Ardra Whitney: Week 15 @ Avery Research Center

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Monday, December 10^th:
 
I continued processing the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records throughout the week and by Friday I had surveyed nine out of the collection’s ten boxes. I think one of the most exciting things I came across during my inventory of the collection was microfiche of the church’s register, offerings and cash books; all dating from the  early  part of the 20^th century. I was like wow microfiche, that’s really neat! I also took some more time to research the articles on James Baldwin from the James E. Campbell Papers, 1930 – 2009, for the request made by the Ph.D student from India. I followed up with him on Friday, providing him with the titles of the articles, as well as the name and date of the publications they were in.

Tuesday, December 11^th:

In the afternoon, IMLS Fellows participated in The HistoryMakers’ monthly professional development conference call with Virginia Historical Society’s (VHS) Curator of African American History, Lauranette L. Lee and Assistant Archivist, Paige Newman. The two discussed their work on the project, Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names, which launched in September of this year. VHS was presented with the C. Herbert Finch Publication Award from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) for the database. Unknown No Longer launched with 1,500 names but now has over 10,000 names entered into the database. “It is the latest step by the Virginia Historical Society to increase access to its varied collections relating to Virginians of African descent.”

Wednesday, December 12^th:

I posted an article on Avery’s Facebook page about the two music professors, Mary Ellen Junda and Robert Stephens from the University of Connecticut studying Gullah culture in preparation to share their research with 80 classroom teachers from across the U.S. Introducing teachers to the Gullah people’s distinctive language and rich history is one way the professors hope to combat age old stereotypes about the culture. Junda and Stephens also want to help spread the word about Gullah culture in order to preserve its viable and distinct traditions, which are quickly giving way to assimilation. Though on a sad note I was shocked to hear of the tragedy that struck Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire community during their time of incredible heartbreak.

Thursday, December 13^th:

I completed my interview evaluation for Entertainment Lawyer, Lisa E. Davis. Davis hails from Queens, New York; so needless to say I was thrilled to hear her talk about how her grandmother who lived in St. Albans used to take Davis shopping on Jamaica Avenue. The avenue is a major thoroughfare that stretches from Queens all the way into Brooklyn—I know it like the back of my hand and also have many fond memories of it. Davis remarks in her interview that her paternal grandparents were the first black family to break the restrictive covenant act by moving to St. Albans, Queens in 1946. In addition, she talks about the famous jazz musicians that lived in St. Albans during the 1940s and 1950s. Jazz artists, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Count Basie were all residents of the Queens neighborhood.

Friday, December 14^th:

I began research on the history of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in order to prepare a finding aid for the collection. I also completed my weekly report to Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo and Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring, which included my considerations regarding the preservation, storage and possible digitization of the collection’s parish ledgers, registries and other historical record books.