I’m Ellie and from July until November I’ll be an intern at The Devil’s Porridge Museum, working on the Disability: Past and Present project.
I’m looking to begin a career in museums and galleries and am particularly interested in curation and collections management. Already, at The Devil’s Porridge, I’ve been working in the object store with the collections, digitizing objects to help establish the museum’s online catalogue. Coincidentally, I have recently discovered that my great-great-grandmother Katie worked at HM Factory Gretna during the First World War. My Granny and I are searching for photographs of Katie, so that we can add her to the Miracle Workers’ Database.
As a student, I spent my Undergraduate years at the University of Leeds and got my Master’s degree in Museums Studies from the University of Glasgow in 2018. As someone with a disability and chronic illness, I am really excited by the opportunity to work on this project. Since taking an interest in museums and galleries, it has shocked me how little there is written about the lives of disabled people across history: who have always existed and contributed so much to society. The opportunity to illuminate this previously untouched part of the collection at The Devil’s Porridge is incredibly exciting. It’s very encouraging to me that the organisation wants to explore new ways of interpreting their collections.
In my research so far, it’s apparent that there are many gaps in disability history, especially when it comes to the subject of war. This project is unlike anything I’ve seen from other museums, and I’m very excited to create an exciting, accessible, sensory experience for visitors during the exhibition in November.
When I’m not working at The Devil’s Porridge, I like to spend time outdoors with my three-legged dog Bobby.
