Peace Good People! Welcome to my blog, "The Overachieving Archivist". I chose to name my blog this because my archives professor at North Carolina Central University, Dr. Jones, used the word "overachiever" to introduce me to the Summer 2012 Archival Arrangement and Description Class. Why not go with it? Per class assignment I created this blog to discuss my analysis of the course readings and field work experiences throughout the summer. In addition to the assignment instructions I will be using this blog to document my professional development as an archivist and librarian. Let me tell you all about how I became interested in archives and give my response to the Week 1 Course Readings: So You Want to Be An Archivist?
I am a recent (May 14, 2011) graduate of Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey where I earned a Master of Divinity Degree, the professional degree for clergy people, those interested in parish ministry. During my time at Drew I focused on African American spirituality and history, art, and Liberation Theology. It was during my final year of the MDiv program that I became interested in a career as a theological librarian after doing research and chatting with Dr.Ernest Rubinstein, Theological Librarian at Drew.
My primary research interest, inspired by The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright in a course entitled "God-Talk with Black Thinkers", is to assemble, archive, and digitize Black church documents. I would love to create an Internet accessible database for graduate students of religion, African American scholars and historians, and lay people to access Black church history. I believe there is a wealth of African American history hidden in the basements, file cabinets, and directories of churches across the United States. In discussing my project with a family friend who is also an ordained Baptist minister, I was encouraged to think beyond the actual church building sites for areas where such rich artifacts might be stored. I am now aware that church secretaries have had a tendency throughout history to store documents, pictures, hymnals and books in their own homes--being archivists themselves. After arriving at North Carolina Central University I sought out a meeting with University Archivist, Andre' Vann to discuss opportunities to work with African American Church documents. Mr. Vann told me about the White Rock Baptist Church papers and encouraged me to get a work study placement in the archives. I did just that and was introduced to Joyce Chapman, Project Coordinator for the Triangle Research Libraries Network Grant, Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina. Joyce told me about the project and research associate internship position for a library science student working in the NCCU Archives. I applied for the position and became a real archivist!
My internship at the North Carolina Central University Archives provided practical experience in processing archival collections, creating finding aids, implementing risk assessment, and negotiating proper archival procedure. The five collections I processed, Dr. James E. Shepard Papers, Sarah Bell-Lucas Papers, Dr. Alfonso Elder Papers, and Dr. Helen G. Edmonds Papers, CIAA Records, Public Health Education Records, required creating both the physical and intellectual arrangement. The finding aids I authored for these collections are available for view at http://catalog.nccu.edu/. I had a lot of fun with my NCCU Archives experience and am looking forward to other opportunities to make new research collections available to scholars. Now on to this week's reading response:
In "Dear Mary Jane": Some Reflections on Being an Archivist, John A. Fleckner reflects on his start in archives “The archival enterprise held another attractive feature for me. For all the opportunity to reconstruct the past captured in these documents and to imagine the future research they might support, I had a well-defined task to accomplish, a product to produce, techniques and methods for proceeding, and standards against which my work would be judged. There was rigor and discipline; this was real work.” Using my hands to sort documents, remove paperclips, and type search terms into databases in search of biographical information on authorities make me feel as if I have made a muddled clump of clay into a fine pot for future generations to drink from at the end of a work day. I did not discover the most attractive feature of working in archives until I sat down to process the Dr. James E. Shepard Papers.
To be completely honest, I spent entirely too much time reading general correspondence than I needed to properly describe that series in the collection. I read letters from World War II Servicemen, W.E.B. Dubois and found a perfectly preserved Pullman Car Ticket from the 1930’s. The most compelling part of being an archivist was not like Fleckner’s in that I was not initially motivated by the preservation of history but the growth of my own wisdom of African American history. By the time the Shepard collection was completely processed I gained an equal dedication to enduring objects and the pursuit of knowledge.
Fleckner’s break down of the dexterity required for archival work could be used as a tagline on resumes for budding archivists, “Part science, part art, and when done properly- part showmanship, our ability to quickly understand and evaluate the record- especially when it is old, large, or complex- is a unique facet of our craft”. Upon assignment of the Elder Collection at the NCCU University Archives I found that existing folders were numbered incorrectly and many of the folders were missing and or/out of order. After assessing each individual folder I discovered documents attributed to the tenure of Dr. Samuel P. Massie, the third president of NCCU, whose papers the University thought were lost after his termination.
The entire Elder Collection needed to be rearranged in addition to the creation of a Massie Collection. I contributed a new folder system, scope and content notes, and new series listings for the existing erroneous Elder folder list/finding aid. My work with the Elder collection also necessitated that I observe SAA privacy concerns related to student health records, grades, and behavioral reports. In addition to Fleckner’s categories, my work was part math, part psychology, and to complete properly- part patience.
