinelli was formerly the Director of the Centro de Investigaciones Lingüísticos-Literarias, Center of Linguistic-Literary Research, at Universidad Veracruzana, a position he held for twelve years. The collection includes a variety of materials, such as interviews, essays, and poems that explore Ruffinelli's contributions to the field of Latin American literature. This collection includes 10 boxes total, but 2 of those boxes are photo albums and another 2 two of those boxes are audiovisual media and film materials.
Anything that stood out to you while working on this collection?
While working on this collection I found that it has important information that preserves and promotes the importance of the cultural heritage of Latin America. Jorge Ruffinelli's literary work comes from various countries in Latin America. As a Mexican American, being able to find materials in Spanish in Ruffinelli’s collection was a rewarding experience because I was able to contextualize the works of literature and get a deeper understanding of the cultural themes and issues addressed in the texts, such as his famous poems and essays. While looking through Jorge Ruffinellis's papers, I came across a film he created in 1993. This film is titled Augusto Monterosso, where he used Monterroso’s personal and public life to create academic and educational material to be shown at Stanford and other universities and colleges, along with the distribution of a Spanish version of the video film. Augusto Monterosso was a Guatemalan writer known for his short stories and fables. His work often addressed themes of identity, power, and social justice, and he is considered one of the most important literary figures in Latin America. This film stood out to me because of the different cultural aspects that connect with the outside world of literature, such as when Ruffinelli was in the process of creating this film he interviewed many Mexican/Chicano students that could be possibly part of this film.
Did you encounter any challenges or was there any material you struggled with identifying?
Working on the Ruffinelli collection was a rewarding experience that allowed me to explore the materials at my own pace and engage with the records. I was able to review the materials in the collection, take notes, and conduct research as needed. One of the challenges while working on this collection was reviewing all of the papers and documents while having a deadline of 6 weeks. While working on this collection along with the help of Eilene Lueck, Project Archivist, and Hanna Ahn, Assistant University Archivist, we were able to process these 10 boxes with enough time left to work on this blog post before my internship ends on August 11, 2023.
How has working on the Ruffinelli papers differed from the Mark Mancall papers?
Working on Jorge Ruffinelli’s papers differed from the project I worked on in the past in several ways. This collection included writing in both Spanish and Portuguese, so I was able to put in use my second language. Ruffinelli is a prolific writer and editor, so his papers contained a large volume of materials that provided a comprehensive view of his work and influence. Ruffinelli’s papers also contained personal correspondence and other materials that shed light on his life and experiences, which could be of interest to scholars and researchers in a variety of fields.
Do you think you have learned anything that will help you as you enter college?
Working with the Stanford University Archives Ruffinelli and Mancall Collections has helped me gain a broader perspective on the world and develop critical thinking skills that will be useful in a variety of academic contexts. Both forensics science and entomology require attention to detail and a deep understanding of the subject matter to generate accurate results, just like the University Archives, where investigating the contents of material to identify their meaning to generate descriptions for each one of the folders in the collections.
Do you have any final questions or thoughts as you reflect on your experience during this internship?
Overall this was a fun experience and I want to give a big thank you to Hanna Ahn, Eilene Lueck, Adan Griego and all the other supervisors for supporting me throughout this internship.