Skyla S. Hearn: Weeks 36, 37

As the fellowship is winding down, I’ve been thinking about where this path will lead. Eight years ago I had no idea that I would become as entrenched in this vocation as I have. My journey began as a digital archives assistant at the Special Collections Research Center at Morris Library, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Other than wanting to rid myself as Assistant Manager at the Daily Egyptian, the student ran newspaper at SIUC, I’m not sure what energy directed me to apply for the assistantship at the SCRC but I’m glad I did. Since being on the archival vocational path, I have made some fruitful decisions that have landed me exactly at the right place, during the right time and with the right people. There have been challenges along the journey but none that I regret facing and overcoming.   

 

Over the last weeks, I have been arranging and describing the Wyatt Photograph collection for their permanent home in the Harsh Research Collection stacks. I almost feel like I don’t want to let them go. These pictures, in all of their forms, from slides to Polaroids, black and whites to color, 3x5 to 11x17, which document the full human experience, have become a part of my life. With their assistance, I have showcased the legacy of a powerhouse of a human being, gained reassurance when my confidence was shaken and developed stronger skills as a multimedia archivist.

 

 

I have also processed a small collection of papers that once belonged to a Chicago native and self-made multimillionaire Mr. Dempsey Jerome Travis better known as Dempsey Travis. It’s funny. When I was a kid, it seemed like his books were everywhere. Travis was a real estate tycoon and genius, author, civil rights activist and philanthropist. He spoke on radio programs about the importance of owning property, taking optimum care of personal property, land and one another. He was a man of the people who wanted the best for his people. There are multiple Dempsey Travis archival collections at various repositories in Chicago. Most archivists would rather not have split collections but we all know that things happen. If Dempsey were alive, he might give a big grin and say there’s enough of “him” to go around. The collection that I have processed focuses primarily on his manuscripts, which gives a glimpse into his unique writing practices. There is also correspondence, organizational files, photographs, memorabilia, etc. Travis wrote almost thirty books on African American history and culture including an autobiography entitled I Refuse to Learn to Fail. His life was truly a testament to the title.

 

 

Being an archivist is great. I’m allowed to snoop through other people’s things, then share the juicy findings I uncover with others by attributing order or intellectual control to what was once a random wad of processed trees in a guide, or finding aid, which leads other people through their things.

  

I joke about being stashed away down in the dungeon (the processing unit) but truth be told that’s where all the magic happens. There are only a few days left before this fellowship ends. I will miss walking through the doors of the Woodson Regional Library, which then lead me through the doors of the Harsh Research Collection where some of the greatest African American archival collections live. I feel accomplished knowing that I have contributed to the Harsh Research Center. After all, that is what this fellowship was all about.