Feb 13 - 17th, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

Hello all! I have made major progress on the Smith collection. Though, I plan to complete the 1867 - 1929 section on Friday...I ran into an arrangement snag. This can happens when you encounter so many different types of documents in one collection. The beauty of it is you can a step back and look at it differently. I consulted my wonderful supervisor and we came to a conclusion based on a researcher's thought process. The section is approximately 90% complete and I will put the finishing touch on it Monday. The collection of dark grey (processed) boxes is constantly growing and I am happy with this progression.

Week 22 at Amistad

This week I continued to arrange and describe series three of O’Neal’s papers and started writing the series description. It is almost complete! Interestingly, I found many financial records in this series about the Free Southern Theater and several correspondences from O’Neal in regards to obtaining grants and funding for the theater. The philosophy of the founders of the theater felt that people need thought along with food and clothing; and, a cultural movement should coincide with the political mobilization that took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Thus, obtaining funds to support the efforts of the theater was essential to its survival.

Until next week!

Peace!

Felicia

Weeks 22-24: an update over the last month at the Alabama Department of Archives and History

Hello and greetings from Montgomery!
A lot has happened over the last month here at the Alabama department of Archives and History, including the successful completion of my first workshop ever! This workshop, which was a basic exhibit design workshop took place on January 27, 2012 and had 25 people in attendance. Everyone was very energetic and involved and together we all learned how to build a basic interpretive plan and identify the inherent stories in any collection. In addition to my ongoing projects, I have also gone to visit potential donors and actively started planning my next public program, which will be based around the Tuskegee pictures within the Peppler Collection. I am also getting ready for two more conferences and a number of visits to neighboring repositories and archives. That’s all I have for now.

Have a wonderful day!
Cheylon Woods

Week 24 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

The Southern California Edison Day of Service was a success! About 40 people came ranging in ages from 15-65. The volunteers helped inventory posters, a record collection, newspapers, the Marilyn White Collection, blue prints, and the Dianne Watson collection. The volunteers also pulled Library of Congress numbers for a recent accession to MCLM, The Khalid Kwame (Buchanan) Collection.

With this many volunteers the blue prints and posters are now completely inventoried! The work that would have taken months to complete was essentially done in 4 hours, this is monumental and exciting!

Alyss Hardin
I.M.L.S. fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

February 6 - 10th, 2012 @ Fisk Franklin Library

Hello all!! This week was very busy, but, focused strictly on the Smith collection. So, I was able to get a lot completed. All items in the unprocessed boxes were sorted into the respected decades (I posted pictures). Next, I focused on the "collected" category of the collection. This category includes things collected by Smith, but, not authored by Smith and/or does not have a date on it. I arranged, processed, and boxed the collected and photographs (no date) categories.

Then, on to the dated categories. The first dated category is 1867-1919. After arranging and processing this section, I realized how small it was and did not feel the need to waste so much box space. I decided to combine the first two dated categories into one (1867-1929). I ended the week with 16 processed boxes. The following week (2/13-17/12), I plan to complete this dated category. Wish me luck!

Aisha Johnson

Week Twenty-Three at the Maryland State Archives

The highlight of last week was attending a Black History Month program across the street at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In a packed conference room, Tuskegee Airman William Broadwater spoke about his goal of being a pilot from the age of ten, his experiences in the military, his love of flying, and his post-war career as a high ranking official in the FAA. At eighty-six years old, Broadwater is one of the youngest Tuskegee Airmen and a member of one of the last classes to be trained during World War II. He was a very inspiring speaker, vividly describing the early days of black aviation in Philadelphia, where he grew up. To view a photo of Mr. Broadwater, please visit my blog. It was also a great opportunity to meet other state employees.

I spent much of the rest of the week continuing my research and writing of case studies for the Liberian emigrants from Maryland.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the fellowship to a reporter from The Wave, a community newspaper in Los Angeles. The article is here.

Krystal

Week 22 at The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Last week, MCLM welcomed the South Los Angeles Chapter Jack & Jill. There were about twenty children, ranging in ages from 6-17. The children partook in three separate activities. First, the Jack & Jill members learned about the methods of nonviolent protesting. The children then sang songs of freedom and made protest signs. The event was a huge success and MCLM looks forward to again welcoming the South LA chapter as well as other chapters of Jack & Jill.

There were a few new volunteers that began this week as well. One volunteer began an inventory of machine readable items. The other new volunteer completed an inventory of the Sarah Agnew Sheet Music Collection.

Alyss Hardin
IMLS Fellow, M.L.I.S.
The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum