Ardra Whitney: Week 14 @ Avery Research Center

Q: Guess who’s going to see Nas perform at Radio City Music Hall on New Year’s Eve?

A: Me!!!! “Now I'm the one that’s reppin’ Queens way beyond your wildest dreams”. Woooooooo!!!!
 

Monday, December 3^rd:

With Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring’s instruction, I made my final edits to the finding aid for the Edwina Harleston Whitlock Papers. I also photocopied all news clippings from the collection and used paper clips to fasten together loose and/or related materials. Afterwards, I continued processing St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. Items surveyed included church programs dating from 1939-1990, vestry proceedings from the early part of the 20^th century, and souvenir journals from the church’s 125^th anniversary celebration in 1990.

Tuesday, December 4^th:

In the morning I followed up with Avery's Executive Director, Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane regarding the writing of a description for undergraduate internship opportunities at Avery, which she had mentioned at last Thursday’s staff meeting. She also asked me to connect with one of Avery’s current undergraduate interns to write a profile on them for the Avery Messenger. After work, I participated in the monthly IMLS Fellows’ conference call with The HistoryMakers. Fellows provided The HistoryMakers' Executive Director, Julieanna Richardson, Dan Johnson and Marta Grabowski with progress reports on their work at each of their respective host institutions and learned about new changes to The HistoryMakers’ interview evaluation process.

Wednesday, December 5^th and Thursday, December 6^th:

On Wednesday I e-mailed some public program ideas I had for the upcoming year to Dr. Lessane, Mr. Spelbring and Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo. I also forwarded the message to Avery’s recently promoted Assistant Director, Deborah Wright. Congratulations Ms. Wright! On Thursday, I provided a brief coverage of the reading room for Mr. Spelbring and monitored patrons as they viewed and handled collection materials for their research.

Friday, December 7^th:

I answered a reference request regarding race, religion and the writings of James Baldwin via Facebook— the request was from a Ph.D. student all the way from India, so that was exciting. I also posted a flyer to Avery’s Facebook page regarding the ceremony honoring South Carolina freedom fighters— Mary Moultrie, Ken Riley, William Saunders, and the Martyrs of the Orangeburg Massacre— taking place that evening. The event kicked off the 9th Bi-Annual Southern Human Rights Organizers' Conference being held from December 7-9, 2012, at the International Longshoreman’s Association’s Local 1422 Headquarters. I concluded the day by working on the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. During my processing, I came across some really interesting materials like a journal from the late 19^th century containing entries from parish leadership, a bible published in 1866, and an autograph from prominent Charleston architect, Louis J. Barbot, who designed St. Mark's church building.