While that may seem slightly morbid...like Magellan's expedition making a circle around the globe, I too have made one (alive unlike Magellan). I began this journey in Washington, PA on a fateful day in the spring of 2013 when I found out that my project was approved and funded. Then on June 1st I departed and my trip began. For two months I lived in New England, researching, learning, and growing both academically and individually.
This entry is more than anything, a reflection of my journey. A condition of the award was that a reflection had to be completed upon the scholar's return...something I have completed and see no need in repeating myself or rewriting it since like every other college student out there I am unbelievably busy and short of time. But, I think there may be a few things, one very important thing, that I failed to mention in my reflection that I did mention at the Magellan Scholar dinner, which occurred a few days after I wrote the reflection that is below.
If one looks back to the second post I blogged on here, "What makes them special?" they may learn that prior to my trip and researching, I believed that Phillis Wheatley and Samson Occom assimilated into the Euro-American society...I seemed very sure of it. As I reflect on that post, things most certainly have changed. As you will be able to learn from my reflection I now believe that was not the case. Instead I think that, while the claim that they "partly" assimilated could be made, I think for the most part both Wheatley and Occom strongly identified with their birth cultural identities.
Such a change of thought begs the question...was I wrong? The answer to that is quite simply- no, not at all. I do not think I was wrong, instead the beauty of research and academia has presented itself. I made a hypothesis or assumption about these two writers, but upon further research and review my beliefs and view changed. That's the beauty of the whole entire project, it allowed me to seek out the answers to my own questions and expand on them.
Here is the reflection I submitted about my Magellan Project:
In preparation for writing this reflection I reread portions of my application. In doing so I asked myself, did you succeed in your venture? Did you go beyond what you had hoped? How did this experience, perhaps calling it an “exploration” is more appropriate, affect your overall view of yourself and life? While all these questions formed in my head I came to the realization that my Magellan project far surpassed my wildest dreams, which I “attempted” to convey in my application. My growth and experiences as a student, researcher, and even just an individual were something that I could not have even fathomed.
Arriving in Boston, Massachusetts was by far one of my most daunting and stressful events in my life. There I was, bag in hand, walking into a whole new world. I was alone and independent. Every decision, every step was of my own and no one was going to be there to hold my shaking hand. The nerves, however, eventually subsided and excitement rushed through my mind.
While in Boston walking the streets and camping out in the libraries and Starbucks, I tried to imagine what Phillis Wheatley, one of two authors I was researching, felt when she first came to Boston. Clearly we are different people, but the fear and unknowing juxtaposed to the extreme excitement and wonder was something we both had in common. I lived in the Boston Public Library (BPL) and shuffled through books and articles looking for traces of a cultural identity. My work was promising. Wheatley showed me that even though she faced daunting hardships, as a slave, African, and woman, she used those pressures forced on her by Euro-Americans in the sense of religion, language, and education to battle back and call out for the better treatment of her African people. Her works are filled with examples of her African cultural identity and a will to speak out on behalf of her others.
Working in the BPL and also the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) taught me a lot about how to research at large institutes. Many of the books I used were not accessible via open shelves, so I was forced to fill out little white and yellow call cards. Then I would have to wait patiently for a librarian to climb the stairs and search the closed shelves for my sought after book. I also had to learn to think independently. I was without a prompt; nothing was given to me by a professor pointing me in a direction to begin. Instead I had to come up with my own thoughts and reasons. That out-of-the-box thinking forced me to think critically and on a broader scale. It led to question after question, eventually making me question what I was doing. “Stay the course,” I told myself. After some time I did and I grew my “sea legs.”
A result was my quest to learn and understand how Wheatley and Samson Occom saw themselves in a world that was upside-down. Both Wheatley and Occom were minorities and victims of Euro-American colonization. At a young age they both were exposed to western religions, education, and languages. How did they cope? Did they bow to these new ways? This led to something else, something larger, complex and unknowing to me; what do they tell us about cultural identity through literature in 18th century?
Before I answer those questions I think it is important to discuss the second part of my trip. After gaining a wealth of knowledge in Boston, and finding my direction I traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire, home of Dartmouth College. Occom is arguably the second most important figure in Dartmouth history, though I would argue he is the most important. During his life he helped fundraise for the college, thinking it would educate Native Americans. Sadly this was not the case. While at the college I spent hours upon hours in the many libraries scattered across the campus. I sailed through articles and books trying to piece together Occom and Wheatley. I yearned to answer the questions I posed above. But before I arrived the two-hour bus ride from Boston to Hanover gave me plenty of time to think. As we chartered our course through the pine tree covered hills and cliffs I wondered how Occom saw this land and his reactions? Was he as amazed as I?
Towards the end of my expedition I was able to piece together what my research meant and I was able to answer the questions that set the wind to my sails. Without going into too much detail since some constraints won’t allow me, I will summarize my findings. Using Wheatley and Occom as case studies, I was able to conclude that Euro-American pressures, such as religion, education, and language, bombarded Africans and Native Americans in 18th century New England. Wheatley and Occom faced these pressures, however, their writings show how they coped and dealt with such pressures. Instead of succumbing to them, they in turn used them to write literature that allowed them to speak out against the pressures and for the better treatment of their people. This “anti-colonial” style enabled Wheatley and Occom to reach different audiences and to some degree contribute to the positive advancements of minorities during this time. What stands out the most is that they stayed true, at least partly, to their core cultural identities.
A key question that I think is important to answer is, what knowledge and experiences can I bring back to W&J? I think the first is independent thinking and motivation to uncover questions that may not get asked. I know that sounds broad and to some extent general but what I mean is that this experience taught me to look beyond the confines of what feels comfortable and look at issues from different angles. My new outlook on libraries and the inter-library loan program is another aspect that I think I can bring back. W&J has a fantastic library, however, it is not very large and unfortunately it has its limitations. That shouldn’t stop our research though, the horizon continues even though we may not see that far. The inter-library loan program makes looking beyond possible. The last aspect that I want to touch upon is my view of culture. My research prompted me to do extra research on different cultures and look at them from different perspectives. While I think W&J has worked to be more diverse, we have our limitations. With more Magellan Scholars and trips such as mine, perhaps even if we cannot change things from a tangible perspective, we can change our minds, which are endless, through the knowledge that we learn and consume along the way, which can be spread without limits.
I want to end on one of the most defining moments of my Magellan. I say one because I had many but on a personal level this one strikes me as important. It was one of the last days that I was in Hanover and I really wanted to experience a New Hampshire breakfast at Lou’s, the local diner, but I couldn’t build up the courage to go in. Usually I would walk past and look in, just to keep on walking. But on this day, things changed, I felt different. Fearful, as usual, I looked in and started walking away but something stopped me and I turned around and walked in. It may seem insignificant but that defining moment was when I realized that I could do anything I want. Nothing, no one, will ever stand in the way of my hopes and dreams. If that feeling, produced completely by my Magellan experience, made me go into a diner, I cannot wait for what my future has in store for me.
Above are two final pictures I would like to leave you all. The first is a statue of Phillis Wheatley at Boston's Women Memorial. The second is of a piece of José Clemente Orozco's 24-panel "The Epic of American Civilization." These represent the immortality of Wheatley and Occom, and also what they stood for, the better treatment of a people oppressed.
