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| Google's Tribute to Miriam Makeba |
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
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