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— FROM THE CHAIR —
Greetings from your new DC Caucus Chair! I am privileged to be working for you all on the Steering Committee of MARAC. Plans are in full swing for a fall filled with events for those of us that are archivally-minded in DC. Please see the events section of the Quarterly for details on the upcoming tour of the National Gallery of Art Archives and the 2002 Archives Fair. I hope that all of you can participate in these activities. Please contact me if you would like to be involved in the planning of these or other events. The more ideas we receive, the better. In order to have better communication between members of the DC Caucus I would like to ask all members to join our listserv, MARAC-DC. This list is exclusively used by the DC Caucus for announcements of Caucus tours, MARAC meetings, and items of interest to archivists in the DC area. This list does NOT get the kind of traffic experienced on other archival lists. Do not fear - your inbox will not be filled by MARAC-DC! To sign up, go to www.yahoogroups.com. Click on Regional, click on U.S.states, and then click on Washington DC. Type “MARAC-DC” in the blank to sign on. If you have questions about this process, please contact me. Please note that if your address has recently changed (as many at NARA have), you need to re-subscribe in order to receive mail from the listserv. The Summer Steering Committee Meeting will be held in Baltimore on August 2nd. I will send out a message to MARAC-DC following the meeting to keep you all up to date. I would like to thank Stephanie Brown for having the DC Caucus out to Hillwood Museum and Gardens in May. We had a lovely time visiting the beautiful gardens and learning of the interesting materials with which Stephanie works. I would also like to thank Gail Redmann of the Historical Society of Washington DC for her June lecture on the new HSW Building. It was a very hot day but Gail's talk filled the room! Please let me know what you are all interested in seeing and doing. I am lining up a tour of the United States Naval Observatory for us. Their library is just amazing! If you all have ideas, PLEASE pass them on. I am here to serve! Keep Cool, — NEWS—
The National Anthropological
Archives (NAA) is pleased to announce the successful completion of
its relocation to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support
Center in Suitland, Maryland. The NAA reopened for researchers in
March after being closed for 18 months. The NAA is open to the public
Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm by appointment. Researchers
can schedule an appointment by phone at (301) 238-2873, Fax (301)
238-2883, or email naa@nmnh.si.edu.
New Acquisitions Linton Obituary Collection at Frederick County (MD) Public Libraries The Maryland Room of the C. Burr Artz Central Library, Frederick County Public Libraries recently received the Linton Obituary Collection, one of Frederick County's most significant genealogical resources. The gift of Jack and Betty Linton, the collection consists of over 250 card catalog drawers of clippings, arranged by surname. The collection was begun by Jacob Holdcraft, author of Names in Stone, Frederick's main cemetery index. Holdcraft is also responsible for the surname index in the 1967 reprint of the History of Frederick County by T.J.C. Williams. The obituaries date to
the early 1930s. Holdcraft clipped from the Frederick News-Post, as
well as other regional papers. The collection also includes notes
from his research. In 1972 Holdcraft turned over his files to the
Lintons, Frederick genealogists. The Lintons continue to maintain In 1975 and 1977 the Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed the Linton collection. This collection of 59 microfilm reels is arranged by surname, and can be ordered at LDS Family History Centers. A set of the microfilm is also available at the Historical Society of Frederick County. Please remember that the microfilm represents only a portion of today's collection. As of June 2002, many obituaries for the following families are no longer in the collection -- Athey, Atkins, Atkinson, Aumen, Baugher, Baumgardner, Dennis, Derflinger, Hershberger, Hart, Hartman, Hess, Lane, Loy, Lucas, and Mantz. Researchers interested in these surnames may find it advantageous to consult the microfilm edition of the collection. Patrons can not access the obituaries without staff assistance. The collection is usually not available on Sundays without prior arrangement. Due to high interest in the Linton Collection, and its delicate nature, it is recommended that patrons write or call at least a week prior to their visit so that the Maryland Room staff can better ensure that each patron's needs are completely met during their stay. Please see the "Linton Obituary Request Form" under "Obituaries" in the "Newspaper" section of the Maryland Room webpage, under "FCPL Information," at www.fcpl.org. If you are unable to visit Frederick please also consult "Using the Collection From Afar". The Maryland Room is open
during normal C. Burr Artz Central Library hours -- Monday through
Thursday 10am - 9pm, Friday and Saturday 10am - 5pm, and Sunday 1-5pm.
The Artz Library is located in downtown Frederick at 110 E. Patrick
Street. For questions relating the Linton Collection, or the Maryland
Room in general, please contact 301-694-1368 or mdroom@fcpl.org. - FEATURES - What’s Doing at the Charles Sumner School Museum In 1986, a research library and archive devoted to the DC public school system’s history and development opened in the Charles Sumner School Museum, a restored 1872 National Landmark school building. The history of the District of Columbia public schools officially started in 1804 and documents in the collection include the original hand-written reports and minutes of the first Board of Trustees, which includes a transcript of a letter from Thomas Jefferson accepting an honorary appointment as President of the first school board.
Boston-born Senator Charles Sumner was a leading spokesman for emancipation and civil rights in the 19th century. A contemporary of Lincoln, he was outspoken and tireless in his efforts to abolish slavery and all forms of discrimination against African-Americans. His early efforts anticipated the integration of Massachusetts’s public schools (1855) and in 1870 he introduced a bill in Congress to integrate public schools in DC, arguing that the seat of democracy should not perpetuate segregation in education. Despite his efforts, DC schools remained segregated until 1955. Frederick Douglass said: “If Blacks wish to honor the greatest friend they’ve had in public life, they should place wreaths on the tomb of Charles Sumner.” The Charles Sumner School was designed by architect Adolf Cluss, who also designed 8 other schools including the Franklin School, and such buildings as the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building, Center and Eastern markets, and Stewart’s Castle. The Sumner School was the cornerstone of educational facilities for African-American children, meant to uphold the “separate but equal” doctrine under which Washington DC schools operated. The building opened in 1872 and was aptly named for Sumner, who died in 1874. It housed a Grammar school and the “Colored” school administration, which at that time was an autonomous entity appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The archive houses the most complete collection of the Board of Trustees (later Board of Education) annual reports and meeting minutes which cover over 180 years. The bound volumes of meeting minutes are arranged chronologically and indexed by subject and name from the early 1900’s through the 1970’s. We also have available the original minutes (before they were transcribed and bound) on microfilm for the years 1907-1967. In addition to these rare
documents we also maintain reference files on each of the public school
buildings, including those that are closed, have been razed, sold,
or are currently empty. A major portion of this information was collected
for a detailed architectural school survey started in 1987, to be
completed in 2002. The files also contain historic photographs, biographies
of persons the schools were named for, newspaper articles and related
ephemera.
Sumner houses a wealth of school memorabilia, such as early (1849) teacher record books, scrapbooks, photographs, (including several pictures of schools taken by Alexander Gardner dating to 1876), trophies, commencement programs, yearbooks, and newspapers. The public can view many of these items on permanent display as part of the Museum. In addition, alumni groups from DC public high schools (the former) Central, Armstrong, Western and McKinley have donated their extensive memorabilia collections to the archives.
General research files cover a wide range of related topics with a concentration on the years from 1950 to 1970. Included are landmark court cases such as Hobson vs. Hansen and the Sizemore case, as well as more locally interesting cases like the 1907 trial of Francis Cardozo, Jr. and the trial and firing of Board of Education Superintendent William Chancellor (1908). Important topic areas such as integration, the track system, curriculum, teacher salaries, parent groups and other issues are addressed in this collection. The personal papers of Dr. Paul P. Cooke, retired President of the D.C Teacher’s College cover public education issues from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, with an emphasis on higher education, including the public university system. Current clippings files tracking news of the DC schools are maintained from the 1980’s to the present. We also offer a small but relevant collection of secondary reference works, journals, school reports (internal and those contracted for), school histories, and dissertations as well. Recent projects include choosing materials for inclusion in the new City Museum Sports exhibit which will include public school sports memorabilia; a member of British parliament looking for more information on another member who was friends with Charles Sumner and served in the same riding as the present patron. Sumner quite well-traveled in Europe and had many friends there who influenced his ideas on equality; we recently discovered a unique piece of video footage shot in 1972 of Duke Ellington accepting his honorary HS diploma (he never graduated). Recently we also found the "Oath for African-American Youth", written by Professor Kelly Miller, apparently memorized by all 'colored' students above the 4th grade -- still very uplifting today. Meanwhile, the normal student and professional research on history of education, segregation issues, architectural history, etc. and genealogical research. A study of public school issues through time is a glimpse into the changing values and mores of the society at large. Whether it is a photograph of children learning to garden who then distribute the harvest to the poor or the idealistic poem written by a high school graduate who later was captured and killed by the Nazis as a spy; the evidence of history is always eloquent in the smallest item. The archives is open to the public from Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00am - 3:00pm, but please call in advance to make sure the archivist can meet with you. Contact the archive at 202-442-6046 or via email at: Judy.Capurso@k12.dc.us. On the DC Public School website: www.k12.dc.us, look for us under “Services” in the left margin. Once there, click on Sumner School. To view some more historic photos, choose “Gallery” from the pull-down menu in “Services”. --Judy Capurso, Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives The Sum of Its Parts: Archives of the National Academy of Sciences During the past two years our office’s program and facilities have undergone big changes. Our offices and reading room were totally renovated. In addition to creating private offices for staff members (Manager of Archives and Records Daniel Barbiero and Janice Goldblum) we now have an attractive and functional reading room equipped with four study carrels and desk space for two more researchers. Within the last month we installed eight ranges of moveable shelving from Aurora Mobile Storage. This increased storage space lets us consolidate collections and gives us room to grow. We will be able to add additional shelving modules as necessary.
The National Academies (the collective name for the four organizations that compose our institution: the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council) has built a new building at 500 Fifth Street, N.W. It will eventually hold 1,000 staff members in eleven stories. A phased move from four rental properties and our headquarters building on Constitution Avenue will gradually bring staff to the Fifth Street facility. Although the Archives will not leave Constitution Avenue, Dan has been heavily involved in the move in order to address records management issues. Relocated units are depositing records prior to their move; and the result is a significant increase in records traffic for our office. The majority of records accessions are kept offsite at a commercial archival storage vendor, as our space does not accommodate keeping these materials onsite. Dan recently completed
processing the records of one of the Academies’ major initiatives,
both in terms of volume and significance. He has screened, organized,
and preserved over one hundred feet of International Geophysical Year
(IGY) records. The IGY was originated in 1952, when the International
Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) proposed a comprehensive series
of global geophysical activities to span the period July 1957-December
1958. The IGY was modeled on the International Polar Years of 1882-1883
and 1932-1933, and was intended to allow scientists from around the
world to take part in a series of coordinated observations of various
geophysical phenomena. Although 46 countries originally agreed to
participate in the IGY, by the close of the activity, 67 countries
had become involved. The NAS and NRC served as the United States national
committee for the IGY, thus coordinating the activities of the American
participants who encompassed academic, industrial, and government
scientists and technicians. Citizen participation in IGY included
such activities as “Operation Moon Watch.”
The IGY records are organized by the technical committees that composed the scientific program, such as glaciology, geomagnetism, earth satellites, cosmology, and rocketry. In addition, there are administrative records, a large collection of photographs, financial and budgetary papers, and an extensive collection of publicity and public relations records, including documentation on the “Planet Earth” film series. While the IGY finding aid in its final state is not yet on our website, Dan has created an historic feature on IGY at www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/igyhistory.html. The early US space program
was part of the IGY program, and Sputnik, the first artificial satellite
was launched by the former U.S.S.R. as part of its IGY program. While
the IGY rocketry and satellite programs have been a constant source
of researcher interest in IGY collections, research has also been
conducted in all technical areas, such as the various polar programs.
The IGY collection was processed at the same time that a full-scale historic study was underway by a team of historians from the National Science Foundation (NRC), the University of Alaska, and Oregon State University. Not only did the IGY represent an example of international scientific cooperation during a time of cold war rivalry, but much of the scientific activities begun under the IGY resulted in continuing work in space research, geophysics, and meteorology and that influenced the NRC’s programs in the 1960’s and 1970’s as well as other academic and federal initiatives. There is an article on the earth satellite program at www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/exploreri.html. An upcoming processing
project is the preservation filming of sixty-plus feet of World War
II medical records created by the NRC’s Committees on Military
Medicine. These NRC committees, established in 1939, advised the federal
Committee on Medical Research (CMR) of the Office of Scientific Research
and Development (OSRD). These heavily consulted records document an
ambitious program of military medicine designed to advise the armed
services on medical problems arising from the war. By war’s end
in 1945, 42 study groups were in place; their activities ran the gamut
from medical and surgical specialties to tropical diseases, aviation
medicine, psychiatry, and the synthesis and testing of penicillin.
These records are largely composed of rapidly deteriorating acidic
carbons and require immediate treatment before further loss occurs.
While NARA holds the federal end of the OSRD-CMR story, (such as contract
ledgers), the NRC collection is a unique body of information documenting
a period of historically important medical research. These types of records are not "medical records" in the sense that they identify individual patients/soldiers, or are in the form of medical records or charts. The materials consist of minutes and reports, and related documents on the problems and practices encountered in battlefield medicine; such as the provision of drugs and essential supplies, and safeguards against the types of insects, climate, and conditions troops encountered. HIPPA does not apply to these records. In light of our long-ranging epidemiology studies - the Medical Follow-up Agency - HIPPA becomes more relevant to our holdings. These studies have followed a cohort of World War II (and later groups) veterans with their service medical records as the original data. Participants undergo regular physicals and medical studies. The study is governed by federal regulations which we assume include HIPPA. In any event, although access to these records may be complicated by HIPPA and other federal regulations, our military medical studies report on investigations conducted across groups of patients, and individuals cannot be recognized or identified using the collections. -- Janice Goldblum, Archives of the National Academy of Sciences
Aug 7 "Disaster Mitigation for Document Collections" will be taught and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution's Research, Libraries, and Archives Collections Conservation Task Force (RELACT) by Dianne van der Reyden, Sarah Stauderman, and Susan Frampton. The course teaches risk assessment and preparations, implementing and evaluating disaster plans, and includes hands-on exercises in handling and salvaging damaged materials. For information contact Francine Lewis 301-238-3700 x 102; Fax: 301-238-3709; email: etp@scmre.si.edu or GWU Appraisal Studies Program at 202-973-1178. Aug 19-25 Society
of American Archivists Annual Meeting; Birmingham, Alabama (Sheraton
Hotel). Contact: Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal, Suite
504, Chicago IL 60605 ph: 312-922-0140, fax: 312-922-1452, email: Aug 20 SOLINET workshop,
"Disaster Preparedness and Recovery;" Roanoke Aug 21 SOLINET workshop, "Copyright Law;" Hollins College, Roanoke, Virginia. http://www.solinet.net/workshops/workshopdesc.cfm?wkspID=26CLAT Aug 29 SOLINET workshop,
"OCLC Pathfinders" Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Sept 1 Deadline to apply for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) scholarship to attend the fall meeting. http://www.lib.umd.edu/MARAC/maraccon.htm Sept 1 Deadline for submissions to Mid-Atlantic Archivist editors: http://www.lib.umd.edu/MARAC/maracpub.htm Sept 1-6 "Works
of Art on Paper, Books, Documents and Photographs: Techniques Sept 12 National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives Tour - 6th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC - 3pm. Our first fall event is a tour of the National Gallery’s Archives on September 12, 2002. Maygene Daniels, the Archivist of the National Gallery of Art, will give us a tour of the Gallery’s collections. After the tour there will be a discussion of current digital technology projects at the Gallery. There will refreshments. If you plan to attend - please RSVP to Kristine Kaske at kaskek@si.edu. Sept 26-27 Society of American Archivists workshop, "Style Sheets for EAD-Delivering Your Finding Aids on the Web;" Washington, DC. http://www.archivists.org/prof-education/workshop-detail.asp?id=338 Oct 1 Deadline to apply for MARAC's Leonard Rappaport Modern Archives Institute Scholarship, providing up to $565 to cover tuition for one individual to attend the winter Modern Archives Institute. http://www.lib.umd.edu/MARAC/scholar.htm#Modern Archives Oct 10 DC Caucus-MARAC Archives Fair 2002. Ripley Center, Room 3111, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington D.C., 12-7pm; Lecture, 2:30pm. See next page for full description and details on participating Oct 24-26 Semi-annual
MARAC joint meeting with New England Archivists, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
http://www.lib.umd.edu/MARAC/fall2002a.htm DC
CAUCUS-MARAC Archives Fair 2002
Ripley Center, Room 3111 Come join your archival colleagues for an afternoon of learning about one another’s collections and conversation. The Archives Fair will be held in Room 3111 of the Ripley Center, Smithsonian Institution. This year’s lecture will be given by Dr. Thomas Battle, director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at the Howard University. Dr. Battle will discuss the challenges of collecting material that documents African- American history. His talk will be followed by a panel discussion of the problems with and progress in collecting African-American archival materials. If you would like to have your repository participate in Archives Fair 2002 - please contact Kristine Kaske. Spaces are filling up quickly. You will find below is a list of the repositories that represented in Archives Fair 2001. DC Public Library — NEXT ISSUE OF THE QUARTERLY: October 2002 — Please send articles and
notices about upcoming events, people, and news in the DC area to
Sarah Demb at dembs@si.edu. Any
suggestions for improving the newsletter (format or content)? All
ideas are welcome.* (Endnotes) |
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