I am feeling more and more at home in the Manuscript Division as I continue to answer reference questions (both in person and via email), navigate the stacks, and work with the patrons. Wednesday morning I attended the monthly staff meeting where the main topic on the agenda was the Kissinger Papers and their restriction and accessibility of the collection within the library. Since a portion of the papers are jointly owned by the LOC and Yale University, the collection has a complicated access process.
One of the absolute highlights of my week was helping my boss set up what we call a "show and tell" for a congressman and some of his constituents who were planning to visit that day. (Pictures below) A show and tell involves the staff finding interesting items within our collections and prepping them for display in our mini conference room. When it's finished, it looks like a small archives exhibit like you would see in a museum.
This particular show and tell was geared towards Arkansas history (that's where the congressman was from) and so my boss pulled a few letters written by an Arkansas judge, Jacob Trieber, to President Taft and President Roosevelt, along with their responses (typewritten, of course). Trieber was the first Jewish federal judge in the US serving from 1900 to 1927 and wrote to both presidents about various issues - once concerning a racial conflict in his home state.
Another cool item he pulled was a petition from the 1830's against Arkansas being admitted to the Union. The manuscript had well over 100 signatures and there were at least 10 more in the same folder, the petitions all originating from the fact that Arkansas was a slave state and would tip the balance of power in Congress. Controversial stuff.
I enjoyed setting up the mini exhibit, listening to my boss' advice about how to display certain items and placing some of the more delicate manuscripts in Mylar film so that they could be handled without damage. The experience made me look forward to the museum exhibit development class I'm hoping to take towards the end of my MLIS program - I think designing exhibits is a great balance between archival work and teaching.
This week also had myself and Luke (my co-junior fellow) starting on our Display Day project for the end of the summer. My supervisor suggested we take a look at William Temple Hornaday's journal from his Buffalo hunt in the west. The journal is from 1886 when Hornaday was sent west to hunt Buffalo for displays in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. It's an incredibly personal and detailed account of the day to day activities of the hunting party, including weather conditions, travel arrangements and beautiful descriptions of scenery. Luke and I are hoping to find another item in the collection to supplement the journal for display, but it on its own is a wonderful piece of history. I'm hoping to read the whole thing before the end of the summer, although with all the researchers and questions, reading time is not a luxury I often have.
So week 2 ended and left me in a quiet but content exhaustion - this weekend is dedicated to rest and relaxation before the Monday morning frenzy starts again.
 |
| The entrance to the Manuscript Reading Room |
 |
| The table length mini show and tell display that my boss allowed me to help "curate" |
 |
| On the left, the letters exchanged between Jacob Trieber and Teddy Roosevelt and on the right, letters between Trieber and Taft |
 |
| In the middle (on top of the green folder) you can see the petition against Arkansas entering the Union |
 |
| My most interesting pull this week: A giant, very heavy, leather bound book from 1912, it's 1902 counterpart is on the cart on the next shelf down - I thought they were really cool (except for the fact that one was on the top shelf...) |
No comments:
Post a Comment