05/12/2026
Astara Bastille, our Spring 2026 Archives Scanning Intern, has completed her time as our intern. Over the course of 10 weeks, Astara scanned over 400 documents related to the life of Margaret Homer (Nichols) Shurcliff and her family.
“In my time as the Nichols House Archives Intern, I have learned a lot about the Nichols family, particularly Margaret. Undertaking a digitization project of this scale begins with sorting through the archival materials. I scanned a variety of items, including letters, invitations, drawings, and photographs. For the letters, I had to learn Margaret’s and her family’s handwriting in order to decipher the order of pages in the letters—as they were not always clear-cut—and often to identify who had written a letter. I have learned about familial relations and the pet names the Nichols and Shurcliffs had for each other. Additionally, it was also not always obvious what an item was, or how it should be classified. Archival work requires patience, persistence, and creativity. It is really valuable to have archival materials digitized, with detailed metadata, so that they are usable for research. I am honored to have been able to work on this project and be a part of the Nichols House community!”
