Doing More with Less -- Using Newspaper Ads and Loaned Postcards for a Holiday Exhibit

Holidays in Chester Exhibit. Photo credit Deb Schiff, copyright 2013.

In early October 2013, I began asking my coworkers and volunteers if they had any holiday objects, photos, or other items I could borrow for the upcoming Holidays in Chester exhibit I was planning. Unfortunately, no one had anything to offer. I then turned to our most generous donor, Joan Case, to ask if she had anything I could display.

Later that week, Joan came to my office with a giant smile and a three-ring binder filled with the most marvelous holiday postcards from the early 1900s and 1910s. They had been sent to her mother and uncle when they were children. The cards were in excellent condition and properly housed in polyester sleeves. Importantly, they scanned and printed well when I made facsimiles for the months-long exhibit (November through early January). While I'd love to use the originals in an exhibit, it would be a shame for these gorgeous cards to fade while on display under UV lights.

All of the items in the exhibit (with the exception of a turkey-shaped salt shaker and some fabric leaves I'd bought at the dollar store) were facsimiles. Because the postcards were overwhelmingly Christmas-themed, I needed to supplement them with a diverse array of holiday items. I also required enough items to populate the main display case by the front desk and the new small, wall case I recently purchased. The little case is mounted on a wall adjacent to my office. The facsimiles in that case show the backs and fronts of holiday postcards, so that patrons could see the warm greetings sent to Joan's family members.

Holidays in Chester Exhibit. Photo credit Deb Schiff, copyright 2013.

Although it also was Christmas-themed, I made a smaller facsimile of a masthead from the Christmas 1944 issue of The Honor Roll newsletter. I remembered what a striking image of the town it had, and thought it would provide a focal point for the main display. You can see it in the upper right corner of the photo above this paragraph.

The remaining items in the exhibit originated in The Mendham-Chester Tribune and the Observer-Tribune, its successor newspaper. These materials included local stories that highlighted the season, as well as advertisements. Surprisingly, there weren't many holiday stories that could be used in the exhibit. Perseverance pays, however, because I did manage to find one item highlighting former Mayor (and famed chicken farmer) Janet Abeles cooking in her kitchen (lower center of the photo above).

The early (1950s) Tribunes' publishers kept a tradition of selling ads to local businesses for a special holiday section. These notices included thank yous to patrons, holiday greetings, and reminders of items for sale. Often, they featured lively holiday designs.

Holidays in Chester Exhibit. Photo credit Deb Schiff, copyright 2013.

Above is a close-up photo of three advertisements and one postcard. The original postcard has a lovely 3D effect with raised gold sections indicating a folded-back area where an attractive, blonde, early 19th century woman dressed hat to toe in holiday red is carrying a gift. It's a lovely card and the facsimile doesn't do it justice. Thankfully, our donor has hinted that the card's future includes becoming part of her family's collection at the library.

The advertisements include one for a Jeep on sale at Apgar's Garage, as well as two New Year's Eve parties at the Chester Inn and Red Cricket Inn.

Two major exhibits are in the works for 2014:

1. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of New Jersey, I'll be mounting an exhibit showcasing select sections of our 1860 New Jersey Topographical Map. The exhibit will be coordinated with a featured speaker, Maxine Lurie, on April 29th.
2. The 10th anniversary of the Chester Library addition and renovation takes place in 2014. We have many blueprints and photographs that will be highlighted in the exhibit occupying the cases during the second half of the year.

As I continue to learn more about exhibits, I try to put my new knowledge into practice. The greatest teacher has been the viewing of other exhibits, whether in libraries, museums, or other institutions. So, my cultural institutional friends, don't be surprised if I pinch one of your better practices!

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.

The Service Side of Being an Archivist and Local History Librarian

Some may characterize library service as being available at the reference desk for appointments, phone calls, email and web requests, and "walk-ins." However, library service is all-encompassing, from the moment a patron enters or contacts a library until (s)he leaves/disconnects. Libraries are places that people trust for their ability to provide answers whether via the reference desk, a book or database, a special collection, or any number of resources, especially the library workers. It is for that reason that I take an holistic approach to library service.

At both of my employing libraries, I regularly work with some terrific volunteers. In Chester, one is a Friend of the library who shares great photos of her husky dog and clips newspaper articles for Local History. She had attended one of my "Caring for Your Family's Treasures" workshops and asked if I might help her with some specific preservation questions concerning some old photos and a Bible. I readily agreed because

1. She asked for my help, and that's what I do...HELP.
2. Preservation isn't work for me, it's fun.
3. I was excited to see what she would bring to my office.
4. The request entailed shopping for archival supplies, and those web sites are my kind of candy stores.

Later, the Friend brought to my office a huge family Bible, cabinet cards, and larger mounted photos all dating from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. The Bible clearly had some binding issues and had been used (as many are) to hold genealogy documents, which had become acidic and fragile. Some of the photos were in better shape than others, however all were notable not only for the sentimental value to the volunteer, but for the subjects' expressions, costumes, and poses. After we measured them, I placed the photos into suitable folders until she could put them into polyester sleeves.

She also asked me to help her select supplies and house the Bible because it was so large. The illustrated family Bible would require a custom sling to help place it inside (and remove it from) the box she would purchase. Typically, a special collections department would purchase a custom drop-front box for such an item, but these types of custom boxes can be cost-prohibitive for many people (such as our volunteer). In her case, I let her know that I would be happy to create a way of working with a box already available in dimensions suitable to her needs.

I guided her to items that she would need for this project. She navigated the University Products site easily and placed her order within an hour of her first showing me the photos. We were able to stay within her budget and begin her early preservation work.

The Friend was very grateful, and her gratitude was contagious. Not two days after our shopping session, she brought to my office the president of another local organization who needed help preserving the group's 20+ scrapbooks. As ever, I was happy to help.

Book Review: The World's Strongest Librarian

In his recently published autobiography, The World's Strongest Librarian, Josh Hanagarne shares his experience navigating life with Tourette Syndrome, how libraries and librarians changed his life, and his understanding of (and some struggles with) the Mormon culture and faith. Josh's great love and admiration for his parents weaves its way throughout the book, especially during times that could try any parent's patience. The book, like Josh's long-standing blog of the same name, is a well-written work that honestly tackles thorough self-examination with a great deal of humor.

It cannot be understated how inspiring and moving this work is. Many books share extraordinary stories of ordinary individuals beating the odds, surviving terrible disasters, and so on. One aspect of this book's appeal is the accessible way Josh explains what seem like monumental challenges with Tourette's. He has a definite voice, and while I would like to say his humor is self-deprecating, it really isn't. It just doesn't come at his expense, and I am glad of it. He pokes fun at funny situations, and I laugh right along with him. Out loud at times.

Another fun (well, fun for those of us who work in public libraries) example of Josh's humor is the use of Dewey Decimal subject headings at the start of each chapter. They provide a concise description of where he would catalog the chapter in his library and a bit of a visual joke. Speaking of the library, I especially enjoy the descriptions of his interactions with patrons at the main branch of the Salt Lake City Library. (If you haven't been, I suggest a visit the next time you're in town as it is an architectural marvel worth exploring.)

From Salt Lake City July 2009

I have been a quiet fan of Josh's writing since 2009, when I first read his unique blog. He provided this blog with an excellent guest post, A World Without Calendars. He's been guest posting in loads of places these days and has been touring the U.S. speaking and signing his book for appreciative audiences. If you have the chance, go see him, especially if he is reading from his book. There's nothing like hearing an author read his or her own work. And, don't forget to pick up a copy of The World's Strongest Librarian.

Work Update -- Plainfield Public Library, The Vail Family Papers

Introduction

I've said it before, but it bears repeating -- one of the top attractions of being an archivist at Plainfield Public Library is the ability to work on a wide variety of interesting projects. Another favorite facet is shepherding a project from beginning to end. Taking the time to know a small collection (or even a sizable one, such as the Detwiller Blueprints) intimately has been key to writing detailed and informative finding aids for researchers interested in these collections.

Recently, I've had the pleasure of inventorying, preserving, and processing a special collection that spans the categories of archives and museum collections. The Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers (1772-2001) comprises much more than what we typically describe as "papers." Some examples include hand towels embroidered in 1772; a family bible dated 1791; early daguerreotypes, tintypes, cabinet cards, and cartes des vistes; Civil War correspondence; 19th century wedding dresses; an 1876 harmonica; White Plains Regents Exams results from 1917; World War I postcards and photographs; books; sketches; maps; and genealogical research. My favorite materials are the hundreds of postcards and the Civil War correspondence, which describes in detail David Vail's experience of the war.

About the Vails

Marjorie and Roger (sister and brother) were the last descendants in the Roy G. Vail line. They very generously gave their family's large (approximately 39 boxes) and diverse collection of records to the Plainfield Public Library in several installments during the 1990s and early 2000s. You might recognize the Vail name because a few of the family members left their mark on New Jersey and America as a whole. They include Stephen Vail, owner of the Speedwell Ironworks; Alfred Vail, arguably the inventor of Morse Code and co-inventor of the telegraph; and Theodore Vail, creator of the ATT monopoly (and cousin to Alfred Vail). The Plainfield Vails are distantly related to their Morris County cousins via their common ancestor, Thomas Vail (1620-1687). Below are samples of the many family trees in the genealogy series.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Vail Family Tree; undated; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Vail Family Tree; 1938; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

Processing, Preservation, and Arrangement

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Collection in Process; 2012; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

The first two bays from the right in the photo above show the range of size and shape of the materials in the collection. The red binders in the second bay hold photographs that had previously been sleeved and numbered for use in exhibits (both online and in-library). Since I took that photo, I have rearranged and re-housed some materials, including the addition of another binder of nearly 400 postcards. We also have ordered some custom boxes to help better preserve the wedding dresses and other items of unusual size (such as the sewing box that held costume jewelry in a hidden compartment).

In addition to processing the wedding dresses, I preserved an incredibly detailed black lace dress. Fashioned from black taffeta and net with ornate glass beading and embroidery throughout, the evening dress is said to have belonged to "Grandma Stiehl," (on Marjorie and Roger Vail's mother's side). The original package also included a head/neckband of the same material. The woman who wore the dress was petite, to be sure, and strong -- the dress is quite heavy due to all the glass beads. The five photos below show some of the great detail of the dress.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Here, I gently placed some acid-free tissue in the sleeve to show some of the detail.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

For the five photos above:  
Evening Dress; Undated; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

I processed and preserved the large textiles in the Plainfield Room, which is open to the public and serves as a reading room for researchers. The room is located downstairs on the south west side of the fountain (which resembles a shallow swimming pool due to its aqua blue-painted interior; it is usually empty, but filled during certain events). When I worked on the dresses, I had my share of company from co-wokers to patrons interested in these beautiful bits of Plainfield's history.

The Vails donated numerous photographs of family members, houses, and travel destinations. Because I had taken Gary Saretsky’s Dating 19th Century Portrait Photographs workshop back in April, I was able to identify and date within a few years many of the early images in the collection. Below is an example of an ambrotype in a hinged case. I've dated it c. 1860-1870s due to the highly ornate and patriotic design of the copper mat and preserver. It is interesting to note that the 30-star flag in the design only existed between 1848 and 1851. I suspect that it was for the sake of design and space that the artist used that flag, especially when the bottom section is magnified and the date "July 4, 1776" appears. The subjects are Elise Ditzel Leis and Baby Charles.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

The case is ornate down to its latches, as well.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

For the three photos above:
Photograph, Elise Ditzel Leis and Baby Charles; c. 1860s; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

When preserving the photos in their cases, I wrapped them individually in acid-free, unbuffered tissue and placed them in a smaller box to accommodate the odd sized items. I also ran into round frames such as the one below. I made an acid-free, unbuffered tissue cradle in a small box to fit the round frame.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Photograph, Robert Leis; undated; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

After all the preservation and processing, it was necessary to address the arrangement (organization) of the collection. While most of the collection had a nice order to it, a portion didn't. It was time to impose some order upon it. I also consulted with the Senior Archivist and Dept. Head Sarah Hull to determine exactly the series we would include. Below is a photo of my notes on the topic.

From PPL, Vail Collection 2012

Vail Series Arrangement; 2012; "Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers" collection; Local History Department, Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, New Jersey. Photograph © Debra Schiff.

Sarah quickly divided my list of item types into six main series, which helped me to re-sort the Excel spreadsheet I had used for the inventory. After I put all the "like" items together by series, I began to do some re-housing and rearrangement accordingly. By re-organizing the collection in this way, it will greatly help researchers to find materials by category when the finding aid is published (likely later in 2013).

I hope that when the collection is opened for research, we can put together a traveling exhibit, perhaps displayed at the Morris Museum (they have such lovely costume exhibits, and the Vail cousin-ship would be a nice tie-in).  Until then, I'll be continuing to arrange, and later describe the Marjorie and Roger Vail Family Papers at the Plainfield Public Library.

Travelogue: Longwood Gardens and Bruce Munro's Light Exhibit

From Longwood Gardens

Waterlillies. 100 6-ft. foam lilies, 100 8-ft. foam lilies, 65,000 recycled CDs. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Earlier in the summer, my friend Jen and I drove down to Kennett Square, PA to visit the lovely (and quite large) Longwood Gardens. Aside from visiting the legendary gardens, we specifically went to see the Bruce Munro exhibit, Light. The works (on display until September 29) use light and color to express the artist's exhilaration felt while visiting the gardens.

The history of the gardens can be traced to the end of the 18th century, when Joshua and Samuel Peirce established an arboretum on their nearly 100 year-old family farm. By 1906, economic concerns put the arboretum in danger of being sold for lumber. Enter our hero, Pierre S. du Pont, a wealthy industrialist and renaissance man who purchased the land just to save the trees.

As you might have surmised, Pierre was a descendant of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, founder of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (gunpowders). Pierre used his wealth, knowledge, and energy to create the marvelous fountains, conservatories, and gardens found at Longwood today. It's an impressive place, but even more impressive is the fact that Pierre spent more than 30 years designing the garden's elements and overseeing the work, all while reorganizing, and later serving as President of DuPont. He also served as Director of General Motors from 1920-1928.

Jen and I toured nearly all of Longwood Gardens, staying from mid-morning until nightfall to see the changes in the Light installations as well as the water shows. Below are just a sample of the many photos I snapped of our visit. I hope you'll enjoy them and visit Longwood Gardens before the end of September to enjoy Bruce Munro's Light.

From Longwood Gardens

The Italian Water Gardens. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Main Fountain Theater. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Main Fountain Control Panel, Resting Room, Peirce-du Pont House. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Main Fountain Garden. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Outdoor Waterlily Display, West Conservatory Complex. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Outdoor Waterlily Display, West Conservatory Complex. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Outdoor Waterlily Display, West Conservatory Complex. Longwood Gardens. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Water Towers in the Meadow. 17,388 1-liter recyclable bottles, 552 laser-cut wood layers, 42.9 mi (69,000m) bare optic fiber, 69 LED light sources with hand painted color wheels, 23 speakers, 1 audio control box, 1 solid-state music player. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Forest of Light. 20,000 clear glass spheres, 20,000 acrylic rods mounted on stakes,
89.9 mi (140,000 m) bare optic fiber, 80 halogen light sources with hand painted colour wheels. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Forest of Light. 20,000 clear glass spheres, 20,000 acrylic rods mounted on stakes,
89.9 mi (140,000 m) bare optic fiber, 80 halogen light sources with hand painted colour wheels. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Field of Light. 7,000 frosted glass spheres, 7,000 acrylic rods mounted on stakes, 34.8 mi (56,000 m) bare optic fiber, 15 metal halide light sources with hand-painted colour wheels. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Field of Light. 7,000 frosted glass spheres, 7,000 acrylic rods mounted on stakes, 34.8 mi (56,000 m) bare optic fiber, 15 metal halide light sources with hand-painted colour wheels. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Arrow Spring. 16 stainless steel spheres, 16 LED flashlights, over 58 mi (94,000 m) bare optic fiber, 328 ground stakes, four varieties of sage. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

From Longwood Gardens

Arrow Spring. 16 stainless steel spheres, 16 LED flashlights, over 58 mi (94,000 m) bare optic fiber, 328 ground stakes, four varieties of sage. Longwood Gardens. Artwork © Bruce Munro. Photograph © Debra Schiff. All rights reserved.

Interview with the Artist, Karen Guancione -- "In Stitches"

From Karen Guancione Art

Bolsas de Mandado © Karen Guancione, Mixed media installation, machine sewn plastic bags, grommets, size: 900 square feet, photo © Bruce Riccitelli. All rights reserved.

Introduction
It's difficult to be objective when I'm such a big fan of Karen Guancione and her art works. However, I made an effort during our second interview when we visited her "In Stitches" exhibition at the Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, that ran from May 10 through June 18, 2012.

The large-scale installation is a different format than that of "A Portable Constant Obsession." The interview is different as well. Karen not only speaks about her work, but also of her relationship with her mother, a woman who has had a profound influence on her life and art.

Prior to the interview, I photographed the exhibit from a variety of different angles and heights. It's difficult to convey the size of her Bolsas de Mandado (the hanging panels of sewn plastic bags), but this opening video shows the exhibit from the vestibule of the building. As Karen walks diagonally through the installation, she helps to show the scale of the work.



The Nature of the Bolsas de Mandado

In the next video, Karen talks with me about how she fashions the panels and works within a space to mount an installation. Following the video is a close-up of a panel's grommets.

From Karen Guancione Art

Bolsas de Mandado © Karen Guancione, Mixed media installation, machine sewn plastic bags, grommets, size: 900 square feet, photo © Debra Schiff.

The name Bolsas de Mandado originates from the Mexican shopping bags used to carry groceries, small items, laundry, and so forth. Below, Karen tells me about the bags and what it was like to sew them into the panels. The video is followed by a photograph of the panel she uses to explain the name.

From Karen Guancione Art

Bolsas de Mandado © Karen Guancione, Mixed media installation, machine sewn plastic bags, grommets, size: 900 square feet, photo © Debra Schiff.

Karen's Favorite Panels and Bags
In the next series of videos, Karen and I talk about the panels that have special meaning for her. I'm especially interested in her stories of the people who have donated bags from all over the world, even under extreme circumstances. Because the videos fit together so nicely, I won't interrupt them with text.











A Mother's Role in Creating Art
In this final video, Karen talks about her very first Bolsas de Mandado panel. She also talks about her mother's bag folding, and enduring influence on her art and life. If you're like me, you'll need a tissue when you watch this piece.



Conclusion
As ever, I am privileged to be able to help document Karen's work. She makes it very easy by articulating her techniques and purposes in a lively and educational way. I look forward to the next opportunity to experience her art and ask the questions I don't normally get to ask an artist when spending time with her/his work. But that will have to wait until she returns from her rejuvenating trip to Nice.

From Karen Guancione Art

Summer Hiatus and Upcoming Posts

I didn't expect to take a month off from posting here, but sometimes life events take precedence over creative endeavors. However, while on a recent trip to the West, I had the opportunity to tour the wonderful Book Arts Program at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Earlier in the season, a good friend from the MLIS program at Rutgers, Jen Fitzgerald and I visited Longwood Gardens for the Bruce Munro Light exhibit. I'll be posting about both those trips in the coming weeks.

Until then, I'll be editing my photo backlog, working on another home renovation project (updating all the bathrooms at once), and preparing for some big events at my Chester Library job. One event centers around The Map. It will be returning from a summer at the Center for Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, and it will receive its share of fanfare when it arrives.

Speaking of Chester, I made the local papers. There were a couple of articles on the World War II newsletters I processed and later digitized with the help of the Morris County Library pros. One of the articles is here. If you scroll down a little, there's an image of the newspaper. The story begins on page 2.

Stay tuned for more tours and travelogues.

Tour of Westchester County Archives and Record Center

Introduction
Tucked into the pretty little Village of Elmsford, N.Y., not far from the Hudson River and historic Sleepy Hollow, is the very large records building that houses the Westchester County Archives and Records Center. Shown above is the sizable reading room that the Archives shares with the Westchester County Historical Society. The archives holds the official history of the county dating back to the beginning of its recordkeeping in 1683. The collections include photographs, maps and atlases, architectural drawings, naturalization records, court book minutes, marriage records, supreme court records, land records, licenses and permits, voter enrollments, incorporations, World War I military naturalization petitions, state census records, the Department of Public Works’ records, some of Rye Playland’s early records, and much more.

The Archives’ Reading Room Manager is the very knowledgeable and easy-going Jackie Graziano. We met while attending the remarkable “Exploring Maps: History, Fabrication and Preservation” conference at the Center for Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia last November, and became fast friends. Recently, Jackie treated me to a tour of the archives and showed me some of its most valued and most used items. I was impressed by the depth of the collections and by the quality of recordkeeping at the site.

Note: Due to state law, I was unable to photograph the interior of the vaults. However, Jackie kindly pulled select items from the collections for me to photograph and share with you.

About the Archivist
Jackie is shown above holding The Guide to Genealogical Research for Westchester County, New York, (2003) compiled by Marjorie C.H. Renino, previously the Director of the Archive’s volunteers. It contains information on local cemeteries, churches, and town clerks, among other useful facts. She referred to it twice during my visit to answer questions I raised, so it was easy to see why she called it the “Bible” of the Reading Room.

For nearly five years, Jackie has been working at the Westchester County Archives, answering all the incoming research questions. She also scans fragile records for preservation -- currently the early incorporation records of religious societies and large, historic maps from the Department of Public Works. Most of those maps are concerned with land acquisitions of parklands, and contain valuable information for surveyors. Her favorite collections are the maps and atlases. “Most are beautifully drawn and tell a particular story about a part of the county at a particular point in time, and they provide context and scope to other types of records. When someone comes in to research a family, I usually take them to the 1858 map of the county on the wall in the Reading Room and ask them to show me where the family lived. The location sometimes helps me determine which series of records will be of use to them,” says Jackie.

She also likes the early Parks Department Annual Reports from the 1920s. She says, “They tell a large part of the story of how 20th century Westchester developed, why the county looks the way it does now, why certain populations migrated to certain areas, and why areas developed the way they did.”

When I asked her why she became an archivist, she replied, “I have a passion for the written word (one of the pillars of our culture) and its history, how it shapes and is shaped by the culture. I want to be part of the tradition of the sharing of the written word and its preservation, and I like playing with old books.” It should come as no surprise that Jackie was an English literature/history major in college. She received her MLS from Queens College, with a certificate in Archives and Records Management. She recommends the Queens program highly, and suggests that folks interested in the field should volunteer and learn from established archivists. Previously, she served as a librarian in local libraries in Dobbs Ferry, Peekskill, and Montrose, New York. The part of her job she enjoys the most is learning “something new every day.”

About the Archives
Since 1985, the Westchester County Archives has collected non-active records from county departments, if they are determined to have historical value. Personal papers are not collected, unless they originate with a prominent county employee and pertain to their work for the county. The vaults mainly contain the county’s official archives, however, some space is dedicated to the collections of the Westchester County Historical Society.

While I can’t show you photos from within the vaults on site, I can tell you that the collections are vast. More than 6,000 cubic feet of records, 60,000 photographs, and approximately 75,000 maps are preserved onsite. In my work at Plainfield Public Library, I’ve seen what 14,000 sets of architectural drawings (stored in boxes) look like, but seeing row upon row of archivally tubed and labeled maps along the length of two stories of the Westchester County Archive was impressive, to say the least.

Ten full-time staffers and three archivists care for the records housed on site, and they are supported by 30 volunteers per week. The Archives are used by genealogists, journalists, county employees, local historians, teachers, students, surveyors, and individuals researching their land. Typically, 9-10 visitors come per week. “We [also] have one student with a summer project who is researching relations between the African-American and Irish populations in Westchester in the 19th century,” says Jackie.

Notably, the archives are funded through the county’s IT department budget. The county archives are preserving information, so why shouldn’t they be funded under the Information Technology line? Further, the amount of digitization that takes place at the county is quite large, therefore having IT support at that level is more seamless than you might see elsewhere. But when it comes to complex conservation and preservation efforts, the Westchester County Archives sends their materials up to the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Mass.

About the Collections
The most popular collections in the Westchester County Archives are the naturalizations, marriages, and surrogates (wills and estate files). Jackie says, “People get very excited over the naturalization records, because they link generations, and the records after 1906 provide a good amount of information on the person.” Below is an example of bound naturalization papers from 1865-1885.

Modern naturalization papers include more information and include Declarations of Intention. An example from 1922 is shown below.

Jackie mentioned that marriage records in the county are based locally and issued by the town clerks’ offices. In 1908, the state mandated that counties would receive a copy of marriage records, but not birth and death records. The law was repealed in 1926, but Westchester County kept collecting them until 1935. Because these records also include parents’ names, marriage records are used very frequently in genealogy. Shown below are some of the Archives’ most famous marriage records, Norman Rockwell’s first marriage license (1916) and Lou Gehrig’s marriage license (1933), respectively. Both are kept in a safe location that I am not permitted to reveal here.

Wills, estate inventories, and other land records also are of great importance to genealogists. These documents provide evidence of their ancestors’ lives in a location, and often name other family members. Sometimes, they reveal more about a family, such as slave ownership. One example Jackie showed me was a facsimile of Edward Pell’s estate inventory from 1787. Pell was a descendant of Thomas Pell, for whom Pelham, N.Y. is named. The photo below shows that the inventory includes two young slaves.

Another will in the collection was written by Washington Irving at his Sunnyside estate in 1858. Jackie said that Irving was “the Ben Franklin of his time.” Most people think of Irving only as the folksy author of short stories such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” however, he was a true cosmopolitan, who served as ambassador to Spain and negotiated trade deals between England and the United States. Irving’s will is shown below.

The oldest records in the collection are within A Booke of Recordes for the County of Westchester, spanning 1683-1688. The Westchester County Clerk’s Office was created in 1683, and the earliest records kept by the office are now within bound volumes (also called “libers”) lettered A to Z, as you can see in the photo below.

Jackie said that she doesn’t pull the book out often because it has been microfilmed and a transcription is available to the public. (This book is an example of records the county keeps in a fireproof safe within the vault.) The fragile leaves have been conserved by the Northeast Document Conservation Center. Most of the records in the books are deeds, but this volume also includes three marriages and a divorce. Additionally, the county has a separate series for wills beginning after the Revolutionary War. Speaking of the War, researchers can find land sale abstracts of property confiscated from loyalists after the war within the Commissioners of Forfeiture. Jackie has scanned the book, and the index to these early records is available digitally on the Archives’ web site. The volume shown below dates from 1783-1785.

The Westchester County Archives also holds the some of the records of the County Poor House, otherwise known as the Alms House. It operated from 1830 to the 1940s. The County has its records up to 1908, and the N.Y. State Archives has them for other counties' Alms Houses. What makes these materials so interesting is that they tell a much more detailed story about an individual down on his/her luck than you might find elsewhere. For example, in the photo below (from the 1875-1880 Alms House book), you can see how long the “inmate” stayed in the Alms House, where his/her parents were born, if they practiced temperance (or not), why he/she was an inmate (destitution or disease), and much more.

In some cases, the stories are quite tragic. Inmates leave, then return multiple times due to alcoholism or mental disorders, or injuries that prevent them from working. If you are interested in seeing some of these, but are unable to visit Westchester County Archives, you can find a selection of records from N.Y. State Archives on Ancestry.com.

There are many, many more records and record types at the Westchester County Archives than the sample I’ve shared with you here. I encourage you to visit the web site (http://archives.westchestergov.com/), explore the collections, and visit Jackie and her colleagues. The Archives is open to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Contact Information
Jackie Graziano
Westchester County Archives
2199 Saw Mill River Road
Elmsford, NY 10523
Tel: (914) 231-1500
Fax: (914) 231-1510
http://archives.westchestergov.com/contact-us