The Overachieving Archivist: 2014

It's a very long exciting story that can be summed up in one short sentence "God is So Good".

First a bit of context. In my first post on this blog "Yes! I Want to Be an Archivist" I wrote the following: "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 in the written word, in the power of writing the vision and making it plain. Everything I've written down and been prayerful about in the past 3 years has come to pass, vocationally and personally. I wanted to be the curator of a Historical African American Church digital archive and now I am.

Badu, Erykah (fatbellybella), "Write it down on real paper with a real pencil. And watch (expletive redacted) get real." 26 Nov 2013, 8:49 AM. Tweet.

"And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, so he may run that reads it." Habakkuk 2:2

Now for some interesting facts:

I was not job hunting when I noticed the job listed on ATLA. It was in the cut on the website and was not prominently listed. The job position read like everything I had every dreamed of doing short of being Archivist of the United States.
The day before I applied I had brunch with two colleagues including my friend who is the new archivist at Spelman College and shared with her my satisfaction with my current position.
I applied on a whim and received a call back that afternoon.
The rest is history. This job was meant for me from beginning to end.
It is EXTREMELY difficult to return to archives once you leave to pursue another type of librarianship. Adequately describing how your skills relate and the relevance of a seemingly unrelated tenure is the key to getting back in.

Now on to the juicy details! Payne Theological Seminary, founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844, is dedicated to the preparation of African American and other leaders for ministry in the tradition of liberation, reconciliation, social justice, and the dignity of all humankind. Payne Theological Seminary is located in the historic and scenic city of Wilberforce, Ohio, home to Wilberforce University, Central State University, and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center.

The Reverdy C. Ransom Library holds more than 35,000 volumes with a concentration of materials focused on African American culture and African American religion. The majority of Payne’s archive holdings tell a great deal of the history of the AME denomination and church tradition while chronicling the leadership of Payne Theological Seminary, founded by Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne and guided by 16 deans and presidents since 1894.

In 2014, the seminary was awarded an Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Award for Payne Archive Digitization Project. Payne, the oldest freestanding African American seminary in the world, having been mandated in 1894 by its sponsor, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), Payne Theological Seminary is pleased to serve today as one of the denomination’s primary archival centers. In response to this honor, Payne Theological Seminary seeks to establish a digital archival resource not only of value to the AMEC, but to benefit all intersecting theological education communities with our history and heritage.

To do that kind of work, Payne needed an archivist right?

As the VERY FIRST (inaugural y'all!) Payne Theological Seminary Archivist at Reverdy C. Ransom Library, I will am responsible for the following:

Manage all seminary archive efforts
Coordinate the identification, appraisal, acquisition, storage and preservation of the current archives
Organize and create archival based (digital) descriptions
Create, support and maintain digital archives and website
Create assessment strategies for the archives
Employ digitization practices to enhance archives
Partner and develop with campus administration, faculty and students (innovative) ways to use the collection
Commitment to build strong relations with OhioLink, OPAL Consortium, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Seek, develop and work within grant-supported projects
Meet deadlines – (time management)
Other duties as assigned

She is your Archivist!

A Dream Come True (Above) Beautiful documentary mural commissioned by The Reverend Dr. Leah Gaskin Fitchue, the first woman to serve as president of Payne Theological Seminary

I went for a run the evening after my first phone interview with Payne and decided to listen to a new album on Spotify rather than my usual playlists. I saw Stalley in concert at the Converse Block Party in D.C. two summers ago when I was interning with the National Transportation Library. I did not realize he a) had a new album out b) was from Ohio. The first words of the first song on the album entitled "O.H.I.O" are, "Over here I'm original.You can put your money on me I'm about to go digital. Just watch me turn nothing into something keep it jumpin' y'all don't hear me though." Stalley,"Welcome to O.H.I.O." If that isn't a sign from the universe I don't what is! Check out the expletive ridden (had to put in a disclaimer for the saints) song below:

So yeah, I'm moving to Ohio and starting a new life with a new job in the new year. My first day is January 5th. I'm ecstatic and thankful! Write it down, make the vision plain my people, and believe that you will receive the desires of your heart. Peace and Happy New Year!

Another summer, another annual meeting! Duke Divinity School Library Staff attended the American Theological Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans two weeks ago. This was my first time in the NOLA and I lived it up, do you hear me?!? I walked the whole French Quarter, drank daiquiris, went on a ghost tour, visited a perfumeria, walked the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, ate until I grew tired of eating (Alligator, Po'Boys, Banana Foster New Orleans Style, Crawfish Hot Dogs, Beignets, Pralines, Fried Oysters, Shrimp, Bread Pudding, etc. etc.) all while nursing a terrible cold ( I just back from a cruise to the Bahamas the day before we left to NOLA. I think all the travel and airport air conditioning did me in.).

It wasn't all fun and games. I actually did some hard work presenting the following three sessions with colleagues:

Grant Assessment, Management and Reporting: Lessons Learned from The Religion in North Carolina Grant Project

What's Replacing Reference? New Models for Information ServicesThe Final Frontier: Events and Hospitality in the Theological Library Context

I also had a great time meeting up with other alumni from the Theological Librarianship Course at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and touring the city with members of the Diversity Committee (to which I was recently appointed by the Executive Director of ATLA) and L. Devezin, Director of The African American Resource Center (AARC) of the New Orleans Public Library.