Ardra Whitney: Week 1 @ Avery Research Center

This week I began my nine-month residency at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1865 as the Avery Normal Institute, Avery provided education and advocacy for Charleston’s growing African-American community and trained them for professional careers and leadership roles. While the Institute closed its doors in 1954, its graduates preserved the legacy of their alma mater by establishing the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston (CofC). The Avery Research Center collects art and archival materials that document the history, traditions, ands legacies of African Americans and their influence on American society and culture. Its repository is comprised of both primary and secondary source materials that tell the story of African Americans from the South Carolina Lowcountry-- from their origins, through slavery, emancipation, segregation, migration, and the Civil Rights Movements to today's continuing struggle for equality. The Avery Research Center Archives' nearly 4,000 holdings include manuscripts, letters, diaries, books, and pamphlets ranging from the pre-19th century period through to the 21st century. What’s more Avery is the only research center of its kind in the Southeast region of the United States.

Tuesday, September 4^th: Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring and Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo gave me a tour of the Avery Research Center; its archives, offices, etc., and introduced me to staff members, Executive Director, Patricia Williams Lessane; Curator, Tours, Facilities Manager, Curtis Franks; Education Outreach Coordinator, Sheila Harrell-Roye; Administrative Assistant, Savannah Frierson; Public Historian, Robert T. Chase; and Reference Librarian, Deborah Wright. I also met Avery’s three graduate assistants.

Still on display in Avery’s McKinley Washington Auditorium and Jeanette Cox Exhibit Hall, is Bernice Williams Tate’s “Remembering ‘Her’ Time”. Also on display are a collection of items related to Denmark Vessey, an African-Caribbean who masterminded what would have been the largest slave revolt in American history. Ms. Mayo explained that Mr. Franks and other concerned members of the Charleston community are trying to get a monument in Vessey’s honor erected in Marion Square. Ms. Mayo also showed me where the subject files were located in the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club Reading Room and began teaching me about Avery’s archival processing and reference room procedures.

Mr. Spelbring took me to my work station in the processing lab and showed me where the archival supplies were stored. I had the opportunity to look at Avery’s archival material from C.A. Brown High School, which will come in handy when preparing for the Eastside Day program in October. At the completion of the tour, I began processing the W. Melvin Brown Jr., collection. Brown was born in Charleston and became an entrepreneur who excelled in the manufacturing and technology industries. After a successful career as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s first African-American Insurance Consultant in 1966, Brown left the company in 1972 to establish American Development Corporation (ADCOR). Among his numerous accomplishments and accolades, Brown was the first African American to be inducted in the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame with ADCOR being recognized as “The largest black-owned manufacturing firm in the United States and in the Southeast.” ADCOR was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 Black Businesses by Black Enterprise Magazine in 1978 and remained on the list until Brown’s death in 1994.

By lunchtime, Ms. Mayo and I were walking around Downtown Charleston; visiting shops on King Street and checking out the sweet-grass baskets vendors at the Charleston City Market on Meeting Street. I must admit that I am very much interested in buying a sweet-grass basket before the end of my residency at Avery. Ms. Mayo gave me some tips for the care the baskets, saying I should use water on them to keep off surface dust or debris—because sweet grass derives from marsh areas and swamps so they are accustomed to water. Being the thoughtful, gracious and knowledgeable hostess that she is, Ms. Mayo bought some delicious frozen yogurt for each of us and taught me a little Geechee. I learned from her that “comeya” means someone not from Lowcountry, while “binya” someone who comes from the Lowcountry. Charleston is gorgeous, so in addition to my work at Avery, I am looking forward to exploring all this beautiful and wonderfully vibrant southern city has to offer.

Wednesday, September 5^th: By Wednesday, I had gone on an informal tour of the CofC, the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library and Downtown Charleston. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the CofC and Addlestone Library staff. I filled out paperwork with CofC’s Human Resources office and received my Cougar Card, which allows me to ride CARTA buses for free. Additionally, I received my computer account login name, password and e-mail address and set up my Outlook e-mail account.

Thursday, September 6^th: I finally gained access to Avery Research Center’s Z: Drive—with the help of Ms. Frierson, Mr. Spelbring and the CofC Help Desk. And I continued working on the Melvin W. Brown, Jr. collection throughout the day.

Friday, September 7^th: At the end of my first week at Avery, I had surveyed eleven boxes (5.25 linear feet) containing the W. Melvin Brown Jr., collection; made list of formats and dates for unprocessed materials from the collection; identified items in need of restriction, re-formatting (e.g., W. Melvin Brown, Jr.’s High School Basketball Team Photograph (1951), re-housing, preservation and/or disposition; separated books to be catalogued as part of Avery’s library collection and started separating and re-housing materials in date order based on the collection’s six prescribed series. I also created a processing plan outlining how I will go about arranging, describing and preserving the collection.

That morning I had bought an assortment of butter and filled croissants, cherry almond bars, fig shortbread and scones from Caviar & Bananas on George Street for the Avery staff— to celebrate my first week at Avery Research Center Archives. At 9 AM I went on a second, more in depth tour of the college campus, this time led by CofC students and staff. I enjoyed visiting the College’s Cistern Yard, Porter’s Lodge, Randolph Hall and Sottile House as well as learning more about its campus, courses, programs, organizations and history. Avery Research Center even got a special mention during the tour from Linda McClenagan, the tour’s organizer.

References

Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. (n.d.). [Brochure].

Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. (n.d.). [Pamphlet].