"What Do You Do?" "Among Other Things, I Read a Lot of Old Mail."

Recently, I've had the opportunity to talk to individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, education/training, and life experiences about what I do for a living. Many of them did not know what an archivist is or what one does. I started with what I do as a local history librarian, and gradually worked my way into the archives work I do.

"That Sounds Like a Fun Job!"

"It is," I say. It's the most fun I've ever had at work (although my first job out of college at the recording studio was pretty cool, too). What makes it fun? A great number of things, actually. For me, one of the draws is that it's never the same day twice. Someone might walk into my office to donate a county wall map from 1977 and leave having made an appointment to sit with me the following week to record a video oral history interview. That same person may later, in an interview, reveal that he had worked on the Nike Ajax missile program during the Korean War. He might return for another recording session carrying photos and all of the license and permit cards from his wallet in the Army, which he allows me to scan and return to him on his next visit.

Another day, I might research how best to describe in a finding aid all of the electronic visual materials in a collection. I then reach out to professional friends I've met at the Society of American Archivists and Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conferences and ask what they would do. I send a link to the finding aid for their feedback because it's good to have a second/third set of eyes look at a finding aid, especially since I am what is called a Lone Arranger -- the department head of my department of one. Later, after all suggested edits are implemented, I will publicize the finding aid so that researchers can find the collection (here is one: http://chesterlib.org/local-history-room/finding-aids/rademacher-family-collection-finding-aid/).

If you walk into my office in the coming week, you might see me putting together an exhibit. The image below shows an example of a holiday-themed exhibit I had developed. I made facsimiles of postcards that had been lent for the purpose of digitization, as well as ads and articles from a local paper and newsletter. The little turkey is a salt shaker that I bought at the dollar store, along with the fabric leaves.

On rare days, it's not as much fun. For instance, when links began disappearing from the .gov site, I had to update some of my Local History Resources to links from the Internet Archive. Sometimes, I have to take a stand (https://concernedarchivists.wordpress.com/). Other days, to keep positive energy flowing, I update my Facebook page with news stories of great work by archivists, conservators, and librarians. On the tough days, the updates include puppy videos.

"What's the Most Interesting Thing You've Found?"

That is a tough question. However, my favorite archival materials are maps, especially this one (http://hereandthere123.blogspot.com/2011/09/i-am-map-magnet.html). I'll be talking about that map at the upcoming annual New Jersey Library Association meeting (http://njlaconference.info/). The information about the map can be found here: http://chesterlib.org/local-history-room/about-our-1860-new-jersey-topographical-wall-map/.

I've found things that document the unattractive aspects of a town's history. The importance of telling the whole story, not just the parts we like, cannot be overstated. Consequently, when I uncover evidence of minstrel shows and KKK activities in a town's past, it is my responsibility to make that material just as accessible as the turtle races put on by the Optimist Club.

The most interesting things aren't artifacts or archives, but the stories given to me by the oral history interviewees. They are gifts that give to me as well as the giver. I might be the only person the interviewee talks to in a day. The patrons win by experiencing local history in a completely different way than they would otherwise. Researchers can use the impressions of the people who lived in the times they describe. I gain by meeting and getting to know some pretty fascinating people whom I probably wouldn't have met had they not happened to walk into my office while I was processing a collection of library records.

Maybe, someday, I'll write a book about it.

Tour of Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Thomas Edison National Historical Park Entrance

Introduction

You might remember my nephew Tyler from other adventures we've had -- a Famous Fat Dave's food tour of NYC and a special food tour of our own devising. Tyler's now in the undergraduate engineering program at Rutgers University. With that in mind, I asked him if he would be interested in visiting the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange. "I'm all in!" he replied.

I quickly contacted the Park's archivist, Leonard DeGraaf, who very kindly made space in his schedule to give us a tour and show us some of archive's treasures. The tour was one of the most fun and interesting archives tours I've had -- not only due to DeGraaf's depth of knowledge and generosity, but also because Tyler had a great time learning about Edison and why archives are important to researchers and the public at large (from someone other than his Auntie Deb).

The big surprise came at the end of our tour when we sat down in the archive reading room to see some of the treasures DeGraaf had set aside to show us. Not only did we see some remarkable examples of Edison's documentation, but we learned that DeGraaf was about to publish a book! Since our visit, the book has been published (with a Forward by Bill Gates, no less), and it is called Edison and the Rise of Innovation. DeGraaf very kindly gave me select portions of the book which whet my appetite to read the entire text. The photos are beautiful, and the text is very well written.

About the Archivist

Leonard DeGraaf has just celebrated his 12th year as an archivist at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park's archives. DeGraaf says he became an archivist "because I enjoy working with original documents and making them available to researchers."

In addition to publishing his new book, his current project is arranging Edison's correspondence files for the years 1920-1931. Because the inventor was so connected to his businesses and interested in what the general public had to say about products, I can only imagine the linear footage dedicated to those correspondence files.

As archivists, most of us love what we do. DeGraaf is no exception. "I enjoy the diversity of archival work -- processing documents, writing finding aids, answering reference questions. I also enjoy learning new things. Edison was involved in so many different activities -- there is always something new to learn," he says. But as with any profession, ours comes with inherent challenges, mainly concerning storage space. At the Park, DeGraaf concurs, "lack of proper storage space to protect the collections is our biggest challenge."

When I asked DeGraaf what advice he would give a student or young professional, he replied,

I would advise students and young professionals to look for meaningful volunteer opportunities at cultural institutions and take advantage of free or low-cost training opportunities. Libraries, museums, and archives often offer workshops – a great way to learn new skills and meet other professionals. Anything you can do to enhance your writing and public speaking abilities – two important career skills – will also make you more competitive.

About the Archives and Collections at Thomas Edison National Historical Park

One of the most remarkable things about the Park is that "most of it is left as it was when Edison was here," says DeGraaf. The U.S. Congress designated Thomas Edison’s West Orange laboratory and nearby estate, Glenmont, as Edison National Historic Site in September 1962. In 2009, the lab and Glenmont were re-designated Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

The archive houses 5-6 million pages of material. While the Park has 29 full-time staffers, only two are archivists. The Park's patrons run the gamut from students and academics to all manner of media, park staff, and the general public. As far as the archive goes, most of its patrons contact the archivists by email or telephone. DeGraaf and his colleague respond to 800-1000 reference requests per year.

"Because Edison employed thousands of workers in his factories, we receive many requests from people doing family or genealogical research," DeGraaf clarifies. There are no personnel files, but there are payroll records. However, those records are not yet indexed or digitized (sounds like a volunteer opportunity to me).

Among the unsung heroes of the collection are Edison's business and financial records. Two examples are shown below.

The experimental accounts in particular are valuable because they give a snapshot of the work in the lab on a given experiment. Was is profitable? If not, why not? These are the relevant questions that researchers can answer by looking at the notebooks and account books. DeGraaf says, "We need more research on the operation of Edison's companies to understand why they succeeded or failed."

Another fascinating, but underutilized part of the archive "are the many letters Edison received from the public on a wide variety of topics. These letters offer an opportunity to study social attitudes about technology and invention in the early 20th century," says DeGraaf. 


Eighty of the collections have been processed, and he notes that while finding aids are sent out at request, the Park does need a way for researches to access a guide to the archives. Meanwhile "the Thomas Edison Papers Project at Rutgers University has published material from the Edison archives for the period up to 1919. Of this published material, documents for the period up to 1898 have been digitized and are available at the Edison Papers Project website: http://edison.rutgers.edu/," says DeGraaf.

In terms of use, the Park's collection of 60,000 historic photographs is the most popular. For example, here is one of the man himself that DeGraaf kindly sent me. Edison is sitting at the desk that still resides in library shown in the photo of DeGraaf.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

While the archival collection is mostly paper-based, the museum collection contains 400,000 objects and 35,000 sound recordings on disc and cylinder formats. When Tyler and I toured the museum, we saw where Edison would audition new musical acts for his recording label.

 

Tyler in Edison's Music Room

  

Edison's Music Room

Edison's Music Room

DeGraaf's favorite items are Edison's laboratory notebooks. He says, "They offer an intimate look at how Edison approached invention and provide details about how he designed the phonograph, electric light, and many other laboratory products."

Edison's communal lab notebook, 1880, Experiment No. 1.

It is especially illuminating to see the shared research and meticulous data collected at the laboratory. It is even more profound to discover the impact all this work had on the world. DeGraaf's new book points out the monumental affect Edison's labs had:

When he was born in 1847, there were no industrial research laboratories, no phonographs, no motion picture cameras, and no electric power systems, let alone practical electric lights. In 1931, the year Edison died, the United States produced 320 lightbulbs and consumed 110.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Seventy-five million Americans attended the movies each week, spending $719 million ($10.6 billion today) at the box office.

When the National Parks re-open, I encourage you to tour the museum and outlying buildings. Along with self-guided phone tours, some of the park staff give tours. Also visit Edison's home, Glenmont -- it's a short ride away on a large piece of property that should be especially pretty with the leaves changing now.

The archive is not open to the public, so I appreciate DeGraaf letting a fellow archivist and her nephew have an inside peek at the Thomas Edison National Park's archival collections.


Contact Information

Since National Parks are closed at the moment, I recommend emailing so that any inquiry would be waiting when the furloughed workers return.

Leonard DeGraaf
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
211 Main Street
West Orange, NJ 07052
973-736-0550, ext. 22  
Leonard_DeGraaf@nps.gov
http://nps.gov/edis

Work Update: Exhibit

 

“Chester’s ‘Tommie’ Barker – a Year in Professional Women’s Baseball, a Lifetime of Memories” exhibit, Rossney E. Smyth Memorial Display Case, Chester Library, Chester, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff 2013.

I'll admit it. I'm a bit envious of libraries with multiple display cases and areas dedicated to exhibits. While the image above shows a fine, sizable display case, it's the only one we have at Chester Library.  If we had, perhaps a square museum case, I could place it in that corner all the way in the back by the quiet study rooms. I could outfit the case with one of our not-quite-rare, but certainly scarce, old books. For now, I'll be happy with the one above.

The exhibit shown in the image above is focused on the terrific Tommie Barker, our resident sports legend. She played professional women's baseball in 1950, not long before the end of the All-American Girls' Baseball League. Tommie (whose father wanted a boy and whose real name is Lois) played softball on a team she helped create, the Chester Farmerettes and previously on the Roxbury High School team before the League's tryouts in Irvington, New Jersey.

After earning a spot in the "camp" phase of the tryouts she took several trains to finally arrive in Indiana. Tommie earned her spot as the oldest rookie in the League at age 27, although she fibbed about her age and said she was 21. She was signed to the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Chicks for the 1950 season, and quickly made new friends in her teammates. The framed photo in the upper right corner of the image above shows her team photo.

Because Tommie's items are on loan from her personal collection, she agreed that I could make digital facsimiles of all the materials for a future online exhibit. The yearbook in the center bottom of the case is from the Chester Library collection, although it was a donation from a former Chester resident who wanted it to go to a good home. You can see Tommie in the yearbook on the left page, top-most photo.

When I visited Tommie to talk with her about her life and experience as a professional women's baseball player, I learned that she only played for one year because her father had become ill. "Back in those days," she said, "You had to come home and take care of your parents." When the League mailed her a renewal contract for 1951, she returned it unsigned due to her devotion to her father.

She didn't keep her uniform, but she did hold on to the round sweater patch (on the right) and the shield-shaped uniform patch (on the left). They are in excellent condition, and I placed them on top of some black velvet cut in a way that I hoped would make them pop even more against the light blue background. The blue paper is actually archival wrapping paper which is acid-free and buffered. I thought that it would provide a stable background for the items in the case.

The other framed items include a tinted black and white portrait of Tommie and her certificate from the Baseball Hall of Fame, which had inducted the League in 1998. When I unframed the items to make digital facsimiles, I discovered two other photos in the portrait's frame. First, there was black and white signed portrait of Tommie in the same pose, and a baby picture with three children. When I see Tommie next, I'll ask her about that baby photo.

I used small bench weights to keep the framed items in a tilted standing position, hiding them with other items. For future exhibits, I will likely wrap them in black velvet to make them less noticeable. One of the items used to camouflage the weights is a digital facsimile I received from the Grand Rapids Public Library. It is a copy of a 1950 program from a Grand Rapids Chicks game. The Special Collections librarian at GRPL made a digital copy of a few of the inside pages, including one that shows the team photo. I'll hang onto that one for the online exhibit.

The baseball is held in place by a coiled string weight that you cannot see from above. These types of weights are typically used to hold book pages open. They resemble white shoelaces. Finally, I also used the tilted frames to hide some silica gel packets to help prevent humidity from causing damage to the items.

On top of the case, I used an acrylic stand to hold a list of the items within the case. I hope that it helps to discourage patrons from using the case as a stand for their items. Because the case is currently located between a copier/print station and another copier, I've seen my share of people setting items on top of it.

Last, but far from least, I was able to locate an historian who is an expert on women in baseball for a companion program on July 25. Leslie Heaphy is the author of the Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball, and is an associate professor of history at Kent State University. Tommie Barker has the date on her calendar, and although the 90-year old has had some health challenges, she can't wait for an evening of women's baseball history in her hometown of Chester.

Work Update -- Chester Public Library

It's been a while since I've written in this space about work, so it's time. Last week, on a truly dark and stormy night, I gave my first solo workshop on "Caring for Your Family's Treasures," at Chester Public Library. Surprisingly, a stalwart little group of folks left their warm and cozy homes to brave the storm and later, the thick fog that seems to settle in Chester, to participate in the workshop.

During the last month or so, in between digitization projects, preserving library materials, helping patrons, and writing finding aids, I created a 19-page PowerPoint presentation for the workshop. It is dense with information about how to preserve and care for a wide array of materials that patrons might find in their collections. I then matched up the presentation with demonstrations using a few props from the library's collections.

For instance, to demonstrate how to handle maps, I used a small collection of cave maps one of my cowokers and I found in a file drawer next to her desk. Originally, these maps were folded in an envelope with a bulletin from the New Jersey Bureau of Geology and Topography. When we discovered them in the library, we only had the maps. I unfolded them, interleaved them with acid-free tissue, and rolled them around a legal sized archival folder I had opened and rolled lengthwise. I then used some cotton tying tape to loosely tie them in their rolled state and put them into a polyethylene plastic tube for storage.

I also demonstrated two ways to store fragile/rare books. In one instance, I used a custom acid-free wrapper to enclose an old minutes book from the library's board meetings spanning 1911-1945. In another example, I showed the participants a very large, fragile book housed in a drop-front, acid-free box and stabilized with archival tissue.

In the section of the presentation on photographs, I used an archival binder with polyester photo sleeves to show how we stored our color and black and white prints. It occurred to me during the workshop that I should have asked someone to photograph the presentation, but I'll just have to put it on the to-do list for next time.

I covered the essentials of preserving paper-based items (manuscripts, books, the aforementioned maps, architectural drawings, works on paper, ephemera, and more), film and photographs, recordings (audio/video), textiles, and metal objects. I avoided digitization, except to refer to it as a way of converting film and recordings into digital files. Digitization really requires its own workshop, and the library will be hosting a vendor in April (for Preservation Week) who will digitize all kinds of materials for patrons.

The workshop was attended by a mix of locals, Chester Historical Society members, and a few people from neighboring towns. Participants asked many good questions. My favorite question had to do with the work surface, because not everyone has a nice large, stainless steel worktable on which to do their preservation projects. The query came from a lovely older lady from Mount Olive who wondered if she could do the work on her bed or the kitchen table. I suggested that she avoid the bed and opt for a solid surface that was clean of all debris and materials that might transfer to the archival bits. One might even cover it with archival paper just to be safe. Sometimes the floor is an option for home preservation projects, just because of the size of an item (and I would recommend it be covered as well).

There were discussions about cost, since preserving materials in archival housing is not a cheap venture. I suggested ways of making the most out of archival housing without injuring the materials. Importantly, two vendors provided me with samples of their wares and discounts for shoppers who mentioned the workshop. It was nice to send the participants away with thick packets of acid-free folders, cotton gloves, photo sleeves, and other enclosures. I also put a color copy of the presentation in the polyester bag, as well as the discount coupons.

Overall, the workshop went well, and I received very positive feedback from attendees. I enjoy giving these types of presentations. The more props, the better. It also gives me a good opportunity to meet more of our local and nearby patrons. Importantly, teaching others what I have learned helps me to solidify that knowledge in my mind and practice. Areas where I feel a bit weak or questions I'm unable to answer just show me where I need to focus a bit more. To that point, I will be attending the upcoming MARAC workshop on identifying 19th century portrait photographs.

Otherwise, soon I'll be posting an online finding aid for the cave maps, as well as one for some lively World War II newsletters written by a local English teacher. Those newsletters are some of the most interesting artifacts I have seen, and I can't wait for the local folks to be able to access them online and read the facsimiles I produced. The originals are too fragile to be handled, but the digital copies as well as the printed copies go a long way toward bringing 1943-1945 back to the present.

I will be sure to link to the digital collections when the new Chester Public Library web site goes live before April.

My Time at MARAC, Spring 2011 – Part 1, Rand Jimerson’s Plenary

The recent Spring Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference held in Alexandria, Va. had many useful and interesting things to offer its attendees, but my favorites were the “Improving Grant Writing Skills” workshop and the plenary by Rand Jimerson. This post will hit the high notes of Jimerson’s talk, while the next one will spotlight the workshop.

Jimerson, Professor of History and Director of the Archives and Records Management MA Program at Western Washington University, is a very well-known figure in archives and special collections circles. In fact, it was pretty exciting to hear him speak after having read some of his papers for MLIS courses at Rutgers. Jimerson spoke at length about the role archives play in the area of social justice. Afterward, he signed copies of his latest book, Archives Power: Memory, Accountability, and Social Justice.

In these days when electronic records are disappearing so quickly without a thought to their future usefulness, Jimerson reminded us of Enron’s shredding and Oliver North’s record destruction. I sat in the audience remembering when I worked for a company that didn’t keep files older than three years. Even then, not knowing I’d later choose a career in archival science, I didn’t understand how we could simply throw these materials into the recycling. They had value.

I fear that our collective history (especially the present) will not be as richly populated with archival materials as our past because the evidence no longer exists. That’s the problem with these remarkable MARAC speakers – they get into my mind and rattle around for a while, calling me to action.

Jimerson spoke about archivists having the power to shape collective memory. He moved us with stories about how archival work in South Africa is a process of reclamation and restoration. “Archivists cannot remain neutral or passive,” he said. Archival activism requires that we, as workers in that field, be more responsive to social needs.

He focused on nine ways we can be responsive and ensure archives by and for the people:

1. Ensure diversity in the archival record.
2. Welcome the stranger into the archives, seeking especially to include previously marginalized groups. “Records become witnesses to a silent society,” Jimerson said.
3. Document our decisions regarding the acquisition and appraisal of materials, and make these criteria available to donors and the public.
4. Provide oral testimony by creating oral histories. These incredibly valuable records provide intimate accounts of a large part of the world whose history only exists in oral form. Importantly, make the audio/video available, not just the transcription. Collect generations of stories from descendants, if possible, to preserve the oral tradition.
5. Make archival description systems sensitive, meaning that we need to be more sensitive to social construction and think more about the way we present our finding aids.
6. Provide inclusive access and be sensitive to culture, especially when it comes to reference service.
7. Embrace new technologies. Promote openness and flexibility.
8. Support open government, accountability, and democratic societies.
9. Support public advocacy in support of the broader interest, and become whistle blowers, if need be (within a self-preserving construct).

Jimerson’s talk inspired me to take action where I can. He also helped me realize how fortunate I am to have “cut my teeth” at a place like Plainfield Public Library, that seeks to increase diversity in the collections, and is actively collecting oral histories from community members. I hope that in my future work, I can continue to follow Jimerson’s instructions above to be a better archival activist.