Chaitra Powell: Week 16 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my 16^th week at the Mayme Clayton Library and Museum, I took time off to attend my father’s memorial service in Gaston, North Carolina, talked about job opportunities in the special collections at Savannah State University and participated in a meeting with a film producer for the licensing of photographs for a Richard Pryor documentary.

My father grew up in, Gaston, a small town in Northampton County, North Carolina. To get there for his memorial service, we had to fly to Raleigh, and drive around 100 miles through country roads. Once we got there, spent a few days with my grandparents and other relatives and said our final goodbyes; we wondered what to do next with our rental car in this interesting region of the country. We decided to visit a few other cities; among them was Savannah, Georgia. In Savannah, we decided to check out Savannah State University. I had seen a librarian job announcement from them a few months ago and thought it might be a good idea to introduce myself, just in in case they were still looking at applicants. Savannah State University is a historically black college that has been absorbed for the Georgia State University system. The library was very quiet because most students had already left for winter break but luckily there was one serial librarian in the building. I explained my current situation and how I had seen the job posting and asked if there was anything that she could share about their hiring patterns or practices. 

I found out that they had filled the position a couple months ago but the administration moves slow in getting new hires on board and removing the vacancy information. This librarian had graduated from Queens College and worked in law libraries for years before landing this job. She said that it was difficult to find a position in this market but one strategy that she employed was to send her resume to anywhere that she wanted to work and in some cases she did get call backs and interviews. When it came to the special collections, this librarian did not have much information, she said that there was not an archivist on staff; all of the librarians worked to provide access to the archival materials. She was not able to answer my questions about accessions, scope, or EAD finding aids. Instead she walked me upstairs and showed me the museum, special collections reading room and introduced me to the library assistant that monitored the space. When I explained my situation to her, she gave me her card hoping that I would be a resource for them! After looking around, I could see that the special collection could really benefit from an archive specialist. They could use someone to do research and bring more exposure to their materials. In their defense, they have digitized a lot of their materials and made them available online. 

I thanked each of them for their time and advice. The fellowship allowed me to approach the situation from a confident position. I wasn’t a volunteer looking for someone to give me a chance, I am an employed archivist that has demonstrated my worth in Chicago and Los Angeles; I believe that my next employer will be eager to have me on their team.

Of course the airports were a madhouse with the holidays right around the corner, but I refused to give up my seat for vouchers or take a different flight because I had a meeting with “Richard Pryor” on my scheduled arrival date. Over the past several weeks I have been working with Grace, a researcher for a new Richard Pryor documentary, on some images that we had of the comedian. Dr. Clayton in her awe-inspiring wisdom had collected many of the photographs from the archives at Sepia magazine, when it was discontinued in 1983. From my time in the Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) photograph archives, I can attest that these images are much smaller in quantity but comparable in quality and rarity to the JPC collection. As a result of the divided nature of the Sepia photograph collection, the MCLM has retained all rights to the images that we possess. 

I had already made low resolution copies for her Grace, she shared them with the producers, and they would get back to us on which images they wanted to move forward with licensing agreements. After a number of emails, Grace and one of the producers, Sarah, came to the museum on Friday afternoon for a meeting with Larry and me. The success of this meeting was the perfect example of teamwork. I greeted our guests, took a little time to get to know them better and discuss the strengths and context of the photographs that they were interested in. Larry joined us after a few minutes and explained what he was hoping to gain from this transaction and to their pleasant surprise; it was not a large paycheck. We talked about screening the documentary at the museum as a part of black comedian series. Larry has the vision to see how a favor could be more valuable than a dollar as we strive to establish ourselves in the community. I was instructed to follow up with the Grace on the type of reproduction that they will need, and quote a price that covers our cost, plus 40%; which is a steal for them because of the amount of freedom and flexibility that they will have with the images. I am excited to be a part of such an amazing project and grateful to learn from an experienced negotiator.

The Mayme Clayton Library and Museum will be closed from December 23 until January 3. I’m off to Tucson, Arizona to spend the holidays with my sister and niece. I hope you all have a happy holiday and joyous New Year’s celebration. 2013 is going to be big, I can feel it in my bones!

Chaitra Powell: Week 15 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my 15^th week at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, I participated in a professional development call with staff members from the Virginia Historical Society, put the final touches on my new processing space in the small courtroom, and mapped out some ideas for the “Listen, Whitey” exhibit.

On Tuesday, I joined a conference call with my fellow fellows to listen as Dr. Lauranett Lee and Paige Newman discussed their work at the Virginia Historical Society. They spent most of the call describing their database of slave names, “Unknown No Longer” and which factors they considered in its creation. Dr. Lee talked about the outreach opportunities that the project has enabled. She believes that descendants of slaves and slave owners will better understand the circumstances of slavery with the data that they have collected. The Virginia Historical Society has also improved its relationships with other Virginia libraries and historical societies through collaborations with the "Unknown No Longer" database. Many genealogists utilize the resources at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum and my knowledge of this database will increase my ability to help them with their research.

The small courtroom in the museum has officially been taken over by the Mayme A. Clayton Papers. All of the boxes are set up on tables for easy filing. There are no giant piles of unsorted materials in any of the corners. The series are physically separated in space with chairs so that five people can potentially work at the same time. I have my laptop computer set up near the makeshift sorting tables so that I can also work on blogs and evaluation summaries in between the processing of the papers. I am also closer to the museum entrance so I can easily move to the reception area to answer phones or greet visitors. The new space is lovely, and I am hoping to recruit some extra volunteers in January to keep moving the project along.   

A few weeks ago, Larry explained that we would need to change the permanent exhibits throughout the museum. We plan to rotate the materials in the room which displays the range of items that can be found at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum. The “great” room which currently houses the art of local artist, Ben Caldwell will be replaced by our collection of Jacob Lawrence artwork. The hallway that currently houses the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Los Angeles photographs, the riots in Watts photographs, the community paintings, and several movie posters, will be removed to make room for the “Listen, Whitey” exhibit. I have been selected to design and implement the “Listen, Whitey” exhibit which is centered on a same titled book by Pat Thomas that discusses the black power albums which were recorded between 1965 and 1975. Larry’s idea is to locate the albums that are referenced in the book and creatively display them with supplemental materials from the collection, listening stations, looping videos and text panels which tell the story of what these artists were trying to express. The concept is very straightforward, and now I am trying to work out the thousands of details that flow from this simple concept. I am reading the book and writing down as many questions as I can as the ideas come to me. This is an amazing opportunity and I am looking forward to putting together an exciting exhibit.

Home for the Holidays: Last of 2012

 

With my Christmas vacation officially starting on Monday with a six o’clock flight and layover to Appleton, Wisconsin, I stayed until six o’clock Friday performing the finishing touches on my William M’Neir case study. I spent the majority of the week playing catch up with HistoryMakers oral history processing, thus delaying my completion of his case study; after I left Chicago but before I started working in the Maryland State Archives, Executive Director Julieanna Richardson asked that the fellows dedicate one day a week to work on oral histories. Since M’Neir was a direct request from the state archivist Dr. Ed Papenfuse, it was prudent to give it my total attention.

Oral Histories

The HistoryMakers are testing a new, crowdsource friendly manner with which to process oral history interviews. After testing several different formats they settled on a SurveyMonkey report system; all of the fellows will essentially beta test this method and make recommendations based on our experiences. The previous format, typically called an “Evaluation” form, created a narrative interpretation of structural, administrative, and descriptive metadata for each interview. Each form is more-or-less broken down in three ways. (Warning: These terms are of my own invention and used here for clarity)

·         Frontmatter: The HistoryMaker’s name, the interview length, whether the interview is complete, is a follow-up, and when the previous interview was performed.

·         Tape Description: Every 30 minute segment is given a one page summary, 150 word abstract, a short narrative regarding its historical importance, and assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings; these headings compliment ones already assigned for the interview as a whole. Additionally, the interview’s and interviewer’s quality is described.

·         HistoryMaker biography: This information is taken from the entirety of the interview. These include jobs, organizations, schools, and family—pretty much anything intended for the EAC finding aid.

The form behaved as if it pre-dated the extensive databases maintained at THM headquarters in Chicago; it was time consuming to fill to completion, asked for redundant information, and the databases they were paired with were inaccessible remotely.

The new form is almost entirely descriptive metadata and renders the database access problem moot. The core of every evaluation is the Tape Description. Whereas the previous form asked for narrative qualitative analysis of the video, audio, and the quality of the interviewer, the SurveyMonkey form simply asks for a rating. Whereas the old form required a separate portion devoted to family background description, education, employment, and organizations, the new form abandons the family background description and only asks that the HistoryMaker biography references be noted for each tape rather than in a separate section. In the old method a lot of time is spent composing duplicate information as if the form were its own access point. This may have been true at one time or another but The HistoryMakers have since developed EAD, EAC-CPF finding aids, thorough databases, and a sophisticated work methodology that made these older forms duplicative and time consuming. 

The new form has its limits: Since data is inputted into fixed fields rather than free text, and the EAC information is noted per tape rather than per interview, there is less flexibility to accommodate HistoryMakers who mention more than four schools or five jobs in one tape. The only option is to create still more available fields. This however might look cumbersome or intimidating; it’s a balancing act.

Despite its flaws the new form is a significant improvement and recognizes the realities of the current HistoryMakers environment. During the summer Julieanna asked for our input on how we could increase productivity in oral history processing and I am gladdened to see that many of my and other’s suggestions are realized—albeit on the Web rather than a Word document.

DeLawrence Beard

Royce West

I completed evaluations for the Hons. Royce West and DeLawrence Beard. West is private lawyer and state senator from Texas but he lived in Annapolis as a boy. Beard moved to Maryland from St. Louis and, in 2003 when the interview was conducted, was a Circuit Court judge for Montgomery County. West was very entertaining and engaged with the camera; he frequently looked into the lens and addressed a hypothetical viewer. My favorite occasion of this was when West, recalling his time as a paperboy, chastised some folks who left town before settling their account; he looked directly at the camera and told them he was coming for them. Beard seemed more reserved at first; he had difficulty remembering particulars like names or even placing himself in the historical narrative. When asked about civil rights in St. Louis, he offered an interesting perspective. St. Louis, he claimed, did many things its own way. It desegregated Sportsman’s Park when Jackie Robinson refused to play otherwise, it desegregated its public transit workforce with little attention paid by its riders, and initiated its own school desegregation before Brown v. Board of Education. Once Beard warmed up, it was hard for him to stay still. The videographer frequently needed to reframe him as he settled differently in his chair.

2013

It is a bit unfortunate that I will be out of the archives until 2013 because I will have less time to prepare for a talk in February. Since the talk is at the Queen Anne’s Public Library in Stevensville, just beyond the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Kent Island, I’m beginning with cases filed there. My colleague Tanner Sparks will talk about United States Colored Troops and I will talk about slave freedom petitions. Both represent institutionally valid methods that slaves used to earn their freedom in a system that favored the property class. Since the library wants to publish the event on their website by January 1^st and I will be out of state until then, I already proposed a title to Tanner: “Pistols and Petitions: Queen Anne's Slave Self Emancipation in the 19th Century.” Soldiers use rifles of course but the alliteration was too tempting.

Alex Champion--Maryland State Archives

Amanda J. Carter: Week 15-16 (December 8 – December 21) @ Fisk University

William McKissack Papers

As the final week of Fisk’s 2012 Fall semester came to a close amidst abundant holiday cheer and festivities, I continued working on the Office Records series of the William McKissack Papers.  A very helpful volunteer, Mrs. Evelyn, has already moved the materials to fresh folders and boxes, but I continue removing staples, metal paperclips and pins, and providing further organization of clarifying categories.   The majority of the materials are fairly straight-forward so categories resembling the College Hill subseries evolved rather smoothly.   I appreciate my supervisor Ms. Mattie McHollin’s advice early on in the project to start with the most comprehensive group of materials focusing on College Hill Apartments and Housing in Nashville.  Because that portion of materials was so large, enough subcategories were created that it is unlikely many more categories will need to be added to any other series or subseries for this collection, especially since the majority of these files are other projects that will mirror College Hill, albeit on a smaller scale.  So not only have I been able to complete the most extensive section, but it also helped to establish a framework for the organizational scheme.  Brilliant!

Challenges

While the organizational scheme established with the College Hill records will be the framework for most of this collection, I am currently working on the Office Records series that is organized somewhat differently.  The records within this section pertain to all office functions not related to a specific project or that are related to multiple projects in one document.  However, this company seemed to branch out beyond its core architectural and engineering firm and it can sometimes be difficult to determine how those branches were organized.  For instance, of late I have been arranging two separate groups of index cards that contain names, addresses, social security numbers, and sometimes other notations.  One of the boxes containing the contact information indicates that it is “current.”  That hint combined with the notations that appear to indicated number of rooms (“3 room” or “4 rm”) seem to indicate that these are some sort of waiting list for housing.  One could assume this is for College Hill, but there are no indications anywhere on the index cards that this would be the case.  However, I have also found records indicating that the McKissacks had other rental properties, so it is quite difficult to determine how to best organize these index cards.  Fortunately, since they have private information such as social security numbers, the records will be closed in a separate file so that could make the arrangement somewhat simpler.  At this point, I am currently only arranging the cards and will determine a better description for them once I finish going through them all.  I always feel I understand a collection better the further I get into the processing of it, so I think that I will find other indicators that hint at how these index cards were used. 

The staples can also be extremely challenging when multiple staples are found in the same location.  It can be quite difficult to remove them all without damaging the documents they connect.  Interestingly, I have noticed that while some staples are almost destroyed by rust, others seem in much better condition.  I mentioned this during lunch one day and Librarian Cheryl Hamberg suggested it might make an interesting study.  I must agree since I imagine that these staples are made out of different materials so it might be interesting to survey the types of materials that are used to make staples and how they are affected by elements over time.  Would it be possible that all staples are not as bad for documents, as previously thought?  Obviously, plastic is better because it does not break down but if archivists knew there were certain types of metals that are very slow to disintegrate in a wide variety of environments, then it could greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for detailed processing.   

Speaking of environment, I am having an interesting experience watching what happens to 50+ year-old materials as the temperature changes.  Once winter started, the heater came on in our building.  Unfortunately, it has not been that cold outside so the temperature in the room where I work has been in the low 80s according to a handy portable thermostat on my desk.  While I have had to adjust my clothing to accommodate this rise in temperature, I am fortunate that I have that option.  The materials do not.  Papers that seemed in fine condition when I first surveyed this collection in September are now becoming more dry and brittle.  While the storage conditions in an air conditioned and heated building are certainly much preferred to a dusty, dirty storage unit, I am witnessing first-hand how much humidity matters in the life of documents. 

Oral History Interview Evaluations

Fisk closes for an extra week at the end of December, so I have used that time to catch up on a few oral history interview evaluations for The HistoryMakers Digital Archive.  Elma Lewis discussed her life in the creative arts in Boston.  She tells how she established the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts and was one of the founders of the National Center for Afro-American Artists.  Even when she looks like she is thoroughly exhausted mid-way through this two hour interview, she still discusses her life with thought-provoking depth.

Reverend Doctor Elaine Flake was another interview that I completed this week.  Born in Memphis, Tennessee, with roots in north Mississippi, and a graduate of Fisk University, this fascinating woman describes her life growing up in the South during the end of de jure segregation.  She also recalls the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Her perspective is invaluable to understanding the daily life of a young African American women coming of age in the South during the mid-twentieth century.  Furthermore, her adult life is fascinating as she eventually studied and became an African Methodist Episcopal minister.  She discusses the limited number of women in the ministry and admitted to being one of the trailblazers of the more recent trend of “co-pastoring” where both the husband and wife are ministers.  I think this may be one of the most historically relevant interviews that I have evaluated to date because it covers topics from desegregation in the South to women clergy.  Fascinating!

Happy Holidays!  May whatever holiday(s) you celebrate be filled with joyful thankfulness and happy family memories!

Until next time…

Amanda J. Carter

Franklin Library, Fisk University

IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013

Skyla S. Hearn: Week 14

Shake a hand, give a hug! Happy Holidays! During the holiday season, we are often reminded to be more kind, more caring and more generous. My belief is that we should engage in these positive behaviors not just during the holiday season but also year round. I profoundly believe in the practice of the ethic of reciprocity (Golden Rule). With this in mind, I am reminiscent of childhood teachings about the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles, which are often retaught and implemented into Kwanzaa celebrations. As I continue to develop interpersonal and professional skills as an archivist interested in Africana/African American archives I am reminded how the Seven Principles are continuously reiterated in the maintenance and development of archival collections. The process of developing and maintaining the archives does not solely exist within the walls of the archival institutions but also takes place outside, amongst the living elements, within the community---community engagement and outreach, building collaborations---partnerships with other institutions, creating relationships---acquisitions and collection development and so on.

This week, in addition to my archival fellow responsibilities of processing photographs, completing photo selections for the upcoming Wyatt Photograph Exhibit and providing archival reference, I was able to take my archival ministry to the streets. No, I did not overtly and overly inform folks about the importance of archival collections, aggressively persist that folks visit their local archival collections, etc. Instead, I attended a few events and meetings throughout the city to gain and share knowledge of resources. Over the last months, I have existed in the comforts and confines of my shell--work and family--so my plan was to attend and participate in enlightening discussions, intellectually interactive and stimulating events that would help me to shed the confines of the shell in addition to help me gain further perspective on the work I have immersed myself in since June---the audiovisual, paper and photograph collections of African Americans, some of which have passed on but more excitingly  the ones who are still here. So, I set out to meet a few... 

FRIDAY: Community Engagement, Outreach, Acquisitions and Donor Relations



Angela Jackson (In her current likeness)



Poet Angela Jackson Reads at Cave Canem 2012

I spent Friday at the Harsh Research Center re-counting photographs and selecting images for the Wyatt Photograph Exhibit. There is really a science to photo archiving. On the surface, it seems simple enough: Read the image and record the information but alas what seems simple often isn't. I could swear the photographs are multiplying! It seems like the  (closed) collection keeps growing, which at this point is impossible. Regardless, the counting, processing and selection continues...

Friday evening I attended All Black Woman Everything: Black Arts and Freedom Dreams, Featuring Angela Jackson at Blanc Gallery in Bronzeville, which highlighted performances by a young female poetess and rap duo, KUSH and No Name, an art exhibit by Amanda Williams and Krista Franklin and delivered the star attraction--Angela Jackson, who channeled the energy of Carolyn Rogers by reading Carolyn's poetry. Ms. Jackson gave us all an early holiday blessing when she read her own original works. During the reception, I had the opportunity to spend a little time in her grace. I spent it wisely. I surely praised her readings, poetry and contributions to the Black Arts Movement in addition to inquired about her archival collection. Needless to say, I shared with her the importance of donating her collection to the archives so that all of her wonderful work, thought processes, etc. could be accessed by scholars and enthusiasts. I've crossed my fingers in hopes she will send her collection here, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature.  Stay tuned.

THURSDAY: Processing I submitted the first set of images, 30 photographs, for approval for the Wyatt Photograph Collection. I need to submit a total of 150 photographs for the exhibit. Twenty two of the thirty were approved. I suppose that's not so bad but I would have preferred an approved thirty. The selection continues. During the meeting, I was briefed by Michael, the H.A.P.P. Director, about qualifications and requirements I need to adhere to as I continue to select images.

WEDNESDAY



I attended the Harsh Society Board Meeting and Annual Holiday Dinner. It was an honor to meet, sit, listen and chat with the Board Members, exemplary members of the African American community. The Vivian G. Harsh Society supports the preservation and growth of the Vivian G. Harsh Collection of Afro-American History and Literature owned by the Chicago Public Library and housed in the Collection’s wing of the Woodson Regional Library. I plan to become a member of the Harsh Society (as should you).

 MONDAY

Monday was a great day at work! I processed quite a large number of photographs and provided some archival reference. The patron inquired about Margaret Burroughs and The Second Red Scare. Fortunately, I wrote a blog about that subject a few months ago and was able to give some archival advice and steer the patron in the right direction. I conducted the primary research on the topic at the South Side Community Art Center archives. Fortunately, we have related archival materials here at the Harsh that include The William McBride Papers, The Fern Gaydon Papers, and The Frances Minor Papers all of which have online finding aids.

Monday evening I graciously accepted an invitation from my friends and fellow academics, Prudenc and Haris I, to attend the  inaugural issue of SOULS: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, which is now published here in Chicago and affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago. The SOULS panel discussion of Black Academic contributors provided a critical analysis and assessment of Obama's presidency (to date) and the 2012 Presidential Election. To say the least, it was extremely interesting and thought provoking. The panel, moderated by Barbara Ransby, included academic notables (Barbara Ransby), Cathy Cohen, Bob Starks, Cedric Johnson, Cheryl Harris and others. I left the event feeling motivated and rejuvenated. Today was a great way to begin the week!

For More Information on the Publications and Programs mentioned in this blog, please visit the following websites:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/souls/ Souls, A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society at UIC
http://www.wbez.org/souls-critical-journal-black-politics-culture-and-society-104258 Program Information for SOULS: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society

http://harshsociety.org/ Vivian G. Harsh Society: BECOME A MEMBER!  

http://www.wbez.org/all-black-woman-everything-black-arts-and-freedom-dreams-featuring-angela-jackson-104146 Program Information for All Black Woman Everything: Black Arts and Freedom Dreams, Featuring Angela Jackson

http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/archivalcoll/index.php Archival Collections at the Harsh Research Center

Ardra Whitney: Week 15 @ Avery Research Center

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Monday, December 10^th:
 
I continued processing the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records throughout the week and by Friday I had surveyed nine out of the collection’s ten boxes. I think one of the most exciting things I came across during my inventory of the collection was microfiche of the church’s register, offerings and cash books; all dating from the  early  part of the 20^th century. I was like wow microfiche, that’s really neat! I also took some more time to research the articles on James Baldwin from the James E. Campbell Papers, 1930 – 2009, for the request made by the Ph.D student from India. I followed up with him on Friday, providing him with the titles of the articles, as well as the name and date of the publications they were in.

Tuesday, December 11^th:

In the afternoon, IMLS Fellows participated in The HistoryMakers’ monthly professional development conference call with Virginia Historical Society’s (VHS) Curator of African American History, Lauranette L. Lee and Assistant Archivist, Paige Newman. The two discussed their work on the project, Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names, which launched in September of this year. VHS was presented with the C. Herbert Finch Publication Award from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) for the database. Unknown No Longer launched with 1,500 names but now has over 10,000 names entered into the database. “It is the latest step by the Virginia Historical Society to increase access to its varied collections relating to Virginians of African descent.”

Wednesday, December 12^th:

I posted an article on Avery’s Facebook page about the two music professors, Mary Ellen Junda and Robert Stephens from the University of Connecticut studying Gullah culture in preparation to share their research with 80 classroom teachers from across the U.S. Introducing teachers to the Gullah people’s distinctive language and rich history is one way the professors hope to combat age old stereotypes about the culture. Junda and Stephens also want to help spread the word about Gullah culture in order to preserve its viable and distinct traditions, which are quickly giving way to assimilation. Though on a sad note I was shocked to hear of the tragedy that struck Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire community during their time of incredible heartbreak.

Thursday, December 13^th:

I completed my interview evaluation for Entertainment Lawyer, Lisa E. Davis. Davis hails from Queens, New York; so needless to say I was thrilled to hear her talk about how her grandmother who lived in St. Albans used to take Davis shopping on Jamaica Avenue. The avenue is a major thoroughfare that stretches from Queens all the way into Brooklyn—I know it like the back of my hand and also have many fond memories of it. Davis remarks in her interview that her paternal grandparents were the first black family to break the restrictive covenant act by moving to St. Albans, Queens in 1946. In addition, she talks about the famous jazz musicians that lived in St. Albans during the 1940s and 1950s. Jazz artists, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Count Basie were all residents of the Queens neighborhood.

Friday, December 14^th:

I began research on the history of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in order to prepare a finding aid for the collection. I also completed my weekly report to Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo and Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring, which included my considerations regarding the preservation, storage and possible digitization of the collection’s parish ledgers, registries and other historical record books.

Indexes and other Connections: Weeks 14-15

In my most recent blog post I embedded a video from the 1973 Charlton Heston film Soylent Green. The plot of the aforesaid film revolves around police investigator (Heston) pursuing a mysterious death in an over-populated, over-polluted New York City in a similarly overwhelmed world where human life is cheap and food shortages forced the population into the hands of the Soylent Corporation that produces colored food rations. The titular green rations are allegedly made of “high energy” plankton harvested from the ocean. Heston’s investigation however proves that the oceans are essentially dead and learns what Soylent Green is…

 

Oh—I forgot to write “SPOILER ALERT!” No, I didn’t. At this point the climax of Soylent Green joins “[Luke,] I am your father” and the culmination of events stemming from “I see dead people” in most commonly known movie twists.

I reason I selected that scene from the above film involves a mistake I made during my research into William M’Neir. Hopefully the title of the video was not too confusing; I seriously considered omitting it because the uploader, rather than determine its aboutness, plucked a line spoken at the end of that apartment sequence. The aboutness of that scene was that dystopian society’s definition of “furniture.”

While I was researching the 1829-1851 chattel record index for high value portable property M’Neir bought or sold, I found one reference to Liber WSG 1 folio 460 (location 1/1/08/3) described as a mortgage involving furniture. In this case it was a mortgage loan to M’Neir that used furnishings as collateral. Since I was not writing a complete history of this man’s financial transactions, I did not plan to follow up on the reference and instead focus on transactions with keywords like “printing press” or “negroes.” A found a few of those and followed up. I started reading what I thought was Liber WSG 2 folio 43 (location 1/1/08/04) but found an unrelated chattel record in its place. Checking the years the surrounding indentures were recorded, I realized I selected WSG 1 instead. I shrugged my shoulders and carefully turned the 180 year old, 15 x 12 inch pages to folio 460 and the furniture mortgage; to my shock I discovered that, before any furniture is specified, a slave named Wesley Anderson is included in the mortgage. Since the index spells out the chattel involved in the indenture whether they be slaves (“negroes”), furniture, or professional equipment, this exclusion of Wesley implies one of two things: 1) The clerk creating the index made a mistake or 2) there was an expectation or practice of excluding a single slave caught up in a larger chattel deal.

The scene from Soylent Green that I chose for last week’s post occurs after Heston’s character and his boss casually wonder what will happen to the deceased person’s “furniture.” Although “key money” in New York to buy furniture and rent-controlled housing from a previous tenant is not unusual, its prominence in a conversation between police investigators is noticeably unnecessary. In this case the furniture is a beautiful woman who happens to come with the apartment and, reflecting the social and emotional needs of us all, is having a get-together with her fellow furniture friends. This officially sanctioned prostitution is not looked down upon but looked up to since the people in these homes regularly have ice, cigarettes, and fresh food.

The Legacy of Slavery in Maryland project reveals these cultural and economic differences that would seem anathema to the value and inherent dignity we place in humanity.

Mayor’s Living Landmarks Awards, 2012

 On Thursday December 13, I attended the Living Landmarks Awards in Dahlgren Hall at the United States Naval Academy. The building interior reminded me of Armory and Gymnasium at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, which was converted from a basketball court (on the second floor no less) to office space. Dahlgren seems to host ceremonial functions and generic gym activities. When Esther and I arrived at the ceremony on the second floor mezzanine we looked down at the court-sized hole below: We saw students practicing fencing and others doing tumbling or cheerleading exercises.

Representatives from City of Annapolis Heritage Commission, the United States Naval Academy, and the mayor himself opened the ceremony and shared this 19 minute video about the honorees and their work.

Esther immediately recognized the voice of honoree George Phelps, Jr. who narrated portions of the film “Pip & Zastrow: An American Friendship”; it’s a story about the lifelong friendship of the white Mayor of Annapolis Roger “Pip” Moyer and the black ne’er-do-well Zastrow Simms and their successful efforts to quell Annapolis the race riots in the wake of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. The film mostly concerns Zastrow and his family’s reaction to Pip’s Alzheimers disease but naturally goes into the historical context of their friendship. Esther and I met the co-creator Vicki Bruce during her showing of an unrelated movie at the Wisconsin Film Festival, which Esther helped coordinate.

 

Honorees included Jim Cheevers, USNA historian, associate director, and curator of the USNA Museum; the Annapolis History Consortium, a volunteer association of professional historians, preservationists, and city residents interested in researching and the documentation/promotion of Annapolis history; the aforesaid George Phelps, Jr., who, in addition to the efforts of Pip & Zastrow, threatened a crowd of potential arsonists with a dummy grenade; and Orlando Rideout V. Mr. Rideout was an exceptional closer.

Using a recent low-grade controversy over the city’s $15,000 purchase of equipment and training for a device that will only be used to remove well heeled gum from bricks on the streets and sidewalks of Annapolis, Rideout, who comes from a long line of Annapolis residents and scholars including one with a street named after him, emphasized the importance of Annapolis’ architectural history and its place in the timeline of America. He was teased earlier about his love of bricks but he embraced the gentle fun and criticized the city’s recent inconsistencies with brick paving. After praising the 1995 Main Street restoration (which will see substantial attention from the gum gun) he explained that, sadly, some of the worst examples of these brick abuses are in front of City Hall itself; as someone who passes that building twice a day, and hates gum even when it’s on substandard pavement, I found myself smiling and gently nodding to myself.

A welcome surprise of the evening happened when I discovered that Jane McWilliams, the researcher who was instrumental in my research of William M’Neir, was a member of the Annapolis History Consortium and therefore a co-honoree. We chatted for nearly twenty minutes. We talked about my research, how spelling M’Neir’s name “McNier” instead of “McNeir” in Archives of Maryland Online search engine uncovered transcripted documents and indices revealing property foreclosures in 1849/1850, how Esther and I were enjoying Annapolis, and Esther’s acting background. Jane’s eyes lit up at this last piece of news; she explained that the consortium (or another group with which she was affiliated—I’m not sure) was repeating their sesquicentennial interpretation of Civil War documents in April 2013 and, since they found more 1863/2013 documents for female roles than they did for 1862/2012, would Esther be interested in performing. The answer was an unconditional yes.

The world of Annapolis scholars and history buffs is a small, dedicated group with deep ties to the area. The designated speaker of the Annapolis History Consortium joked that he was a newcomer to Annapolis since he only just moved here 40 some years ago. These jokes, corroborated by others, tell me that personal connections are even more crucial here than elsewhere.

Alex Champion—Maryland State Archives