Blog Contributors

Saving African American genealogy programs

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By Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor and Archival Assistant at the Delta Flight Museum

Tamika Strong, Reference Archivist at the Georgia Archives in Morrow, took on a big challenge and created a program that has won a Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) award. Time to find out more!

What spurred this idea in the first place, can you remember?
A chance reading of an article in Georgia Library Quarterly written in 2009 by Dottie Demarest, former genealogy and local history librarian at the East Central Georgia Regional Library System which is now Augusta-Richmond County Public Library. In the article, Ms. Demarest talked about the funeral program collection at the library. After reading it, I thought that if Augusta could do it, so could Atlanta. So I started thinking about how to get the programs and where would they be housed.

Did you talk to the other project’s “inventors” or did you jump right in?
I just jumped right in. I didn’t think to reach out to Ms. Demarest. I just figured it out on my own. The goal was to collect the programs, index them and then donate them to the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Once I had the goal in mind, I shared my idea with the members of the Wesley Chapel Genealogy Group and they liked the idea. I also approached the then president of the Metro Atlanta Chapter of AAHGS, Gene Stephens, who was also on board. Auburn Avenue was the only institution I considered as a permanent home for the collection and thankfully, the Archivist at the time, Kerrie Cotten Williams, was accepting of the collection.

Did you have programs ready to go or did a collection elsewhere inspire you?
Our collection was inspired by the collection at Augusta-Richmond, that had been digitized on DLG. We didn’t have any programs ready, so through word of mouth, we began to receive donations of programs. We are still collecting and processing them. Hopefully, the programs we are collecting now will eventually be added to the Atlanta Funeral Programs Collection on DLG.

Did you have to solicit anyone to include their collections, or did a percentage donate once they heard about the project?
All of the programs were donated by members of the Wesley Chapel Genealogy Group and the Metro Atlanta Chapter of AAHGS. Some members reached out to family members, friends, funeral homes, and cemeteries and were able to get programs from them.

How did you “advertise” to get interest and donations?
Mostly word of mouth through members of the groups, but I remember creating a bookmark and would share that bookmark with attendees of workshops I taught several years ago.

How important were your genealogical ties in growing the project?
Our genealogical ties were the driving force behind the project. The obituaries contained in funeral programs are, in many cases, the only biographical sketch an individual will ever have. In the African American community, funeral programs are collected and, in some cases, treated as heirlooms. When the collector of these documents dies, unfortunately, these documents are among the papers thrown away, especially if the deceased are not members of the family. We wanted to provide a way to preserve these records because as genealogists tracing African American ancestry, we know how difficult it can be to uncover information. Though the information contained in the obituaries may not always be correct, it is a starting point for someone tracing their family’s history. Many of my fellow genealogists are having to start from scratch and it is our hope that this collection and others like it will help provide a foundation on which future researchers can begin the journey of tracing their family’s history.

If someone wanted to do a similar project, what first couple of steps would you suggest?
I would suggest they check to see if there is another project like it in their area first. If there is not, they may want to identify and speak with a repository to see if it is a collection they would be interested in receiving. The collection criteria for our project only had one restriction, the deceased had to be African American. Auburn Avenue Research Library was selected in part because they collect materials from around the world. Someone interested in doing a project such as this will have to make sure that the programs fall within the collection policy of the institution. Once they have a home, then they can work on collecting the programs. Word of mouth and some publicity at workshops worked well for us. They may be able to expand that in other ways. The goal was the index the programs before donating them to the institution so that the institution wouldn’t have more work added to their workload. Additionally, you may want to work with the institution to identify and possibly purchase supplies, archival safe boxes, folders, etc. to house the collection so that it will not become a financial drain for the institution. Grants may help to supplement this need. Work with the institution on deciding how to organize the collection, whether each program will have its own folder or if they will be grouped alphabetically. Depending on the size of the project, you may have to get volunteers to assist with the project. Once the foundation is laid and a process established, you can focus on collecting the programs.

Tell me a bit about your new GHRAC award!
Angela Stanley, the Director of Archival Services & Digital Initiatives at Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS), who was instrumental in getting the collection digitized, submitted the nomination and we were fortunate to be one of the recipients of the award. It never crossed my mind that this project would one day be honored with a state-wide award like GHRAC. It goes to show you never know. Though my name is listed on the award, the honor is shared with everyone who made contributions to the success of the project. I am grateful for the recognition and thankful to all the partners, especially the Wesley Chapel Genealogy Group, AAHGS Metro Atlanta Chapter, Derek Mosley and the archival staff at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, Angela Stanley and GPLS, and the Digital Library of Georgia for all of their work on making this project the success that it is.

The Archives of Black Women Artists (Part One), featuring Sierra King

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By Anicka Austin, SGA Blog Contributor and Visiting Archivist for the Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers
Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book library

Earlier this year, Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences offered eight artists studio residencies at its Cross-Pollination Art Lab. The Hambidge Center regularly provides residencies on its 600-acre sanctuary in North Georgia and naturally has strong ties to Atlanta through the artists who live in the city and the Center’s donors.

Two of the artists, Jasmine Williams and Sierra King, used their time at the Lab focused on collaborative artmaking and exploring “the concept of archiving in real-time.” They worked parallel to each other, and King documented Williams’ creative process. King also installed “THROUGHLINE”, a physical timeline showing the intersections of their relationship from when their parents met to more recent projects like Williams’ Adult Swim Mural.

Photos of Jasmine Williams and Sierra King

The artists, no strangers to working together, began their parallel journey in middle school.

King: 

While we haven’t always been “Artists”, we have always been friends. Passing notes to each other in the hallway, connecting online at the beginning ages of social media and running into each other at music events. As both of our practices grew, we spent a lot of time in the studio together up until 2019.

Jasmine Williams, photographed by Sierra King

King is an archivist. Initially, her archival work of Black women artists began as an exploration in validation. For Black artists, having our work “validated” by its inclusion in an institution’s archival collection seems to be a step forward. She pushes back on that narrative now, saying, “there’s enough value in our work inherently. It doesn’t have to be validated by an institution.” There are many pivotal events or people in history who are not recognized on an institutional level. In our phone conversation, she uses the example of political actions, like protests, saying, “There are hundreds of thousands of Black people behind the front lines. Everyone has a story that deserves to be told.”

King’s archival history began with her family.

King:

I like to say that my first experience with the archives as a child was when I walked into my Grandmother’s living room. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with photographs of family, friends and babies that she had taken care of and watched grow up. While it wasn’t a formal institution, I look back on that memory as one that always required me to think deeply about the history of who my people were and our narratives.

King’s Grandfather, Horace Walter Stephens Jr., was one of the only African-American boy scout troop leaders in Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s. He took troops around the world to locations where Buffalo Soldiers traveled, including Alaska and Ghana.  Sierra and her family are in the appraisal process with her Grandfather’s belongings which include sports memorabilia, rare books, Ebony and Jet magazines, and a collection of Black Barbies.

King says, “the beauty of personal archives is that you still live with them.”

Sierra King, age 7 or 8, with Barbie collection

Her words remind me of an Archiving the Black Web National Forum session that featured archivists’ web-based storytelling practices. Camille Lawrence, founder of Black Beauty Archives and one of the panelists, used the example of curating exhibitions in barber shops and beauty salons to underscore the importance of context when displaying archival material. The salon, as a cultural heritage institution, puts the material in the hands of those who directly relate to it. Additionally, environmental context illuminates nuances, allowing for greater understanding of the culture by those who are being introduced to it for the first time.

King:

 I was able to recognize that it [archival work] was something that I have been doing as a photographer all along. I was documenting Black Women Artists, like Jasmine in the Atlanta arts community as I went to exhibitions, studio visits and just creating relationships with them…. I learned that while documenting the practice is important, creating a trusting relationship to be present to document the more private moments is even more invaluable.

King’s creative process as a photographer has influenced her archival work. Part of her ethos in documenting the world around her comes from a desire to go out and life a full life, to create relationships and moments that nourish her. Shifting between mediums allows her to bring those living conversations into her work. She highlights her experiences and experiences of those around her through essays and curating exhibitions. She asks of viewers of the work, “Do you have any memories entangled in this? Do you see yourself in this history?”

Top: Sierra King, archival installation; Bottom: Sierra King, Mint Gallery installation

Within this is the drive towards sharing information about archival processes with Black women artists.

King: 

My mission for documenting, preserving and archiving the livelihoods of Black Women Artists has evolved and expanded. It is centered on providing them with the tools, knowledge and resources so that they can protect not only their personal narrative but also their career narrative. 

It has allowed me to also evolve and expand as an artist. It has informed where I want to take my own artistic practice and has me actively thinking about how I want to shape and present my narrative to the world. Most importantly it has allowed me to stand firm to say, “This is what my work as an archival installation / veneration / remembrance looks like.” 

I think the mission is something that archivists have always been striving towards and is received well because I am emphasizing that Black Women Artists be proactive and active in their archival processes while they are able to make the necessary choices.

Personal archives are at the heart of King’s work, even when the collection is donated to an institution. In 2017, King worked with Leigh Raiford and a project team on Kathleen Cleavers papers, which are now part of Rose Library collections.

Photos from Kathleen Cleaver papers, process photographed by Sierra King

King continues to reflect deeply on the role of archives in the lives of Black women artists. She was awarded the National Black Arts Festival Micro Grant, which she will use to continue to document Black women artists. She is currently working with Rosa Duffy at For Keeps! Black and Rare Classic Books designing an archival residency that will allow her time and space to take inventory and showcase some smaller archival installations. She will also be returning to the Hambidge Center in November for a creative residency, where she is looking to install one of her largest installations to date.For an example of her curatorial work, you can find documentation of Here. There. Everywhere, an exhibition King curated for Mint Gallery in 2020 on Google Arts and Culture Atlanta: Bold and Beautiful.

A busy pandemic for the Portman Archives

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by Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor

Westin Peachtree Plaza; ca.1976
© 1976 Alexandre Georges courtesy of the Portman Archives Interior of the Westin Peachtree Plaza by John C. Portman, Jr. with Olga De Amaral’s commissioned work, ‘El Gran Muro’, hanging within the central atrium.

Tell us a bit about the Portman Archive, for those who may not know about it.
The Portman Archives is the repository for the architectural and artistic contributions of John C. Portman, Jr. serving to promote and preserve his architectural philosophy and legacy. We are centrally located in the heart of Peachtree Center, one of his lasting contributions to the architecture of downtown Atlanta. The Portman Archives act to provide resources for research, digitization, and circulation of information and assets from our collections, internally, locally, and internationally.

What is your staffing, are you a lone arranger or are you a team?
Here at the Portman Archives, we are a team of three, directed by the leadership of the Portman Foundation. In addition to myself, the visual materials archivist, there are two other wonderful archivists, Becca Brown and Katie Twomey.

What kinds of collections do you have in your archive?
Our collections include architectural drawings, paintings, sculptures, artifacts, photographic materials, and marketing materials all related to Mr. Portman’s career as an architect and developer.

What were some of the changes in your job due to the pandemic and lockdown, and how did these changes reveal new opportunities?
During the pandemic we shifted our focus to digital projects, while also using the time away from our physical assets as an opportunity to revamp our archival policies and procedures. During this initiative, we streamlined our mission statement and collection policy and began working on a collaborative deaccession project that focuses on reducing our physical footprint, while ensuring retention and expansion of our digital collections. This exercise has been both challenging and rewarding!

My favorite example from our deaccession project has been working to rehome a beautiful set of Olga De Amaral weavings titled, ‘El Gran Muro’ that were commissioned by Mr. Portman in the 1970s to hang in the central atrium of the Westin Peachtree Plaza. While these weavings help to tell the story of Mr. Portman’s Westin Peachtree Plaza, we have come to realize that keeping the physical items is outside of our collection policy due to their scale and our inability to display them, especially with our move to smaller square footage on the horizon.

While the pandemic certainly made it more of a challenge to handle and show the weavings in-person to interested institutions, our deaccessioning initiative has really proven to create a new and exciting opportunity to build relationships with institutions who share our goal of making these assets accessible and able to be enjoyed by the public once again!

What prompted your move?
Our move represents a new direction for the Portman Archive as we aim to be more outward facing in our promotion of Mr. Portman’s legacy. Our new space will also position us closer to our sister companies within the Portman Companies so that we can collaborate more efficiently. We are excited about what the future holds for The Portman Archives and look forward to sharing with SGA in the future. If interested, please visit our website at www.portmanarchives.com!

Photographs from Emory’s Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers are open for research

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By Anicka Austin, Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library and SGA Blog Contributor

In the gospel of Mark in the New Testament of The Bible, readers meet Salome, Herodias’ daughter. Herodias harbored a strong dislike of John the Baptist, who disapproved of her marriage to Herod, her previous husband’s brother. Herodias’ opportunity to enact revenge came unexpectedly when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday. Salome dances beautifully for Herod and his guests during the banquet, prompting Herod to offer Salome anything she wants. Salome asks Herodias what she should request, returns to Herod and says, “the head of John the Baptist on a platter”. Herod reluctantly acquiesces (Mark 6:17-29). This story has been explored by artists throughout history and choreographer Lester Horton almost obsessively recreated and reimagined it throughout his career.

Carmen de Lavallade as Salome, and in The Beloved, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University

Carmen de Lavallade first danced the hefty role of Salome in Horton’s production when she was still a teenager.  Frank Eng, Horton’s business manager and partner, said she possessed “a youthful, lovely lyricism; an implicit and natural feeling for drama…and, most important, the drive.” (Bizot, 1984).  De Lavallade’s commanding presence and ability to tap into the dramatic elements of a work would be a defining quality throughout her career.

For de Lavallade, dancing with Horton helped shape her formative years. She recalls working with Horton’s company as being part of a team. The group did everything from painting sets to cleaning, which she says set her up for a well-rounded career in the arts (You Might Know Her From, 2020). This is evident in early photographs of the company, including depictions of de Lavallade teaching young students, performing Salome (1950-1953) and The Beloved (created in 1948), and working intently in rehearsal processes. She would help reconstruct Salome, or as Horton later called it, The Face of Violence, along with James Truitte for the Cincinnati Ballet Company in 1972 (Bizet, 1984).

Carmen de Lavallade with children, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University

Throughout the collection of photographs in the Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers, researchers might notice de Lavallade’s commitment to a variety of projects, which explains the range with which she performs. From actor to choreographer to dancer to educator, de Lavallade made her way through commercial film, Broadway, Yale Repertory Theater, and the stages of Paris where she danced with Josephine Baker. A series of negatives, slides and photographs show her journey through Southeast Asia as headliner of de Lavallade-Ailey American Dance Theater (1962). Her work with choreographer John Butler is also well-documented, including photographs of the well-loved Portrait of Billie (1960-1992) performed throughout several years.

Carmen de Lavallade and John Butler rehearse Portrait of Billie, and de Lavallade and Alvin Ailey on Southeast Asia tour, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University

Through photographs, researchers can also see de Lavallade celebrated and celebrating at formal events such as Kennedy Center Honors and the “Divas of the Twentieth Century” award ceremony (1991).  De Lavallade’s life in photographs is rounded out by decades of headshots and documentation of dinners, parties and relationships with friends and family.

Carmen de Lavallade at White House, and with friends, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University

The photographs shown here represent a fraction of de Lavallade’s early life (circa 1949-1968), but researchers can find photographs in this series from circa 1900-2017. Photographs of Geoffrey Holder’s life and career are also prominent. For research questions, please reach out to rose.library@emory.edu

Finding aid: https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/holder1432/series2/ 

References:

Bizot, Richard (1984). Lester Horton’s Salome, 1934-1953 and after. Dance Research Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 35-40. https://doi.org/10.2307/1478256

Bellino, Damian and Anne Rodeman. 2020 February 20. Carmen de Lavallade [Audio Podcast Episode]. “You Might Know Her From”. https://youmightknowherfrom.libsyn.com/carmen-de-lavallade

New International Version of the Bible. Biblica. https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/mark/6/

William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum

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By Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor

 On Spring Street in Atlanta, there is a wonderful museum which celebrates the many Jewish contributions to our city. I asked for details from Jeremy Katz, Senior Director of Archives for the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Archives.

Jeremy, give us your Breman elevator speech!
The Breman Museum is Georgia’s Jewish museum, and it is our mission to connect people to Jewish history, culture, and arts. We accomplish this mission by utilizing our physical space, which consists of three exhibition galleries, an auditorium, and an archival repository that houses the largest collection related to Jewish history in the region. We also have an ever-growing virtual space that consists of online exhibitions, programs, and access to archival collections via industry leading content management systems.

COVID has created challenges for everyone, but the Breman used the time wisely. What was your big project, and why now?
The archives at the Breman Museum turned lemons into lemonade and utilized the extra time at home to completely overhaul our entire CMS. We migrated from outdated, siloed systems to the industry leading ArchivesSpace, Aviary, and CollectionSpace. We recently joined the Archives at Yale as the only two repositories to integrate and sync Aviary with ArchivesSpace. Our endgame is to unite all this information into one public search portal like BentoSpace.

What made you choose the platforms you did for your collections?
Our staff decided on these platforms after years of research, planning, and fundraising. At the heart of the initiative was the primary goal of lowering barriers to collection access. After consulting with colleagues, vendors, and supporters we decided to work with LYRASIS to migrate to ArchivesSpace and CollectionSpace, and AVP to migrate to Aviary. This overhaul has drastically improved both administrative workflows and the user experience, as well as exponentially increased access to our collections.

What were a few of the biggest challenges for the project? What went well? What didn’t go as well?
One of the biggest challenges to the project was a double-edged sword. Working from home allowed extra time to focus on the project but is also created fact checking barriers. If we came across a possible error in a finding aid, for example, we could not double check the physical record to ensure accuracy. Besides the physical barrier due to COVID, everything went extremely smooth with the migration. That is a testament to our staff in the archives at the Breman and our support teams at LYRASIS and AVP.

Do you have any advice for anyone else planning to choose a new CMS?
Every institution is different so find the solution that works best for your content. Analyze your data and how it is structured, research the latest systems available, and budget the resources needed to achieve the migration. I also highly recommend the solution that we chose should your research point you in that direction. Seeing our content become more accessible than ever before has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

I hear an anniversary is coming up, how do you plan to celebrate?
Another project we worked extensively on over the past year is our new exhibition opening this September in honor of the Breman Museum’s 25th anniversary. History With Chutzpah: Remarkable Stories of the Southern Jewish Adventure, 1733 – Present, focuses on the archives and how we preserve and democratize access to the stories of our community. I hope you all can visit the museum to see the show after it opens in a few short weeks!

Scripts in the Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers at Rose Library are open for research

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By Anicka Austin, Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, SGA Blog Contributor

Roger Moore had tough shoes to fill when he took over the job of depicting Ian Fleming’s James Bond in 1973’s Live and Let Die. Bond, up until that point, was played by a relatively well received Sean Connery and once by George Lazenby. Another Roger (Ebert) called Moore’s performance humorless, saying “Moore has been supplied with a lot of double entendres and double takes, but he doesn’t seem to get the joke.” (Ebert, 1973) While Moore’s lack of wit may have been a shortcoming, Geoffrey Holder’s scene-stealing portrayal of Baron Samedi held the “convoluted” (Mager, 2001) film together. Holder’s guttural laughter and mischievousness as the loa of the dead gave some weight to vodou themes in the film, as did his choreography.

Holder’s choreographic vocabulary is reflected in several moments in the film. In an opening scene on the fictional Caribbean island, San Monique, an MI-6 field agent named Baines cowers as Dambala dances a snake in front of his face. Behind Dambala, a crowd of people dressed in white step side to side, contracting and releasing their spines in a ritual dance. A revised Live and Let Die script described that same crowd in a later scene:

Ext: VOODOO CEMETARY – NIGHT

Lines of WORSHIPPERS and ACOLYTE GUARDS sway back and forth to the beat of drums, chanting. Oddly-dressed people of all sorts: WOMEN with cigars and bowler hats, MEN with rum kegs smoking root drugs, most wearing strange fetishes and amulets. A large cross-like stake with ropes hanging from it has been erected nearby, exactly in the place where we saw BAINES killed in the pre-title sequence. DAMBALA stands by the stake, takes in the proceedings, looks off as if waiting for something.

Holder’s relationship with Haitian vodou, and particularly with Baron Samedi, permeates through most of his work. His early writings, including Les Mysteres (undated), depict the goings-on of several loas, including Baron Samedi, Erzulie, and Agwe as well as Hector Hippolyte, a Haitian painter and spiritual leader from whom Holder drew inspiration. 

An excerpt from Les Mysteres:

The languid brown hand draws another delicate tracery on the orange earth: the vever of Ogoun. . .God of fire and might, power, authority, triumph, politics, war. Being an honest hero, a real shaker of history, Ogoun wears the sad tortured face of Christ, just unhung from the cross. The martyred warrior hero; his flesh is impervious to wounds but his spirit is not. The sword is sacred to him, the blood color of red, and the flames of burning rum on the earth are his salute. Thunder is the sound of Ogoun announcing that his balls are cold and he demands a drink of rum which he spits through his teeth.

Access to Live and Let Die and Les Mysteres is now available in the Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers. Holder and de Lavallade were both heavily involved in and influential to modern theatre, dance, and visual art. Scripts in Holder’s papers include other original writings such as The Odyssey of Anna and the Red Pumps (circa 1991-2002) and Sister Alice in Wonderland (circa 1998-2008). Holder, whose work truly ran the gamut, was also featured in ads for 7-up, as narrator for films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and as “Chef Geoffrey Lamont” on The Cosby Show (1990). These scripts and more, including several drafts of the Broadway productions The Wiz and Timbuktu, which Holder directed and costume designed, are well represented in the collection.

Researchers interested in learning more can view the finding aid, learn how to request materials from the Rose and contact reference services to make an appointment (rose.library@emory.edu).

References: 

Ebert, Roger. (1973 July 6). Live and Let Die movie review. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/live-and-let-die-1973

Mager, William (26 July 2001). Live and Let Die. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/07/26/live_and_let_die_1973_review.shtml

Georgia Archives Institute 2021

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By Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor

2021 Georgia Archives Institute Graduates

We, the GAI board, were disappointed last year, when the 2020 Georgia Archives Institute had to be cancelled due to COVID 19, and wanted badly to hold the Institute this year. After much discussion, the board decided on an all-online format. Sadly, this meant there would be no internships, but cancelling for a second year seemed so much worse. GAI 2021 concluded on June 14.

We were again lucky to have Pam Hackbart-Dean as our primary instructor, as well as Tina Mason Seetoo on Preservation and Katherine Fisher on Digital Preservation. To give everyone a breather now and again, we enlisted the help of guest speakers. Our topics included Anti-Racist Archival Description, Content Management Systems, Born Digital Records and Working with Community Archives. Our guest speakers volunteered their time and we valued the addition of other voices in archives for the students.

Meeting online via Zoom meant there would be no reception. The 2021 class had twenty-one students, and thanks to our sponsors, we sent everyone a goodie box with Georgia-themed treats and a mini Hollinger box. We hosted students from all over Georgia, but also from Connecticut, Alabama, Texas, Florida and South Carolina.

We also hosted several scholarship-supported attendees. We thank the Society of Georgia Archivists, the Friends of Georgia Archives and History, Georgia Public Library Service and the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council for providing these opportunities for attendees that may not have been able to take part otherwise.

On the last day of the 2021 six-day course, students, instructors and board members met for an informal online wrap-up. We heard about the Society of Georgia Archivists, the Clayton State Archival program, and the Regional Archival Associations Consortium, and heard from students about their experiences at this year’s Institute.

Our GAI sponsors include BMS Cat Fire, Water & Reconstruction Services, the Georgia Archives, HF Group, Hollinger Metal Edge, the Digital Library of Georgia, Master Enterprises, Inc., Patterson Pope, Preservation Technologies, PreserveSouth and the Society of Georgia Archivists.

We certainly hope that the 2022 Institute, scheduled for June 6 through June 17 2022, will once more include internships, a reception and our ability to meet everyone in person. You can keep an eye on our renovated website and our Facebook page for updates. In the meantime, we congratulate the 2021 graduates!

https://www.georgiaarchivesinstitute.org/
https://www.facebook.com/georgiaarchivesinstitute

The Supply Side

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By Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor

Adding the Hollinger metal edge, Photograph courtesy of Bob Henderson

If you have been a member of SGA for more than a couple of years, you may have seen Bob Henderson and his table for Hollinger at annual meetings. But what do you know about Hollinger, really?

Who started Hollinger Metal Edge and when?


The Hollinger Company was started by William Hollinger in 1945. Mr. Hollinger worked with officials from The Library of Congress and National Archives to develop archival paper & board for long term storage. Following on the success of The Hollinger Company, in 1995 Bob Henderson along with the late Larry Gates formed the archival division of Metal Edge, Incorporated. After many years of collaboration, The Hollinger Company and Metal Edge, Inc. merged in 2008 to become Hollinger Metal Edge, Inc.

How many staff do you employ?
Currently 35

Most of us are familiar with the standard supplies, but tell us about the product assembly department.
The Hollinger Box begins from a large sheet of board. From there, we run the large sheet of board through a slitter to get a much smaller size sheet to accommodate the Hollinger Box cutting die. On to the die cutter, each Hollinger Box gets die cut from a single sheet of board. Think of the die cut as a cookie cutter. We can mend metal dies to make almost any shape we want. The final process in making the Hollinger Box is applying the metal edges. Our metal edge machines apply one edge at a time and resemble a large free standing sewing machine. Operators pre-fold each box and add a pull string prior to applying the metal edges to each box.

What has been the biggest challenge for Hollinger during COVID?


With the Global shutdown, we were not able to receive or ship orders. During the Summer of 2020, we noticed a small opening of Universities and Museums. Due to them, we were able to survive as a business and keep our employees employed. The Spring of 2021 is when we have noticed the biggest gain in orders, and we are hoping by Fall of 2021 we can resume operations at full capacity.

Tell us about the new website!


During late Spring of 2020, while working from home, we decided to focus on the future by building a new website from the ground up. This process was done between many people collaborating from their makeshift home offices. We wanted more than a fresh new look. We wanted a better browsing and purchasing experience. Our new web platform allows us to make immediate changes, so look for new product and new product pictures in the near future.

What is your best seller?


The first product made by Hollinger Metal Edge was the document case, better known as The Hollinger Box. This product today, in legal and letter size, continues to be our best seller. Of course, no Hollinger Box is complete without Hollinger File Folders.

How, if at all, will Hollinger change after the previous “unique” year?


As a small business, we have a better understanding of how essential our employees, vendors and customers are to us. Though the world is big, we operate in a small cottage industry where self-reliance is omnipotent. The phrase “thank you for your order” has a new-found significance.

Archival institutions working towards environmental sustainability

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By Anicka Austin, Emory University Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, SGA Blog Contributor

Dr. Melanie L. Harris starts off her book “Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth- Honoring Faiths” by describing her mother’s garden, which is always in bloom. It reminds me of my favorite things about Spring when she writes, “gazing at bees already humming at my mother’s roses, I noticed that we all seem to be singing the same song. Even the color of the roses added a melodic tune.”

From this introduction to her family, Dr. Harris goes on to describe the first step of ecowomanism, which is to access our individual and collective ecomemories. How did we get here? Although the word “sustainability” is now in our collective vocabulary, there is a history of faith-based practices by African diasporic women that extends well-beyond our contemporary understandings of environmental justice (Harris, 2017). The legacy that Dr. Harris describes is extensive. She says, “the parallel between the colonization of the earth and the colonization of black and African bodies throughout the history of the transatlantic slave trade up to the present is an important theme in ecowomanist thought.”

History plays a major part in how we shift action and conversation around sustainability. This is one reason why the work of archivists and memory workers is directly related to our environment. Ben Goldman (2017) encourages archivists to steward collections that tell stories that are “fundamentally more respectful of our environment”. Senior Collection Archivist and Chair of Rose Library’s Sustainability Committee, Laura Starratt, notes that Rose Library is a major collector of political and social activism. She says, “we hold many collections focused on social justice, which relates directly to the conversations on environmental sustainability.  Holding these collections, but not addressing how we are actively contributing to climate change would be an ethical conflict.” In fact, one of the collections at Rose is that of Alice Walker, who’s work provides a basis for Dr. Harris’ ecowomanism method. However, as Starratt mentions, there is tension between collecting and acting in the best interest of the environment and the Sustainability Committee at Rose is examining ways to reduce collecting. Even as we advocate for collecting the records of “people who are deeply observant of their communities” (Goldman, 2017), we also know that collecting less may be more beneficial to the environment than acquiring more.

With that in mind, acknowledging history is not just about collecting. Institutions could acknowledge the history of the land on which their archival repository resides. The ecohistory of Emory is tied to how the land in Dekalb County, Georgia was acquired. In the land acknowledgement developed by Professor Craig Womack and Professor Debra Vidali, it is noted that “Emory University was founded in 1836, during a period of sustained oppression, land dispossession, and forced removals of Muscogee (Creek) and Ani’yunwi’ya (Cherokee) peoples from Georgia and the Southeast.” Emory, like other academic institutions, relied on the labor and land of indigenous and African people. With this and ecowomanism in mind, it matters that conversations around environmental sustainability are nuanced and diverse. In recognizing old narratives and creating new ones, Dr. Harris notes that “as a first methodological step to ecowomanism, mining ecomemory simultaneously pushes back, critiquing traditional forms of environmental history that leave out the histories of peoples of color, and pushes forward social justice commitments to be incorporated within the environmental movement.”

Finally, archival institutions can address how we are collecting that history and the legacy we want to leave behind through our process. Starratt talks about how the materials we use reflect our commitment to sustainable archival practices:

We can also look for options to reuse.  We should be looking for ways to reuse what we already have.  The boxes may have writing on them or not be the right color, but they can still hold materials…. Recycling means more than just having bins in our spaces for paper, aluminum, or glass.  We should ensure that we are not buying single use plastic or Styrofoam.  This is a common packing material for archives, but there are options.  We should also be insisting that the people and organizations we work with refrain from using these materials.  We should only buy recycled paper for our printers (and continue to reduce how much we print).

Rose Library’s Sustainability Committee has been advocating for some changes that might help other libraries in their commitment to sustainable practices.  According to Starratt, “the committee was set up in 2018 by then Digital Archivist, Dorothy Waugh with goals including creating a culture of sustainability, developing green habits, and building resiliency.”

Some of the committee’s successes are in line with practices Jan Zastrow (2019) supports as ways to move towards greater sustainability. She mentions supporting research projects with environmental themes, selecting conference venues that have made commitments to sustainability and going to conferences remotely to offset our collective carbon footprint. We have all been going to conferences remotely for the most part (due to covid-19, of course) but the sustainability committee at Rose aims to take further steps. Having a zoom option for all meetings is becoming normalized, as to encourage teleworking after pandemic restrictions lift.  Rose Library has also received a Silver Level Green Office certification from Emory University.

Acknowledging history and creating a legacy that reflects care for the environment can allow for more nuanced and diverse conversations about sustainability. For more resources to help sustainability efforts in archives visit Archivists Against History Repeating Itself and Archivists Responding to Climate Change.

References:

Goldman, Ben (2017 May 13). “Things the grandchildren should know: Archives and the origin of an ecocentric future”. Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene Colloquim, New York.

Harris, Melanie L. (2017). Ecowomanism: African American women and earth-honoring faiths. Orbis Books, New York.

Interview with Laura Starratt, Senior Collection Archivist at Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (17 May 2021)

Womack, Craig & Vidali, Debra. Native American and Indigenous Engagement at Emory. “Land Acknowledgement and History Statement”. https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/nae/land-acknowledgement/

Zastrow, Jan (2019). “Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action in Libraries and Archives.” The Digital Archivist: Trends in Curation and Digital Preservation for Special Collections.

Safely Storing Your Art

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By Jill Sweetapple, SGA Blog Contributor

Please welcome Tricia Miller, Head Registrar at the Georgia Museum of Art, based at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Georgia Museum of Art

Tricia Miller has a Masters in Art History from the University of South Carolina, with a concentration in what was then called “Applied Art History.” She says her first paid job was as Director of the Stanly County Historic Preservation Commission in Albemarle, North Carolina (now the Stanly County Museum). Along with two other employees, they did everything from exhibition development, to collections management and sometimes even cleaning duties. She says that job taught her the aspects of museum work that she was good at and enjoyed and what aspects she struggled with or did not enjoy. Her next job was as assistant registrar at the Georgia Museum of Art. She moved up the ranks at GMOA to associate registrar and then to head registrar, and has been with GMOA for 22 years.

Miller estimates that approximately 2% of the 17,000-plus objects are on display, which leaves the problem of storing the rest. As she points out, it is not just about public display, but the storage and preservation of holdings for future generations.

“Institutions with some financial resources to put towards storage of art and the space to handle it may want to look into some standard museum quality storage units. Depending on your objects (framed works or sculpture, or even furniture) your basic options are rolling/sliding racks, bins, cabinets, or shelving. For framed objects rolling/sliding racks (for hanging storage) or metal bins (storage units with vertical slots for storing framed works side by side) are your best option. For small sculptures or other objects (pottery, baskets, silver, etc.) museum quality cabinets with slide out drawers are your best option. For larger items like furniture or larger sculptural items, you may consider industrial, powder-coated metal shelving from industrial supply companies.”

If, like so many of us, you have little cash or perhaps even storage limitations, perhaps you can start small:

“Nobody’s art storage is perfect and we all have something we can improve, even in most museums. My mission each year is to take the resources available to me (money, labor, time) and try improve the storage situation for as many objects as I can. It probably won’t ever be totally perfect, but I know I’ve improved the situation for some objects each year. “

Miller suggests using industrial cardboard bin boxes for storage, which can be purchased from industrial supply companies such as Uline or Grainger in various sizes. Line the bottom of the box with another piece of cardboard or foam-core (for extra stability) and place the framed works vertically in the box side by side. A good rule of thumb is, front-to-front and back-to back. The hardware on the back of frames can damage the front of another frame or the surface of a painting, so by placing them back to back you can avoid unnecessary damage. It is also a good idea to place a piece of cardboard between the frames which are face to face to protect them from rubbing against each other. Keep in mind that many framed works together in a box can become heavy and difficult to move, so consider using more numerous smaller bin boxes rather than fewer large ones. If possible, keep the boxes elevated off the floor, if you can do that safely. Also, you may want to cover the open tops with plastic to avoid dust accumulation and it serves as protection in the event of a crisis situation such as a water leak from a pipe. Avoid wrapping the frames in bubble wrap. As it deteriorates over time, bubble wrap will damage the painted or gilded surface of frames, sticking to it or leaving permanent marks in the surface.

Miller shares the following tips for art that you may have hanging or otherwise on display:

  • If possible, avoid hanging art near heating/cooling vents or above water fountains. The direct flow of conditioned air onto a work of art over the years will possibly make it crack or buckle, any source of water is a potential hazard for works of art.
  • Avoid hanging works of art near windows or in areas where they will get direct sunlight. We know the impact of direct sunlight on paper, and it can eventually have an impact on paintings as well.
  • If possible, avoid hanging works of art in places where other objects (furniture in public areas or other items in storage) may be accidentally pushed up against the work of art. Also, think about the height of a person’s head when they are sitting in a chair or on a bench over which a framed work of art might hang.
  • If possible, avoid hanging works of art in areas where food and drink are prepared or served. It is amazing how food and drink particles can travel through the air! Grease can fly, and carbonated drinks have a potentially wide spray factor when opened.
  • If possible, avoid hanging works of art near pipes, fire suppression sprinkler heads, vents or any other source of water or potential condensation. One of the biggest threats to museum collections is not theft, but water.

Some links to bin box choices:

https://www.uline.com/BL_412/Bulk-Cargo-Containers?keywords=Cardboard+Bin+Boxes

https://www.grainger.com/search/packaging-shipping/shipping-boxes-pads-tubes/shipping-boxes/bulk-cargo-gaylord-containers-lids?tv_optin=true&searchQuery=bulk+shipping+box&searchBar=true&suggestConfigId=6

Regularly tour your storage spaces, looking for potential problems. What is the art leaning against, or what is leaning against it? What is around the art and what is moving around it-is it in a main thoroughfare? And, what can you do to mitigate the risks?

One of the biggest risks for paintings in non-museum storage is damage to the surface of the work either by puncture or abrasion from another object. Consider putting paintings in a container, if possible, such as the bin boxes mentioned above. If the object is too large to go in a container, there may be other options. Large paintings can be faced with a piece of cardboard (the size of the frame) and wrapped in plastic. The cardboard provides some protection from impact on the front and the plastic provides overall protection from potential water damage. Before you wrap the painting, take a picture, print it, and tape to the cardboard (under the plastic) so you can identify the object while it is stored. Additionally, a moving blanket over a piece of furniture can provide some level of protection and help to avoid the accidental scrape or mishap.

Many thanks to Tricia Miller for her time and to Hillary Hazel Brown for the building photograph. The Georgia Museum of Art, on the campus of the University of Georgia, is both an academic museum and, since 1982, the official art museum of the state of Georgia. The permanent collection consists of American paintings, primarily 19th- and 20th-century; American, European and Asian works on paper; the Samuel H. Kress Study Collection of Italian Renaissance paintings; and growing collections of southern decorative arts and Asian art.
https://georgiamuseum.org/