Summer Reflections

The summer of 2022 introduced me to a path of research I had yet to experience in my career: on-the-ground reporting for a timely publication. My fellowship with the Hennepin History Museum offered the opportunity to write an article for their quarterly magazine, Hennepin History. However, the deadline was nearing fast. I needed to gather from-the-source information and I needed to gather it quickly. The journey began with consistent social anxiety and stress over deadlines, which begged thoughts of regret. However as the story came together and the publication date came nearer, stress turned to excitement as this was to be the first in-print publication of an article written by me. Social anxiety was still there– it’s always there– but community warmth soothed the worries and I learned to enjoy my unique, behind-the-scenes experience of Minneapolis’s Eat Street on Nicollet Avenue.

The article shines a spotlight on two historic restaurants on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, which is dubbed Eat Street. The two restaurants each won a $40,000 pandemic-relief grant and to get the scoop from the source I visited the restaurant owners on the job– their preference– and sat among their regulars. With curious eyes on the new visitor, staff and patrons studied me while I launched question after question. I am no stranger to conducting interviews with community members to gather information. I am a stranger, however, to the environment in which I was to conduct interviews for the Hennepin History timely article. Previously, all my experiences conducting interviews with people as a means to gather research were done in a private space with little interference from things and people outside the conversation. The interviews I conducted for the Hennepin History timely article were done in spaces I was not accustomed to and therefore my being there felt out of place.

Barside Journalism

Despite bars and pubs having been places of social pastime for centuries, it has never been a pastime for me. Being a young, single female of color with timidity that is loud no matter how much I attempt to quiet it, perhaps one may understand the sinking feeling that came over me when I walked into the Black Forest Inn for the scheduled interview with co-owner Gina and learned that I would be sitting barside among the middle-aged and senior white men while Gina served her patrons. For me, this is a social situation from Hell. I do not enjoy any alcoholic beverages, so ordering a drink was not something I could do to camouflage my discomfort sitting at the bar with strangers. What was my horror, however, was also my help. While I am not accustomed to interjecting comments when engaging in an interview with someone, the men sitting at the bar were longtime community members and patrons to the restaurant and they provided interesting information that added to the conversation I was having with Gina. The patrons remembered details Gina was forgetting and the story became more complete with the help of those barside commentators.

Reporting with a Side of Egg Rolls

I witnessed impressive multi-tasking skills when I met with Rainbow Chinese Restaurant owner, Tammy, to conduct the scheduled interview for the Hennepin History timely article. Tammy’s restaurant is still closed to dine-in services, so luckily for me there was no bar full of strangers with whom I was expected to chat and mingle. There was a kitchen full of staff, however, who looked at me with some confusion as Tammy led me through the back-of-house work area and into the kitchen. She sat me down alongside her at a stainless steel table filled with ingredients that needed to be made into egg rolls. The side-eyes of the staff told me they were trying to piece together who the stranger is in the kitchen asking their boss so many questions. Before my path in public history, I worked many different jobs. The kitchen area of a restaurant is not unfamiliar to me. What is unfamiliar to me is being surrounded by busy-working people while I sit, probably in the way at times, not being a help. Despite the controlled chaos that is a busy kitchen and despite the daunting number of egg rolls needing to be completed, Tammy excitedly answered my questions in depth while she rolled each egg roll with perfection and tended to the needs of her kitchen staff. She did not slip away from the egg rolls, her staff’s questions, or my questions once. It was multi-taking like I’ve never seen it.

The anxiety and stress I experienced throughout this journey were tantamount to my understanding and appreciation of the on-the-ground work of professional journalists. The experience also may have some influence on my future decisions regarding agreement to do timely articles, though holding the magazine and seeing an article written by me in-print does seem to make it all worth it.

Carissa Thomas is an associate librarian working in public history, dedicating her work to expanding traditional historical narratives and connecting communities with educational tools and resources. She has worked with museums and historical societies across the Twin Cities metro and has engaged in community work led by Indigenous organizations.