Skyla S. Hearn: Week Four at The Woodson/Harsh

High Light of the Week

As I mentioned in Week Two's blog post, I contacted my elementary school classmate in order to begin the photo id-ing process. He then put me in contact with his mother, since he deemed himself useless. He was positive his mother would be able to positively id each and every person in every photograph. He was exactly correct but she came very close. Mrs. Drake* possessed a wealth of knowledge and proved to be a valuable addition to the Photo Identification Committee. Mrs. Drake happens to be the oldest daughter of one  of Rev. Claude Wyatt's brothers. The shorter form would be to state that she is the niece of Reverend Claude. After discussing with Mrs. Drake* the project and the importance of her input and sharing her valuable information, she accepted my request to join the Photo Identification Committee and to attend regularly, weekly scheduled meetings to id photo content. 

During our first meeting, Mrs. Drake* was overwhelmed with emotion and delight and found it hard to stifle comments about friends of the family, family members and church members that were of little archival research value but excellent for conversations and helping to provide me with a glimpse into the personal relationships of the people I'd been studyiung and catagorizing. She shared nicknames, who was always best dressed, who sang the best, cooked the best, etc. The photographs took her down memory lane. She laughed, howled and teared up a bit at the photos that depicted a younger version of her aunts and uncles, mother and father and other close relatives.  I was more than grateful for the experience and information she provided me with. With her help, I was able to positively identify approximately 250 photographs in approximately two hours.

Back to School with The HistoryMakers

I participated in The HistoryMakers Back to School Event, which took place at Beasley Elementary Magnet Academic Center located in Chicago, Illinois. My duties for the event consisted of coordinating with The HistoryMakers staff and Beasley's Assistant Principal to serve as The HistoryMakers representative and mistress of ceremonies, to give a brief presentation of the archival profession and the importance of archival repositories, to introduce the The HistoryMakers Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun and Mrs. Regina Harris-Baiocchi and to read the COMMITT to Education pledge with the students.

Ms. Hyde, the Assistant Principal, the primary B.A.C. contact met us, The HistoryMakers and myself with plenty of hospitality and good spirits. We were escorted to the auditorium, where the Back to School ceremony took place by a B.A.C. cheerleader and a former B.A.C.  student. That's right. B.A.C. is such a great school that former students return on their days off from school to volunteer at the school as needed by the staff. Our freshman escort was a proud student of Hales Franciscan High School. The auditorium was packed with students and teachers eager to participate in the event. After the presentations, performances and reading of the pledge the student body was escorted back to class. The students and teachers who were a part of the event remained for photos and refreshments. The B.A.C. teachers and staff were very grateful for the opportunity to learn about The HistoryMakers digital repository and equally excited to gain access to the archival collections to implement into their lessons. It was a wonderful experience!