Week 29: Ardra Whitney @ Avery Research Center

Monday, March 18^th:

Administrative Assistant, Savannah Frierson and I worked on scanning and printing images of materials selected for display in the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club exhibit—materials which included, a thank you note to the club from W.E.B. DuBois (1925); correspondence from Mary McLeod Bethune to Mrs. Miriam D. Seabrook (1931); and a press release announcing the club’s sponsorship of an exhibit of art works and paintings by black artists for the Spoleto Festival (1978). Although before we could get started, she had to install the two office printers to the new workstation computer in the processing lab. While scanning materials from the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club Papers with Savannah; club member, Cynthia McCottry-Smith stopped by to follow up with me about locating photos of the club’s founder, Jeannette K. Cox to use in the exhibit. Ms. Smith also took some time to tell me about members of the club pictured in a circa 1949 photo. She recalled that one of the members taught her when she was in school and that another member’s husband owned a realty company in Charleston.

Tuesday, March 19^th:

As I worked on placing the exhibit items, Curator, Curtis Franks and Assistant Director, Deborah Wright observed that the documents on display needed some form of support to prevent them from curling or bending. I agreed and so Mr. Franks went out and purchased some white mounting board to help reinforce the documents, which were placed on upright clear acrylic display stands. Mr. Franks was also able to find a large portrait of Mrs. Cox to hang as part of the exhibit. I was very happy about this because her image positioned over the exhibit materials serves as a wonderful focal point.

Wednesday, March 20^th:

Throughout the day I continued surveying the Virginia Geraty Papers by making an item list of her many notebooks (and scrapbooks), which contain: lesson plans on Gullah grammar instruction; Gullah vocabulary; fables, poems and short stories translated into Gullah; as well as other literary productions and notes pertaining to Gullah language education/instruction.

Thursday, March 21^st:

In the morning I met with Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring and Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo to discuss department updates and submissions for the inaugural undergraduate essay contest. I also began processing the audio-visual material from the Virginia Geraty collection, which includes cassette tape recordings of her presentations and speaking engagements, lectures at the College of Charleston, and Gullah music; as well as video cassette tapes of television programs/films on Gullah language and culture.

In the afternoon, I participated in The HistoryMakers’ Monthly Professional Development Call with the former Chief Curator and Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and present Director of Howard University’s Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard Dodson, Jr. I enjoyed his remarks on the differences between museum and library curators, in addition to his observations on what makes a library successful.

Friday, March 22^nd:

By the end of the week I had completed 11 out of 12 boxes from the Virginia Geraty Papers and began surveying the final box from the collection.

Maryland Day

March 25, 2013 marks the 379th Anniversary of the legal entity that is Maryland. On this day in 1634 English Catholic settlers landed on St. Clements Island in the Potomac River, land now belonging to St. Mary's County, Maryland. As an original state, Maryland's borders and names for local governance changed over the centuries but St. Clements Island remains firmly in the history of Maryland rather than its older brother Virginia. For a step-by-step look at how Maryland's county borders changed click here. There is a lot more history to remember and analyze than in previous states of residence. The social and political history of Minnesota and Wisconsin were in their infancy when Maryland was colonized. The history of the Upper Midwest until the Revolution is written in French as fur traders and Indians engaged in commerce and marriage, supplying pelts and sons for the booming fur industry; the effects continued well into the 19th century, with my girlfriend Esther's ancestor and founder of Milwaukee Solomon Juneau, but largely dissipated as English speakers moved west. My hometown of Owatonna, Minnesota was settled in the 1850s by people from New York state. Gradually this gave way to Germans and Scandinavians but this frontier attitude lingered. The National Farmer's Bank designed by Louis Sullivan and completed in 1908 is an exemplar of the Prairie School of Architecture, a style partially emulating Wisconsinite Frank Lloyd Wright.

Often called "jewel boxes" by their admirers and detractors, these institutional buildings possessed lavish interiors with superfluous decorations and murals reminiscent of the wilderness giving way to the slow creep of civilization. The National Farmer's Bank's most recent tenant is Wells Fargo. Following the 1998 merger of equals between the Norwest Corporation of Minneapolis and the well branded Wells Fargo of San Francisco, the former adopted the latter's name. The human-sized jade and aqua logo of Norwest on the western and southern faces of the bank were changed to a clashing black, red, and gold logo. Outraged by this, world renowned Chinese brush painter Dee Teller and the local arts community made their opinions known. Wells Fargo's solution was elegant to say the least. Rather than abandon the sign or make an exception by changing their brand's colors, Wells Fargo replaced the offending sign with an embossed copper panel. Although it does not complement the bank's colors at the moment, over time the copper will oxidize and match the brilliant jade-colored glass and brickwork.

 Maryland's history and its buildings are far older. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than Annapolis where I live. While the love of local history is perhaps strongest on the Eastern Shore, there are fewer externals signs of it. On my walks to and from work I trod brick sidewalks and streets, passing a General Marquis de Lafayette campsite, the birthplace of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the Maryland State House, and dozens of other buildings older than the United States. One of my favorite buildings however is technically two buildings and they are directly west of City Hall. The houses on 166 and 168 Duke of Gloucester Street are likely connected by a common doorway since I've only spotted one mailbox but they could not be more different from a historical standpoint. The building on the left side of the image, quite obviously the original structure, and the building on the right, quite obviously an addition, have several striking differences between them.

Can you find additional differences?  Click to enlarge

The plaque is an invitation to public scrutiny and the judgment of local historians. Fixing your roof or repairing your sidewalk probably is not a simple matter of going to Home Depot. The neighbor kid who hit his baseball may think he will have it easy because the panes are so small; turns out he will need to mow his neighbor's lawn longer than expected because the glass comes from a specialist. But why is any of this important? Why do bricks made of the right materials or imperfect glass that warp reflections matter? Because, 379 years ago the Province of Maryland began on a small island at the mouth of the Potomac River in a land virtually unknown to Europeans.

Skyla S. Hearn: Exhibit Opening Program (Public Program)



Program Cover Page



Page 1



I arrived at work this morning the same as I had earlier this week---ready to embrace whatever come what may. I walked through the doors of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature and peered to the right into the Exhibit Gallery to check that the lights had been positioned, looked up and around to meet the eyes of Michael Flug. Michael beat me into the Harsh by ten minutes and was checking the amount of “missing” label texts. I assured him that the label texts were not missing and inquired if he’d read my previous email from the day before. He hadn’t. I hurried to the break room, removed my coat and dropped my bag then took a quick trip to the stacks and retrieved the clam shell (acid free archival storage box) with the remaining label text. I joined Michael in the exhibition space where he and I affixed the remaining label texts. We looked one another over, exchanged compliments---we both were clad and dapper in our “Sunday’s Best”---and congratulated one another on a job well done.

Beverly Cook joined us in the exhibition space and completed the last display case by rearranging the items to incorporate the last of the label texts. Beverly designed all four display cases, which perfectly complimented the photographs and other items on exhibit. I then affixed the guest book and pen to the podium. By 9:30am we were ready to receive guests for the opening program, which was due to begin at 1:00pm.

By noon, three camera men and photographers were setting up their equipment, the piano had arrived and awaited assembly and sound check, the caterers were setting up the refreshments and drinks, rows of seats were marked ‘reserved’ for our guest speakers, elderly guests and Wyatt family members. All of our hard work was about to come to fruition and I couldn’t have been more excited, nervous and ready. Marcia Walker, Ph.D. arrived to complete the team. Over the last months, Michael, Marcia and I worked closely to conceptualize, design, coordinate and finally install the opening exhibition. The opening program and exhibit was supervised and orchestrated in a manner that allowed the three of us to work as an intricately designed puzzle.

Guests began to arrive shortly after noon. We greeted them as they gathered throughout the exhibition space and filed into the auditorium. I was overwhelmed with pride and joy that this event was happening and that I’d played such a vital role in its execution. When in the midst of the day-to-day grind and stressors: image selection and manipulation---instructing “hard-headed vendors” to produce missing images, installation--pushing and turning stubborn screws into jute-covered back boards, exhibit design---patiently awaiting the tangible deliverance or physical manifestation of the design and lay out of the exhibition to be released from someone else’s creative mind, etc. you don’t think about the moment when it all comes together. Church members, family, friends, and activists I’d met over the last seven months and formed relationships with as a result of conducting the photo id sessions, meetings, ‘wellness’ phone calls and house visits were all thankful to us for such a job well done. I awaited their responses to the opening program in hopes they would be just as pleased as they were with the exhibition.

Once the auditorium was filled Michael took the stage to introduce the Master of Ceremony, Reverend Calvin Morris, and from there the program began. Rev. Morris charismatically engaged the audience and introduced speakers while drawing on his professional and personal connections with Rev. Addie and Claude Wyatt and some of the speakers. During the event, we were graced with the presence of Rev. Willie Taplin Barrow, best friend and soul sister of Rev. Addie Wyatt. Although she did not speak, her presence was felt and well received by the audience. How remarkable to be in the presence of such greatness from Rev. Willie T. Barrow to Natiera Robinson, a Chicago Academy High School Senior! Natiera Robinson’s presentation on the life and work of Rev. Addie L. Wyatt won her first place in the 2012 Chicago Metro History Fair competition. Although Natiera never met Rev. Wyatt, she was inspired to share Rev. Wyatt’s story of labor union activism in a power point presentation that incorporated clips of Rev. Wyatt’s interviews, a series of short interviews she conducted with Katie Jordan, Marcia Walker and others and photographs.

The opening program would not have been complete without music---gospel music. Rev. Wyatt in addition to her many roles was a pianist, vocalist and choir director. We were graced by the performances of soloists Vernon Oliver Price then Sylvia Coleman Lee who were both accompanied by pianist Aaron Cockerham. Once the program ended, we invited guests to peruse the exhibit then to enjoy refreshments catered by C’est Si Bon---but of course, not together! (After all, we are staunch archivists.) To my surprise, I was interviewed by Chris, a Columbia College student, for The Columbia Chronicle and for the Vernon Park Church of God YouTube channel. I can’t promise that either interview is stellar especially since I was shocked into speechlessness by the cameraman from the Vernon Park Church of God---the bright lights, camera and mike literally caused me to respond like a deer caught in headlights. Fortunately, The Columbia Chronicle will appear in print only.

“Faith in the Struggle: Reverend Addie L. Wyatt’s Fight for Labor, Civil Rights and Women’s Right” exhibit opening program was a labor of love, sweat, tears, and hard work but most importantly it was a major success.

 

Page 2

  

Program Back



Amanda J. Carter: Week 29 (March 18 – March 24) @ Fisk University

William McKissack Papers
Last week, I completed processing all of the Memphis projects boxes.  These projects are now divided into nine sections: Combined or Other Memphis projects, Lauderdale Church of Christ, McNeil job, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, New Bloomfield Baptist Church, Riverside/Riverview Christian Church, Rock of Ages C.M.E. Church, and Universal Life Insurance Company.  The projects encompass eleven boxes, two of which are oversized.  Due to a migraine headache on Thursday, I was not able to finish going back through all of the boxes to add dates and finalize the arrangement.  Therefore, this section will not be finished until this week.  It is likely that they will encompass fewer than eleven boxes once I merge them together since a couple of the boxes are not completely full.  I have sixteen more boxes and approximately twenty sets of blueprints remaining to be processed for this collection.   

Challenges
The most recent challenge is determining how to include the projects that are referenced on only a few documents.  For instance, there are only about seven documents for the “McNeil job” so it seems unnecessary to divide those few documents into numerous folders.  Fortunately, they are all receipts and thus will be filed under “Vendors” within its own project series.  Another option would be to add a subsubseries to “Combined or Other Memphis projects” that would include all smaller jobs or jobs with very limited documentation.  Yet another option would be to have a subseries under the Projects series for all small jobs where each job has its own folder.  As I go back through the folders to add dates, make minor adjustments to the arrangement, and finalize that portion of the finding aid, I will make the final determination as to how to record these minimally-documented projects.

Blueprints
Last Wednesday, volunteer Evelyn Jones spent her morning helping me to flatten, dust, and record the metadata from a number of blueprints.  The process was extremely slow due to the very fragile nature of the documents.  While it is heartbreaking to see the condition of such interesting blueprints, at least there will be some level of access as we record the title, location, architect, date, and a few notes of each set of blueprints.  I originally estimated that it would take only a few days to process these blueprints, but after working with them on Wednesday and finding them so very fragile, it will probably take another couple of days so that the process is not rushed so as to prevent serious damage.

Challenges
Fragility remains the primary challenge when working with these blueprints.  Unrolling them, flattening them, and cleaning them can all cause further damage so we have to work very slowly and carefully to reduce any damage.  Once they are unrolled, cleaned, information recorded, and flattened, then Mr. Michael Powell will build a box to fit them where they lie so as to reduce further damage.  I would suggest that once the blueprints are boxed, they not be accessed again.  Ideally, digitizing them would be the best method to promote future access so that they are not disturbed further.  Hopefully, the metadata we are recording for the finding aid will be able to answer most research questions so that further access will at least be limited. 

Interesting Finds
The most interesting finds last week were blueprints from the 1920s.  There are blueprints for the Sunday School Publishing Board [now the Morris Memorial Building] and the residence of T.B. Boyd both dated 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee.  Many of the blueprints are undated, but they appear to be from the same time period considering they are on similar onion skin paper and the name of Moses McKissack or McKissack & McKissack are listed similarly.  However, they will be listed as “undated” since no dates can be verified absolutely. 
 
Until next time…                                                                                                                  

Amanda J. Carter

Franklin Library, Fisk University

IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013

Ardra Whitney: Week 28 @ Avery Research Center

Monday, March 11^th - Thursday, March 14^th:

I began the week by continuing to survey the Virginia Geraty Papers and plan the Women’s History Exhibit on the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club. On Tuesday, I followed up with C.A. Brown High School Alumni Association President, Joey Washington and got his permission to use high school newspaper and yearbook photos for the Black in the Lowcountry: Digital Photo Archive project. On Wednesday morning I conducted an oral history interview with Associate Professor of Arts Management at the College of Charleston, Dr. Karen Chandler about her membership with the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her speak about her work with the college’s Arts Management Program, as well as the Charleston Jazz Initiative and of course her participation in the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club. One of the things she said during her interview that resonated with me, was how the club gives her the opportunity to be in the company of other African-American women that she shares personal and professional interests with. She also remarked on how gratifying it is to be around her fellow clubwomen, because of her great admiration and respect for the work that they do. In the afternoon, I posted an article from CHARLIE magazine to Avery’s Twitter page about Executive Director, Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane. In the article she is featured as one of Charleston’s 50 most progressive people and discusses what it means to be a “progressive leader”. On Thursday, I contacted Cynthia McCottry-Smith and left a voicemail asking if she had any photos of the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club’s Founder, Jeanette Cox that I could include in the Women’s History Month Exhibit.

Friday, March 15^th:

I continued surveying the Virginia Geraty Papers, completing 7 out of 12 boxes. I created an item list for 60 out of approximately 90 some-odd spiral notebooks from the collection, which contained notes on everything from books of the bible translated into Gullah, Gullah vocabulary, educational materials, and preparation for the production of Porgy: A Gullah Version at the Garden Theatre. Additionally, I began placing the items I had selected for display and narrowing down the number of items to be part of the exhibit. In the afternoon, I stopped by Trident Technical College to meet with Phoebe Williams, where she burned all the images we had scanned related to C.A. Brown High School onto a CD. In the coming months, I will be posting these images on the Black in the Lowcountry: Digital Photo Archive's Tumblr page.

Chaitra Powell: Week 28 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my 28^th week at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, I discussed the museum’s involvement with Project West, applied for the archivist certification exam, and gave several tours.  

Audio Assault Update: We mounted two television screens on the hallway walls this week. We also hung up the “Burn, Baby Burn” map, and seven out of thirty of the albums. I had determined that we needed more plexi frames with the holes drilled in the borders several weeks ago, and we were able to put the order in on Thursday. Upon hanging some of the album frames we saw that the wooden blocks that were holding the items were longer than they should be, essentially needing to be cut in half. The image reproductions, labels, and text panels will be ready on Wednesday, so we should be hanging materials in the upcoming week.    

On Tuesday of this week, I had a meeting with Gregory Everett, the coordinator behind Project West  which is an initiative to tell the history of west coast hip hop. Last spring Larry, Gregory and forty west coast hip hop pioneers met at MCLM to discuss why it is important to collect their stories and which tangible projects could come out of the collaborations. One idea that has gained some traction is a travelling exhibition filled with cultural artifacts from the west coast hip hop scene. Larry encouraged Gregory to use the museum has a headquarters for the collecting of those materials. On Tuesday, Gregory told me more about his ideas and his project, and I showed him some potential spaces for him to meet with donors and work on the exhibition. He also requires space to conduct oral histories. The challenge of choosing a space involves making sure that he will have consistent access, regardless of film shoots, concerts, tours, and not compromise the security of any of our other collections. I have also been tasked with going over our deposit agreement paperwork with Gregory so that he can be transparent with his donors about the custodianship of their materials. I will have to consult some archival resources to learn about the best practices for describing a set of turntables and a microphone, donated from a local DJ.    

On Wednesday evening, I finally set down and submitted my application for the Academy of Certified Archivists exam. I had applied for this exam in 2011 and was rejected because I did not have enough experience or a master’s degree with archival concentration. Instead of tossing my goals aside, I moved to Chicago, went to the annual Society of American Archivist conference, and joined Chicago Area Archivists to figure out how to earn what the Academy of Certified Archivists thought I was missing. Fast forward two years, and I am applying for the exam with a bit more confidence. I know that the fellowship will help with future employment opportunities through the work experience and networking, but becoming certified will demonstrate my understanding of the core values and responsibilities of an archivist. If all goes well, I’ll be sitting for the exam in the days before this year’s annual conference in New Orleans. If all goes even better, I will make time to study in the next several months and PASS this year’s exam in New Orleans!

MCLM was full of people wanting tours on Saturday. There are times when I think that there is so much to do to get the collection in order; we should not waste time walking the public through our bare hallways. Days like Saturday make me believe otherwise. When I take visitors to the “Mayme” room and explain how Dr. Clayton wanted black children to know that their people had made positive contributions and she collected material for 45 years, they are impressed. When I share that as Mayme was getting older and the collection was more susceptible to damage in the garage, her son (Avery) began looking for a permanent location for the entire collection, and the day before she died, he told her that he had secured this de-commissioned courthouse in Culver City, BOOM (I drop the microphone), the group erupts with applause! In reality, there is rarely the sound of hands clapping, but people do like to see the story have a happy ending. From there, the tour is really a piece of cake. I show them the volunteer space and how we have processed books, pamphlets, and sheet music. The next stop is the photograph room, where I tell them how Mayme acquired a significant portion of the Sepia magazine photograph archives, and show them a scrapbook of the little known female African American aviator from the 1940’s, Marie Dickerson. Then we go into the magazine room, where they are amazed by the boxes upon boxes of black magazines, that is when I tell them how Mayme had a copy of the first Ebony magazine that John H. Johnson wanted to buy from her, but she refused to sell. I take them to the Jacob Lawrence gallery and spend a few minutes talking about the Hiroshima, Toussaint L’Overture, Migration, Genesis, and Builders series that we are displaying from the Alitash Kebede collection. We walk down the hallway, peek inside the book rooms and I talk about the Steve Buchanan jazz collection. Then we are off to the judge’s chambers and the jail space where I tell them how we use the space to simulate being arrested for non-violent protest, and have school groups sing freedom songs in the jail. We finish in the courtroom where I talk about our monthly movie screenings and other events that are hosted here. This is also where I make the case that the museum does not have any major benefactors and we stay open through grants and donations. Sometimes people donate, other times they ask for volunteer applications, regardless of their next move, they represent a new group of people in the world who know about this incredible woman. My finding aid will just have to wait until next week.      

    

Chaitra Powell: Week 27 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my 27th week at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, I drafted a press release for the Roses and Revolutions Listening Party, welcomed a new volunteer, and conducted an oral history session with Jerome Woods and S. Pearl Sharp.

Audio Assault Update: Now that the walls are painted, we brought out all of the materials and determined how we wanted to place them on the wall. Larry and I decided that we needed more images to make the messages from the albums more obvious to patrons. I had searched for these images (police brutality, destruction after Watts riots, and Wattstax artists) in our photograph collection in the past without much luck. I broadened my scope to images from newspapers, pamphlets and books to source the images that we wanted. This time, I found everything that we needed, and they will be scanned, cropped and reproduced for the exhibit.  

Although it pained me to think about other projects while Audio Assault remains unfinished, I am planning the Roses and Revolutions Listening Party for March 30. Roses and Revolutions is an album that was produced by D.S.T. Telecommunication, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in 1975. Sorority members, Ruby Dee, Nancy Wilson, Leslie Uggams, Roberta Flack, Barbara Ann Teer and others recorded the album to represent a black perspective for America’s bi-centennial celebrations. The record is full of singers and actors reciting poems, performing dialogues and singing songs that represent the black experience in America. The works of Dudley Randall, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, and Countee Cullen, among others are all included. I was introduced to the album by a woman who was touring the museum, and saw me planning for my exhibit, back in January. She loaned the museum a copy of the album for inclusion in the Audio Assault exhibit, and encouraged me to reach out to Dr. Betty Smith Williams, former president of D.S.T. Telecommunications, to learn more about the album. I assumed that everyone would want to know more about the album, so I asked Dr. Williams if she would like to talk about the album with me in front of an audience. She agreed and we are working together on the structure and content of the program. Larry helped me draft a press release that we have sent to media outlets and all of the local Delta Sigma Theta chapters; hopefully we will have a large turnout. 

Since Lloyd and I presented at the Village Green for Black History Month, the museum has had an influx of donations and volunteers from this residential community. I gave Carol an orientation/tour on Wednesday this week. Carol is on the schedule for four hours on Thursdays and Fridays. I learned a valuable lesson about volunteers in the archives with Carol this week. When she told me that she liked working with papers and putting things in order, I assumed that putting the LGBTQ publications in chronological order would be a great introductory task for her. I forgot to mention to Carol that there are some sexually explicit pictures and stories in those publications. It did not even occur to me that the imagery and the content would make her uncomfortable. When I went to check on her, she told me that she was taken aback by the materials but she was determined to complete the task. I apologized profusely and offered to re-assign her but she insisted that it was okay. Carol has moved on to other tasks within the museum and sometimes we have a laugh about how I “hazed” her on her first day at the museum. Archival collections are so interesting because our understanding of them is extremely varied depending on who we are in relation to the materials. The Black LGBTQ collection, for example is a pile of papers for me (archivist) to describe, a scrapbook filled with friends for Jerome (donor), something to garner funds from for Larry (executive director), or folders full of lude pictures for Carol (volunteer). In the future, I plan to look outside of my own understanding before I send another volunteer into the archival wilderness.   

The Black LGBTQ project has generated a bit of a buzz around the museum and the collection advisory board, since I have made processing the materials a high priority. One of our board members, S. Pearl, suggested that we record the processing sessions for the museum’s collection. I ran it by Jerome and he was willing, so our session this week included S. Pearl and her recording device. While everyone had the best of intentions, the session was a bit of a bust.  S. Pearl asked for descriptions of everything we touched, Jerome felt at times inhibited and at other times verbose with the microphone, and I was struggling more than usual with staying on task and moving through the materials. In the end, we determined that we needed to identify the purpose of the oral history and stick to a prescribed plan. I believe that the strength of Jerome’s narrative lies in the connections that he can make among various people within the LGBTQ community in Los Angeles, during the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s. Perhaps we need to pull several items from the collection that will trigger his memories and record the output. I’ll need to work out the details and talk to S. Pearl and Jerome, but I think that it would be a step in the right direction.

Amanda J. Carter: Week 27-28 (March 03 – March 17) @ Fisk University

Week 27, March 03 – March 10
Week 27 was Spring Break for Fisk University, so Franklin Library was closed.    

William McKissack Papers
Last week, I completed processing all but one box for the Memphis projects.  These projects are now divided into eight sections: Combined or Other Memphis projects, Lauderdale Church of Christ, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, New Bloomfield Baptist Church, Riverside/Riverview Christian Church, Rock of Ages C.M.E. Church, and Universal Life Insurance Company.  The projects are divided into eleven boxes, two of which are oversized.  I will finish processing the final box in the next couple of days and then finalize this portion of the finding aid.  I have sixteen more boxes and approximately twenty sets of blueprints to process for this collection.    

Challenges
Since the challenges I discusses in my last blog have been virtually resolved, last week’s processing was not as complicated.  I discovered a few more projects in Memphis, so all I had to do in that case was set up an outline for each project and place it in its own box.  There are still a few folders in the Combined or Other Memphis projects section that may present a challenge simply because they do not readily identify a project.       

Blueprints
Last Wednesday, volunteer Evelyn Jones spent her morning helping me to sort out the pile of rolled blueprints that contain many sets of McKissack blueprints.  As mentioned in my last blog, also included were some sets of blueprints that did not belong with the McKissack collection.  We found approximately eight sets of blueprints that appear to be part of the Rosenwald collection and approximately six sets of blueprints of unknown origin.  My collection supervisor suggested that I include the unknown blueprints in the McKissack collection since they were found together.  While it appears that some of the unknown sets of blueprints may indeed belong with McKissack, I am not convinced that they all belong and am therefore hesitant to include them when they may belong to another collection.  However, further evaluation is necessary and will be completed as we flatten, clean, and record the metadata of the blueprints.  With Evelyn’s help on Monday and Wednesday mornings, I estimate that we should have these blueprints recorded and flattened by the end of March. 

Challenges
The primary challenge with the blueprints is their fragility.  They have been rolled up and stored in a box for an unknown amount of time.  The edges are frayed and sometimes there are rips through them.  This is why I have asked Evelyn to help me.  It will not only be more expedient, but it will also be more precautionary to have two people working together to carefully unroll documents that are so fragile.  This will be the only way we can ensure that they are researchable.  If we leave them rolled, then it would increase the chance of damage to the documents if they were opened for research.  There are approximately five sets of blueprints that we will not be unrolling at this point because any attempt to do so appears to cause more damage.  I will be meeting with Mr. Michael Powell to determine what steps would be best for those blueprints.        

Interesting Finds
Inside the box with the sets of blueprints and on top of a set of blank forms, we found a handwritten list of McKissack projects.  This will prove invaluable in verifying the subseries of my Projects series.  The document is currently very dusty and difficult to read, but I hope that some moderate cleaning will enable me to read it in full.  In the metaphor where processing collections is compared to putting together a puzzle, this document is a corner piece. 
 
Until next time…                                                                                                                  

Amanda J. Carter

Franklin Library, Fisk University
IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013

Slavery's Legacy

Wait...that flag has too many stars and stripes. Something's not right...

The Legacy of Slavery in Maryland research project at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis began with a volunteer effort to digitize runaway slave advertisements published in Maryland newspapers. When volunteer Jerry Henson first showed then reference director Chris Haley a clipping that charged Aaron Salisbury with aiding and abetting a runaway, something clicked. He knew “such charges could have some relation to the existence of the Underground Railroad in Maryland.” Although Haley shepherded the project from volunteers to a full time staff of researchers, summer interns, an extensive website, and outreach contacts throughout Maryland, he declined the first offer to lead the program because he believed it was important to have a black presence at reference desk.

With Roots author Alex Haley as his uncle, it was no surprise that he possessed a deep personal interest in black history and genealogy. In addition to possessing substantial state records crucial to the study of black history in Maryland, the MSA was proximal to Washington, D.C., libraries and archives. It was at the Maryland State Archives that Alex Haley read the advertisement for the ship Lord Ligonier—the vessel he claimed brought Kunta Kinte to America in chains. It was this personal and documentary connection that encouraged Haley to stay in reference. “A neophyte (researcher) … will feel more comfortable given that connection,” Haley claims. “When you talk about something as sensitive as people who were enslaved according to the law of the land, it might be easier to share that lineage with someone of the same background.” This sharing of the “inner pain, inner shame, inner pride … the molecule” of a collective history, Haley believes, gently encourages the descendants of former slaves to research their family history. In its nearly 10 years of existence, the project has  recorded the names of thousands of slaves, slave owners, composed biographical case studies of compelling Marylanders linked to slavery, given lectures, and conducted workshops to extract  the legacy of slavery from scattered state records and thus placed the legacy before the public.

Maryland website utilizes in-house databases, original biographical research, newspaper transcriptions, and digitization of primary documents to bring together otherwise disparate records of an underrepresented caste. Slave owners, especially politically prominent or wealthy ones, generate more records than slaves or free persons of color. The history of their slaves are scattered in probate records like wills and inventories, tax assessments, court records, muster rolls, the federal census, and even land records—reflecting the slaves’ status as highly valued property, or perhaps a 19th century desire to keep government simple, Maryland’s manumission processes were for a time undertaken by the land office. Bounty and muster rolls, for example, of former slaves in United States Colored Troops are a wealth of biographical information. Haley’s love of the project won out after the second offer when he accepted the directorship. He no longer sits at the reference desk, but, with regards to sensitivity, the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland “is always pushing to explore and present all sides of the story from legal, moral, and financial as well as genealogical points of view which often merge black and white.”

The entire research project takes a holistic interpretation of the Underground Railroad and relies on its mythology. The locus of LOSIM’s current phase of grant-funded research are five Eastern Shore counties—Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Dorchester; the latter is the birth county of Harriet Tubman, the railroad’s greatest celebrity. The approaching centennial of her death and concurrent but separate efforts to commemorate her life put a cloistered and historical area of Maryland under the microscope and the imaginations of the public. On March 8, I attended the 13^th Annual Harriet Ross Tubman Day of Remembrance at the House of Delegates building. A testament to the geographical and historical extent of her legacy there were representatives from state and federal agencies, counties, New York state, and even Canada. I was pleasantly surprised that speakers did not use clichés typically associated with the railroad. No one referred to her as a “conductor” more than once in their remarks, few referred to “stops,” and never once did I feel the event was all about her. Whatever the name of the event, or her romantic place in history, they actively talked about her contemporaries and present day persons who contributed to the goal of undermining slavery and propagating her legacy. The Legacy of Slavery in Maryland research project does that every day and I’m proud to be a part of it.

For succinct descriptions of recent efforts to honor Tubman and her legacy, click here and here.

Honorees and the Rosses, descendants of Tubman pose for photos

Ardra Whitney: Week 27 @ Avery Research Center

Hooray, It’s Women’s History Month!

Monday, March 4^th – Tuesday, March 5^th:

With the help of Graduate Assistant, Daron Calhoun II, I searched through Avery’s photographic collections for images of the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club to include in the Women’s History Month Exhibit. During my search I discovered images taken of the clubs members in 1950 and 1995, as well as negatives and proofs from the club’s 75^th anniversary celebration in 1991. I also came across a folder with collected images pertaining to the Avery Normal Institute that contained photocopied images of Jeanette Cox, the club’s founder. According to the note on the copies, the photo came from the Edmund Drago collection. Dr. Drago is a History professor at the College of Charleston. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975, is the author of seven publications, and has developed several courses in The American Civil War, Reconstruction and World History.

Following the discovery of Mrs. Cox’s photograph, I went to Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring and asked him if he could help me in locating the collection. First we went up to the third floor storage room to look for it, but found no trace of the Drago collection. So using a shelf list, we went to the second floor where Avery’s non-circulating library books are stored with more archival collections. It just so happened that the collection was on the second floor, so I dug in. And although I did not find any photos of Ms. Cox, I did find a group of wonderful photos that were featured in Drago’s book on Avery, entitled Charleston’s Avery Center: From Education and Civil Rights to Preserving the African American Experience.

Wednesday, March 6^th – Friday, March 8^th:

Throughout the week I continued surveying the Virginia Geraty Papers. I am processing the collection at the series level using a series arrangement list Mr. Spelbring gave me. In processing the collection I am learning more about Dr. Geraty and her role as an advocate for the Gullah language. For example, Dr. Geraty wrote and produced the 1990 world premiere play of Porgy: A Gullah Version, in Charleston, SC. And in recognition of her work in the preservation of Gullah she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the College of Charleston.

On Friday I continued planning for the Women’s History Month Exhibit by discussing items for inclusion with Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo. Speaking with her about Avery’s collection on the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club was a revelation because she was able to provide me with recommendations about how to display items from the collection; more insights on what materials to display and also suggested talking with Curator, Curtis Franks about exhibit installation.

Reappraisal

Dr. Loren Schweninger 

 It was an eventful time at the Maryland State Archives these past two weeks. Although I gave my final Queen Anne’s County presentation over a week ago, I can still feel its effects on my daily work. My typical day revolves around researching slave freedom petitions from the Dr. Loren Schweninger Collection—a topic I have talked about at length in this blog—but lately I have been through ongoing communication with the Maryland State Archivist, Dr. Ed Papenfuse. His interest in these presentations on the Eastern Shore bumped up the priority of the Schweninger collection reappraisal.

When Dr. Papenfuse, commonly called “Ed” in the context of archivists and historians in Maryland, learned I was utilizing the Schweninger Collection for meaty historical research during my nine month fellowship he also asked me to examine the collection for gaps. Recap—Dr. Loren Schweninger is a historian and associate of Ed. His eponymous collection, or at least the digital proxy that I’m examining, are digitized scans of microfilm created in the mid-1990s. The microfilm followed a citation list based on research Dr. Schweninger and others performed on-site. They span thirty-five agencies of state and county government from the War of Independence to the eve of Civil War. Although some are scribed on official-looking, uniform sheaths of cloth-like paper, many are loose, irregular, and include affixed newspaper clippings announcing slave or estate sales. Oftentimes these records duplicate content in clerk produced copies like photocopies or e-mail attachments today; I expect these ultra official records were not examined as closely by Schweninger because the manner with which the court tried petitions favored record creation and filing in the unbound papers rather than those materials destined for the big books.

The collection exists in three forms in order of increasing accessibility: As an abstract collective of citations while the records span dozens of shelves, stacks, and up to four floors. As a collection of microfilm. As a digitized collection on MSA servers that can be reached via a simple HTML finding aid written by Ed. He clearly valued the collection because, as I recently learned, he did the coding himself on his own time. The finding aid, which is one of three intellectual access points, is arranged alphabetically by agency and provides links to the opening pages of the digitized film the records inhabit. The remaining two access points are Collection and Microfilm inventories, which provide intellectual access and microfilm navigation respectively. Collection inventory breaks the film down intellectually and groups the content by agency regardless of its film reel, much like Ed’s finding aid, although my early efforts to sort through the collection proved the finding aid’s content was based on the Microfilm inventory.

Following my research work on William McNeir, a special Research Department project, and the bustle of public presentations, I returned to Schweninger. After several e-mails and a meeting with Ed I devised a method to perform my task. I drafted and shared an online spreadsheet tracking my reappraisal of Schweninger to verify its completeness and provide URLs for the start and end points of each case. Each reel begins with target sheets declaring the forthcoming slide contents and individual target cards declaring the catalog number, agency, description, and other metadata particular to that petition or case. Currently the only way to view a particular case is to click a link for the entire film and scroll through perhaps hundreds of images until you reach your desired target card.

Now, halfway through the reels, I can safely say the vast majority of the collection is as it should be. Although rare, the most common annoyance is a missing or errant target card separating each case; the necessary examination of the combined or mislabeled cases is a necessary kink in my workflow because it prevents my slipping into a “scan, ctrl-c, ctrl-v” stupor. Only two cases out of several hundred are missing. A clerical error on the Microfilm inventory in the Special Collections catalog describes a petition that does not exist on the scans and shares an identical classification number with a case that does exist. This error is repeated on the finding aid but not the Collection inventory catalog. Once I complete my survey and retrieve the truant records I can fix this problem and many others.

Alex Champion--Maryland State Archives

Skyla_S_Hearn: Week 26

Google's Tribute to Miriam Makeba

Hola!

What began as the arrangement and description of an archival photograph collection has grown into a two major entities: (1) large archival photograph exhibition and (2) complete archival photograph collection. When I began this project, I accepted the responsibility of providing an organizational structure utilizing archival standards and methodology to boxes and boxes of thousands of (mostly unlabeled) photographs, which would enable researchers of all walks of life to comfortably and effortlessly peruse the immense collection of approximately 3,500 images centered on the lives and works of the Reverends Addie and Claude Wyatt. I understood that I would have added responsibilities associated with the collection related to public programs, outreach, donor relations and so forth as I needed to obtain additional information about the images and eventually share my findings with my cohorts--the HistoryMakers/IMLS Fellows, Woodson/Harsh and HistoryMakers supervisors et all.

 

What I was not aware of is the amount of details involved in the planning and execution of not only processing such an immense collection but while doing so simultaneously coordinating a large scale exhibition. On the one hand, I'm handling multiple tasks related to processing the collection, which on a daily basis includes issues related to preservation, arrangement, description; and self-management of my work space and work flow. On the other hand, I'm completing the digitization and manipulation (enlargements) of the photographs for the exhibit, supervising the accuracy of the work of the vendors despite specific, meticulous detailed instructions and phone conversations where my mantra is "We appreciate your attention to detail however, as an archival institution we are concerned about maintaining the authenticity of the photograph therefore we do not want any cropping of images as that would compromise the information we are attempting to share with our audiences and patrons attending the exhibition" (Try repeating that politely four times in a row per twenty images...), juggling multiple phone calls to donors, panelists and others to discuss and confirm attendance and so forth, conducting meetings with staff  on site and via email to discuss and approve invitation designs, hiring outside talent such as photographers, videographers, providing access to images via DropBox to share the responsibility of creating label texts for the 100+ images with the out-of-state co-curator, and so on. As this paragraph demonstrates, hopefully not too dramatically, the archivist has many roles: event planner, liaison, supervisor, curator, techie, the list goes on...

 

At the end of the week, I held my last Chicago Metro History Fair coaching session. My last "customers" were a mom, V, and son, K, that I'd met with a few Saturdays ago. K, a seventh grader at Kenwood Academy, is working on a presentation board where he will present and discuss facts about the Father of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable. His research led him to two archival collections currently housed at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Center. Both of the collections currently do not have finding aids but are less than 10 linear feet collectively so I decided to help him comb through the materials to find the remaining data he needed to support his thesis statement. After all, as a "gatekeeper" I have the ability to deny or allow access. Needless to say, I'm all about allowing access to information especially when the youth are involved. He may only be in the seventh grade but if he doesn't have the experience of digging for information now---in a physical space vs the internet---then he may not ever know what it means to conduct real research. Let's face it, due to digital convergence there are (amongst other reasons and behaviors) a lot of non compassionate pseudo scholars out and about. As information professionals, a part of our vocation is to aid in the development of scholarship. Albeit, conducting research may not be the most exciting adventure for a 7th grader in the beginning, but by the time you're mid way through and you realize the developments you've made and all the materials collected you realize the experience was worthwhile and beneficial. At least that's what I told myself K was thinking and feeling once he stopped yawning, perked up and started reading, writing and asking questions.

 

Working with the students over the last month or so has been eye opening. The students attended public and private schools, were comical, serious, inquisitive, intelligent, driven, talented and full of spirit. Most expressed that my assistance made their projects more interesting and parents shared that I was extremely helpful. They were grateful. I am too grateful for the experience of being able to provide assistance but also for having had the experience to learn from them and to be touched by their warm spirits. In the immortal words sang by Whitney Houston, "I believe the Children are our future...teach them well and let them lead the way."

 

Here's an article I'd like to share about a few students I assisted with their project on Idlewild. The article History is for the young: Chicago sophomores prepare performance about Idlewild, an oasis for black people in the 1940s, to submit in annual history contest was written by Dawn Turner Trice for the Chicago Tribune Newspaper and can be accessed at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-25/news/ct-met-trice-history-fair-0218-20130225_1_idlewild-national-history-day-history-fairs

 

Whitney Houston Performing "The Greatest Love of All"

during the 1986 Grammy's

 

Chaitra Powell: Week 26 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my 26^th week at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, I picked a paint color for my exhibit, started gathering data for the Dr. Mayme A. Clayton Collection of African American History and Culture, and discussed a master plan of moving collections around within the building.

Audio Assault is still moving along within the budgetary and staffing constraints of the museum. Out of four shades of red, I chose “blood ink” as the backdrop for the exhibit. I watched for two days as Arturro, the painter, transformed our antiseptic white walls into a warm and inviting exhibit space. 

After last week’s directive from the Collection Advisory Board, I decided to make a chart and start filling it in with top level data about each series in the Dr. Mayme A. Clayton Collection of African American History and Culture. It struck me that none of the archivists before me saw the need for this information. My predecessors went straight to item level inventories for the collection which resulted in disparately formatted spreadsheets for some collections and no information about others. For example, we are very proud of our book collection, and have cataloged close to 10,000 titles but should a researcher come to MCLM looking for a book on agriculture or the fine arts? The answer is, probably not. My analysis reveals that over half of our books fall into two Library of Congress Classification subclasses, History of the Americas (E) and Language and Literature (P). The DACS fields that I am focusing on for the series levels are: scope and content, extent, date, subject headings, and locations. The sixteen series that I identified are photographs, posters, cultural artifacts, sculptures, visual arts, Mayme’s Papers, manuscripts, pamphlets, brochures and ephemera, scrapbooks, serials, rare books, general books, sheet music, CDs/Albums, VHS/DVD, and Film Archives. The last few days have been veritable scavenger hunts in the collection as I open boxes and take notes about the highlights and major descriptors of each series.

Larry and I spent two days this week walking through the museum and talking about strategies for getting a better handle on the collection. In every processing space there are piles of materials that are not labeled or not clearly labeled. Many of the piles are evidence of the work of volunteers who have left, and no one really knows what was supposed to happen to those items. It was difficult to focus on strategy instead of just sitting down and trying to sort out the problem in the moment. As an archivist, my biggest concern about the previous methods of accessioning new materials was the lack of concern for provenance. There is a very specific story related to the accumulation of items by Dr. Mayme A. Clayton who passed away in 2006. Ebony magazines donated from 2010 should not be lumped in with her collection. This is why I took time over the last few weeks to flesh out an appraisal policy and collection summary that would help us determine from the start, how a new accession should be described. There is a still a lot of work to be done in consolidating the spreadsheets and determining the provenance of the collections that we have, but we determined that moving all of Mayme’s materials into the same space would help to sort out some of the confusion. The small courtroom, where I am currently working on Mayme’s papers was the location that we agreed on. My information on extent will be especially helpful as we determine how much shelf space we will have to install to make the entire collection fit. The goal is to move “properly archived” materials into the new space, so there is plenty of work to do while the space is being prepared.        

Amanda J. Carter: Week 26 (February 23 – March 02) @ Fisk University

William McKissack Papers
Now that I have completed processing all or most of the materials for the McKissack’s larger architectural projects, I am now taking a slightly different approach by doing a little more multi-task-processing.  Most of the remaining boxes contain documents for multiple smaller projects constructed across the South.  I am now concentrating my processing on projects completed in Memphis, Tennessee.  Since multiple projects are in one box and since many of these projects sometimes appear in one document, I have begun to go through each box to sort out the Memphis projects into the following sections:  Metropolitan Baptist Church, Lauderdale Church of Christ, Universal Life Insurance Company, Riverside (or Riverview, not positive of the accuracy of the name yet) Christian Church, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, and “Combined or Other” Memphis projects.  As I go through the folders in the boxes, I have found that most will specify the name of the project on the document.  However, there are times when there are multiple projects on a document or no project is listed at all.  In these cases, I am placing the documents in the “Combined or Other Memphis projects” subseries.  So far none of these smaller projects are using more than three boxes, so I have about ten boxes into which I am sorting the Memphis projects.  I have about three more boxes left to sort at which point I should be able to finalize those sections of the finding aid all at once.  This approach has helped me to make up the time I fell behind while working on the Hot Springs Bathhouse project.     

Challenges

When I first evaluated this collection, the original order was obviously altered so I rearranged some of the folders and boxes in order for the documents of each project to be together.  However, I am finding that in some cases multiple projects are listed on one document (usually a vendor invoice or in financial notes) so my hope that each project will have its own subseries will not be completely realized.  Fortunately, the “Combined or Other Memphis projects” (title not finalized) subseries is my solution.  This subseries will contain documents that do not name a specific project or name multiple projects.  Currently, I am also including in this section documents that only name a street or information to the effect of “church job” because it is impossible to tell which church job is being referenced.  Those documents will be held in this section until I can gather enough information to determine the specifics of the individual project.  The latest example of this is the Riverside (possibly Riverview) Christian Church.  At first, all I saw was a reference to Riverside Road.  Then I saw a reference to Rview [sic]Christian Church as well as Riverside Christian Church, but they both seem to be the same place.  Once I find the contract, I will have the information necessary to validate the name but I have not yet found any information outside of some personnel records and a few invoices.  For the smaller projects of which the specifics cannot be verified, they will more than likely be placed in the Memphis projects section.     

Blueprints

The Memphis projects section was slightly delayed this week so that I could begin the flattening process for the large number of blueprints in this collection.  I have been concerned with the blueprints because they were found a little later thus not included in the original timeline of my project.  However, I determined that if I can get the metadata from them (Dublin-Core-esque elements, of course: Title, Creator, Location, and Date) and then find a place to overlay them with weights, then they should be flattened and ready to be boxed by May and I should be able to include the metadata in my finding aid, as well.  With the help of Franklin Library’s conservation expert, Mr. Michael Powell, we made a fortunate discovery.  Not all of the rolled blueprints are a part of the McKissack’s papers.  Some of them belong to the Rosenwald collection that my supervisor, Ms. Mattie McHollin, is processing.  This is fortunate because she was aware that not all of her blueprints had been located.  It is also fortunate because it will hopefully reduce some of the time I will spend on the blueprints section thereby allowing me to complete this collection on time.  I took one day this week to unfolder and remove the staples from the blueprints that had been stored in boxes.  I laid them out and cleaned them before Mr. Powell brought in a weight to help flatten them.  So now on Monday and Wednesday mornings, volunteer Ms. Evelyn will help me to flatten the large rolled blueprints and drawings and document their information.  Once we have them all unrolled and documented, Mr. Powell will bring in another weight to flatten those.  By completing this task now, I hope to give the weights enough time to properly flatten the materials so that they can be permanently stored in specially-made boxes that will be more accessible for researchers.     

Outreach: Black History Month powerpoint

This was the last week of my Black History month presentation.  All went well.  I packed it all up on Thursday evening before I left and stored the large touch-screen monitor, laptop, and cables.  However, on Thursday evening I received an email that the new President of Fisk University had not had the chance to stop by and see the presentation, so we also set it up again on Friday so that he had a chance to view it.  This time, I combined the playlist I created with a CD of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and a CD of music by Dr. Matthew Kennedy so that there were a variety of interesting music and speech excerpts available for the president’s visit. 

 Until next time…                                                                                                                  

Amanda J. Carter

Franklin Library, Fisk University

IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013