William McKissack Papers
Processing of the McKissack Papers is a detailed
process. Over the past couple of weeks I
have continued to arrange the invoices, bills, and payroll records for the
College Hill Apartment and Housing project.
Most of the work consists of removing staples and alphabetizing or arranging
the records chronologically. Fortunately,
I am still on track to have this section of the collection complete before the
end of the semester in December.
College Hill Apartments and College Hill Housing,
Nashville, TN
In the mid-twentieth century, Moses and Calvin McKissack
were contracted to build apartments and houses for African Americans near
Tennessee State A&I College (now Tennessee State University) in Nashville,
Tennessee. This appears to be the
largest project for which we have records.
Most of the records that I have encountered are from 1949-1951 while the
project was being constructed. It was a
large project so there are many construction records that can lead researchers
to the various types of construction businesses in Nashville during that time. The accounting and payroll records are
interesting pieces of history because it demonstrates their methods of
accounting. It is fascinating to witness
the development of this project through the various records in this
collection. Daily, I develop a much
better understanding of the methods used in construction projects of the
mid-twentieth century.
Challenges
The largest challenge right now is the level of detailed
processing that is needed for this project.
It is easy to be inconsistent in alphabetizing and chronologically
arranging such a large number of records, yet consistency is imperative in
order to lead the researcher more easily to their topic of interest. As the number of filed records grows, I will
occasionally find areas where I have misfiled which is somewhat frustrating but
understandable. I have to be careful to
ensure that all of the records are easily obtainable and located in logical
areas for the researchers to find.
Another challenge is to ensure the removal of the staples. While staples can occasionally be left in a
collection if it will be appropriately housed to reduce corrosion of the
metals, one must consider that there is never a guarantee of permanent proper
housing. Therefore, removing the staples
and metal paper clips further ensures sustainability of the collection. I find particularly interesting, and somewhat
frustrating at times, the overabundance of staples in each group of
papers. It is quite difficult to remove
staples that cover other staples that cover other staples. Should I ever need to staple again, I will
always remember to use as few staples as possible for whatever bundle of papers
I am binding.
Until next week…
Amanda J.
Carter
Franklin
Library, Fisk University
IMLS
HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013
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