Public Affairs Intern at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast

This semester marked the final months before the debut of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s 40 Years: Moving Forward exhibit. The exhibit is a form of visual storytelling that displays the history, work, and accomplishments of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast since the founding of its first center in 1984. My work on this project, alongside various other interns and staff, involved collecting and organizing archival documents for the exhibit.

I spent the first portion of my internship this semester exploring the history and development of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast through newspaper clippings, press releases, magazines, correspondence, and event flyers from Newcomb’s Planned Parenthood collection. We then digitally cataloged and categorized relevant documents according to subject matter and objective for their inclusion in the visual timeline portion of the exhibit. This work gave me the opportunity to see not only the progression of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast’s work but also the historical and cultural contexts within which these developments took place. One of the most interesting aspects of this process was reviewing miscellaneous archival documents from the opposing side of the reproductive rights spectrum, which elucidated the political and cultural climate during different stages of Planned Parenthood's work. The addition of these archival documents to the project made the timeline all the more personal and tangible, and the collection process gave me the opportunity to explore them firsthand.

Near the end of the semester, my focus, along with that of the other interns, partially shifted toward creating a Tulane Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter. Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGEN) seeks to involve college campuses and university students in Planned Parenthood’s work on sexual and reproductive health issues. With the help of supervisors, our group of interns organized and established a chapter of PPGEN at Tulane. The club is in its early stages, but we have already held our first meeting, tabled on campus for exposure and information, and hosted a sex-ed trivia event.

This semester has been an amazing learning and work experience, where I have had the opportunity to engage with the field of reproductive and sexual health by assisting in the work of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast and by meeting and collaborating with a group of passionate and hardworking staff members, supervisors, and interns.