Hello and greetings from the Alabama Department of Archives and History!
Sorry for my absence for the two months, but we have just been so busy here at the Archives. In addition to continuing to process the Charles Morgan Papers and digitize the last book of the Peppler Collection, I have also been working on my 2nd exhibit design workshop,which will be held in May, moderated a photo workshop, presented a public program in Tuskegee, visited two other archives, helped accession a family collection, and have been doing research in preparation for an accessioning trip to Baltimore. So, needless to say, it has been quite busy around here.
The Charles Morgan papers going very well. It is a rather large collection, but I have been able to process of fifty boxes and created a new inventory and container and series list for it. There is so much information in this collection about different types of civil rights cases throughout the country, and it spans over 40 years. I know once it is completely processed, it will be very helpful to a number of researchers.
To date, I have digitized approximately 900 photographs ( which equates to roughly 30 pages of 35 millimeter film strips) of the Peppler collection. I am excited this project is almost over because there are so many community pictures that few know about within this collection! I cannot wait for all of the meta data to be completed so the public can start looking at these pictures. This particular collection is excellent to use in public outreach, because there is very little identifying information with it. There are so many people, places and events going on in these pictures, and we do not know the story behind them. This presents an opportunity for the archives to interact with the public on a more intimate level then usual, this presents an opportunity to actively involve the communities in processing a collection, and on March 24, I took advantage of that opportunity.
Within the Peppler collection there are a number of pictures from the Tuskegee area, and I decided to take 40 pictures back to Tuskegee and gather more identifying information about them. With the help of Deborah Gray and the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, This event was open to the public and had a very good turnout. We had two groups attend this program, and many of the participants had first hand knowledge of the protests and other events taking place in the pictures. In addition to gathering some identifying information about the pictures, I also was able to capture a glimpse of life in Tuskegee circa mid to late 1960s, and encourage people to visit the Alabama department of Archives and History. Since the program I have had a number of people call and stop by to help identify the Tuskegee pictures.
In addition to presenting a well attended public program in Tuskegee, I also got to spend the day with Dana Chandler, the university archivist for Tuskegee University. Although he is working with a very small staff and a very small square footage, he is doing wonderful things in preserving the history of this iconic university. In addition to teaching a course (or two) he has also created a museum to one of the former presidents, redesigned the research room, created HTML templates for Tuskegee's EAD finding aids, generated very VERY detailed finding aids for a majority of the collection, and leads tours of the facility for school children ( in addition to allowing me to tag along for a day). His enthusiasm and dedication to this field was inspiring and a reminder of why I love public history.
In late February I went to appraise a possible collection with Ms. Debbie Pendelton. It was a family collection that spanned 100 years, and it was being maintained by Mr. Pete Datcher. Mr. Datcher had been able to obtain the documents that showed where his Great grandfather purchased the family's first 100 acres from his former master. From this 100 acres the family amassed a total of five hundred acres( all adjacent) and became prominent figures in Alabama's planter culture. He had records of the church his family built, the "plantation store" his family ran the records of the people the midwives in his family birthed! This was such a wonderful find, especially the midwife books, I wanted to take it with us that day! Mr. Datcher decided to donate his family's history to the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and on March 2, 2012, we accessioned the collection, and I will start processing this collection later this week ( April 16, 2012).
In addition to my regular processing duties, I am also in the process of planning another exhibit design workshop, which will be hosted at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and preparing for to do an oral history interview in addition to accessioning a collection in Baltimore. Both of these projects will be in May, and I couldn't be more excited! After visiting the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and its head archivist Mr. Wayne Coleman, I was very impressed with their facility and I knew I would love to be able to work with them before the end of my fellowship. I am thrilled that they have decided to work with me in presenting my next exhibit design workshop, and I will keep everyone updated on the progress of that endeavor!
Well, I think I have gotten everyone up to speed...until next time!
Cheylon Woods
IMLS Fellow and Public History Professional
Alabama Department of Archives and History.
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