Week 25 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week at MCLM we had our first annual Family Fun Day! This event provided an opportunity for parents and children to enjoy all that MCLM has to offer. The California African American Genealogical Society  provided their expertise in helping the older children and adults create family trees. The younger children enjoyed the Obama and Marie Dickerson Coker coloring pages. At two separate craft tables the children made aviation goggles (in celebration of the Tuskegee Airmen) and African shakers (similar to those used in Kenya).

Some amazing art pieces that were housed at MCLM went out on loan to The Museum of African American Art for a one week exhibit. This exhibition loan contained pieces from Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and Richard Yarde.

Last week, MCLM also welcomed representatives from ArtStor. ArtStor is a digital library that gathers images from heritage institutions across the nation. Apparently, the number one request from their users is more African American images. I have yet to decide what items will be digitized but it will likely be a selection of magazines, sheet music and photographs.

Alyss Hardin
IMLS Fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

February 20 - 24th, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

Hello all! Another busy week. I completed the processing of subsections 1 and 2 (1867-1929). What a relief to be done with those areas. One thing...as I mentioned before the snag you can encounter while processing a collection can also help you to take a step back and review you arrangement order, which I did. As I started sorting subsection 3 (1930-1939), I have applied those changes to the arrangement order. Subsection 3 is rather large; 4 piles of documents at least a foot high. I plan to complete the sorting next week, prior to spring break (3/5-9/2012), and began the processing the week I return from spring break.

On Tuesday, a consultant from the Image Permanence Institute, Jeremy, visit with us. He discusses preservation in forms of environmental factors and HVAC systems. He also introduced me (and re-presented to others) PEM monitors. These monitors measure and track the temperature and relative humidity in a room in order to improve the preservation environment. You can also determine dew point with the system. II was able to ask many questions, which he pleasantly answered. I found this information extremely helpful and something I can use in the near future.

Week 24 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week was marked by the First Annual Volunteer Outing! A group of about ten volunteers, including myself and Cara, visited The California African American Museum.  We were guided thorough the exhibit, The African Diaspora in the Art of Miguel Covarrubias: Driven by color, shaped by Cultures, the items displayed were enthralling! Covarrubias, although Mexican, depicted many African Americans and Africans in his numerous art works, books, caricatures and collages. The most dynamic piece was the 12 x 24 foot collage that depicted the different cultures of the world.  The medium used for the piece was lacquer on canvas, but Covarrubias manipulated the lacquer it to make it appear as if it was colored pencil.


Last week, I also discovered an amazing piece of ephemera in the "secret room." It is the face of a mammy archetype,  measuring 1.5 x 1ft. It is possibly apart of a float or statue judging from the makeup of the face, some sort of papier-mâché.  In this same room I happened across a framed image of a slave sitting in front of her cabin.  Both of these items I selected to be digitally photographed and included on the new MCLM website, which is to be launched soon!


Alyss Hardin
IMLS Fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Week Twenty-Four at the Maryland State Archives

I spent last week working on several different projects. One of the most exciting was the launch of our Facebook page to commemorate Frederick Douglass’ 194th birthday! One of the featured images is the record of Douglass’ birth in 1818. You can visit our Facebook page here.

Early in the week, I gave a presentation about Black History Month and archives to an after school program at a local housing complex. The children ranged in age from six to about ten so visual aids (printouts of photographs, a runaway ad, etc.) were really helpful. I also showed pictures from a fabulous children’s book published by the Library of Virginia, To Collect, Protect, and Serve. Later in the week, we had an advisory board meeting for the Study of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland to discuss our progress and to get feedback. They are a very supportive board, and it was great to meet them, especially Kate Larson whose book, Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero, I refer to quite frequently. I’m also researching William H. Butler, a 19th century Annapolis alderman and probably the first elected African American in Maryland. Born a slave and manumitted as a young man, Butler became one of Annapolis’ most wealthy residents. I’m also continuing to research and write case studies of Maryland emigrants to Liberia and am working on several upcoming presentations. Until next week!

Krystal

Feb 13 - 17th, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

Hello all! I have made major progress on the Smith collection. Though, I plan to complete the 1867 - 1929 section on Friday...I ran into an arrangement snag. This can happens when you encounter so many different types of documents in one collection. The beauty of it is you can a step back and look at it differently. I consulted my wonderful supervisor and we came to a conclusion based on a researcher's thought process. The section is approximately 90% complete and I will put the finishing touch on it Monday. The collection of dark grey (processed) boxes is constantly growing and I am happy with this progression.

Week 22 at Amistad

This week I continued to arrange and describe series three of O’Neal’s papers and started writing the series description. It is almost complete! Interestingly, I found many financial records in this series about the Free Southern Theater and several correspondences from O’Neal in regards to obtaining grants and funding for the theater. The philosophy of the founders of the theater felt that people need thought along with food and clothing; and, a cultural movement should coincide with the political mobilization that took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Thus, obtaining funds to support the efforts of the theater was essential to its survival.

Until next week!

Peace!

Felicia

Weeks 22-24: an update over the last month at the Alabama Department of Archives and History

Hello and greetings from Montgomery!
A lot has happened over the last month here at the Alabama department of Archives and History, including the successful completion of my first workshop ever! This workshop, which was a basic exhibit design workshop took place on January 27, 2012 and had 25 people in attendance. Everyone was very energetic and involved and together we all learned how to build a basic interpretive plan and identify the inherent stories in any collection. In addition to my ongoing projects, I have also gone to visit potential donors and actively started planning my next public program, which will be based around the Tuskegee pictures within the Peppler Collection. I am also getting ready for two more conferences and a number of visits to neighboring repositories and archives. That’s all I have for now.

Have a wonderful day!
Cheylon Woods

Week 24 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

The Southern California Edison Day of Service was a success! About 40 people came ranging in ages from 15-65. The volunteers helped inventory posters, a record collection, newspapers, the Marilyn White Collection, blue prints, and the Dianne Watson collection. The volunteers also pulled Library of Congress numbers for a recent accession to MCLM, The Khalid Kwame (Buchanan) Collection.

With this many volunteers the blue prints and posters are now completely inventoried! The work that would have taken months to complete was essentially done in 4 hours, this is monumental and exciting!

Alyss Hardin
I.M.L.S. fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

February 6 - 10th, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

Hello all!! This week was very busy, but, focused strictly on the Smith collection. So, I was able to get a lot completed. All items in the unprocessed boxes were sorted into the respected decades (I posted pictures). Next, I focused on the "collected" category of the collection. This category includes things collected by Smith, but, not authored by Smith and/or does not have a date on it. I arranged, processed, and boxed the collected and photographs (no date) categories.

Then, on to the dated categories. The first dated category is 1867-1919. After arranging and processing this section, I realized how small it was and did not feel the need to waste so much box space. I decided to combine the first two dated categories into one (1867-1929). I ended the week with 16 processed boxes. The following week (2/13-17/12), I plan to complete this dated category. Wish me luck!

Aisha Johnson

Week Twenty-Three at the Maryland State Archives

The highlight of last week was attending a Black History Month program across the street at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In a packed conference room, Tuskegee Airman William Broadwater spoke about his goal of being a pilot from the age of ten, his experiences in the military, his love of flying, and his post-war career as a high ranking official in the FAA. At eighty-six years old, Broadwater is one of the youngest Tuskegee Airmen and a member of one of the last classes to be trained during World War II. He was a very inspiring speaker, vividly describing the early days of black aviation in Philadelphia, where he grew up. To view a photo of Mr. Broadwater, please visit my blog. It was also a great opportunity to meet other state employees.

I spent much of the rest of the week continuing my research and writing of case studies for the Liberian emigrants from Maryland.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the fellowship to a reporter from The Wave, a community newspaper in Los Angeles. The article is here.

Krystal

Week 22 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week, MCLM welcomed the South Los Angeles Chapter Jack & Jill. There were about twenty children, ranging in ages from 6-17. The children partook in three separate activities. First, the Jack & Jill members learned about the methods of nonviolent protesting. The children then sang songs of freedom and made protest signs. The event was a huge success and MCLM looks forward to again welcoming the South LA chapter as well as other chapters of Jack & Jill.

There were a few new volunteers that began this week as well. One volunteer began an inventory of machine readable items. The other new volunteer completed an inventory of the Sarah Agnew Sheet Music Collection.

Alyss Hardin
IMLS Fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

January 30th - February 3rd, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!!!



This year's national theme is black women, so, be sure to learn about or teach someone about many of the great black women of black woman in history. The theme I chose to deal with black women and civil rights from various eras; slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. I created a PowerPoint of ten prominent black women discussing their achievements, efforts, and importance to black history. This ppt is projected everyday for the month of February. I also have two displays of books about/authored by black women and their civil rights efforts during the respected times.

Another busy week! I am currently working on section II of the Smith Collection. It is large and needs strict attention to detail. I created the arrangement for the decades. I am going to treat them as though they are individual collections, similar to what I did for section I (Rosenwald). Sometimes the hard work it takes to process the collections is not thought of, so, I decided to document this journey with pictures as well. It is under the S.L. Smith tab. I will update it as I go. Time is flying by!

Aisha Johnson

Week Twenty-Two at the Maryland State Archives

Last week, I completed case studies of 6 slave holders, whose slaves fled in a mass escape of 28 people from Dorchester County. These are now on our website. I began working on case studies of emigrants to Liberia from the 5 counties that we’re studying under the U.S. Department of Education grant. A reporter from The Wave, a community newspaper in Los Angeles, interviewed me about the fellowship. The next few weeks are going to be extremely busy, so I’ve been preparing for some upcoming presentations. I had a good conversation with the deputy director of special collections about giving presentations to elementary school students. She gave me some great tips to help keep them engaged. 'Til next time.

Krystal

Week Twenty-One at Amistad

During week twenty-one, I lead a tour of Amistad’s processing department and gave a presentation about my current and future processing projects to the Atmospheric Science Librarians of Alaska. (Yes, Alaska). The group belongs to a larger international professional organization, The Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI), dedicated to communication and dissemination of information among libraries and educational institutions involved in atmospheric science research and scholarship. The director of the Center briefly described the layout of the processing area, and afterwards, I explained the importance of the value of archival materials by showing them a few documents from the O’Neal’s papers, particularly documents about the Free Southern Theater. They appeared intrigued and asked several questions about how to access the collections located at the Center after the papers are processed.

Felicia