Amanda J. Carter: Week 3 (September 17-September 21)@ Fisk University

William McKissack Papers

As my work at Franklin Library continues into the third week, I am now concentrating on collecting all of the correspondence materials into a series.  Since this collection includes mostly business records, there is not the plethora of correspondence that can often be found in other collections.  So far, most of the correspondence pertains to personal communication between Moses McKissack and the community.  Due to the firm’s reputation, Moses McKissack was seen as a knowledgeable and trustworthy source for the community.  People would write him letters asking for advice or help finding employment.  Correspondence for Calvin McKissack pertained mostly to the business side of the firm.  Most of the business correspondence include reports from foremen about the progress of particular jobs and tax information.  While there are not yet boxes and boxes of correspondence, this is a somewhat lengthy process due to the condition of the materials and the need to do minor conservation and clean-up work on the files. 

Interesting finds

The most interesting find of the week is a publication from The National Negro Business League entitled, “The Dawn of a New Day for the Negro.”  Published in 1949, it contained outreach materials requesting support for The National Negro Business League, started by Booker T. Washington nearly 50 years prior, as well as discussions of a new direction for the last half of the 20^th century. 

As I continue processing the correspondence files this next week, I look forward to more interesting tidbits of Nashville’s African American community during the mid-twentieth century.

Until next week…

Amanda J. Carter
Franklin Library, Fisk University
IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013

Chaitra Powell: Week 3 @ Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

This week at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, I contributed to my first program for children, learned about Mayme’s film collection and was inspired to fully incorporate volunteers into the processing of Mayme’s papers. I also participated in an engaging professional development call with Carnegie Museum of Art regarding their Charles "Teenie" Harris photograph collection.

On Saturday, the Los Angeles chapter of Jack and Jill was hosting a program on the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. The focus of the commemoration was one of the victims, 14 year old Carole Robertson, who was also a Jack and Jill member. The kids and their parents gathered in our multi-purpose room and shared their thoughts, research or creative outputs regarding the incident. There were around 13 children, aged 3 to 16, and around 15 adults present for the program. The program organizers set aside an hour for the museum staff to talk with the group. Cara decided that it would nice to exhibit some of the artifacts related to the bombing and then have the kids scrapbook about what they had learned and their reactions to the day. Earlier in the week, Cara had pulled the relevant Jet, Ebony, and Pittsburgh Courier magazines, as well as some Ku Klux Klan pamphlets and sheet music. She placed them plastic sleeves and they were exhibited throughout the program. Cara also gathered the arts and crafts supplies that the children would be using. I was responsible for scanning articles and photographs which were to be copied and included in the scrapbooks. I introduced myself and the project to the group and, along with Cara, helped the kids think about what pictures and words they could include in their scrapbook. Most of the children were too young to really grasp the significance of the Civil Rights Movement, but they seemed to identify “anger” at that those men who killed children, “sadness” that Carole was not living anymore and “happy” that Barack and Michelle are in the White House. Hopefully they will fill in the gaps as they get older.

After the Jack and Jill group cleared out of the building, we had to make room for a film screening in the large courtroom. The “film” was actually a 90 minute compilation of Mayme’s musical shorts from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Although my workday was over, I stuck around and watched. I am glad that I did, the performances were amazing. Nat King Cole singing “is you is or is you ain’t my baby”, Pearl Bailey swinging to “rhythm of the drums”, Fats Waller on the piano, serenading his “honeysuckle rose”. There were singing clips from Dinah Washington, Della Reese, and Cab Calloway. My favorite was the tap dancing on table tops clip from a group called Tip, Tap and Toe. At the end of the screening, a jazz and film historian, Mark Cantor, explained the circumstances and traditions that surrounded these types of recordings. Mr. Cantor knew Dr. Clayton and his description of their interactions gave me some insight into her collection. Mayme had three objectives, acquisition was her highest priority, followed by preservation and organization was a distant third. She always assumed that someone was going to have to sift through her materials and establish an order. Mr. Cantor shared many details about the purpose of these shorts and the way that black talent was treated in those days, it was fascinating. Then he starts taking questions from the audience, and there was not an artist, a song, or a recording year that stumped him, he was a jazz music encyclopedia. Overall, the event was entertaining and informative and I’m looking forward to the next one.

At our staff meeting earlier this week, Larry had asked me about some timelines for finishing the project. I gave him data based on me making every single folder, which I assumed is what he meant when he said process the collection, three weeks ago. It turns out that he wants me to utilize the volunteers and manage the processing of the collection. Earlier in the week, I tried to explain my process to one volunteer and she was not getting it. I went back to the drawing board put together a Power Point that will explain what I need from volunteers in the context of the archival processing. I plan to present my plan to Larry this week, in order to recruit volunteers at the next all volunteer meeting in October. I have spoken to a few other volunteers that are eager to help with new projects, so hopefully there will be more just like that. I know that I will be in the trenches with them, making the appraisal and arrangement decisions as well as checking their work, but we can move so much faster as a group. I did not think that I would get supervisory experience within this fellowship, but I am very excited about stepping up to the challenge.   

Ardra Whitney: Week 3 @ Avery Research Center

Monday, September 17^th: Wow, what a week! It was all hands on deck for Avery Research Center’s public history symposium and community gathering, “The Fire Every Time: Reframing Black Power Across the Twentieth Century and Beyond”. On Monday afternoon, Avery staff met for a Black Power conference planning meeting led by Education Coordinator, Sheila Harell-Roye to discuss event needs and logistics. That morning, I also met with Manger of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring and Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo to discuss our work in the Avery Research Center Archives, i.e., finding aids in progress; archival management software, such as Archivist Toolkit, Archon and NoteTab; digitization projects and internships; upcoming projects and collaborations with outside institutions; retention schedules and restricting confidential materials in archival collections. The meeting also provided me with the opportunity to address questions concerning the processing and preparation of a finding aid for the W. Melvin Brown, Jr. Papers. In addition, I used part of the morning and afternoon to prepare posts containing pertinent information about the Black Power Conference on Avery Research Center’s Facebook page.

Tuesday, September 18^th: This week I turned my focus to drafting a finding aid for the W. Melvin Brown, Jr. Papers. Using some of Avery’s online finding aids as examples and a template created by Mr. Spelbring, using DACS standards; I was able to complete a first draft by the end of the week. Now all I have left to do is finalize the collection’s physical arrangement; revise and encode the finding aid using NoteTab and label the collection’s folders and boxes. I also posted about the Pre-Black Power Conference party’s special guest, author writer and poet, Horace Mungin.

Wednesday, September 19^th: I attended a second meeting for the Black Power Conference with Education Coordinator, Sheila Harrell-Roye and assisted Administrative Assistant, Savannah Frierson with preparing name tags for conference participants.

Thursday, September 20^th:  I participated in a morning conference call with Lawrence E. Perea, Communications Director at The HistoryMakers and IMLS Fellows regarding the Back to School With The HistoryMakers program on September 28^th.  Mr. Perea asked each IMLS Fellow to discuss certain points during the BTS program regarding college preparedness and to use social media to promote the program at our host institutions.

After lunch, I went on a delightful tour of Charleston with Paul Gabarini of Uniquely Charleston Tours and helped Mr. Gabarini rehearse his tour route in preparation for the Black Power Conference. Mr. Gabarini was wonderfully knowledgeable about black history in Charleston and I learned a lot of interesting facts about the city during his tour. I think what I enjoyed most about the tour was getting to see Rainbow Row and William James Parker, the Tinsmith of Tradd Street’s home. Parker was a former slave turned business owner, who became one of the richest black men in Charleston. He is also the great-grandfather of Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell of Washington, D.C., a member of the a cappella group "Sweet Honey in the Rock."

By the evening, I was welcoming guests to Avery’s screening of “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” (the 1973 film based on the novel by Sam Greenlee) and selling tickets for the Pre-Black Power Conference “Rent” Party. I also worked with Avery’s graduate assistants and volunteers to prepare gift bags for conference participants

Friday, September 21^st and Saturday, September 22^nd:  With the addition of Library of Congress Subject Headings, I had completed my finding aid draft for the W. Melvin Brown, Jr. Papers.  At 3:00 PM, I participated in professional development conference call with Executive Director at the HistoryMakers, Julieanna Richardson; Program Coordinator at The HistoryMakers, Y’Hoshua Murray; the 2012-2013 IMLS Fellows; Ms. Louise Lippincott, Curator of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Museum of Art; and Mrs. Charlene Foggie-Barnett, where we discussed the Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris Collection at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

On Saturday, I provided Black Power Conference participants with general information about the conference; helped transport event food to designated locations; and attended Conference panels and film showings. Two of my favorite panel discussions of the conference were “Reframing Policy Perspectives on Black Power” and “Violence and Vindication: Reframing Riots/Rebellions, Self Defense, and Religion” because they highlighted the role churches played in supporting the Black Power Movement’s goals in promoting black collective interests, advancing black values and defending blacks against racial oppression.

Skyla S. Hearn: Weeks 3-->2--->1@The Woodson/Harsh

It's been a long time...

The last three weeks at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library/Vivian G. Harsh Research Center have been really good to me.  As you know by now, the Fellows including myself have all began to work at our host repositories. We have all assumed the roles as archivists and officially began our vocations. My role at the Woodson/Harsh is dual. I work as an Archivist with the Harsh Archival Processing Project and as a Reference Archivist or more familiarly, Reference Librarian for the Woodson Regional Library. As an archivist, I am processing the photograph collection of Reverend Claude and Reverence Addie L. Wyatt, the Dempsey Travis Manuscript Collection and the Clementine Skinner Papers. In addition, I will cover the Reference desk two hours daily in addition to other archival reference duties and responsibilities.

Week One: Warm Welcome

Week One: The first day on the job began with a warm welcome from one of my supervisors over the next nine months, Ms. Beverly Cook, Archivist and Reference Librarian, when I arrived at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library at 8:30am Tuesday morning. When I walked through the front doors I immediately felt that I was walking amongst greatness. The Carter G. Woodson Regional Library houses the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American Literature and History, which is also referred to as the Harsh Research Center. The Harsh holds the largest African American history and literature collection in the Midwest and contains a wealth of precious documentation of the black experience, which places a strong focus on African American history in Illinois. To peruse the list of finding aids please visit our site: http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/woodson-regional/p/FeatHarsh/. 

After my brief meeting with Ms. Cook, I joined the Harsh Archival Processing Project Team (Jeanie, Kai, Tracey and Michael) in the Processing Room where I received warm welcomes and exchanged morning pleasantries. Mr. Michael Flug, retired Head Archivist now Harsh Archival Processing Project Director directed me to my tables, which were labeled with name (!) and held a copy of SAA's "Arrangement and Description" manual. He then pulled up two chairs placed one on each side of the table, grabbed the book, looked me in the eyes and told me to digest it. We then discussed my responsibilities and roles for the next nine months of the fellowship. Over the next few days I toured the facility, met staff in other departments, familiarized myself with the stacks and most importantly conducted a "Test-the-Sort" of my three collections.

The Arrangement Begins!

Week Two: After "Testing-the-Sort", which means to check the preliminary sort previously conducted on a collection by an archivist or intern, for the Reverend Claude and Reverend Addie L. Wyatt Photograph Collection I created categories, which would fall into three main series, to organize the photos. The collection is immense, consisting of about 2,500 images, and has no provenance and little identification. I decided to sort the photographs according to relationship and era. The first set of images would show family and friendship photos from the 1940s through the 2000s. When possible, I would attribute information to answer (1)Who, (2)What, (3)Where and (4)When. Since the majority of the photos do not have written information, I have derived a list of criteria based on the content within the image and the photograph (as an object), which sometimes provides the location (Where), the subjects (Who), the type of photo and material: Portrait, postcard, snapshot, professional, Polaroid, black & white, color, etc. (When, What). The combination has helped me to partially and in some cases fully identify hundreds of photographs. In addition to the arrangement of the photographs, we, Mr. Flug and I, are in the process of organizing a photo identification team of family, church members and friends of the Wyatts to aid in the identification process. I am processing this collection of photographs, which will have an accompanying finding aid in addition to being the subject of a photo exhibition on the lives of the Wyatt's.

After a few days of sorting photographs I made a discovery! I ran across a picture of a woman surrounded by a group of children on the Vernon Park Church of God front steps. (The Wyatt's began the Vernon Park Church of God (VPCOG) in 1955. I am proud to admit that I am very familiar with the family, the family home and church---all from making connections with the content of the photographs!) One of the children closest to the woman looked like an elementary school classmate of mine. I thought to myself how cute the little boy was and stored the idea that he might be my classmate in the back of my mind. After looking at about a hundred or so photos and getting no where I decided to take a trip to the stacks. Guided by the finding aid, which was processed by Marcia Walker of Mapping the Stacks, I pulled a box with numerous obituaries. What a treasure! I made many family connections and discovered in my research that the little boy was actually my classmate and that his grandfather was Reverend Claude Wyatt's brother!!! I immediately got on Facebook (smh/lol) and put out an S.O.S. for the little boy now grown man. Within moments mutual friends responded to my request, mainly questioning my reason for wanting to contact the guy, i.e. being "nosey" but within the day a friend responded with his contact information. I eagerly waited a few days for "the little boy" to call me back. I couldn't wait to tell him that I'd "discovered" him in his family's archive and to ask his assistance with id-ing the photos from his generation. By Thursday I'd almost forgotten about him when the phone rang...I was so excited to hear from him only to be slightly disappointed when he informed me that he wouldn't be of much help but I was perked up again when he told me his mom would LOVE to help out. He put me in contact with her. She and I scheduled a date...

Week 3: Established Groove

Week Three: Its Working! I love my job! Its like my ministry. I didn't come up with that last line. A friend responded with that comment when I "checked for attentiveness" during our conversation. Its really easy to get carried away talking about my work, talking about my work all the time and building connections between the importance of archives and everyday life, etc. I have to approach conversations about my work with 30 second intros, another 30 second follow-up, followed by another 30 seconds to insure that my "captive" audience is interested and attentive. He assured me that he loved listening to me talk about my work and that it was like my ministry, which I found quite comical (and true).

End of Week 3: 10 Family Photo Boxes Processed

As a result of possessing the skill to "read" photographs and my trip through the Wyatt Papers, I have partially labeled approximately 500 "personal" photographs (10 archival boxes) with dates ranging from the 1940s through the 2000s. I'll be ready for the upcoming photo id session with my classmate's mother. The more I make connections with findings within the archives the more I realize the importance of my role as an archivist, which is to bring people's "stuff" aka precious archival materials to life!

Maybe one day I'll find my "missing link" but until then I'll keep processing so that others can find theirs. 

Glimpse Into Week Four: My partner shared a story with my daughter, which he'd previously shared with me. Hearing the recount energized me as I thought about my upcoming week at work and the possible discoveries I'll make. He shared with her how his good friend found information on his family, who were indentured servants sent to the West Indies from India. From his research, my partner's friend was able to locate the village in India where his family had been sent from. He then visited the village, met distant relatives and later permanently moved to India, his original homeland.

The aMAHzing Fatoumata Diawara

Fatoumata et I

This evening we attended a show at the Mayne Stage in Rogers Park where we witnessed the aMAHzing performance of Fatoumata Diawara. My thoughts raced as I watched her sing, play the bass and dance about how I could be connected to her, this beautiful Malian woman. As an African American I'm constantly plagued and intrigued by thoughts of my ancestry.

The incessant need to address those thoughts and questions may be the path that lead me to become an archivist...

Travel: Alex Champion's Week 3 pt. 2

This week I returned the possessions of my friend Henry Borchers, who recently began a two year film archives position with the University of Maryland. We intended to visit an Ethiopian restaurant near the National Mall and perhaps visit a monument or two but my misreading of a D.C. guidebook, Henry’s dependence on his phone’s map app, and a partly out of commission Red Line brought us near the AfricanAmerican Civil War Memorial and the similarly named museum.





The 54th Regiment's volunteers

The "Spirit of Freedom," a spectre portrayed as a woman, is at the backs of soldiers, sailors, and domestic scenes

In the D.C. subway.
It's troubling that Washington represents a large enough demographic
to advertise a drug that reduces HIV-related belly fat. 

Travel: Alex Champion's Week 3 pt. 1

This week I decided to present pictures of my recent travels. First, my daily commutes. Unlike most of the employees of the Legacy of Slavery Research in Maryland research project and indeed much of the Maryland State Archives’ staff, I live in Annapolis. This decision was based on my girlfriend and me’s transportation needs. We only have one car between us—hers, I loathe commuting, and she may need the vehicle for future employment. My 2.2 mile walk is hardly arduous, is very scenic, and gives me time to reflect on the future and the past. While some people get their best ideas in the shower, I am like famous golfer Calvin Peete (or so I learned from his oral history interview) who psyches himself up while he drove before a match.

The dot is an arbitrary starting point near the crab dock: So many boat slips

View on the ground: The invisible Google Maps dot is 100 yards forward

These succulent looking pine cones come from broad, waxy leafed trees that dot the lawns on my walk

I initially identified these trees as "Spiny Tennis Ball Fruit Trees"

Painful though the truth, and these fruits, may be--they're just chestnut trees

When ripe they crack open like a baseball without stitches

Rival teams play nicely around here, unlike in Minnesota or Wisconsin

Historical marker on the Spa Creek Bridge
Summary: Lafayette Slept Here

Looking NW from the bridge

Looking up Duke of Gloucester. Perhaps to clear up confusion for tourists using old maps,
street signs helpfully declare its name changed from "Southwest St." in 1697.

Tastefully designed nuicance devices against skateboarders at St. Mary's High School.
Why on Earth boarders would risk their necks on the uneven brick sidewalks is beyond me.

Church Circle

House of Delgates office building

An aesthetically appropriate public parking ramp, or "garage"

A heron

It flees when it feels my shadow from the bridge

The Maryland State Archives

The map that greets visitors (See MSA Week 1 for the story behind it)



Names: Alex Champion's Week 2 at the MSA

Research Archivist training continues at the Maryland State Archives.

Long time Research Department staffer Maya Davis, my neighbor Allison, and my supervisor Chris Haley reviewed MSA research systems and gave occasional exercises that further familiarized me with procedures. One exercise, which afforded my first excuse to use Ancestry.com, had me trace the census records for Leonard Foote of Calvert Co. against any municipal, county, or state government records. After some brief confusion about his name, which the census spelt “Foot,” I corroborated the identities across the various records and checked the manual birth and death indices in the stacks. Most indices at the MSA are digitized but may only be viewed on site; this pads the MSA’s visitor totals but also reduces the strain on its servers. Maya and Chris felt it was important for me to experience the manual search processes but, somewhat to their surprise, I was unable to conclude my research with in-house materials. Mr. Foote died at the ripe old age of 83 in 1970—two years past the MSA’s death records but not Ancestry.com’s.

This hunt for names reminds me of another learning curve for my placement. Once, during a meeting with a grant reviewer, Maya made a blanket statement that “all of us are from Maryland,” which gave the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland team an advantage to pick out research clues; as a new addition to the LOSIM team, I forgave her omission but she hastily apologized when I retold my origins. Sometimes my Midwestern upbringing is not an issue: A recent example arose from an e-mail sent by the commissioner of the Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival happening on September 28^th; her e-mail signature read “Lyndra Marshall (nee Pratt)”, which I assume means she has the famous Baltimore philanthropist and namesake of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in her paternal line. I knew of the Pratt because I processed the oral history interview of its then and current director, Carla Hayden, during the summer institute in Chicago. On other occasions names fail me: I examined, for several minutes, a family name written in tight script on a vital record during one exercise. I tentatively settled on “M’gomas” but my neighbor Allison eventually realized it was “McComas”—a familiar Maryland and Pennsylvania name—but even she paused before declaring it was such. An exact reading of the text presented the name as “M Comas” with neither the lowercase “c” nor an apostrophe to approximate the sound. Another irksome moment occurred when a circulating e-mail advertised a street renaming ceremony taking place at “13^th and Quackenbos.” I initially intended to go but nowhere in the text did it say this address was in Washington, D.C.; Annapolis, Baltimore, and Washington are treated almost like a single city and this implicit belief creeps into many conversations.

Chaitra Powell: Week 2 @ Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

The second week at the MCLM was another wild card. Members of the documentary film crew for the Joyce Ann Gaines Story (http://jagthedoc.com/) were here scanning photographs and filming interviews in the courtroom. They asked Cara to sign a contract that relinquished the rights of the museum in any future uses of the materials. With our staff being reduced to just myself and Cara, it was difficult to reach a consensus on the validity of the contract. I was able to scan it and send it over to the toughest lawyer that I know, Julieanna Richardson. We are hoping that she can give us some feedback that will allow us to support the efforts of the documentary and permit the museum to gain some profit from its resources. 

I also looked up the Carnegie-Whitney Award which grants $5,000 to institutions providing access to library materials. I noticed that previous winners included Susan Irwin’s Sacks Collection at the Arizona Historical Society, Dana Braccia’s community authors’ initiative at the Scottsdale Public Library and Teresa Welsh’s bibliography of Disaster Preparation at the University of Southern Mississippi. These are all diverse people and organizations that I have worked with in the past. The application is due on November 2, 2012, and I think that we may be able to justify a use of the funds to provide supplies for accessing Mayme’s book collection.

My biggest project is the continuous processing of the Mayme A. Clayton Papers. In two weeks, I have gone through 20 boxes, and established five distinct series; Western States Black Research Association, Black American Cinema Society, Third World Ethnic Books, Personal Papers, and Outreach. The most challenging section has to be her personal papers. Scraps of paper, note pads filled with phone numbers, and antiquated rolodexes are elements of this section. I’m not sure what value they will have to researchers, but I am keeping them all, just in case.

A member from the museum’s board of directors has asked me to keep a look out for anything related to Dr. Clayton’s correspondence with Tiger Woods. For about 20 years, Dr. Clayton and her affiliated organizations sponsored a golf tournament in southern California. I have found some Tiger Woods ads from magazines and his name listed among other celebrities that she intended to contact, but nothing from the man, himself. I think that there may be more information on Tiger Woods as I sift further into the collection.

Other snags include a shortage of boxes and folders. I am forced to only folder items when the stacks become too overwhelming. Next week, I am planning to scavenge through the supply closets and think creatively about sound archival alternatives for re-housing the materials.

My days are usually broken up by visits from volunteers who want to chat, watching the phones while Cara is at lunch, and any groups that are renting the space. We hosted the monthly meeting of the California African American Genealogical Society on Saturday. I introduced myself towards the end of the session and they surprised me with a wide variety of follow up questions. They wanted to know about the HistoryMakers, the fellowship, where I had worked and what I had been doing in the museum so far. Many of them were traveling all over the country to research their families, so I did not hesitate to share my connection to archives in Phoenix, Chicago, Charleston, Nashville and Annapolis. They also wanted to know if I would be presenting my genealogy at their next meeting. I said that it would be hard considering that I have never worked on mine, so their disapproving looks may be the impetus that I need to get going on that project. I also found out that Alyss had worked with them on organizing a collection that they are donating to the museum, and I was expected to pick up where she left off. I am looking forward to catching up to speed on that project and working with this group in the future.