I am in my tenth month of work as an archivist
at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and I can finally say that I
am enjoying my work, colleagues and environment. When I began my position, I had
difficulty adjusting to the various archival policies utilized by the Beinecke
Library to process materials as well as the work environment. Although I still
refer to archival processing manuals, and frequently ask my colleagues
questions, I feel now that I have a greater understanding of processing
archival collections at the Beinecke Library. My supervisors in the manuscript
department gave me four small collections to process before I began work on
larger collections. These “exercises” helped me greatly to understand Beinecke
Library processing standards and remined me of the variety of materials that
can be found within manuscripts and archives.
The first two
collections I was given were the Leviticus Lyon Papers and the Rudolph Dunbar
Papers. Leviticus Lyon was a singer and choral director. Although born in San
Francisco California, he lived and worked chiefly in New York City during the
Harlem Renaissance. At the height of his career he gave performances at
Carnegie Hall. Lyon also spent his time organizing events for Harlem Music Week
and was a choral director for the Westchester Negro Choral Union. Although Lyon
did not pass until 1958, not much is known about his life ten years before his
death. Also unknown is how the collection came into the Beinecke Library. Acquisition
records in the Beinecke Library were not documented as meticulously as they are
at present. When the James Weldon
Johnson Memorial Collection (JWJ Collection) was founded in 1941, founder Carl
Van Vechten requested his literary as well as artistic friends and
acquaintances in the African American community to contribute their works to
the JWJ Collection. Since the latest known material in the Leviticus Lyon
Papers is dated 1948, I can only assume that the papers were donated in the
late 1940s or the 1950s. His papers contains correspondence, writings,
illustrations, and programs from his concerts. The papers in this collection
were not difficult to process as they did not have many threatening
conservation or preservation concerns.
The Rudolph Dunbar
Papers was the next small collection I processed. Rudolph Dunbar was a Guyanese
clarinetist, orchestra conductor, music teacher and photojournalist for the
Associated Negro Press. Like Leviticus Lyon, Dunbar began his music career at a
young age and later studied at the Julliard School in New York City. At the
height of his career in 1942, he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at
the Royal Albert Hall being one of the first black men to do so. However, after
being given this opportunity, it became increasingly difficult for him to
secure the same level of work. Dunbar was outspoken about the discrimination he
faced as an Afro-Guyanese orchestra conductor in Great Britain and frequently
discussed his issues with British parliament member Robert Allen. The
collection also contains photographs of African and Caribbean countries Independence
Day celebrations from Great Britain. These photographs are a result of Rudolph
Dunbar’s work as a journalist with the Associated Negro Press.
The third collection I
worked on was the Bourne Family Papers. George Bourne, the head of the Bourne
Family, was a British reverend, abolitionist, writer and newspaper editor in
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His children followed in
his footsteps and became ministers as well as advocates against slavery and pro
repatriation of African Americans to present day Liberia, and other parts of West
Africa. Processing this collection was a challenge because it presented many
preservation concerns. The correspondence contained many letters that were torn
and required mylar rehousing. I also encountered various objects such as
eighteenth century spectacles, and rosary beads. However, the most fascinating
material I encountered in the collection were precolonial maps of Africa.
Instead of present day borders the maps listed various African tribes.
The
Catherine Roraback Collection of Ericka Huggins was a particularly thrilling
collection. The collection documents the legal movements of Catherine Roraback,
a lawyer who defended New Haven Black Panther leader Ericka Huggins who was
charged with conspiracy to murder of fellow Black Panther member Alex Rackley. The
collection opens wounds for the Black Panther Party because it illustrates some
of the violence that occurred amongst members of the Black Panther Party. Alex
Rackley was accused of being a FBI informant by fellow members of the Black
Panther Party. He was tortured and later murdered by some of the New Haven Black
Panther Party members. Ericka Huggins, a leader in the New Haven chapter, was
automatically charged with conspiracy however the case was declared a mistrial.
The collection is an excellent resource for researchers who are interested in
the Black Panther Party, FBI suppression black organizations and the American
justice system. Physically processing the collection was not difficult, however
learning about the inter-violence within the party and FBI suppression of Black
radical and Civil Rights organizations proved to be emotionally straining.
The small collections
proved to be great framework and “practice” for processing the Dorothy Porter
Wesley collection. The Dorothy Porter Wesley collection consists of 137 boxes
and documents the life of librarian, curator and bibliophile Dorothy Porter
Wesley, who oversaw library management at the Moorland Spingarn center from
1930 until her retirement in 1973. I am currently in the process of sorting her
correspondence which contains letters from various people including Langston
Hughes, Mary McLeod Bethune and Duke Ellington.
Besides processing
archive collections, I have also participated in Yale wide library programs
including the History Keepers. Similar to the History Makers fellowship
program, the History Keepers seeks to encourage Yale University students of
color to enter professional careers within museums, libraries and special
collection institutions. As a member of the program, I assisted other librarians
and archivists in mentoring students with the use of archive materials for
their respective research projects. I also participated in outreach programs,
collaborating with members of the Gilder Lehrman Center of Slavery and
Reconstruction to teach New Haven city public school teachers about African
American archival collections contained in the Beinecke Library.
The fellowship thus far
has been a positive experience. I enjoy the opportunities given to me by the
Beinecke library to not only process collections but to also participate in
committees and outreach programs. The fellowship further confirms my choice in
choosing archives as my own professional field.
Afua
Ferdnance
Visiting
Archivist for African American Collections
Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale
University
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