_____________________Kansas City Area Archivists______________________
KCAA --- The Dusty Shelf ---1996
Eastern Kansas -------------------- Vol. 15, No. 2 -------------------- Western Missouri
Archives in Motion
Perhaps you already know: the Kansas State Historical Society moved last summer (and fall . . . and winter . . . but that’s another story) to a spanking-new facility on Topeka’s west edge. Planning THE MOVE began over two years before the event itself started in mid-July 1995. Our staff can relate in excruciating detail that moving historical collections is not an experience for which one willingly volunteers. In fact, we would suggest taking any other job that comes along!
For us, THE MOVE (always capitalized) involved relocating, from one site to another, approximately eight linear miles of library shelving; 400,000 books and pamphlets and 100,000 volumes of newspapers; over 9000 cubic feet of manuscripts; 25,000 maps and architectural drawings; 500,000 photographs; and some 28,000 cubic feet of State archives, between and among four major facilities. Fairly early, someone recognized that concrete steps would have to be taken to prevent the staff from "going bananas."
The consumption of intoxicating beverages and substances is prohibited on State property, so other means had to suffice. Staff held a number of "attitude adjustment sessions" at a nearby facility. A committee was established to provide comic relief during THE MOVE. Christie Stanley and Jelain Chubb made the process more bearable by soliciting contributions from local stores, fast-food establishments, and other businesses. Through their efforts, staff and movers alike enjoyed pizza lunches, popcorn, soda pop, or similar goodies every couple of weeks or so during the ordeal. Some businesses even gave promotional coupons that staff could use outside work hours.
There was also a move newsletter co-edited by archivist Suellyn Lathrop. Originally to provide information, increasingly it entertained as THE MOVE progressed. For instance, there was a contest to name the newsletter (regrettably, only non-obscene names were considered). The winner, picked by semi-secret ballot, was Westward Ho-o-o-o-o. Then there was the clean-up day to rid the building of over eighty years of accumulated junk (excluding collections). A King and Queen of Trash were named, crowned, and "robed" in plastic trash sacks. Our spirits were lifted further by the newsletter’s "Top Ten Lists," which reflected on our work, and sometimes on us. One was the "Top Ten Screensavers Found on Computers at Packing Time," which included such all-time favorites as "You can’t get a body like this in a bottle . . . unless you push REAL HARD!" and "Kansas is a great place for men, but it’s hell on women and horses." Some screensaver messages clearly reflected the move mentality: "That which does not kill us will only make us stronger," "They’re coming to take us away," and "Change is good, but dollars are better." And then there was a list of year-round value:
TEN MOST FREQUENTLY REQUESTED KSHS REFERENCE RESOURCES
A contest was held to design a commemorative "move T-shirt." Jelain Chubb and Matt Veatch submitted the winning design--a wagon train heading toward a distant horizon.
Christie Stanley and her "entertainment elves" sang a ditty at the Christmas party evoking the "The Twelve Days of Christmas." It zeroed in on the "Twelve Months of Moving (Preparation)." Eventually, the lyric had "twelve semis rolling, eleven movers moving, ten cots for napping, nine belts for bracing, eight zillion folders, seven tons of scrimweave, six hundred committee meetings, five supervisors watching, four billion labels, three laptops, two Blue Team workers, and a million Hollinger boxes." Scrimweave is the reinforced plastic for wrapping volumes for moving. The "Blue Team workers" were minimum-security women inmates who performed invaluable service before and during the move on a variety of projects.
Another contest was held near the moving date. Entrants guessed the actual dates of installing compact shelving, moving the first box, moving the last box, the first nervous breakdown (and breakdownee’s name--"no faking allowed!"). Food was integral to the stress-busting strategy, providing legitimate opportunities for the staff from various work areas to socialize. A reception was held on the last day that the Memorial Building was open to the public, and we invited researchers and retired staff for a nostalgic send-off. An all-staff potluck breakfast was held the first morning after the building closed, and staff expressed their feelings about the building and enjoyed some last moments of relative peace before the maelstrom of actual moving began.
The newsletter focused on relieving stress once the moving began. Some of its suggestions included:
In the final issue, the newsletter reiterated the six phases of a project:
Certificates were awarded at the end of THE MOVE. A petrified Twinkie, found in a dark corner of a rarely-used stack area, was given to the Archeology Department for "not having to go into the field to find evidence of past civilizations." Terry Harmon won "The Golden Retrieval Award" for pulling the first archives box after the move. Matt Veatch won "The Junge Gym Award" for scaling new heights without a vine (he supervised placing cubic foot boxes "two deep, two high" on shelves up to a height of eight feet, usually forsaking a ladder). The "Blue Team" of Sheila McCray and Sue Gottschalk from the Department of Corrections won "The Lifesaver Award" for always being there in a pinch to help out. Darrell Garwood, coordinator of THE MOVE, was given a giant bottle of pain reliever and "The Excedrin Headaches #1-5000 Award."
We found that when faced with an extremely difficult challenge, seriously considering the lighter side can help you cope. Occasional zaniness and favors went a long way toward improving morale in a stressful situation.
Bob Knecht
with Christie Stanley & Jelain Chubb
Kansas State Historical Society
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MINORITY INTERNSHIP FUND BENEFIT
This year’s annual dinner at the Hereford House in Kansas City, Missouri has something special in store for all members. In addition to good food and good company--not to mention speaker Kenneth Winn--the first KCAA Auction will be held to raise money for the Minority Internship Fund.
Here is how to participate! Bring one or more items with you the evening of the dinner. Some items will be part of a silent auction that will go on throughout the evening. Others will be auctioned off at the end of the evening.
Items can be from your institution’s gift shop, or something you have made. Some examples are books, photographs or prints, posters, jewelry, pies, cakes, handmade craft items, or you could auction your services for something you do particularly well. Come prepared to spend money! Its for a great cause.
In you need suggestions on what to bring, or if you can not attend the dinner but have items you would like to auction, please call Denise Morrison at the Kansas City Museum (483-8300).
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The Corner Chair
"The State of KCAA"
Ron Romig
KCAA Co-Chair
The archival profession and the need for its services continues to grow in our area. This growth is reflected in KCAA, which draws more new professionals than ever before, facilitating an increased level of networking among our members.
We are most appreciative of the high number of memberships and renewals this year. Our Membership Committee chair, Jelain Chubb, brings a high level of commitment to this position. Jelain did a wonderful job with this year’s membership directory. Jelain has also agreed to serve as a resource person for members. Feel free to contact her with any questions about KCAA and its membership resources. She can be reached at the new Kansas State Historical Society facility, 6425 Southwest 6th, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, or by phone at 913/272-8681, or fax at 913/296-1005.
As the need for professional interaction and communication grows in our area, it is vital that we keep long-time members involved in KCAA as ongoing role models for new professionals. I commend our long-time members for the excellent service they have provided as officers, committee chairs, and committee participants in past years. Your wisdom and experience are still needed in KCAA more than ever.
Our committees are doing a remarkable job in professional development, education, and other areas. But many committees are only composed of one or two persons. It would be great to have more people involved at the committee participation and decision-making level. This can strengthen KCAA’s programs and minimize the need to handle so much of our business at the quarterly meetings.
It is your professional association. Make it what you and your colleagues need it to be in order to be more successful in your work and professional preparation. And everyone--one and all--please tell your colleagues and friends about KCAA as often and as persuasively as you can.
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Preservation Notes
by
Alan F. Perry
Don’t Feed the Bugs
It pays to be careful when storing packing materials since some of them may be tasty tidbits for the insect pests that are a constant threat to archives. The popular "peanuts" packing materials appear to be Styrofoam, and some even are, but other varieties are actually made of nourishing cornstarch. So if you like to save packing materials from a delivery for future use, seal them tightly in a stout plastic bag to keep them from becoming food beacons for bugs.
Detecting that Nasty PVC
Most of us know that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is great for drain pipes but not so good for sleeving document or photographs. There are other plastics that archivist also need to avoid. Occasionally someone will ask if Saranwrap is suitable for protecting an artifact or document. Saranwrap is polyvinylidine chloride (PVDC) and poses the same preservation problems as PVC. These plastics release acidic hydrogen chloride gas as they age, harming documents and artifacts alike. PVC, PVDC, and other plastics coated with PVDC are unsuitable for archival use. Cellophane is also unsuitable. It is moisture and gas permeable and may have a PVDC coating.
There is a desktop (well, durable tabletop) test to identify PVC and PVDC. You need a well ventilated area, copper wire, heavy work gloves or insulated pliers, and a butane or propane torch for the "hot copper wire test."
Cut a two-foot section of #8 or #10 copper wire. Strip the wire with a knife or electrician’s wire stripper. Holding the "handle" end of the wire with the pliers or glove, burn off the residual plastic insulation with a butane or propane torch. This will usually produce a green flame, since most modern wire insulation is PVC. When the green fades and the flame is a solid orange (butane) or blue (propane), touch the red hot wire end to your film sample, then put the wire end back in the torch flame. If the flame shows green, you have PVC or PVDC. If it remains orange or blue, the plastic you are testing is something else.
There are "burn and tear" desktop tests to indicate (but not prove conclusively) what something might be: polyester, polypropylene, triacetate, or another plastic. I cannot describe all the tests here, but I will be happy to send a copy of the procedures to anyone who is interested. Telephone me at 816-926-6920, or e-mail me at <alan.perry@kansascity.nara.gov>.
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(The items in this Preservation Notes are derived mostly from information provided to regional branches of the National Archives by Diana Alper-Roley, the National Archives Regional Preservation Coordinator, and from Photo Block ‘86, by Don Sale, Jr.)
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People Places and Events
Chuck Hill moved recently to the warm climes of Southern California, where he is presently Curator of Photographs at the San Diego Historical Society. He can be reached by electronic mail at: c.hill@ix.netcom.com.
Angela Curran is the proud mother of Thomas Patrick Curran, born April 10 to Angela and husband Kevin. Congratulations should be sent to 9207 Montgal Ave., Kansas City, Missouri, 64132-2641. Angela resigned as KCAA secretary in March. In a recent note to KCAA’s co-chairs, she wrote: "Please accept my thanks for the lovely gift. The porcelain angel heart is beautiful and I have it hanging in the nursery. I’ll miss all of you on the steering committee but plan to stay involved with KCAA in other ways once I catch my breath." Congratulations, Angela!
Tom Wilsted resigned as president of the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists. In March he left his position at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming to direct the Thomas J. Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut. Many KCAA members met Tom at the joint MAC-SRMA conference last autumn.
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minutes: SPRING QUARTERLY MEETING, March 14, 1996
The temperature is rising, the flowers are blooming, and our stacks need a good cleaning. It’s that time of year again! "What time?" you ask. KCAA MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME of course! The membership commmittee (Bob McInnes and Jelain Chubb) is busy preparing the annual renewal forms for mailing at the end of April. We are also conducting a survey of our members to find out exactly who we are, where we work, our areas of expertise, and how KCAA can better serve our needs.
As in past years the renewal form will give you an opportunity to join a committee. Please consider volunteering a few hours each quarter to helping KCAA serve its members and the archival profession. The Spring Symposia, the Dusty Shelf, the Membership Directory, the Minority Internship program, and preparations for the annual dinner all rely on your willingness to contribute that valuable commodity of time.
Every current (1995-1996 dues paying) member who renews AND gets a new or non-current member to join KCAA by June 7 will have an opportunity to win FREE registration for the Symposia in late July. That’s a $25 value. The drawing will be held at the annual dinner on June 15, and you need not be present to win.
Before you make out that check, review the new dues structure approved at the Spring Quarterly Meeting. It is printed on the back (calendar page) of the Dusty Shelf.
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THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE'S PROPOSAL
FUNDING THE 1996 MINORITY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Despite the Professional Development Committee's diligent effort to secure an endowment for the Minority Internship program, no outside funding has been acquired. However, like last year, partial funding for one internship has been identified for this summer. The Western Historical Manuscript Collection at UMKC and the University of Kansas Libraries for the Kansas Collection have each offered $750 to co-sponsor an intern to serve in their respective institutions. Consequently, the Professional Development Committee cordially requests that KCAA provide $750 and costs from its general fund to sponsor an intern for this year. The funding from KCAA and the do
nation from UMKC and KU will provide an intern with a stipend of $1500. The Committee also invites all other KCAA member institutions to participate in the program by offering to provide $750 to co-sponsor an intern to serve in their institution. Meanwhile, the Professional Development Committee will continue to search for outside funding and engage in KCAA fundraising events to create an endowment for this program.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks to our members for supporting the 1995 KCAA Minority Internship program! The recipients--Kimberly Warren, a 1994 graduate of Yale University's BA program in American Studies, and Geraldlyn Sanders, a UMKC history major--completed their internships at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection, which co-sponsored funding for the program.
We are also proud to report that the program's first recipient, Letha E. Johnson, was nominated by the Kansas State Historical Society for the 1996 SAA Minority Student Award and that we wrote a letter of support for her nomination.
We are now preparing for this year's Minority Internship program, which promotes the archival profession by providing archival experience to minority high school graduates and college students in the Kansas City area. The program’s goal is to diversify the color/ethnic composition of archivists serving the Kansas City area. We want to begin advertising the program by March 20, 1996, conduct interviews between April 22, 1996 and May 1, 1996, and have the selected candidate start the 10 week program on June 1, 1996. The application deadline is April 15, 1996.
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Computer Access to Historical Materials
1996 KCAA SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, July 13, 1996
University of Missouri at Kansas City
Featuring:
Margaret Hedstrom
Associate Professor of Archives and Records Management, University of Michigan
Author of Numerous Articles on Electronic Records
& Digital Preservation,
Including the SAA Basic Manual on Preserving Machine-Readable Data
PROGRAM
8:30AM Registration
9:00AM "Getting Started With Electronic Records." Margaret Hedstrom
10:45AM Choice of Sessions:
1. "Take a Spin on the Web." A Beginning Class That Uses Computers to Access the Internet.
2. "Putting Information on the Internet: Home Pages and Full Text". For Experienced Users
11:45AM Catered Lunch
1:00 PM "Computer Access to Historical Materials." Margaret Hedstrom
2:00PM Panel Chatgroup: "Real Stories of the Information Super Highway"
3:00PM Internet Computer Time (Space Limited)
Registration fees:
$25 - Members KCAA
$30 - Non-members
$35 - Including new member's enrollment
Fee includes informal lunch catered by KC Masterpiece.
Symposium will be limited to first 70 registrants due to limited facility space.
Look for Registration Form and Additional Details in the Forthcoming Brochure!
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All the News That’s Fit to Print!
Unity School of Christianity Archives
David Jackson, assistant archivist at the Unity School of
Christianity’s international center, recently completed processing the Papers of
Charles S. Fillmore. Fillmore and his wife, Myrtle, were co-founders of Unity, an
understanding of Christianity grounded in the New Thought tradition of the late 19th
century that also gave rise to Christian Science. Unity was formed in 1889 as a
non-denominational movement. Originally, the Fillmores met with friends and neighbors to
develop a form of faith rooted in prayer and metaphysics. They began answering letters and
telegraphs, and later began writing articles to spread their understandings. Still later,
a magazine was begun. Their work and that of their successors gradually expanded into a
world-wide movement based on prayer. Although the Fillmores had no desire for Unity to
function as a church, their students have since incorporated the movement into a network
of independent ministries that are locally called "centers." Its international
headquarters are located at Unity Village, Missouri.
The Papers of Charles S. Fillmore focus on his work from 1903 to 1933 as minister of the Unity Society of Practical Christianity in Kansas City, Missouri, and as an author, lecturer, co-founder, and president of Unity School of Christianity through 1948. Donated by Mrs. Cora Fillmore in 1955, the collection is 34.9 linear feet, or an estimated 69,750 pages.
The bulk of the Fillmore Papers consist of his instructions to those seeking spiritual guidance. Sunday addresses, daily and weekly prayer meeting lessons, and training lectures (in both hand and typescript formats) document Fillmore’s metaphysical interpretations of the Bible and chronicle his forty-four continuous years of service as a Unity minister. The collection also includes Fillmore’s personal and administrative files, which are less voluminous but equally important for evaluating the individual and his ministry.
Kansas State Historical Society
The Kansas State Historical Society is receiving funds from the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission to develop new policies and guidelines for
managing the electronic records of state agencies. The grant allows KSHS to hire
consultants who participated in this process in other states. Dr. Margaret Hedstrom of the
New York State Archives is the principal consultant. Hedstrom is an archivist with
expertise in electronic records management. KSHS also will be advised by a committee whose
members are drawn from different state agencies.
During the project, a survey will gather information about existing electronic information management policies, practices, and techniques of Kansas’s state agencies. KSHS staff will also review all existing state statutes, regulations, and Kansas Information Resources Council policies, and they will study the electronic information policies of other states.
From these studies, a new set of guidelines will be drafted for managing and preserving electronic records. Three or four state agencies will serve as case studies for implementing the guidelines, and their experiences will be used to revise the guidelines as necessary before they are shared with all the state agencies.
Western Historical Manuscripts Collection-KC
The Western Historical Manuscript Collection--Kansas City has received a
grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to process the
records of the Hare and Hare Company. The eighteen-month project begins in September.
Three new staff members will work on the collection, which contains over two hundred feet
of business records and thousands of rolled drawings.
The American Public Works Association donated over six hundred feet of materials this spring, further enhancing the Western Historical Manuscript Collection’s holdings in the field of built environments. The records of the Association reflect the donor agency’s role as a technical and educational resource for the public works professional community.
WHMC has sponsored the second annual Charles M. Kimball Lecture. This year’s presentation was given by Al Mauro, who spoke on the development of Hospital Hill. Mauro’s presentation was a successful follow-up to last year’s lecture on the development of Crown Center, presented by Bob Kipp. The 1997 lecture is now being planned.
Harry S. Truman Library
The Truman Library has announced its museum exhibition schedule for 1996.
The ever changing exhibit "50 Years Ago: This Month in the Truman Presidency"
will continue through the year. From February through October, "1945: Year of
Decisions" will look at the monumental issues Truman faced from the moment he took
office: the atomic bomb, the end of World War II, the United Nations, and others.
"Our Mothers Before Us: Women and Democracy, 1789-1920" will run from March 28
through July 8, using photographs and documents to tell the story of women’s
struggles for social, political, and economic reform from the days of the Early Republic
through the passage of the 19th Amendment granting woman’s suffrage. From May 4
through June 17, visitors can also see the political cartoons of Pat Oliphant in the
exhibit "Seven Presidents: The Art of Oliphant." And from July 18 through
January 7, "I’m Just Mild About Harry" shows how Truman was viewed
negatively by Republicans and even by some within his own party. Other exhibits will open
in the autumn.
The Library has accessioned about 800 pages of correspondence and other records of Tom C. Clark, Attorney General of the United States from 1945-1949, which enhances the existing Clark Papers already in place.
The Library has also opened for research the transcripts of oral histories conducted with Samuel Montague, a public relations executive who arranged a meeting between former Presidents Eisenhower and Truman at the Truman Library in 1961, and Philip Lagerquist, former Chief Archivist for the Truman Library from 1961-1985. Lagerquist, who was honored by KCAA after his retirement in 1992, was sent to Kansas City from Washington in 1953 to assist Truman in cataloging his papers. In those early years, the Truman Papers (and Phil) were in the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City and the Memorial Building in Independence. The Truman Library was completed in 1957.
University of Kansas Medical Center Archives
Nancy Hulston, KU Medical Center archivist and KCAA member, edits the new
Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine newsletter. . Those who travel the World
Wide Web can find the newsletter at: http:www.kumc.edu/history/pubs/History.html. The
first issue includes an article on the Harrington Archives, a major collection that Nancy
curates pertaining to the work and professional interests of orthopedic surgeon Paul
Randall Harrington. Another article focuses on Solomon Henry Thompson, who received his
medical degree from Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in 1892 and migrated to Kansas.
Thompson was instrumental in founding Douglass Hospital, an institution supported by the
African Methodist Episcopal Church that served the African American community in Kansas
City, Kansas, from 1899 to 1977.
The current exhibit at the Clendening Library and Museum is "Feminist Perspectives in the History and Philosophy of Medicine." The exhibit of recently acquired books is enhanced with enlarged reproductions from the work of 17th century French artist Charles Le Brun. According to rare books librarian Susan Case, "Le Brun’s illustrations of women’s faces in the exhibit are examples of physiognomic studies. Physiognomy, in the 17th century, was a formal discipline in which the face or countenance was viewed as an index to mind and character."
One of the Clendening Library’s high-interest collections, the Florence Nightingale letters, has been digitized by former library intern Kelly Brown and is now an electronic exhibit on the World Wide Web (http://www.kumc.edu/servic/florence/florence.html). Each Web page displays the image of an original Nightingale letter beside a transcription of that page. Some pages also have supplemental footnotes. The exhibit offers links to other Nightingale materials in the Clendening Library and on the Web.
Nancy Hulston is busy writing. Her article on Indian education and the Red Cloud controvery at Pine Ridge was published last summer in South Dakota History. An article on the desegregation of KU’s School of Medicine will appear in a forthcoming issue of Kansas History. She and Larry Larsen continue working on a biography of Tom Pendergast.
Johnson County Archives
The Johnson County Archives has recently been advised of several
successful grants that will dictate the course of its activities for the coming year. In
March, the Kansas State Historical Society announced the award of grant moneys to
microfilm historical ledgers in the Johnson County collection. This will include school
records from the 1870’s, records of the county poor farm, and the first volume of
county commissions minutes dating from the county’s inception in 1857. A second grant
of $199,000 from the Johnson County Heritage Trust Fund will allow mobile shelving to be
installed in the Administration Building stack area, increasing storage capacity at that
site by approximately 45% and allowing future expansion.
The holdings increased rapidly in the past year, with major accessions of criminal and civil case files, and probate records from the 1860’s. These additions have made it necessary to create a second records center with a capacity capable of holding an additional 7,000 cubic feet, bringing the potential stack area to 17,000 cubic feet. Preservation activities are also moving at a rapid clip with the recent encapsulation of over 1,000 original plat maps held by the Register of Deeds office. The Archives is currently making its facilities open to other governmental and nonprofit organizations in Johnson County.
RLDS ARCHIVES
Electronic records continue to make a big impact on our profession. MARC
compatible records were "the thing" this past decade, providing a great way to
make bibliographic information and indices available to the public. Then suddenly, just as
many facilities were realizing this objective, the advent of the Internet meant that this
is no longer enough. Everyone wants access to the full text documents.
The RLDS Archives does not photocopy original materials because of the trade in forged and spurious documents allegedly written by Joseph Smith and other early leaders in the broader LDS tradition. But the archives provides patrons with copies of staff-produced transcriptions when they exist. In 1990, the RLDS Archives began a sustained effort to create full text typescripts of our most significant documents in Word Perfect format. This allowed us to provide patrons copies as needed. Still, we dreamed of a time when patrons could search key words across an informational base that contained all of our typescript materials.
I (Ron Romig) began setting up such a database with the WordCruncher program developed at Brigham Young University in Utah. It allows rapid key word searches, but it took much time to manually prepare and code each document into WC format. Several volunteers assisted with this, and by 1994 a database of about 4 megabytes contained early church-related letters, diaries, etc. We were also running out of hard disk space.
In 1995 we got a larger hard disk and better (more expensive) information base software designed by Folio Corporation and called Folio Views. Views allows direct importation from various formats including Word Perfect files. Views greatly enhances the speed we are developing our information base. Another 10 mg or so of data were added last year. We also loaded this information base onto a public access computer in the reading room, and patrons now have access to some RLDS full text electronic documents at our facility.
The next step will be to make this information accessible via the lnternet. Folio Corporation offers a software interface that will make the data compatible with the Internet. I have seen it used on the Internet with genealogy materials. It allows an Internet user to do key word searches through our data as easily as if they were at our facility and working at our local station. We will have to acquire some fairly expensive network server equipment before we realize this next step, but theoretically the data is now in an Internet accessible format. There are questions yet to resolve, such as fair use and copyright control, but the original vision is nearing fulfillment. Suddenly, many repositories are making full text documents available on the Internet. MARC faces some serious competition. I would like to hear how other KCAA repositories are dealing with this.
Nazarene Archives
This past year, the Nazarene Archives assisted nearby Nazarene Theological
Seminary as it celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary. Our assistance included creating a
permanent exhibit focusing on the founding faculty, and a series of temporary exhibits set
up in the student lounge around the theme "More Preachers, and Better
Preachers," a phrase of Kansas City resident James B. Chapman, a general
superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, whose personal campaign for a graduate
school of theology led to the seminary’s founding in 1945.
The Nazarene Archives began cooperating with NTS over twelve years ago, when a non-competitive policy was worked out between the Archives and the Broadhurst Library at NTS: the library does not collect manuscripts and other archival materials, and the Nazarene Archives does not collect books except those needed for reference or those tied directly to a manuscript collection. This has worked quite well, and through this mechanism we have acquired over the years the personal papers of several leading theologians in the church and in the larger Wesleyan-holiness tradition. Two years ago, we also became the official repository of administrative records of the seminary and now routinely receive the non-active records of the Office of the President and the Office of the Dean.
Last spring, Stan Ingersol visited Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., to assess its archives. In May, a written report was sent to ENC’s president (also a historian). The plan had a step-by-step approach to organizing, describing, and preserving the collections, and it called for the ENC Archives to also collect materials documenting the Nazarene churches and church culture of the Northeast. The report was adopted by the president and the ENC trustees as their working plan, and in June Ms. Carrie Brown was appointed as half-time archivist, half-time librarian. In August she received training at the Nazarene Archives, and since then she has reorganized the collections, moved them to a more secure environment, inventoried and described the key ones, and begun systematic collection development. These steps come at a critical time: ENC’s centennial is in five years. Encouraging and promoting a system of regional archives throughout its international church connection is an important function of the Nazarene Archives.
The visit to Boston included time in Cambridge, where the Cambridge Church of the Nazarene donated its earliest church minutes and other records to the Nazarene Archives. The accession included photographs of the church and its founder, Rev. John N. Short, one of the key Nazarene founders in the East.
Other recent accessions include a sizable donation of photographs and materials pertaining to J. B. and Maude Frederick Chapman, including pictures of their extended families and their children and grandchildren. Readers who regularly watch "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" will be interested to know that the Chapmans are Mr. Lehrer’s maternal grandparents. The photographs, donated by longtime Kansas City resident Grace Ramquist, include three or four images with the nationally-known newsman in them.
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Local, State, and Regional Association News
Computers in Michigan Historical Agencies Studied
Geoffrey Reynolds, Wayne State University, conducted a survey of computer
and software use in Michigan’s history-related libraries, societies, archives, and
museums. Two hundred and eight institutions responded to his survey, of which 67.1% used
computers. Reynolds identified two reasons why the remaining agencies did not use them:
lack of funds was the principal reason, but there was also the belief in some agencies
that computers were not needed to enhance access to their collections.
The majority of institutions with computers used IBM compatibles, while the second highest group of users had actual IBM brand computers. Reynolds found that institutions were consistently upgrading their systems. Word processing was the primary application used, but some archives also used computers for spreadsheets, databases, and for cataloging books, artifacts, and manuscripts. Reynolds discovered that "the lack of standardization [was] so great that a statewide database would be impossible at this time." It was the feasibility of such a database for Michigan’s historical materials that initially prompted his investigation. (Open Entry, Fall 1995).
St. Noah, Patron Saint of Archivists?
Anne Wittekind of the Cincinnati Historical Society summarizes Archives
Listserv discussions for readers of the Ohio Archivist. Last fall, she noted the
lighthearted discussion over a potential patron saint for archivists. While different
candidates were suggested by listserve respondents, the case for adopting Noah as the
patron saint seemed rather strong. Wittekind notes that one Listserve participant itemized
Noah’s qualifications, including: "support from top management," good
appraisal technique combined with a "topnotch collection development policy," a
disaster plan that actually worked, his foresight to "gather the necessary materials
ahead of time," arrangement skills, and Noah’s willingness to provide "open
access to the collection" after he had recovered from the Deluge. (Ohio Archivist,
Fall 1995).
Florida State Dept. Issues Opinion on E-Mail Status
The General Counsel of the Florida Department of State recently issued an
opinion on the status and retention of e-mail within state agencies. E-mail messages, it
said, are public records whose disposition is governed by existing Department of State
rules. E-mail messages that contain traditional information, such as memoranda and
correspondence, are covered by existing state records retention schedules. The department
also offered guidance on disposing of transitory messages--records created to communicate
immediate information rather than to perpetuate or formalize knowledge. The informal
nature of transitory messages is comparable to hallway conversation or a telephone
conversation. The Department of State guideline is that transitory messages should be
retained until obsolete, superseded, or their administrative value is lost. (The
Florida Archivist, Winter 1996).
Colorado State Archives Affected by Reorganization
In a reorganization of Colorado’s state government, the Colorado
State Archives has moved under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Personnel into
a division known as Colorado Information Technology Services. As such, the Colorado State
Archives is now part of a division that includes the state computer center, state
telecommunications, the programmers of state computer systems, and the Colorado
Information Management Commission. All five units of the division have information-related
missions. Their grouping into one division represents a unified approach to managing the
information explosion that is changing the way in which government and business do their
work. (The Rocky Mountain Archivist, Spring 1996).
UC-Boulder Forms Human Rights Archive
The University of Colorado at Boulder Archives and the Interfaith Task
Force on Central America have joined forces to establish a comprehensive archive
documenting human rights abuses during El Salvador’s civil conflict. The project will
assemble, photocopy, and ship to the UC-Boulder Archives the records of three prominent
Salvadoran human rights monitoring organizations. The files document human rights abuses
perpetuated by both government and FMLN guerrilla combatants, and the social context in
which these abuses occurred. The Archive will also document the efforts of the
international community to resolve El Salvador’s twelve-year conflict. Neglect, the
scarcity of preservation resources in El Salvador, and the threat of confiscation or
destruction of the records by security forces are among the factors leading to the
decision to establish an archive outside El Salvador’s borders. Other materials that
were relocated earlier to Mexico City will also be assessed for potential addition to the
collection. These include testimonies, photographs, video and audio tapes, and
correspondence assembled by one of the human rights agencies. (The Rocky Mountain
Archivist, Spring 1996).
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Happenings that Promote Archives and History
Famed Kansas Court Records in Microfilm Project
The Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board has awarded
nearly $70,000 in matching grants to nineteen local governments for preservation
microfilming. Local cash and in-kind contributions to the projects exceed $100,000. Among
the records that will be filmed are the Ford County district court journals of the
1870’s. Ford County is the home of Dodge City of Old West fame. The project also
includes the Miami and Johnson County Commissioners’ minutes dating from 1854.
Central Archives of Polonia Prepares Guide
The Central Archives of Polonia, an educational institution in Orchard
Lake, Michigan, that exists to safeguard written documents and memorabilia pertaining to
Polish culture, is preparing a Guidebook to Polish Archival Collections in the United
States. Father Roman Nir, a native of Poland and the archives director, has cataloged
many of the materials in the Central Archives of Polonia and is contacting other agencies
that collect Polish American materials. If your collections contain materials that might
be appropriate for inclusion in the guide, contact Father Nir at 810/683-4012.
(Documentary Heritage Program Newsletter, Spring 1996).
American History Project Helps Boston’s Students
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is sponsoring a project that
introduces high school juniors and seniors to historical research and analysis through the
use of primary sources. The goals of the project are to foster a sense of appreciation for
history and to sharpen the analytic abilities of students by teaching them how to
distinguish fact from mere opinion and speculation. All participants are
advanced-placement students in the greater Boston area.
The four components of historical thinking that are emphasized are: a sense of history, a grasp of context, a need for detachment, and a recognition of contingency. Historical examples are used to teach these elements. Historical contingency, for instance, is taught by examining the new federal structures that emerged during George Washington’s presidency, emphasizing that different decisions could have been made that would have shaped the American system of government differently than it is.
The project moves through four stages: (1) the Historical Thinking Unit, a four-week emphasis in October that examines the processes of historical research; (2) the Young Historians Seminars, held in early spring, brings young historians who have just completed a doctoral dissertation or a first book into the high school classroom to discuss with students how they selected their topic, researched and analyzed it, and wrote their conclusions; (3) History Study Workshops, in late spring, brings classes into the Kennedy Library; and (4) Independent Study for high school students.
One of John Kennedy’s elementary school teachers recognized the future president’s early interest in history, and the subject proved a life-long fascination for him. Since its inception in 1994, the project has involved nearly 600 students from several dozen schools in John Kennedy’s home town. (The Record: News from the National Archives and Records Administration, March 1996).
NARA & IRS At Odds On Federal Records Policy
A long-standing controversy between the National Archives and the IRS over
federal disclosure laws has resulted in a 50-page report recently released by the National
Archives. The report stresses the importance of identifying, scheduling, and transferring
to the National Archives records that document the mission and role of the IRS in the
Federal government. The report commends the IRS on some of its practices but states that
"numerous records that document both policy-making and high profile programs of the
agency either are not scheduled or have not been located and identified."
At the heart of the matter are two different interpretations of Federal disclosure laws. The IRS takes a broad interpretation of its mandate not to disclose information that relates to tax returns and related documents. The National Archives argues that disclosure restrictions were not intended to bar the National Archives from viewing unscheduled IRS records to determine their permanent and historical value. The report calls on the IRS to submit an action plan indicating how the report’s recommendations will be implemented.
Commenting on the report, U.S. Archivist John Carlin stated that "many aspects of the [IRS] records program are satisfactory, but there are problems that need to be rectified to insure that IRS is in compliance with Federal laws and regulations." (The Record, March 1996).
Library of Congress Expands Digital Library
The Library of Congress’s National Digital Library Program aims to
digitize five million items from the Library’s collections and have them available on
the Internet by 2000. The LC hopes to raise $60 million for the project and anticipates
$15 million from Congress and $45 million from the private sector. The LC’s World
Wide Web homepage (http://www.loc.gov) already provides
over 40,000 items from the collections, including the first two drafts of the Gettysburg
Address, Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, and
Mathew Brady’s Civil War photographs. Sound recordings, early motion pictures, and
the Library’s electronic card catalog are also on-line. (LC Press Releases,
Feb-March).
Shorts Notes
New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman has proposed cutting the budget of the New Jersey State Archives by 25%, or more than $300,000. The proposal comes while planning is underway for an expanded, permanent archives facility on the State Capitol campus in Trenton, N.J. The governor also proposes eliminating the New Jersey Historical Commission, a sister agency of the Archives . . . Archivists from eastern Russia visited archival institutions in Alaska during March. The Russians visited the National Archives-Alaska Region in Anchorage, the University of Alaska, the Arctic and Polar Regions Collection in Fairbanks, and the Alaska State Library and Archives in Juneau. American archivists from Alaska, joined by David Gracy of Texas, were scheduled to repay the visit in April. The exchange is designed to share archival experiences and practice . . . Delaware’s former Bureau of Archives and Records Management is still alive and well, but it now has a new and slimmed-down name: The Delaware Public Archives . . . The Florida Archives received a significant collection of American folklife materials from the state Bureau of Florida Folklife Programs. The collection, more than 250 cubic feet, includes folk arts, crafts, and documentation on customs, lore and performances (All from NAGARA Clearinghouse, Spring 1996) . . . On September 14, 1995, forty-two archivists met in Prague, Czech Republic, and established a new section on Archives of Church and Religious Organizations within the International Council on Archives. Bylaws for the section were approved, including the provision that English, German, and French would be working languages of the section. A desire was expressed to work with the SAA’s section Archivists of Religious Collections (The Archival Spirit, March 1966) . . . Former U. S. Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio has donated his papers to the Western Reserve Historical Society (Ohio Archivist, Fall 1995) . . . In memory of their parents, noted archivist David B. Gracy, II, and his sisters, Ruth Gracy Wise and Lucile Gracy Harmon, have endowed presidential scholarships at the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences of the University of Texas at Austin, where Gracy holds an appointment as Professor of Archival Enterprise. Gracy’s family has a long association with the university. His father was a UT graduate who founded the Gracy Title Company of Austin, while his mother was a descendent of the Littlefield family, the largest benefactor to the university during its first fifty years. (Press Release)
Library of Congress Collections Grow
A recent publication, entitled Library of Congress Acquisitions:
Manuscript Division, 1993 (1995) demonstrates the breadth of that institution’s
holdings in the area of manuscripts created in the public and private domains. The
attractive publication includes photographs and biographical notes on the creators of
various manuscript collections. The LC’s Manuscript Division received approximately
276,500 items during 1993, of which nearly 150,000 were deposited by the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Among the Library’s 1993 accessions were over 16,000 items added by novelist Philip Roth to his collection, which now includes manuscripts and notes for all his books to date, and his correspondence to and from noted writers such as Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, Willian Styron, and John Updike.
The Manuscript Division also received the papers of Watergate judge John Sirica in 1993. Sirica was chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia when he presided over the cases involving the Watergate break-in and the resulting attempts to cover-up the involvement of White House officials. The Sirica Papers contain about 37,000 items and span 1932 to 1986. More than half the collection is concentrated between 1957-1986. The Sirica Papers are divided into four series: Correspondence, U.S. District Court File, Speeches and Writings, and Miscellany.
Among the other collections are the papers of Hannah G. Solomon, the founder and first president of the National Council of Jewish Women, and historian John Spencer Bassett, who was at the center of an important struggle for academic freedom in the South in 1903 while he was professor of history at Trinity College (later Duke University). (Library of Congress Acquisitions: Manuscript Division, 1993, and Library of Congress Press Release).
Bush-Wilson Agreement Nullified
A widely-criticized agreement between former U. S. Archivist Don Wilson
and former President George Bush giving Bush a large degree of control over White House
computer backup tapes--the "PROFS case"--has been nullified. Shortly after
striking the agreement with President Bush, Wilson left the National Archives for an
academic position that placed him in a key role in the development of President
Bush’s presidential library and study center. Many historians and archivists saw this
as a quid pro quo, and even some of Wilson’s supporters admitted the
appearance of a conflict of interest.
A lawsuit brought by the American Historical Association led to a decision in February 1995 declaring that the Bush-Wilson agreement violated the Presidential Records Act. The government appealed the case in May, and the court set a December 16 deadline for filing briefs in the case. On December 15, however, the Solicitor General decided to terminate the appeal, leaving Judge Charles Richey’s ruling of the previous February the final ruling in the case. Current U. S. Archivist John Carlin issued a statement supporting the Solicitor General’s decision not to pursue the case further.
New Web Addresses
They are coming fast and thick: World Wide Web sites on which archives and manuscript repositories, historical societies, libraries, and about everything else under the sun, are engaging in electronic public relations. KCAAers--send your institution’s website address in to the Dusty Shelf. Meanwhile, the following addresses have been gleaned largely from our newsletter exchange.
The Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives has established a homepage on the World Wide Web that can be accessed at: http://www.kdla.state.ky.us .
The results of a national survey of current oral history projects concerning the civil rights movement are now available through the University of Louisville’s Archives WWW page at: http://www.louisville.edu/groups/library-www/uarc . Through the same address, researchers can also access the university Archive’s on-line catalog of over 2600 entries describing its holdings in the field of history.
The Oberlin College Archives has opened a Web site with general information about the Archives, links to additional information on its holdings, guides to its collections, and an outline of the classification scheme. It is accessed at: http//www.oberlin.edu/~archive/ .
The Florida State Archives’ Photographic Collection has a World Wide Web site open for public use. The site allows searching of over 3,000 photographs currently on-line by title, call number, year, photographer, subject, and text string. Eventually the Archives hopes to have 100,000 photographs from the collections available to researchers through this format. The site is accessed at: http://www.dos.state.fl.us/fpc .
The City of Vancouver Archives (British Columbia) has established a Web site at the following address: http://www.wimsey.com/~archives/ .
The Society of Florida Archivists has a homepage with news of events and access of Florida archives and records sites. The address is: Http://www.fsu.edu/~baltman/sfa.html .
The website of the Milwaukee Urban Archives is now available at http://www.uwm. edu/Library/arch.
The Nazarene Archives homepage has information on the development of the Archives, research strategy and policies, and a general description of its record groups. It can be found at: http://www.nazarene.org/hoo/archives.html .
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Guidelines
Approved by Steering Committee 7 March 1996
Subject to vote of KCAA membership
The purpose of the Scholarship Fund is to assist KCAA members, with access to little or no institutional support, in defraying the cost of attending professionally related educational conferences, workshops, symposia, institutes, etc. Grants will be awarded per qualifying member of up to $200 per fiscal year on an as available basis. Also, subject to the approval of the Scholarship Committee, up to S200 of the Scholarship Fund will be available each year to assist in defraying KCAA's financial commitment to the Minority Internship Program. No more than one third of the beginning fiscal Scholarship fund balance will be awarded in any one year, June 1 - May 31. Application for funding may be made at any time within one year of the date of indicated educational activity. Application forms are available from KCAA Treasurer. All applications shall be returned to the Treasurer who will retain a copy and forward the application to the Chairperson of the Scholarship Committee for consideration. Scholarship Committee will give consideration to merit and situation of applicant and worthiness of the solicited activity per the intent and purpose of KCAA scholarships. Scholarship Chair will notify applicant of the disposition of their request in a timely manner. Ten percent of each KCAA members' annual dues are allocated to the Scholarship Fund. In addition, KCAA members, institutional members, and friends are encouraged to make a $5.00 or more donation in support of the Scholarship Fund.
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Books, Pamphlets, Videos, Et Cetera
The Kansas State Historical Society has produced the Guide to Research Resources in the Library and Archives Division. The guide has basic information on the division’s library materials, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and state archives. It also describes the type of data contained in territorial, federal, and state censuses, and in military and vital records. The guide includes information on the Kansas State Historical Society’s policies regarding reference requests, microfilm interlibrary loan, and photo-duplication. A copy of the guide can be obtained from the Library/Archives Division Secretary, Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, or by calling 913/272-8681 (ext. 276).
The National Archives has a free leaflet describing services available on the Archives gopher and World Wide Web site. A free printed copy of Online and Electronic Services at the National Archives (GIL 65) can be obtained by writing Publications Distribution (NECD), Room G9, National Archives, Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20408; or call 202/501-7190, or 1-800-234-8861. The text of the leaflet is also available on the gopher (gopher.nara.gov) and the Archives Web site (http://www.nara.gov). From the same source, one can also receive a free copy of the updated catalog Aids for Genealogical Research, which describes how to use the resources of the National Archives for genealogical purposes.
‘Tis the season for guides to sources on women in American religion. A Guide to Women’s Archival Collections in Repositories Related to the United Church of Christ (1995) is available for $2.50 from United Church of Christ Resources, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115 (1-800-325-7061). The denomination was created by the merger of the Congregational Church with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the former descended from New England Puritans, the latter a of two German American churches. The guide describes collections scattered across the country. It was produced by the UCC Coordinating Center for Women, the UCC Archives, and the UCC Historical Council.
Kristin L. Gleeson and Frederick J. Heuser, Jr. have written The Guide to Women’s Archival Resources in the Presbyterian Historical Society. It lists personal papers and minutes and other records of boards, women’s societies, and missions. Copies can be ordered from the Department of History, Presbyterian Church (USA), 425 Lombard St., Philadelphia, PA 19147. Price: $20 plus $2.50 p&h.
Kristen D. Turner edited A Guide to Materials on Women in the United Methodist Church Archives, published by the Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church. It lists agency records, personal papers, and oral history collections pertaining to women in the Methodist tradition. Ordering information can be obtained from the Commission, located at Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ, 07940-4010.
The Oregon-California Trail Association has published Susan Badger Doyle and Donald E. Buck’s The 1849 California Trail Diaries of Elijah Preston Howell (1995). This is the initial volume in the new Emigrant Trails Historical Studies Series. Elijah Howell’s diaries cover his journey from Gentry County, Missouri, to the California gold fields. 181 pages. Cloth: $24.95. Softcover: $14.95.
Eva Steiner Mosely is the editor of Women, Information and the Future: Collecting and Sharing Information Worldwide (Highsmith Press, 1995). The book is based on an international conference sponsored by the Schlesinger Library and held at Radcliffe College in 1994. It contains 47 articles on the evolution of women’s libraries, archives, and documentation centers. Distributed by the Society of American Archivists and available for $24 to non-members, $19 to members, plus s&h.
The Guide to Research Collections of Former United States Senators, 1789-1995 was compiled by Karen Dawley Paul. It identifies the primary source materials on the lives and activities of over 1600 members who served in the United States Senate through 1994. The collections are scattered in nearly 600 repositories nationwide. The 744 page soft-cover book is available from SAA at the incredible price of $10 for non-members and $7 for SAA members. At less than a penny per page, the price seemed too good to be true, so I called SAA Publications Department and the price was confirmed.
H. G. Jones has edited Historical Consciousness In the Early Republic: The Origins of State Historical Societies, Museums, and Collections, 1791-1861. The title says it all. The book traces the origins of state historical societies beginning with the founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 262 pp. Soft cover. Available from SAA at $15 for non-members, $10 for members.
For publications available through SAA, contact the SAA Publications Department at: 312/922-0140, ext. 21, or write SAA at 600 S. Federal, Suite 504, Chicago, IL 60605. Prepayment is required. Visa and Mastercard are accepted over the phone.
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JUNE 5
KCAA STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
Science City Project Office
2 Pershing Square, KCMO
Contact: Denise Morrison
JUNE 15
KCAA ANNUAL BANQUET
Hereford House, Kansas City, Missouri
Speaker: Kenneth Winn, Missouri State Archivist
6:00 PM Cash Bar 6:30PM Dinner
JULY 15
KCAA SUMMER SYMPOSIUM
"Untangling the Web: Computer Access to Historical Materials"
University of Missouri at Kansas City
Featured Speaker: Margaret Hedstrom
JULY 17-20
NAGARA ANNUAL MEETING
"Strategic Partnerships"
Sheraton City Center Hotel
Washington, D.C.
Spreakers include U.S. Archivist John Carlin
AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 1
SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHIVISTS ANNUAL MEETING
Sheraton Hotel & Marina
San Diego, California
______________________
Co-Chairs
Ron Romig
(816) 833-1000
Denise Morrison
(816) 483-8300
Secretary
Angela D. Curran
(816) 333-9700
Treasurer
Matt Veatch
(913) 296-4792
Kansas City Area Archivists is a local non-profit organization serving archivists in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. Annual membership dues: $15 individuals, $25 institutions, $10 students, $50 sustaining institution, $100 supporting institution.
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________________________________________________
Editor
Stan Ingersol
Production Staff
Lon Dagley
Dwight Sponagel
Jerry Austin
Preservation Notes Editors
Nancy J. Hulston and Alan Perry
________________________________________________
The Dusty Shelf is published three times a year by Kansas City Area Archivists. We honor exchanges with other organizations. The Dusty Shelf is compiled and edited by staff of the Nazarene Archives and mailed by staff of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-KC.
Materials for publication should be sent to: Stan Ingersol, Nazarene Archives, 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131, (816) 333-7000, or via e-mail to singersol@nazarene.org.
Memberships and address changes should be sent to: Jelain Chubb, Kansas State Historical Society, Center for Historical Research, 6425 SW 6th Ave., Topeka, KS 66615 (913) 272-8681, ext. 307.
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Last revised:
Thursday, September 27, 2007