Chaitra Powell: Week 14 @ The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum

In my fourteenth week at the Mayme Clayton Library and Museum, I continued to clean up the Mayme Papers processing room, spoke to a researcher about the LGBTQ collection, and monitored the progress of the duplicate book project.

The winter cleaning project continues in the area that I use to process Dr. Clayton’s personal materials. As I went through boxes over the past three months, I put aside materials that I did not feel belonged in the collection. These materials had piled up in a corner of the processing room and I spent this week sifting through it. I filled three more large garbage bags with broken, damaged or indecipherable materials. I also filled three shelves with materials that could be re-purposed within the museum. I imagine that we can cut old manila folders into call slips for the books that we catalog. The folders were the biggest group of supplies, followed by blank printer paper and envelopes. There are also labels, dividers and binders that we may be able to use in the future. The last group of materials is full of the items that I want to remove from the collection but need approval from my executive director. I have boxed them up and placed them in another area of the museum. There are 18 boxes that fit this description. My work to clear up the processing space could not have come at a better time because we are working with a film crew that wants to shoot in the space within the next couple of weeks. It looks like my entire operation will be moved into the small courtroom before the end of the year. This is a larger space which will allow me to easily sort materials for the remainder of the project.

On Friday, we had a researcher drop in to check out the LGBTQ collection. This was problematic because the collection is on deposit and it is not processed at all. Luckily, the donor of the collection, C. Jerome Woods was available to speak to the researcher over the phone. Mr. Woods said that he would come to the museum in a few hours and see what he could do for the researcher. I had done a survey of this collection earlier this year so I was curious to see what kinds of questions that someone would have about the materials. Mr. Woods and the researcher talked for about an hour and when they were ready to go look at the collection, they invited me to join them. This was when I learned that this researcher had been to New York City, Chicago and San Francisco looking at collections that dealt with the black LGBTQ experience. He does not have a research background but he has an idea to use a travelling exhibit to establish a connection between all of the repositories that he had visited. He echoed the sentiments from many SAA conference presenters of using social media and art to challenge the notion that archives are stuffy places that don’t have a broad relevance. I admired his enthusiasm but emphasized that it would take a lot of work on his behalf to initiate something like that. I showed him the work that I had done with Mayme’s Papers as an example of the intellectual control that we hope to gain over Mr. Woods’ collection in the next couple of months. He expressed an interest in volunteering to help me process the collection. We exchanged business cards and plan to connect at the first of the year.

The book duplicate project is easing along nicely. There is a part of the project that everyone can get into. For example, Greta is very efficient at working with the spreadsheet, Michael and Irene like to work in the stacks, and Christal can spend the day working at her own pace from the stacks to the computer. One of the products of the project is a surplus of empty banker’s boxes; Carol and I spent two hours on Friday breaking down boxes for more compact storage. We have about 38 boxes left to go through in the book room and another 24 left in the volunteer area. We have filled 19 boxes full of true duplicates. I am hoping to ship them to Better World Books or make them available for our patrons to purchase in the near future.

Amanda J. Carter: Week 13-14 (November 24 – December 7) @ Fisk University

William McKissack Papers

I have finished processing the College Hill subseries slightly ahead of schedule.  The result is seventeen boxes of materials pertaining to the College Hill Apartments and Homes built for African Americans in Nashville, Tennessee, in the mid-twentieth century. Included in this subseries are materials such as correspondence, receipts, invoices, payroll information, and Federal Housing Authority records. Three of the boxes are closed due to their inclusion of personal identification information (i.e. social security numbers).  All of the records are dated 1949-1951. 

I then began processing the Office Records series before moving on to the other projects so that I will have a location to place all general and miscellaneous office files that I am bound to find in the other project files.  At this stage in the organization, I am arranging the subseries and folders.  So far there are about five boxes of materials including payroll records, general office receipts, licensing, and advertising information.  One of those boxes will remain closed due to the inclusion of personal information.  There appear to be about seven more boxes to process for this series, but it is difficult to determine how long each box will take since it depends heavily on the type and clarity of information found within them.  My goal is to finish this series in the first few weeks of January but it may actually be closer to the end of January before it is completed since I only have two weeks to work on this in December.  The school is closed the last two weeks of the month, so I will spend time at the end of the month evaluating oral history interviews for The HistoryMakers.

Challenges and Changes: 
Now that the largest series is completed, the challenge is to maintain consistency throughout the rest of the collection while also using the most accurate terms to describe the entirety of the section being described.  One example of this is how I was originally using “Accounts” as a subseries for the College Hill projects section.  It was more or less a placeholder until I could determine a more accurate and appropriate term.  As I began using “Accounts” for the Office Records series, a better term finally occurred to me:  “Vendors”.  After a quick search of Dictionary.com, I found “vendor” to be defined as “a person or agency that sells.”  This definition is much more accurate than the more generally defined “accounts,” so I am confident that this term is more descriptive and thus increases accessibility of the records to the researchers.

Another challenge is in separating the Office Records series.  I am removing all information that specifies a project because I will place that material in the project series.  However, there are records that do not specify a project but do specify a place where a project might be assumed.  It appears that the firm would open a temporary office location at each project site or at least in the town where the project is located.  For instance, I have come across many records out of Memphis, TN.  McKissack and McKissack did have a few projects in Memphis, so I am having difficulty in determining if the addresses found on the receipts are the locations of the projects or an office location near one of the projects.  If each address goes to a specific project, then all of that information can be placed in the subseries pertaining to that project.  However, if there was a general office in Memphis that handled these projects, then I would need to consider a subseries in Office Records that includes these satellite office locations.  I think that I will not be able to get a full picture of this until I am nearly completed with this series, so I am collecting records that pertain to Memphis in a separate folder that I will go back through when I finish this series so that I might better determine where to place the materials within this collection.  

Quarterly Survey time
Week 14 saw the submittal of our quarterly (more accurately, half-time) survey report as well as our monthly conference call with The HistoryMakers.  While all of the fellows seem to be gaining our own unique experiences, we all remain on track with our projects.  There also seems to be improvement in the recording of the oral history interview evaluations.  From this point forward, we will be using a version of Survey Monkey to conduct our evaluations.  By all outward appearances, it seems to be much more streamlined and easy to manage.  Next week, I will use this survey for my next interviews.  I look forward to it improving our time in processing the oral histories.

Until next time…

Amanda J. Carter
Franklin Library, Fisk University
IMLS HistoryMakers Fellow 2012-2013

Skyla S. Hearn: Week 13 at the Harsh/Woodson/HistoryMakers

Freedom Fighters Never Retire There's a group of retirees that I like to refer to as freedom fighters that frequent the Harsh Research Center approximately four times a month. The Freedom Fighters, comprised of civil rights activists, educators, public servants, corporate and not-for-profit executives, community members and so forth, meet to discuss the methodology, importance and purpose of developing a collective archive. One by one I've watched them arrive and walk into the Woodson Conference Room. I have not had the priviledge of attending a meeting but often feel a sense of pride and hope to be in the presence of the  Freedom Fighter Collective. I can only imagine that their collective archive is one that will bring about strong research topics, interesting finds and more in-depth perspectives of each of their lives and many contributions to society. The Freedom Fighters have become a part of my weekly inspiration. 

2012-2013 IMLS Fellow Quarterly Survey On Monday, I spent the beginning of my day reviewing the questions and answers for the 2012-2013 IMLS Fellow Quarterly Survey before submitting it for feedback. Usually I enjoy answering questions and engaging in discussion as it pertains to my developing archival work experience and knowledge---when the conversation is verbal and face-to-face. Hopefully, the responses I submitted will provide insight into my experiences of the last ~ 6 months and topics for discussion, along with input from the other Fellows, in the upcoming IMLS Fellows conference calls. Over the last approximately 7 months I have gained archival work experience in the areas of archival processing, archival reference and community outreach while working at a research center located within a public library. Its been beneficial, exciting, challenging and rewarding. Hopefully, the responses reflect this experience.

 

Harold Washington and Addie L. Wyatt, Courtesy of the Chicago Citizens Newspaper

 

Processing: Arrangement and Description Half of my week was spent processing the Reverend Addie L. Wyatt's photograph collection. Occasionally, I become stumped for answers when working with unidentified photographs. Although, continuous efforts to completely id all photographs are made through meetings with the Photo Identification Committee, researching subject categories in the Wyatt Papers and topics on the internet there remains a number of photographs that do not answer one of the four questions: who, what, where, when. These unidentified photographs are set aside. One of my tasks of the day was to attempt to identify these photographs. Fortunately, I was successful with adding criteria to nearly half of the photographs. To my credit, developing familiarity with the subjects and content of the images decreases the amount of trips needed to consult the archives and the internet for clues and tips. Its rewarding to learn "my" collection.

2012-2013 IMLS Fellow Conference Call We, the Fellows, participate in a monthly conference call. During the call, we provide updates about our happenings at our host repositories to one another and Julieanna Richardson, the Executive Director of the HistoryMakers. These calls are often a highlight of my day as I am able to listen to everyone's presentations, gain knowledge of their collections and an understanding of how everyone's managing their work flow, etc. Each of us are completing interesting assignments: processing collections, participating in community outreach, public programs and providing archival reference.

Finishing Out the Work Week

On Friday, I arrived at the Harsh Research Center bright and early, ready for a long and productive day of photograph archival collection arrangement and selection. I stood in the break room and finished my cup of coffee while thinking about my "to do" list, which listed about 15-20 items to be completed by 5pm. For the last two weeks, I've been centered on tightening all loose ends, meeting deadlines, discussing text panel descriptions and selecting photographs (approximately 150) for the upcoming Addie L. Wyatt Photograph exhibition. 

Saturday, I spent the day reviewing the HistoryMakers, Honorable Blanche Manning and Carrie Spann-Cooper, interviews and evaluations. As I evaluated Hon. Manning's interview, I was captivated by her demeanor and ease with answering Mr. Crowe's, the interviewer, questions. Hon. Manning's interview provided a wealth of concrete information, which would aid in providing primary source materials to researchers. In addition, the interview was quite enjoyable due to her subtle humor and peaceful disposition. Hon. Manning has achieved a great deal in her lifetime and despite her level of success she seems to remain humble and personable. Hon. Blanche Manning is the United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. She is a Chicago native were she continues to work and reside. Hon. Manning's interview will be accessible, in the future, on the HistoryMakers Digital Archive: http://www.idvl.org/thehistorymakers/LawMakers.html.

Research Methods 101:Case Study--William M’Neir, Printer, Annapolis

 

In my most recent post I referred to a research activity concerning an Annapolis printer named William McNeir.  During the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland weekly meeting on November 28, my supervisors Emily and Chris explained that they were looking for a way to accommodate a request from State Archivist Dr. Ed Papenfuse; because it would improper to use Department of Education grant funded personnel to pursue a newspaper research project, and most of LOSIM research archivists are paid by that grant or otherwise engaged, fulfilling the request would be politically sensitive or interruptive. I am paid by the The HistoryMakers: Mentoring, Training and Placement fellowship and was not yet deep into the Schweninger Collection (an interesting topic for later) so I volunteered.

Since most of these events took place over seven days, my telling is condensed and may not be perfectly chronological.

Initial Findings

 Emily and Chris’ assignment began with a simple question: Is the newspaper “The Carrolltonian, or, Spirit of Seventy-Six” newspaper published by Annapolis by William M’Neir directly related to “The Carrolltonian.” Several papers bore a title with that moniker, presumably based on the name of the far western country estate that Charles Carroll utilized like a title to distinguish him from his identically named father. Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the longest surviving, and only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. He mainly lived in Annapolis and Doughoregan Manor. In the ongoing saga of Maryland’s transition from colony to consolidated state, nearly a dozen counties were carved from original ones or successive iterations. Carroll was formed in 1837 from Frederick and Baltimore counties. Although named after Charles Carroll of Carrollton, his usual country estate Doughoregan was in northern Anne Arundel. He died in 1832, seven years before northern Anne Arundel broke off to form Howard County.

Given the fact that the two Carrolltonian papers shared different names, publishers, and occupied different places in both space and time in years and miles respectively, I safely concluded the newspapers were unrelated. Moments after this conclusion I read an e-mail string forwarded by my supervisor that brought me up to speed: Ed wanted a write up on M’Neir because he was the official printer of the 1850 Maryland constitution. With some suggestions from him and Jane McWilliams, a published authority on Annapolis history, I looked in Google Books, Internet Archive, and Archives of Maryland Online for a list of imprints. I found references in the state House of Delegates and Senate proceedings for payment resolutions, and bibliographic records for imprints starting in the mid 1820s but none after 1854. I learned from Jane, and an PDF attachment from an uncited genealogy book for which no one claimed responsibility, that his wife died in 1856 and shortly thereafter he left for Philadelphia.

Building the Narrative

I approached my M’Neir research in the same manner I did my first case study—using Ancestry.com and checking microfilmed and scanned indices for probate and land records. While still effective, this approach eventually slowed me down and cost me at least a day of productivity. Checking Ancestry.com, I found 1840, 1850, and 1860 census records for census references to him and his family. I also found a death abstract reference to his death in Philadelphia in 1864.

Next I used the MSA website Guide to Government Records and looked for wills and other municipal or state records that William, his father Thomas, or his grandfather Thomas created over the normal business of their day. I was disappointed to find so very little and despondently ventured to MDLandRec to view land record indices; this turned into my greatest mistake.

Indices

Although it is better to have any index than none at all, the clerk who composed it did so in the least helpful and indecipherable manner. The preferred indices have every name written in alphabetical order. This meticulous clerk needed to compose an interim index of names as he encountered them in the land records before carefully re-entering them in a second, final index. Less desirable indices begin the same way: Write down names in groups based by the first letter of each party’s surname and the instrument (like a mortgage) taken as he found them but, unlike the preferred method, cease indexing without making a union alphabetical index; therefore a researcher must scan every entry (in my case, “M”s) to satisfactorily conclude research. 

Whichever clerk created this land record index chose the latter method and wrote in the most indecipherable script. Although my ability to read 19^th century clerical cursive increased since my placement at Maryland, this handwriting was so poor that I literally scrutinized every “M” name between about 1790 and 1839 in Anne Arundel County. Halfway through I realized it was easier to look for the name “William” or “Wm” and write their liber (book) enumeration and folio (page) number if the surname was short enough to be “M’Neir.”

After explaining this method to Jane McWilliams she was sympathetic to my plight with the land record index.

“But, you aren't reading that dreadful pre-1839 AA Co. land record index, are you? It is awful! Better in the original than on film, which is just about illegible…”

She recommended checking the Chancery Court indices and the “NEH Lot Histories.” Following a few conversations with my fellow LOSIM researchers and Emily Squires, I was introduced to previously unknown print references and was reintroduced to the checklist of indices webpage on the Guide to Government Records site. Since Annapolis is a treasured city with intense historical and genealogical interest, and LOSIM is concentrating on the Eastern Shore, I was ignorant of the resources available for Annapolis only research. One of these, the National Endowment for the Humanities Lot Histories, co-created by one Jane McWilliams, are loosely bound books arranged by lot and parcel number for all of Annapolis up to the early 1800s. I quickly learned this was how she provided land references to Thomas M’Neir despite the illegible script.

I returned to the checklist of indices page and, rather embarrassingly, learned of a dozen card indices unavailable online or otherwise confined to books written in that tight script. Although the blame for not using these resources earlier falls squarely on my shoulders, I expect the non-descriptive names for each index served as barrier to intellectual access.

The first card index I checked was Index 106, or “(Maryland Gazette, Annapolis Items, Index), 1745-1820.” I found four references to a Thomas or George McNeir but sadly none for William. Although I did not know which Thomas McNeir was referenced in the Gazette, I learned he was a tailor, he died around 1801, and he either had a wry sense of humor or was a bit of a jerk; a 1794 runaway ad asks readers to apprehend George M’Neir, an apprentice tailor to Thomas M’Neir, for the princely sum of $1. Since this ad was placed five years before printer William’s birth, and the 20 year old George M’Neir was probably not apprenticed to his 28 year old brother Thomas, I could safely conclude that tailor Thomas was William’s grandfather. An interesting note: The language of the runaway ad resembles dozens of slave runaway ads I have seen on the LOSIM website.

"so that I get him..."

 

"so that I get him." Many runaway ads are phrased identically

 

 

I also spotted the reference to Charles Carroll of Carrollton’s marriage announcement.

For those who are curious—an advertisement in “The Carrolltonian” proves that as of 1827 George M’Neir was one of two tailors/merchants in Annapolis.

In order to verify family information from the genealogical text that sourced printer William’s great-granddaughter for most of its content, I checked several more indices that did not yield much pertinent to William. These included:
 

• Index 27, or “(Church Records, Marriage Index), 1686-1958,” which replicated much of the information I derived from print resources,
• Index 47, or “(Oaths of Fidelity, Index), 1778,” which included a reference to one Thomas “McNear,”
• Index 48, or “(Pension Records, Revolutionary War, Index), 1778-1861,”
• Index 70, or “(Land Records, Annapolis, Index), 1699-1817,” a delightful index created by, or contributing  to, the NEH Lot Histories tomes,
• Index 1, or “(Probate Records, Colonial, Index), 1634-1777,” and

• Index 3, or “(Probate Records, Index), 1777-1854, incomplete,” which painted a complete picture about tailor Thomas’ estate.

By far the most useful index was 59 “(Chancery Records, Index), 1668-1807, 1817-1851”; with the references gleaned from this card index I determined at which paper he worked before starting his own printing company, the span of time he served as Justice of the Peace, some land he purchased from a deceased person’s estate, and a few minor but still interesting activities with the state.

In my time with the card indices I encountered various ways that index creators placed names beginning with “Mc” or “Mac.” Although printer William spelt his name “M’Neir” in print, overwhelmingly it was spelled “McNeir” by everyone else. The already unnerving, seemingly random ways that “McNeir” was spelled by clerks and the McNeirs themselves (McNier, McNear, McNair, etc) was compounded by its placement in the index drawers.  Some indices place “Mc” in a literally alphabetical order between names that begin with “Ma” and “Me,” consequently separating “Mac” from “Mc.” Others, like Index 1, arrange the cards as if the “a” in “Mac” is absent and interfile both spellings. Index 70 seems to split the difference and has an interfiled section for “Mc” or “Mac” between “M” and “N.”

My final resource of the week was the chattel records. Since the book index was unscanned and I did not wish to ceaselessly scroll through microfilm, and ventured into the stacks and wrote down any references to printer William. It was in this index, and subsequent research into the books and pages they cited, that reminded me about a philosophical tenet of chattel slavery and this scene from, of all things, Soylent Green.

Next time: An explanation.

Alex Champion--Maryland State Archives

Ardra Whitney: Week 14 @ Avery Research Center

Q: Guess who’s going to see Nas perform at Radio City Music Hall on New Year’s Eve?

A: Me!!!! “Now I'm the one that’s reppin’ Queens way beyond your wildest dreams”. Woooooooo!!!!
 

Monday, December 3^rd:

With Manager of Archival Services, Aaron Spelbring’s instruction, I made my final edits to the finding aid for the Edwina Harleston Whitlock Papers. I also photocopied all news clippings from the collection and used paper clips to fasten together loose and/or related materials. Afterwards, I continued processing St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. Items surveyed included church programs dating from 1939-1990, vestry proceedings from the early part of the 20^th century, and souvenir journals from the church’s 125^th anniversary celebration in 1990.

Tuesday, December 4^th:

In the morning I followed up with Avery's Executive Director, Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane regarding the writing of a description for undergraduate internship opportunities at Avery, which she had mentioned at last Thursday’s staff meeting. She also asked me to connect with one of Avery’s current undergraduate interns to write a profile on them for the Avery Messenger. After work, I participated in the monthly IMLS Fellows’ conference call with The HistoryMakers. Fellows provided The HistoryMakers' Executive Director, Julieanna Richardson, Dan Johnson and Marta Grabowski with progress reports on their work at each of their respective host institutions and learned about new changes to The HistoryMakers’ interview evaluation process.

Wednesday, December 5^th and Thursday, December 6^th:

On Wednesday I e-mailed some public program ideas I had for the upcoming year to Dr. Lessane, Mr. Spelbring and Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo. I also forwarded the message to Avery’s recently promoted Assistant Director, Deborah Wright. Congratulations Ms. Wright! On Thursday, I provided a brief coverage of the reading room for Mr. Spelbring and monitored patrons as they viewed and handled collection materials for their research.

Friday, December 7^th:

I answered a reference request regarding race, religion and the writings of James Baldwin via Facebook— the request was from a Ph.D. student all the way from India, so that was exciting. I also posted a flyer to Avery’s Facebook page regarding the ceremony honoring South Carolina freedom fighters— Mary Moultrie, Ken Riley, William Saunders, and the Martyrs of the Orangeburg Massacre— taking place that evening. The event kicked off the 9th Bi-Annual Southern Human Rights Organizers' Conference being held from December 7-9, 2012, at the International Longshoreman’s Association’s Local 1422 Headquarters. I concluded the day by working on the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. During my processing, I came across some really interesting materials like a journal from the late 19^th century containing entries from parish leadership, a bible published in 1866, and an autograph from prominent Charleston architect, Louis J. Barbot, who designed St. Mark's church building.

Ardra Whitney: Week 13 @ Avery Research Center

 

Monday, November 26^th:

I worked on preparing and printing labels for the Hollinger boxes containing the Edwina Harleston Whitlock Papers and began processing the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. The first segment of documents I came across for the collection dealt with grant funding the church received in 1983 to assist with its exterior stabilization and repairs. Noted African American architect and contractor, H.A. DeCosta, Jr., of H.A. DeCosta Company, served as project director during the church’s preservation and reconstruction work.
 

Tuesday, November 27^th:

In the morning, I worked with Reference Librarian, Deborah Wright, Mr. Spelbring and Graduate Assistant, Elizabeth “Tiz” Wilkins to digitize photographic negatives from the Walter N. Boags Papers, 1945 - 1980s, which were requested by a researcher. Boags owned and operated one of the few African American photography studios in Charleston. Around lunchtime, I spoke with Processing Archivist, Georgette Mayo about some ideas I had for public/outreach programs. She also shared more with me about her experiences in Seattle for the 40th Annual Museum Computer Network (MCN) Conference. At this year’s conference, Ms. Mayo and Systems Librarian at Trident Technical College, Laura Barfield, presented on a panel entitled, “The Lowcountry Foodways Project: Deconstruction of an IMLS Planning Grant and the Importance of Regional Foodways for Collection Development, Preservation, and Community Building.” The aim of the session was to provide tips and strategies for navigating the IMLS grant process and to raise awareness of regional foodways and their relevance to collection development, preservation, and community building. In the afternoon, I reviewed my encoding of the finding aid for the Edwina Harleston Whitlock Papers in NoteTab with Mr. Spelbring and continued my work on processing the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records. After work, I attended a lecture with Dr. Temple Grandin at the Sottile Theater, which was sponsored by the College of Charleston REACH Program. Grandin is a doctor of animal science, a designer of livestock handling facilities and a professor at Colorado State University who was born with autism. She has traveled extensively lecturing to audiences throughout the U.S. on her experiences in living with autism. She is also a best-selling author and the subject of the award-winning HBO biographical film, Temple Grandin, which was released in 2010.
 

Wednesday, November 28^th and Thursday, November 29^th:

I continued processing the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Records and spoke with Ms. Mayo about her essay "Susan Dart Butler & Ethel Martin Bolden: SC's Pioneer African American Librarians," which is featured in the book, South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times, Volume 3. On Thursday, I attended an Avery staff meeting, where we addressed a range of topics including: a call for papers for next year’s conference at Avery on Black gender and sexuality; Avery’s Holiday Party; acquiring systems, tools and technology that support Avery’s operations and improve service delivery; opportunities for professional development in archives and records management; recruiting undergraduate interns and graduate assistants; and raising the profile of Avery through outreach.
 

Friday, November 30^th:

By lunch time I had finished editing my finding aid for the Edwina Harleston Whitlock Papers and posted an article on Avery’s Facebook page about Paul Gabarini and his research on William James Parker, the Tinsmith of Tradd Street. In the afternoon, I worked in Avery’s reading room with Ms. Wright and helped Graduate Assistant, Daron Calhoun II with pulling boxes from the collection, Mamie E. Garvin Fields Papers, circa 1925-1990, for a researcher. Fields was the co-founder of the Modern Priscilla Club of Charleston; an African American women's literary club, whose motto was "Lifting as We Climb."

References

ARCHIVEGRID. “Mamie E. Garvin Fields papers, 1894-1987 (bulk 1945-1985).” Accessed December 6, 2012. http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/record.php?id=133145105.

Mamie E. Garvin Fields Papers, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.

Sherry B. Gadsden, e-mail message to author, November 9, 2012.

Walter N. Boags Papers, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.

Continental Congress Festival: Alex's Entry 12

It was an unusually eventful week at the Maryland State Archives. Typically I write about related or unrelated adventures or thoughts as they come to me, never beholden to the Monday through Friday routine. This week was different however because of the Annapolis Continental Congress Society festival and a new assignment handed down by the State Archivist Dr. Ed Papenfuse. The 2012 Continental Congress Festival, running from November 26-28, was held at the Historic Inn of Annapolis the Governor Calvert House, a hotel and conference center that caters to the history enthusiast. Built in 1695, it typically housed members of the Calvert family who watched over Lord Baltimore’s colony; it was the natural setting for a convention on Revolutionary War history. The Annapolis Continental Congress Society made an exemplary showing in the first of possibly many exhibitions and festivals celebrating Annapolis’ role in the pre-Constitutional republic. My supervisors Emily and Chris encouraged us to attend, and since Esther started working and needs the car, my options for events outside of the city are a logistical hassle.

Monday

The exhibition opened at 9 am. There are far too many documents great and small to describe here however the displays followed a pattern. Nearly every prominent actor in the Continental Congress and the United States in Congress Assembled (under the Articles of Confederation) was represented. These included the fourteen presidents that preceded George Washington, traditional founders like Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, and historical foes like King George, III. From the very start it is clear that the Annapolis Continental Congress Society and its partners have a chip on their shoulder. Wordy signs displayed in low light, presumably to protest the integrity of the documents, seem to vigorously defend the integrity of this separate and little told or understood two decades of American history.


Once, while I was looking at a display case filled with commemorative coins that looked like a hypothetical "Continental Congress Presidents" series for quarters that replaced the Washington's face, lecturer and co-organizer Stan Klos—a large man who played basketball in the 1970s—ushered a small bearded man into the same room. “Here,” he pointed at the display near me. “U-S-C-A” he emphasized each letter. I smiled to myself; earlier, without previously seeing that abbreviation, I nevertheless quickly realized it meant “United States in Congress Assembled.” “You see,” Stan emphasized, “this is the proper name of the congress under the confederation. That’s why calling it part of the ‘Continental Congress’ is so bizarre…” Later, during the Q&A portion of a lecture concerning Annapolis’ selection as the seat of congress in 1783, he asked a leading question that inspired the sympathetic speaker to agree and reassure the audience that ‘USCA’ was more correct. At 9:30 the festival began with the “town crier,” one of the dozen costumed volunteers who give tours of Annapolis’ historic government buildings, announced the opening and Tom Callinan (in period dress) did a full rendition of “Yankee Doodle.” The Mayor of Annapolis Josh Cohen and State Archivist Ed Papenfuse ceremoniously opened the event. The full remarks can be read on his official blog here. He elaborated on the historical context of the festival:

“While I appreciate fully the importance of paying closer attention to the lessons of the Congresses held between 1774 and 1789, it would be remiss of me not to point out that the beginnings of concerted cooperative efforts among the colonies to formulate joint public policy and resist imperial rule from afar can be traced back to at least 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, and Daniel Dulany's pamphlet written and published in Annapolis.”

Dr. Papenfuse, Maryland's State Archivist

Dr. Papenfuse spoke so deftly upon objects of scholarly interest that I retained little memory of his complete speech and needed to read his blog. Shortly before his conclusion I noticed a pattern in the way he speaks to audiences.

Two weeks ago I sat in on the Hall of Records Commission meeting. It is always good to see how an organization of this scale is managed (the catering helps) but I also learned that Dr. Papenfuse enjoys linking contemporary events with historic dates. Commission meetings fall on or near important dates and, although the Continental Congress Festival did not apparently fall on such a date, he nevertheless emphasized September 17^th. On that date in 1774 the First Continental Congress adopted the Massachusetts resolves against the Coercive Acts, which had punished the colony horribly for the Boston Tea Party. On that date in 1787 the Philadelphia Convention ratified the new constitution with a final revision “that changed the nature of representation in the House from one member of congress for every 40,000 people to one member for every 30,000,” a motion made by Marylander Daniel Carroll. Preceding the session about Annapolis as the seat of government, Tom Callinan sang an original piece written specifically for the event. “One for all, all for one,” the refrain began, “four republics made us one/ Fifteen men from Peyton Randolph, to George Washington/ presided o’er our fledgling nation, Revolution through Constitution/ the more, or less, United States...”

Tuesday

I left work early at 1 o’clock to attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland associate political science professor Dr. Michael Cain’s lecture on the USCA’s efforts to quell Shays’ Rebellion from 1786-87. Even though the bend of pre-Constitutional historical scholarship leans conservative, Dr. Cain was not sparing in his criticism of the ineffectual handling of the rebellion. Using the beloved teaching tool the "Prisoner’s Dilemma" he outlined how Congress’ non-coercive taxing authority, essentially a proportional billing system to states for Congress’ spending, incentivized non-payment by states. Like on Monday someone asked a leading question about the appropriateness of calling the United States in Congress Assembled part of the Continental Congress. Dr. Cain's brilliant reply was, essentially, "If people called it the Confederation Congress, people would be thinking of 1861 instead of 1781.", Afterwards, me and my colleague David Armenti talked with him at length about our shared skepticism of this taxing method. I mused what would happen if Congress had coercive powers but the billing mechanics remained at the state level: States may default and file for federal bankruptcy protection or, if they simply refused to pay, be invaded by the national government.

The 3:30 lecture by Stan Klos concerned the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The importance and facts of the ordinance were not new to me since I am from Minnesota; the portion in which I was born belonged to Louisiana Purchase territory but I pretend to ignore that fact. The highlights of the session were the two songs bookending the lecture. Tom Callinan opened with a song about Marylander John Hanson who, in 1781, cast the deciding vote adopting the Articles of Confederation on the condition that states cede the rights to western lands. This selfish action—Maryland had no western land claims—set the Northwest Ordinance into motion; the territories were to be states in waiting rather than colonies of the states. Hanson was President of the United States in Congress Assembled that November. He became, as Tom put it, “the first forgotten president to serve a one year term.” At the urging of Klos, Tom closed the session with a song about who is entitled to the distinction of being the first president of the United States. Samuel Huntington was President when the Articles were enforced; he resigned due to ill health in July, 1781. Thomas McKean succeeded him on the condition that he could leave in October to resume his duties as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. On November 4^th, the constitutionally mandated start of the presidential term, John Hanson of Maryland was sworn in. The singer did not take a sides concerning who deserved the prestigious distinction as the “first President of the United States,” but simply stated that the answer "depends on who’s [your state’s] favorite son.”

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning the co-organizer and document collector Seth Kaller gave a fascinating lecture on the iterations of the various editions of the Declaration of Independence printed in the summer of 1776. Through diplomatic analysis he built a new timeline of its publishing that indicates two heretofore unknown manuscript versions sent to printers. These manuscripts were written by Adams and Jefferson. Although Jefferson was the principle author of the Declaration, Adams’ copy was disseminated across the colonies. Jefferson’s was confined to a local Philadelphia press.

The session following this one involved food and drink. Peter Martino, President of Capital Teas talked about the beverage's place in colonial America. He shared canisters containing two varieties of the tea thrown overboard during the Boston Tea Party and devoted small portions of his talk dispelling bad history or quantifying the act. My favorite examples were his insistence that the tea was loose, not bricked, and that tea-shipping containers could be heavier or lighter depending on the fluffiness of the variety. Another speaker explained colonial diet, cooking practices, and gave away samples of colonial recipe ice cream, cider, and cheese.

New Responsibility

At the weekly meeting of the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland research project my supervisor Emily shared that Dr. Papenfuse expressed an interest in a particular newspaper and its printer. With the Rocky and Bullwinkle-esque name “The Carrolltonian, or Spirit of Seventy-Six” and published in Annapolis by the printerWilliam M’Neir from 1826-1829, it interested him to know if it was related to a newspaper published some time later in the newly created Carroll county. I spent most of Thursday and Friday researching M’Neir using secondary sources on site, primary sources here and online, and the great assistance of former Maryland State Archives employee and professional researcher Jane McWilliams. Mr. M’Neir seems to be a suitable example for my typical case study research methodologies—but I’ll talk about that next time.

An archaeological dig that unearthed a midden used by the Calvert family. On display from the dig were buttons, buckles, shoe soles, and even fine ceramic dishware

  Alex Robert Champion, MLIS
The HistoryMakers Fellowship--
Mentoring, Training and Placement Institute
1900 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
&
Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD