7 Questions with Natasha Bruns, General Mills Corporate Archivist

 

     Did you know that many companies employ historians and/or archivists to preserves the company's history ? Learn about it here.

         Natasha Bruns is the Corporate Archivist at General Mills, Inc and on the board for the Associates of the James Ford Bell Library. She obtained her BA in History with a minor in Humanistic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Master of Library and Information Science from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. Previously she has worked on projects for the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota, Archives and Area Research Center at UW-Green Bay, and the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, WI. For more about General Mills and its history, go to https://blog.generalmills.com/

Natasha Bruns

1. How and when did you get hooked on history?

The library was my favorite place to visit when I was in elementary and middle school and I loved reading, but it was surprisingly video games and movies that got me hooked on history. Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones being major influences on my interest in the histories of early civilizations. Being able to see historical places or events brought to life inspired me to learn and understand more about history.

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

While I was always a big fan of history, it didn’t really have a big impact on my life until college. The depth of knowledge of my professors and their passion for being able to share it really drew me to wanting to learn about history and be able to share that same level of passion with others. I knew that I was interested in being able to share information with a variety of people and wanted to look for opportunities outside of teaching in a classroom which led me to study museums and archives.

3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?

I am very fortunate to interact with history every day! In an archive context is everything, not only the context of what was happening at time within General Mills, its subsidiaries, or its predecessors, but also what was happening outside of the company. American and global history provides important context for understanding why innovation happened and what impact it had on consumers.

General Mills Archives Cookbook Collection

4.          Why is studying/knowing history important?

Our daily life and the actions we take are history. By understanding moments and glimpses of the past we can use that information to make informed decisions. Studying failures and unsuccessful moments can provide valuable insight and offer provide inspiration for how to improve. 

5.          What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

20th century history is one of my favorite periods to learn about because there are many facets that deeply impact current events. Specifically, the Space Race and the Cold War are very fascinating to me because of the efforts of both the United States and Russia expanding science and technology in remarkable ways.

 

Archives Preservation Exhibit

6.         A lot of people probably don’t realize that corporations often employ archivists or historians to preserve the company’s history.  What exactly is your job as General Mills Corporate Archivist and what kinds of things does the archive contain?

As the General Mills Corporate Archivist, it is my responsibility to maintain and manage the collection to ensure it is accessible and preserved for the benefit of General Mills and its employees. This includes making sure historically significant materials are available for use. Materials are used to share the stories of the company with brand teams and for marketing purposes. Some of my favorite aspects of this role include giving history tours, providing artifacts for events, and maintaining historical displays at the company headquarters.

The General Mills Corporate Archives contains records and artifacts dating back to the mid-1800s and includes product packaging, in-box promotions, mail-in premiums, advertisements, photographs, and materials related to the historical and ongoing tasks of General Mills, its subsidiaries, and its predecessors.

7.      Is your archive open to the public? Who uses the archive and for what purposes?

We are not open to the public, but we are able to answer some research questions we receive from consumers on a case-by-case basis. Our primary audience are employees of General Mills, who use the Archives to find product and brand history, locate historic photos or images, or research in the impact of General Mills.

Celebrating Trix Rabbit's 60th birthday in 2019

7 Questions with Jason Fegadel of Youtube Channel Byztory

 

Jason Fegadel runs Byztory, a YouTube channel featuring animated videos about the Byzantine Empire ( https://www.youtube.com/c/Byztory). He works as an Archive Specialist in the Electronic Records Division at the National Archives and Records Administration. A native of Rochester, New York, he currently lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife and three children. 

1.          How and when did you get  hooked on history?

Fun story! When I was about 7 years old, my family visited Boston and while we were there, we attended a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. For whatever reason, this just fascinated me. I had all kinds of questions for my parents afterwards and wanted to learn everything about it, why it happened, and what happened afterwards. I soon started looking for books in the school library about that era and then I started to move into whatever other history-related media I could find. As I got older and studied more, my primary interests moved away from early American history but that was the beginning of my life long interest.

2.          What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

We live in the Washington, DC area so there are plenty of museums, parks, and sites that we can take our kids to. When we visit these places I get to talk their ears off explaining all about the history that they are seeing.

3.          How does history play  a part of your professional life/career?

I'm very lucky to have had a lot of hands-on experience working with historical materials. In 2011 I started working at the National Archives and Records Administration on a digitization project. I stayed there until 2015 when I moved over to the Library of Congress to work on digitization of their holdings. Then in 2018 I went back to NARA as an Archives Specialist working with electronic records and I'm still in that position today.

4.          Why is studying/knowing history important?

The world of today doesn't exist on it's own. We got here because of everything that happened before us. It's important to know where we came from and what brought us to this point. The foundations of the modern world can be found in the ancient and medieval world.

5.          What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

Anything related to the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire is fascinating to me but I'm particularly interested in late antiquity, the period from roughly the beginning of the 4th century to the end of the 7th century. I'm fascinated by the causes and effects of the decline and fall of the western Roman Empire, both internally and externally.... what actually happened as the western empire declined, why the eastern empire was able to continue, and how Europe moved into the Medieval period in the aftermath of the fall of the western empire.

6.         How did Byztory get started?

There is a lot of good history content on YouTube, but I noticed that there wasn't a ton of stuff out there about the Byzantine Empire. There are a lot of important events that occurred in the Byzantine Empire and there are some interesting stories that can be told, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to produce some educational content. I took some inspiration from some other channels that are out there and adapted some things to fit my vision. I'm still trying to improve things but I'm happy with how it's coming along.

7.      What can viewers expect to find on your YouTube channel?

I make animated videos about Eastern Roman/Byzantine history. I try to produce videos that are roughly 10-15 minutes long, but I try to go into depth on the topics that I'm covering. As a result I have several videos in a series, with each video covering only a somewhat short period of time, or in some cases only one major event or battle. I'm currently working on a series about the Gothic War, part of Justinian's attempt to reconquer territories that were once a part of Rome's western empire. I have a lot of topics that I plan to do series on in the future, including the Schism of 1054 and the Byzantine Empire's role in the crusades.