The Historic Medley District Part II

Since my last post, work at the Historic Medley District has been progressing slowly but surely. As I delve farther into the boxes of files, I’ve come across more and more documents that are in need of preservation. Since this is not exactly in my wheelhouse, it has required me to research proper techniques required for amateur document preservation.

Section of the John Poole House's Library

Another part of the job is deciding which documents should be catalogued and which are nonessential. Couching many of the more relevant documents that have been stored, are dozens of inconsequential ones such as advertisements and order forms for historical periodicals. These items, I felt could be safely overlooked during the cataloguing process. Another set of documents I opted not to catalogue were the dozens of unintelligible handwritten notes, most dating back only ten years or so, from members of the organization. As the content of these many notes were indecipherable, I decided to not include them in the catalogue but not to discard them wholesale. The amount of time it would have taken to discern the content of each of these documents would have been far too much for a reward that would have been marginal at best. However I wouldn’t discount returning to these documents in the future, after the brunt of the work creating this archive is finished.

One of the many file boxes

These past several weeks have taught me that one of the most primary virtues needed for working in this field is patience. Not every document or item I come across will be as exciting as Civil War era letters or land claims from the 1800s. Most will probably be of a more mundane nature, such as brochures from past events or exhibits. All of these relevant documents will need to be catalogued, no matter the level of interest they generate.

The Pursuit of Discovery

Chapter 2: The Pursuit of Discovery

           

            Welcome back explorers! Now that we have gotten our bearings and began our work in the Governor’s Coordinating Offices, it might be a good time to explore the area. One of the best aspects of the Governor’s Summer Internship Program is the opportunity to visit and experience parts of Maryland and Washington D.C. that are representative of the cultures that make up our communities. I would be glad to share our trip to the Maryland State House with you again, however that was covered in-depth in my prior post.

            The second aspect of GSIP is that the interns are able to write a policy paper on an issue that is urgent to Maryland. Each group selected an issue that they felt was important to Maryland and my group decided to focus on oyster restoration. Oysters are an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay and are indoctrinated into Maryland’s history and way of life. Our group decided to make the most of our policy and go out to the spots where oyster restoration headquarters.

    Figure 1. The Oyster Recovery Partnership Vessel at Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, MD

Figure 1. The Oyster Recovery Partnership Vessel at Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, MD

            The image above is of the main vessel for ORP and is a fundamental part of the restoration process. It performs many tasks such as dropping off shells, plating new oysters, and as a recon boat to study areas that are currently being restored.  

    Figure 2. The 55-gallon tubs for Spat (baby oysters) to grow on shells

            First, it is evident that we were very fortunate to visit Horn Point on such a wonderful day. This image represents the level of hard work and efforts that are needed to ensure a successful restoration process. I believe that there were about twenty of these tubs and that the oysters stay in each one for about three days before they are placed into the Chesapeake Bay. In this image, my group and I are listening to Don “Mutt” Merritt, the Director of Horn Point, explain the tubs and their part of the process to us. Don was a fantastic guide as he provided thorough explanations and was certainly passionate about the restoration efforts.

            This was one of my favorite parts of the entire program because it allowed us to talk with people that actually dealt with the oyster restoration process every day. It would not feel right to write up a policy from a computer without going out to places such as Horn Point and see the process firsthand.

Washington D.C.

           

            As part of our program we were fortunate enough to visit Washington D.C. as a group. I was excited to go on this trip because we were going to tour the White House. This would be the first time even seeing the White House from the outside or inside for me. It felt amazing to enter into the place where the Presidents of the United States had lived since 1802. I was so thankful to view the pictures of President’s throughout the years and their experiences in the White House.

       Figure 3. Cameron Edsall, Daniel Griffin, and myself (no tie) posing outside of the White House

            After the White House, we went to the U.S. Capitol to see the epicenter of democracy in the western hemisphere. I was excited to tour the U.S. Capitol because it is such a majestic place even though I had taken a tour of it the prior summer. This tour with GSIP offered a special treat as we were invited to go to the Speaker’s balcony. Speaker Paul Ryan’s office opened their doors to us and allowed us to take pictures. We were also fortunate on this trip to have such great weather.

                 Figure 4. I am standing on the Speaker’s Balcony, which overlooks the National Mall

            Finally, we concluded the trip with a group picture outside of the U.S. Capitol Dome. I am on the far left and wearing a tie in this picture. I decided to purchase an anniversary tie in the White House gift shop. This was an interesting picture for me because I was in the middle of a phone conference with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation at the time. Our visit to Washington D.C. went a little longer than we anticipated and went into the phone conference. I must say that it felt pretty cool to visit the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and even do some work at the end of the day. I might want to come back in the future and try that out in a more long-term capacity. I guess we will see how this internship finishes up and continue from there.

Tune in next month for the final chapter of the Governor’s Summer Internship Program. It will be the grand finale of the state government journey.

                                     Figure 5. GSIP group in front of the U.S. Capitol Building

UMBC Archive summer Internship part 3

For the last few months of my internship, I continued investigating the photos, but also tried to construct a more comprehensive picture of the Underwood and Underwood Company’s history. In an attempt to do so, I utilized online resources and began emailing other archives, historic societies, and museums, to determine if anyone else could provide a connection to this collection or possessed information that I was lacking and that could aid in my research.  The Library of Congress has both images from the company’s work as a news agency, as well as some primary source documents, however their overall focus on the company remains in stereographs. This earlier phase of the business is normally what historians and historic departments attribute to the Underwood and Underwood name. This reoccurring theme was a major find for me, and unfortunately also a disappointing set back. As I continued to research, many books in the special collections archive became increasingly useful. Again, most of the time the only mention of the U&U was about their earlier stereograph work. While it is good they have some place in the larger picture of the history of photography, they also regrettably become invisible during their later years as a news agency, which made my thesis even more interesting to me, but also very challenging. Not only has this collection been neglected by our university, it has been ignored by most of the larger history of photojournalism. Understanding the reason this happened is a lengthy and possibly unanswerable question, however my objective has gradually evolved to become aimed at changing this unfortunate fact for future researchers. With this archive’s focus on the history of photography, I hope my work will reposition the Underwood and Underwood Company to its more accurate place among the greater historical narrative.  All the books, emails, and organizational notes I produced will go on file at the archive. Next time a scholar, student, or simply an interested party inquires about the Underwood and Underwood collection, they will receive a much better and more complete answer. Also, while it was impossible to go through each folder, I was able to get through about 30 folders, which means roughly 3,000 images. While I was looking for newsworthy aspects of the images, I was also recording the names, dates, and locations in a simple and organized digital document. Therefore, if anyone is in search of something specific, they can inquire and now have access to a photo, which was before unknown to the researchers and archivists.

Although I have technically completed my internship, I am far from done with my work at the archives. I still go to the department and utilize the literature, look through the photos, and apply all the resources both the staff and the facility has to offer. During my internship, I learned the proper procedures and can now help my peers, and assist when outside researchers use the facilities. Due to my prior time spent in archives, I was familiar with these tasks, however every archive is run differently, and every staff and workplace is unique. While I might have spent most of the time working independently, I still feel I learned a lot from being in the archival setting and working with the staff and students. Furthermore, I gained a better historical understanding of archives and the handling of historical documents, which will always remain a highly valuable skill. This was my first experience with prints of over one hundred years old; their delicate nature required certain precautions, such as cloth gloves, lighting, and careful handling. Regardless of your final job within the field of history, archives will remain a valuable source of information for any research. Understanding the ins and outs of an archivist’s job enhances the types the questions you ask, the way you research, and your perspective on resources. finally, another reason I feel I am not finished with my internship is because there is still more skills I would like to learn from the archive. Underwood and Underwood images are visual topics, and as I move forward with my thesis, I hope for my end result to be more than just a paper, but instead a digital exhibit. To do that I need to have a platform to showcase their collection, as well as learn how to assemble an online exhibit. The staff has been kind enough to offer their expertise in helping me present my research. 

UMBC Archive summer Internship part 2

  

In the middle of the summer, I was finally able to sit down and have a long meeting with Tom Beck, the director of the archive. Being able to speak with him was of the utmost importance for my project. He retired this past July, so I was very grateful to get his input regarding the collection. He was in charge of the archive when the U&U collection was donated to the school, and his memory regarding it was a great source of information for my research. Later into the summer, as he was cleaning out files, he found the paperwork that went along with the donation. From this paperwork, I thus learned that the collection we have is roughly 1/8^th (if not even less) of the total collection of the Underwood and Underwood stock photo prints that were sold in the 1980‘s. Tom explained that the school was offered the complete Underwood and Underwood collection but was uninterested in spending the asking price and housing such a massive collection.

After a few weeks of digging through the collection, I went on to try to match the photos with historical newspaper articles. Using the library database, as well as other historical digitized papers, I searched for key words linked to the photos. For example, I would see a photo of a massive factory fire and search the newspapers for the name of the factory. Other times, I would have the date when the photo was taken and try my best to scan the newspapers published that week in that region. I would look up specific political figures and try to see if the Underwood image was selected to be published in newspapers. This was something that I was very eager to see, as I wanted to be able to compare, contrast, and build a case surrounding the various images published in differing news outlets. I knew that many of these images were newsworthy, and that many Underwood images could be found in historical paper. However, as I spent hours trying to connect the prints to the papers I failed to find direct links. Even the most well-known socialites, political figures, major accidents, and military events were close to impossible to match up. My goals for my entire thesis were dependent on this step providing support and evidence, but it was becoming increasingly clear that it was not going to be possible. Finding bias, subjectivity, and noticing choices that publications made in their image choices between Underwood and Underwood images was unmanageable without first matching the images with the papers. Undeterred by this major obstacle, I decided to dive back into the photo folders and look for other interesting material to better understand this collection.

UMBC Archive summer Internship part 1

This summer I interned at the UMBC Special Collections Department. This was my fourth internship experience throughout my college career. During the course of this internship, I had the chance to research a collection within an archive I was otherwise unfamiliar with. The staff and I discussed multiple collections and historical materials needing further attention, and based on my interests we determined that the previously untouched Underwood and Underwood Photography Collection would be the ideal choice. This collection is a large selection of printed photographs from roughly 1880-1970, totaling about 40,000 images. I already possessed experience with historical photography, as well as archival practices, due to my past work experience. However, this internship was focused on a unique collection and the staff gave me various broad directions relating to their objectives for this collection and my final work.

              During the last semester, I struggled to find a topic for my Masters’ Thesis, and I realized I needed to see the subject matter to help me focus and specify my research. This internship allowed me to physically go through the material, that I would eventually transition into a thesis project. When I first spoke with the staff, I asked them what they expected from me, as an intern, and was pleasantly surprised to learn how flexible they were. They gave me the freedom to explore the collection and expressed that any information, resources, and organizational improvements I made or found regarding Underwood and Underwood would be a welcomed addition. Essentially, there was not a single goal set for my work; instead there was only a broad objective of furthering the understanding and records of this unused collection for the public and archive staff. As it is for now, the collection is stuffed with hardly any organization into three huge filing cabinets and a few storage boxes, hidden away in a back room. The Underwood and Underwood collection gets a brief mention on their website, but the staff only have basic knowledge of what it is and what it truly contains. I found it very odd that there was so little information and interest towards such a large historical record. The archive faculty warned me right away that the compilation of photographs had never been touched, had very little to no organization, and that they possessed no precise catalog regarding the files and their arrangement. They essentially only had a list of the names on each folder originally given to the school in 1987, and never rearranged it or even went through it at all.

For the first two or three weeks, I therefore dug through the files, randomly choosing folders to go through and see what I could discover. I would note down the interesting photos, the text on the back of the images, the captions, and the newspaper articles attached. This work also allowed me to observe the way the archive works during the summer, and learn what the staff and other students were working on and researching. I was mostly working alone, but was happy to interact with the staff, and found the setting of the archive to be very interactive and helpful. Everyone would give advice, offer suggestions, tried to help on tasks when they were able to, and showed genuine interest in the projects. 

Hectic Summer part 2: Sandy Spring (and unexploded ordnance)

As I said before, I worked on two different internships this past summer.  I’ve already talked about the National Archives, now it’s time to talk about Sandy Spring.  The Sandy Spring Museum is a local museum established to chronicle and preserve the history of a small Quaker community, Sandy Spring.  I had never heard of it until we visited on a field trip during my 300 class last year, but what I saw there interested me for several reasons: it was not at all far from where I lived, making any commute easy, it had a surprisingly excellent archive for such a small institution, and it depended very heavily on volunteers.  So when I was considering internships, Sandy Spring was first on my list.  I mean, an intern is basically just a volunteer getting college credit, right?  I figured that they would say yes, even with my aforementioned scanty resume.  I also thought that because it was so small, I’d probably get the opportunity to do a lot of things that an intern wouldn’t normally handle.

Looking down one of the aisles in the archive

As I said before, I figured that there was no way that the Archives would accept me, so I said yes to Ms. MacDiarmid, the archivist at the museum, straight away.  This ended up complicating things a week later, when the Archives got back to me and offered me another internship.  I’ll talk about why I was so determined to do both of them later.  

Anyway, I was right about the opportunities.  I started out in the archives, where I expected to be, doing inventory.  Essentially, I was pulling down boxes of records and cross-checking their contents with the online archive database, making sure that everything matched up.  That in and of itself was interesting; their collection has all kinds of documents and objects from the Civil War and earlier.  Once I was familiar with the database though, I did all sorts of things.  One day, I was sent to buy spackle and then spent the morning spackling wall holes in the exhibit gallery while artists set up the new exhibit around me.  I helped document new exhibits, I held lights and reflectors for a fundraising video, I created finding aids, I did the preliminary work for a forthcoming large-scale object inventory.  That last was a lot of work, there are several thousand objects in the archive and on display, and very few of them are where the database says that they should be.  One day, Ms. MacDiarmid came in and told me to drop what I was doing because we had a group of kids from a local day camp incoming in the next 20 minutes and we had to set things up for them.  That was fun, pulling out everything that we could think of that would interest a group of kids and showing them a bit of what we did.

Then there were the guns.  You see, among the museum’s collection were three rifles, one musket, one revolver, and four cannonballs, one of them technically a piece of grapeshot, all Civil War era, and while I was there, we realized that no one knew whether or not any of them were loaded.  After Ms. MacDiarmid took a weekend trip to another local museum and discovered that their two rifles had gone missing at some point in the last two decades, she got a bit worried, and mentioned the antique ordnance to her boss, Ms. Weiss, the executive director of the Sandy Spring Museum.  Ms. Weiss shared a story about one of her former places of employment, which had found a Civil War era cannonball in their collection and donated it to the local fire department, where it was later detonated.  This made Ms. MacDiarmid very worried, and we spent some time trying to figure out how to safely tell whether or not any of these things were dangerous.  After consulting with a neighborhood gun expert and the local bomb squad, the end verdict was that they were all harmless, which was a big relief to everyone.