Archival studies – Page 2 – Public History at UMass Boston

January 29, 2016Heidi Gengenbach 2 Comments

The Boston 200 Collection: A Processing Experience

By: Laura Kintz

During the Fall 2015 semester, I had the opportunity to complete my required archives internship at the City of Boston Archives in West Roxbury. This was a wonderful learning experience that allowed me work on processing an important archival collection: the records of the Boston 200 Corporation, which planned and managed the city’s United States Bicentennial celebrations in 1975 and 1976.

Before beginning this internship, my processing experience was limited to the Spring 2015 Archival Methods and Practices course, in which we processed the collection of the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. That project was very challenging because I worked mainly with photographs for which there was no significant original order; they were just unorganized, loose photos with very little, if any, identifying information. In addition, the JPHS did not have an established archival collections policy, so much of the work we did was from scratch. Processing the Boston 200 collection gave me the chance to work with institutional records that are probably more typical of the type of materials that I would work with in future processing projects at an established archive.

The Boston 200 collection specifically consists of the records of the Boston 200 Corporation, which planned and managed Boston’s United States Bicentennial celebration. The celebratory events took place mainly in 1975 and 1976, but the records that I processed date as far back at the late 1960s through the late 1970s. The corporation itself was in operation from 1972 until 1976. In its pre-processed state, the collection consisted of boxes of file folders most likely from filing cabinets or office drawers, with occasional miscellaneous materials in manila envelopes or just loose inside the boxes. The collection is divided into series based on the specific program areas of Boston 200. Of approximately 200 total boxes in the collection, I processed 20. I was able to condense the original 20 boxes into a finished product of 14 boxes. This included part of the Visitor Services series and all of the Neighborhoods series and the Environmental Improvements series.

My job was, in short, to make order out of disorder. The biggest part of this task was refoldering, since the original folders were not in very good condition nor were they acid-free, and acid-free folders are the standard for archival document storage. The folders already had labels, and in most cases I could just keep the same labels as my new folder titles. There were some exceptions to this rule; I occasionally encountered folder titles that did not accurately reflect their folders’ contents, and in those cases, I created new ones. The main reason for doing that is so that a researcher looking at the list of folders in the collection can determine which folders will be helpful; an inaccurate folder title would be misleading and waste the researcher’s time. To indicate that a folder title was of my own creation, and not the original title, I put it in brackets. In addition to the title, I also added a date range to the folder label.

Just as important as processing a collection is making it accessible. Towards that end, after completing the processing of each box, I cataloged it using the ArchivesSpace platform so that the collection will be searchable on the City of Boston Archives website. ArchivesSpace allows for the hierarchical entry of information that can be migrated into a finding aid. I entered folder information at the “file” level underneath the appropriate series within the collection. The most important information that ArchivesSpace captures is the folder title and dates, but I also added information related to the document type (always “paper,” except in the case of photographs) and the materials’ physical location in the storage room. This example shows my entry for a folder titled “Neighborhood History Series booklets” and dated 1975-1976, which I entered as a file unit under the Neighborhoods series.

The majority of the materials that I processed and cataloged were textual, but I did encounter some photographs as well. There were two general types of photographs: those that documented Boston 200 activities and those that did not. Photos in the latter category were related to things like advertising or proposals from potential vendors. This distinction is important because I handled these two types of photos in different ways. For the unrelated photos, all I did was insert them into mylar photo sleeves and return them to their original folders. When I found photos related to Boston 200 activities, on the other hand, I separated them out to add them to their own Boston 200 Photographs series. I gave each of these photos their own identifying number (or digital identifier), inserted them into mylar photo sleeves, scanned them, uploaded them to the city archives’ Flickr page, added identifying and copyright information, and entered them into ArchiveSpace (at the item level, not just the folder level). I also put the photos into their own folders with titles that corresponded to the folder that they originally came from. Most photographs that I encountered did not have any identifying information, but in the interest of time, I did not do much research to identify people or places were not recognizable. That is where the Flickr platform can come in handy; the site allows registered users to view and comment on photos, and users have occasionally been able to identify people and places in city archives’ photos that staff could not identify. Below is a screenshot of the Flickr page, as well as three examples of photos that I scanned and cataloged.

Photo in Boston 200 Photographs Flickr album

Woman posing with Early Music Month sign Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston — Woman posing with Early Music Month sign
Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston

Participants in neighborhood cleanup Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston — Participants in neighborhood cleanup
Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston

Boston Tea Party poster contest participant Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston — Boston Tea Party poster contest participant
Credit: Boston 200 records, Collection # 0279.001, Photographs, Boston City Archives, Boston

While the overall experience of processing a collection was the highlight of my internship experience, I also gained insight into the wide variety of research topics that just one archival collection can represent, beyond those that might seem obvious. My initial excitement in being assigned this collection was that in Monica Pelayo’s Fall 2014 Public History Colloquium, we read a book called The Spirit of 1976 that discussed United States Bicentennial celebrations from a critical public history perspective. I was interested to see how this collection could fit into public history discussions of national celebrations. It certainly would be a valuable resource for research on that topic, but its potential is so much greater. Materials in the collection document the logistics of planning such a massive celebration, which could be used by someone studying, for example, the failure of Boston’s 2020 Olympics bid. The collection also documents the vast number of improvements made to the city’s tourism infrastructure, which could be used by someone studying the history of tourism in Boston. It includes materials related to significant historic preservation projects, which could be used by someone studying the history of the Freedom Trail or Black Heritage Trail and improvements made to the city’s historic sites. It also documents a turbulent time in the city’s history, and its records provide insight into urban renewal and race relations. The research possibilities really are endless.

The Boston 200 collection is a valuable asset to the City of Boston Archives. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to hone my processing skills with this collection and to further my understanding of the wide variety of uses for archival collections. I know that I will take what I have learned with me as I continue my archival career.

September 9, 2015Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Serendipity in the Archives: Making Connections between Collections

By: Laura Kintz

Last November, during my first semester in the Archives program at UMass Boston, I saw an internship announcement for a photo digitization position right across the street from UMass at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Eager for more hands-on archival experience (and excited about the fact that this was a paid position), I decided to apply. I was lucky enough to get the job, and I’m able to keep extending my internship as long as I am still a student, so I plan to stay there at least through the Fall 2015 semester.

As a digitization intern, I have the opportunity to work with the White House Photographs collection, scanning and cataloging photos that document President Kennedy’s years in the White House. Through this work, I have learned so much about the President’s daily activities, the ins and outs of the White House and its grounds, and many other aspects of the presidency. Twice this year, though, I have put my digitization work aside to help with the Library’s Preservation Week program. The current program involves the sorting of condolence mail that was received by the White House, mainly by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, in the aftermath of President Kennedy’s assassination. Staff members and interns have worked on arranging the materials alphabetically, so that individual items may be retrieved using the name of the sending individual, group, or organization.

Me in the JFK Library processing room. Photo credit: Jennifer Marciello

During the most recent Preservation Week, from July 13-19, two collections collided when I discovered a condolence letter with a direct connection to the White House Photographs collection. During the alphabetization process, I just happened to pick up a letter with an attached photographic print of President Kennedy standing with two teenage girls in the Oval Office. In the letter, its writer, a girl from Pittsburgh named Anita Bernstein, expresses her heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Kennedy and describes the “wonderful experience” of visiting the White House with one of her friends and having the opportunity to meet the President. The photo she enclosed with her letter was from that visit.

The letter and photograph immediately piqued my interest. Before I even read the letter, I suspected that the photograph was from WHP. Having scanned so many photographs of the President in the Oval Office, I recognized the room right away and knew that since the photo was taken inside the White House, there was a good chance it was taken by an official White House photographer (it could have been taken by a news photographer, but I thought that unlikely, since the subjects of the photo were everyday citizens). I hoped it would be possible to confirm this by finding the original photograph in our collection. Luckily, aside from being an incredibly eloquent and moving tribute to the late President, Miss Bernstein’s letter was a goldmine of information that provided context for the photograph.

In her letter, Miss Bernstein recounts an event in Pittsburgh on December 4, 1962, after which she and a friend approached President Kennedy’s Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger, and expressed their “earnest desire to meet” the President. She writes that Mr. Salinger agreed to set up a meeting “if we could be in Washington the next day. Naturally we could.” That meant that Miss Bernstein and her friend were at the White House on December 5, 1962. White House Photographs are arranged chronologically, and sure enough, the finding aid lists a folder for that day titled “Visit of two girls from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” There were two negatives on file for the event, neither of which had been scanned; I pulled both of them, and one matched the copy of the photograph that Miss Bernstein sent with her letter.

JFKWHP-ST-520-2-62. President John F. Kennedy with Young Supporters from Pittsburgh. [View entire folder here: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-1962-12-05-D.aspx]

It was exciting to have confirmed that this photograph that I stumbled upon was actually part of the White House Photographs, because in addition to scanning photographs, I also catalog them, and I knew that this letter would help me with that process. Cataloging requires me to identify, to the best of my ability, the people pictured in a photograph, and to establish as much background as I can for the event or meeting depicted; this information ultimately accompanies the digitized photo in the Library’s digital archives. Since this photo in particular had not yet been scanned or cataloged, I had the opportunity to follow my regular workflow to complete those steps; this was when I realized the true impact of having the accompanying letter to provide context.

When cataloging a photograph, the first priority is to identify the people in it. The first places I check for names are the folder title, the backs of the prints on file, the President’s Appointment Book, the photographer’s log, and the shot cards. In this case, none of these sources provided any identifying information other than “Two girls from Pittsburgh” (the President’s Appointment Book didn’t provide any information at all, probably because this was just an informal meet-and-greet). This letter, therefore, put me ahead of the game because it provided something that these other sources did not: a name for one of the girls.

Cataloging resources: photographer’s log, shot card, and back of photographic print

The next step in my research process was to try to identify the other girl in the photo, whom Miss Bernstein only identifies as “my friend” in her letter. Using just the basic search term of “Anita Bernstein” in Google’s online newspaper archive, I found an Associated Press photo published by The Tuscaloosa News on December 9, 1962, with the caption: “Two honor students from Pittsburgh’s Peabody High School hold up charm bracelets given to them by President Kennedy. The girls, Anita Bernstein, (left), and Judy Mankin, both 16, visited the President at the White House. The girls played hookey [sic] from school and made the trip to Washington. They met the President when he was in Pittsburgh on a political tour two months ago and Kennedy remembered them.” Although the scan of the newspaper was grainy, the photo was clear enough that I could tell that these were the same two girls who are in the WHP photo, and it was clear which one was which. I now had names for both girls.

To complete the cataloging process, I wrote a brief description of the photograph. If I had scanned the negative and cataloged the photo without the letter, Miss Bernstein and Miss Mankin may have remained just “two girls from Pittsburgh.” But from what I learned about them from the letter and the newspaper caption, I was able to identify them by name, and I felt confident in describing them as “young supporters” of President Kennedy, rather than just as “visitors.” Once the condolence mail is digitized, researchers will be able to link directly between this photograph and Miss Bernstein’s letter. As a pair, these two documents have a higher research value than each would have on its own.

This connection between the White House Photographs and Condolence Mail collections is an exciting one. Such a link would be noteworthy under any circumstances, but is even more so because Anita Bernstein’s letter is such a wonderful tribute to President Kennedy and his legacy. Together, the photograph and the letter illuminate the story of two civic-minded young women who were vocal in their support of their president. This story is certainly one that is worth telling, and one that may have been lost had it not been for some serendipity in the archives.

The full text of Anita Bernstein’s letter is available below.

Papers of John F. Kennedy. Condolence Mail. Domestic Mail, Folder: “Bernock-Bernstein”.

August 20, 2015Heidi Gengenbach No Comments

Living a Changed Life

By: Corinne Zaczek Bermon, Historian and Archivist in the Making

Corinne Zaczek Bermon Historian and Archivist in the Making

It was natural for me to fall into the wine business after growing up amongst the vines in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. I paid my way through college by standing behind a bar and loved to talk about wine regions, wine varietals and food pairings. Between my bar experience and being trained as a sommelier, it was certainly an easy transition to marketing and public relations for a local company after I graduated with an American Studies BA from UMass Boston. I spent my days tasting wine, writing about it, designing newsletters and advertisements, and blogging. Knowing my privilege as a good wine writer and an expert in the field, I happily traveled around the globe interviewing winemakers and having private tastings in their cellars while freelancing for magazines on the side. While I loved the world that I was in, I knew something was missing. I came to realize that I concentrated more on the history of wine and wineries when I researched and wrote and less about selling the wine to would be buyers.

That was when I knew it was time for a change.

When I graduated from UMass Boston, I left with an overwhelming feeling that I had not had enough. I registered and graduated in 3 semesters with all the transfer credits I had accrued. American Studies intrigued me because it combined my love of American history while looking at aspects that are left out of the master narrative such as race, class and gender. It struck me that I was not done with American Studies and I made the decision to apply to the graduate program.

So now I spend my days studying early 20^th century history’s intersections of gender and class and urban history. I am currently working on my thesis for graduation entitled “The Activist Gardener: Rose Standish Nichols in the National and International Movement of Peace, 1915-1945.” Focusing on one Boston woman’s work, Rose Standish Nichols, I will bring to light the national and international networks women formed in the peace movement while bringing Nichols back into her rightful place in history as a founder of the long-standing Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, while continuing her career as a world-renown landscape architect.

While starting my second year of grad school, I found a second love: archival studies. Archiving represents for me the practical use of my knowledge in history. It’s hands on and always moving forward with the use of digital tools. For my digital project on the history of Boston desegregation, I hoped to be able to bring an interactive mapping tool that would give this project a sense of place and bring the different neighborhoods affected by bussing into focus for non-Bostonians and Bostonians alike.

I only drink wine now for pleasure and not my job. I still accept some freelance jobs because, let’s face it, graduate students need money and freelancing pays.