Posts Tagged ‘archives’
From the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:
For a weekend in April, the library at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will be transformed through the imagination of performance artist Sebastienne Mundheim. Mundheim and her team travel through time, using puppetry, dance, storytelling, and the archives of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for inspiration. The performance is part of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), a month-long city-wide festival produced by the Kimmel Center. This year the festival celebrates time travel – what better way to do that than through the magic of an archive…a paper time machine. Performances are scheduled for 4, 6, and 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, Sunday, April 14, and Monday, April 15.
This is your chance to experience the Society’s beautiful, historic Reading Room as you never have before. The audience will encounter sleeping giants, stomping faceless warriors in weighted costumes made of books, and silent planters who insist that history is best kept by the ringing of the trees. Through their questions we discover our own, and reflect on how we chose to see ourselves in the context of the past.
Tickets to ArkHIVE are $20 for general admission. HSP members can purchase tickets for $15; the student price is $10. Seating is limited, so buy your tickets today! Performance runs for 40 minutes.
For more information or to purchase tickets visit, https://hsp.org/calendar/arkhive
From the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference:
MARAC is sponsoring a workshop on copyright fundamentals for archivists and librarians (PDF) on Thursday, March 7, 2013, from 9:00-am to 4:00 pm at the Buena Vista Conference and Reception Center in New Castle, Delaware. The workshop will be led by Cornell University Library’s Peter Hirtle. The cost is $85.
Even in the best of times, the uncertain copyright status of archival and special collection materials makes many archivists and librarians uncomfortable. As more and more repositories think about making material available on the web, anxiety about possible copyright infringement increases. This workshop will explore what strategies special collections can follow to minimize the risks inherent when reproducing and distributing unique and/or unpublished material. Topics covered will include an introduction to basic copyright law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; exemptions to copyright such as fair use and the specific exemptions for libraries and archives; methods for assessing the copyright status of materials; and issues associated with particular formats. Attendees should leave with a better understanding of the basics of copyright and be in a better position to work with senior administrators to establish a mutually acceptable level of institutional risk.
To register, visit the MARAC website to register online or download a paper registration form (PDF).
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, which has served as a place of worship continuously since it first opened in 1887, is also home to the Museum at Eldridge Street. The neighborhood, today the heart of Chinatown, has a long history of changing immigrant populations. [Photo by the author]
In December, the Museum at Eldridge Street, which is housed in the historic 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, launched Storywalks, a new smartphone app that uses oral history recordings from the museum’s archives to bring the site to life. The app is oriented around the synagogue’s floor plan, guiding visitors along what the museum calls “a sonic pathway of voices, music and environmental sounds.”
The Eldridge Street Synagogue, now a National Historic Landmark, opened in 1887, the first purpose-built synagogue established by Eastern European Jews in the United States. More than two million Eastern European Jewish immigrants settled in this country during the late 19th/early 20th century, and it’s estimated that some three-quarters passed through the Lower East Side and this synagogue. The museum tells an important story in the history of immigration in this country, a narrative that still resonates today — as many of the school children who pass through its doors, in the heart of Chinatown, have their own immigrant stories.
Read more.
From the New Jersey State Library:
The New Jersey State Library is leading a two-year initiative to address urgent collections care needs in New Jersey, through educational programs and training. Intended to reach collections care professionals and volunteers, these programs will encourage the use of best practices, support targeted fundraising and marketing, increase the use of existing resources, and accelerate the development of collaborative strategies.
Programs:
DIGITIZATION BASICS
This workshop will help your institution get started in the development of a digital program. The session includes discussion of the tools you can use for scanning; basic hardware, software, and metadata issues; use of in-house or outsourced services to digitize; collaborative digitization; practical planning decisions for staffing; and budgeting for digital activities. A special focus on New Jersey digital projects is planned.
Speaker: Thomas F.R. Clareson, Senior Consultant, Digital & Preservation Services, LYRASIS
PRINCIPLES OF ARCHIVAL MANAGEMENT
This workshop will focus on topics of collection management in archival collections, particularly accessioning, processing, and providing access to material. Acquisition, appraisal, assessment, intellectual property, ethics, preservation, and the management of digital materials will all be alluded to when relevant, but not addressed in depth. There will also be some discussion about leveraging scare resources, particularly funding and staffing.
Speaker: Rachel Onuf, Archival Consultant
HOUSING SOLUTIONS
Practical knowledge of preservation materials and housing design is necessary to protect collection items. This workshop will address concerns in creating safe and effective housing for the storage and display of paper art and artifacts. Topics will address the materials, use, and benefits of various types of housing, from simple folders and polyester sleeves, to oversized rolled storage and framing. Participants will have the opportunity to create a few simple enclosures.
*Limited to 24 participants
Speaker: Jessica Makin, Manager of Housing & Framing, Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts
PRESERVING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS
Photographic media are sensitive materials that require special housing to ensure their longevity. This workshop will examine suitable housing supplies, including paper, plastics, interleaving papers, boxes, and more. Environmental parameters for storage, proper labeling techniques, and safe handling of photographs will also be discussed.
Speaker: Rachel Wetzel, Photograph Conservator, CCAHA
PRESERVATION BEST PRACTICES FOR OPTIMAL COLLECTIONS CARE
Archivists, collections managers, librarians, curators, and other staff members involved in collections care must manage a variety of tasks, including implementation of collections management plans, policies, management of environmental controls and storage conditions, and provision for safe use and exhibition of collections. This program will provide participants with an overview of the preservation standards for the many aspects of collections care.
Speaker: Laura Hortz Stanton, Director of Preservation Services, CCAHA
Registration information, as well as details on session dates and locations is available on the
program website.
A series of exhibits, lectures and symposia hosted by Philadelphia area institutions including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and many more, are being held to celebrate architect Frank Furness’s career, his designs and his influence on modern architecture.
In 1873, the young Louis Sullivan was drawn to the office because he saw Furness designing buildings “out of his head” instead of out of books, an idea that Sullivan transmitted to his pupil Frank Lloyd Wright and that remains the core of modern design. In 1000 projects Furness used the new materials and forms of the industrial age to re-imagine the art school as a factory for art, the library as a machine for learning, and the bank as an engine of commerce. (frankfurness.org)
His work can be seen at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania Library, and the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. Unfortunately as tastes changed, a number of his buildings fell into neglect and were demolished.
Most of the exhibits open in mid-September to November and run for a short time; often closing in December or January. The list after the break includes many, but not all of the events and exhibits scheduled during the Frank Furness Festival. More information on upcoming exhibits, lectures and symposia will be made available at frankfurness.org.
Read more.
From the National Archives:
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero awarded 31 grants totaling $2.9 million for historical records projects in 18 states and the District of Columbia. The National Archives grants program is carried out through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Mid-Atlantic recipients: (find the full list of awardees on the NARA website)
Publishing Historical Records, New Republic through the Modern Era: This grant supports projects that document major historical figures, and important eras and social movements in the history of the nation.
SUNY College at Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY $57,806
To support a project to edit the Clarence Mitchell Jr. Papers. As director of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP, Mitchell worked to promote civil rights through legislation and executive action.
New York University
New York, NY $84,585
To support a project to edit the Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger, a documentary edition of historical records of this 20th-century social activist.
George Washington University
Washington, DC $187,500
To support a project to edit the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers,a documentary edition of the historical records of the 20th-century First Lady and human rights advocate.
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Brunswick, NJ $100,356
To support a
project to edit the Papers of Thomas A. Edison, a documentary edition of the historical records of the late 19th/early 20th century American inventor and entrepreneur.
Documenting Democracy: Access to Historical Records: This grant supports projects that promote the preservation and use of the nation’s most valuable archival resources.
Pennsylvania Heritage Society
Harrisburg, PA $59,843
To support, on behalf of the
Pennsylvania State Archives, an 18-month project to provide detailed processing for five groups of large-format documents and special media that make up a portion of the records of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, 1937-1990. Records include engineering drawings, photographic negatives, slides, motion picture film, and microfilm.
The Conservation Center for Art & Historical Artifacts (CCAHA) offers training programs to help preserve Pennsylvania’s at-risk collections. The programs are offered in connection with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and are supported by an Institute of Museum and Library Services Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grant.
CCAHA will hold a Digitization Basics Workshop on April 3, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Registration is required two weeks before the workshop and is $25 for PA institutions, $75 for out of state institutions.
Every institution struggles with pressure to be visible on the web and to make its collections accessible to wider audiences, and many face daunting hurdles to implementing digitization programs. This program will cover basic issues in digital preservation, including an introduction to digitization, and will provide information on handling guidelines for digitization, selection of materials, conducting pilot projects, creating access to digitized materials, funding sources, and the benefits of collaborating with other institutions.
A second workshop, Understanding Archives: An Introduction to Archival Basics will be held on May 10, 2012, in Philadelphia, PA at Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Registration is required, and is $25 for PA institutions, $75 for out of state institutions.
Proper archival procedures enable safe and effective management of collections. Participants will learn about the fundamentals of archival appraisal, acquisition, and access; proper storage materials; and the most common preservation problems associated with paper-based archival collections. This program will touch briefly on processing, arrangement, and description. Volunteers, historians, and those with archival responsibilities in addition to other duties may find themselves in the position of “archivist” without formal training in the profession; this program offers an introduction to best practices in the field.
From blog.readex.com:
January 16, 2012 (NAPLES, FL) – A digital edition ofAfro-Americana, 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia will be introduced in late Spring 2012 by Readex, a division of NewsBank. Created from the Library Company’s acclaimed collection—an accumulation that began with Benjamin Franklin and has steadily increased throughout its entire history—this unique new online resource will provide researchers with more than 12,000 wide-ranging printed works about African American history. Critically important subjects covered include the West’s discovery and exploitation of Africa; the rise of slavery in the New World along with the growth and success of abolitionist movements; the development of racial thought and racism; descriptions of African American life—slave and free—throughout the Americas; and slavery and race in fiction and drama. Also featured are printed works of African American individuals and organizations.
For more information on this forthcoming project see the Readex press release.
December 8, 2011: Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is proud to launch An American Family Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Family Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. This new digital exhibit examines Brooklyn’s complex history through the eyes of one family and includes an image gallery showcasing high-quality reproductions of seventy-seven items from the Lefferts family papers. In collaboration with BHS librarians and archivists, BHS’s public historian Julie Golia drew on the institution’s rich archival collections to tell the compelling history of Brooklyn over the centuries.
An American Family Grows in Brooklyn tells the story of one of Kings County’s oldest families. The digital exhibit chronicles the Lefferts family members’ arrival to frontier Flatbush in 1660 from the Netherlands; the family’s role in building Kings County’s booming agricultural economy; their use of enslaved laborers up until New York’s Emancipation Day in 1827; and their relationships with other Dutch families in the region. Items like a nineteenth-century cookbook or a list of expenses from a 1791 funeral reveal the material conditions that shaped the everyday lives of members of the Lefferts clan. Other documents, like the dozens of slave indentures held in the collection, offer glimpses into the experiences of a less-chronicled but equally important group of Brooklynites: enslaved African Americans. Read more.
The White House Historical Association announced a gift of $10 million from philanthropist and former White House aide David Rubenstein. The gift will be used to establish The David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History. As a center for education and research for White House history, it will feature an innovative digital and online resource center, interactive and immersive educational experiences and programming focused on community engagement. The center will be located at the Decatur House.
Read more.
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