I finally completed processing the National Baptist Sanitarium and Bathhouse project section of this collection. There were more materials than originally estimated, so that combined with some slight delays caused this section’s processing to take longer than planned. However, that means that the other projects should be somewhat reduced in the amount of time they take to process. I am still reviewing the boxes to finalize this portion of the finding aid, but that should be completed shortly and I will begin on the next project section of the finding aid. Slowly but surely, I am coming along well in processing this collection.
Delays
Part of the delay is the extra time it takes to set up and
take down the Black History Month presentation that runs daily. We are unaware of the general login
information for the computer that is used to display the presentation so I have
had to rely on the generous nature of the librarians here to take time out of
their busy schedule and log in for me each day.
Fortunately, they are becoming accustomed to my daily request, so the
morning setup is taking less time. I
have also been working on trying to develop a type of soundtrack to accompany
the presentation but I will discuss that further shortly. Another delay was that I had to miss Thursday
because my mother needed to go to the hospital for a procedure. Fortunately, everything worked out well but
it took all day so I was not able to come and work on the collection.
Outreach: Black History Month 2013, At the Crossroads of Freedom and
Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington
Last week I posted a Slideshare link to my
presentation here. Currently, music of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and Dr. Matthew
Kennedy are on a randomized loop to accompany the presentation. I have downloaded some music and speeches in
order to create a more stylized playlist, but I still need to work on
excerpting parts of the speeches and intertwining it with the music. While it
has been a while since I toyed with cutting sound clips, I still have Audacity
installed on my computer from the oral history interview I did for my Ozark Mountains women’s history project in 2009, so this will be a great refresher in
using it. I hope to have that completed by the end of
the week. I may also take the
opportunity to update my powerpoint presentation to include an expanded version
of the Tennessee State Library and Archives online exhibit, “This Honorable Body:
African American Legislators in 19th Century Tennessee.”
Outreach/Social Media: Historypin
My original plan for outreach and/or public programming was
a tour of some of the buildings in Nashville that were constructed or renovated
by the McKissack brothers. Due to some extenuating circumstances here, it has been
quite difficult to see those plans come to life, so I have decided to take a
different route. Rather than a live tour
of a few buildings, I will develop a “virtual tour” using Historypin. Historypin
is a cool map application that can be accessed online or through a smartphone
or other app device. One can “pin”
images to it at certain locations so that anyone who uses the app can access
the images. (There is even an option to
overlay the image against your smartphone screen so that you can compare the
image to the actual location.) This will
broaden the reach of my audience as well as broaden the reach of locations by
allowing me to add construction outside of Nashville, Tennessee. For instance, one image that I plan on using
is a postcard of the National Baptist Sanitarium and Bathhouse in Hot Springs,
Arkansas. Since I would not have
been able to plan a tour that far away, I will be able to demonstrate the reach of the McKissack brothers that I would not have been able to exemplify in a tour of one city.
Metadata can be added to the images so that I can advertise the
McKissack Collection here at Franklin Library to anyone who uses this app. It is really exciting and I am looking
forward to selecting and adding images of some of the buildings constructed or
renovated by the McKissack brothers.
Public Programming Outreach: Tennessee History Day
Another outreach option is National
History Day. According to the nhd.org
website,
“National History Day makes history
come alive for America's youth by engaging them in the discovery of the
historic, cultural and social experiences of the past. Through hands-on
experiences and presentations, today's youth are better able to inform the
present and shape the future. NHD inspires children through exciting
competitions and transforms teaching through project-based curriculum and instruction.”
Through the Society
of Tennessee Archivists, I have volunteered to participate in Tennessee History Day,
“the state affiliate of National History Day.” I have volunteered as a judge,
but since this is my first year volunteering, I am willing to work in any
capacity in which they need me on Saturday, April 20, 2013. This sounds really exciting so I am looking
forward to encouraging a love of history with Tennessee youth.
Until next time…
Amanda J.
Carter
Franklin
Library, Fisk University
IMLS
HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013
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