New England Archivists - Previous Archives on the Road Events

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Previous events for "Archives on the Road," 2001-2008

2008

February 9, 2008: Windsor Historical Society, Windsor, CT. “Making Family Memories: Preserving Your Family Photographs, Documents and Home Movies."

2007

September 7, 2007: Massachusetts Memories Roadshow, Veronica Smith Senior Center, Brighton, MA

August 12, 2007: Home Movie Day, People's Center, New Haven, CT

June 30, 2007: Deerfield Descendents Reunion in Deerfield, MA

June 23-24, 2007: Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge, VT

June 10-11, 2007: Massachusetts Memories Roadshow, Hebrew Senior Life, Roslindale, MA

June 2, 2007: Massachusetts Memories Roadshow in Quincy Public Library, Quincy, MA

April 14, 2007: Spring Meeting of the N.H. Society of Genealogists in the Manchester City Library, Manchester, NH

February 28, 2007: George Hail Library in Warren, RI

2006

December 2, 2006: Lower Mills Branch Library, Dorchester

October 14, 2006: Manchester City Library, Manchester, N.H.

August 12, 2006: Home Movie Day, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA

August 12, 2006: Home Movie Day, Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT

June 24-25, 2006: Vermont History Expo, Tunbridge, VT

June 3, 2006: Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum, Provincetown, MA

March 18, 2006: Mass. Memories Road Show, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA

May 13, 2006: Mass. Memories Road Show, Dorchester Historical Society, Boston, MA. See the slide show at: http://www.massmemories.org/Dorchester/slideshow

2005

November 5, 2005: Morse Institute Library, Framingham, MA

November 5, 2005: Cape Ann Historical Society, Gloucester, MA

June 25-26, 2006: Vermont History Expo, Tunbridge, VT

2004

November 16, 2004: Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT

Litchfield Historical Society hosted more than 20 community members at their Tuesday, 16 November Archives on the Road program. Ellen Doon (Yale University), Meg Moughan (Western Connecticut State University), and Anne Ostendarp (Consulting and Project Archivist) represented the New England Archivists. Many members of the audience brought family records and reproductions from their genealogical investigations. Some expressed an interest in, and concern for, "scrapbooking" family documents. One community member received advice for a 1905 typescript of Governor-Elect Trumbull's address in Litchfield. Yet another learned about caring for a tintype of her great-grandmother.

November 8, 2004: Archives Week 2004, Goldfarb Library, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

In honor of Archives Week 2004, an Archives on the Road event was held at the Goldfarb Library at Brandeis University on Monday, November 8, with archivists April Hagins [Massachusetts Historical Society], Megan Friedel [Massachusetts Historical Society, and Michael Moore [NARA] volunteering. The event was coordinated by Karen Abramson [Brandeis University Archives] and was co-sponsored by: the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University Libraries; New England Archivists; and the Brandeis University Libraries' Library Cafe Series. 20 patrons, including Brandies Library employees, brought in photographs, scrapbooks, music scores, family letters, legal documents, and questions. We gave a 15-minute overview on preservation basics and then broke up into groups and offered preservation and arrangement suggestions, distributed information, and saw some really interesting treasures.

October 23, 2004: Massachusetts Memories Roadshow, Norwood Historical Society, Norwood, MA

At the Norwood Historical Society on October 23, 2004 the NEA Outreach Committee collaborated with the Massachusetts Studies Project on their pilot program "Massachusetts Memories Roadshow". Archivists April Hagins [Massachusetts Historical Society], Aimée Primeaux [Massachusetts Historical Society], Michelle Light [Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections], Megan Moughan [Western Connecticut State University Archives and Special Collections] and Jordan Berson [WGBH Archives] were on hand to provide information about archives and examine the documents and photographs and offer suggestions for preservation. The event was covered in an article in the Boston Globe and was such a success that NEA and MSP are planning to collaborate on future Massachusetts Memories Roadshow programs.

June 26-17, 2004: Vermont History Expo, Tunbridge, VT

Elizabeth Scott (Saint Michael’s College) organized NEA’s participation in the Vermont History Expo, held June 26th and 27th in Tunbridge, Vermont. Visitors to the Expo were drawn to the eye-catching “Archival Evils” display, which offered examples of rusted paper clips, acid migration, moldy and rodent eaten books and magnetic photo albums, along with other examples amassed by members of the NEA Outreach Committee. Volunteers Rachel Wise [Massachusetts Historical Society], April Hagins [Massachusetts Historical Society], Tom Doyle [Keene State College], Aimée Primeaux [Simmons College Student Chapter of SAA], Giordana Mecagni [Simmons College Student Chapter of SAA], and Honor Moody [Simmons College Student Chapter of SAA] volunteered at the table. They handed out information sheets on a number of topics, and answered many questions related to the exhibit, preservation, family treasures, NEA, and sources of archival supplies. The volunteers, all of whom were from outside Vermont, enjoyed both their time at the table and exploring the Expo, which featured 106 Vermont Historical Societies, local museums, re-enactors, traditional crafts and games, music, and much more. The Expo is held annually at the Tunbridge World’s Fairground, and is coordinated by the Vermont Historical Society.

April 27, 2004: Central Massachusetts Geneological Society, Westminster, MA. See photos!

Anne Ostendarp (Franklin Pierce College) organized an Archives on the Road, along with volunteers April Hagins (Massachusetts Historical Society), and Benjamin Johnson (Massachusetts Historical Society) at a meeting of the Central Massachusetts Genealogical Society in Gardner, Mass. on April 27th. 30 patrons brought WWII letters, a charcoal portrait, diaries, a 19th century love letter, photo albums, and questions. We gave a 15-minute overview on preservation basics and then broke up into groups and offered preservation suggestions, distributed information, and saw some really interesting family treasures.

April 10, 2004: Museum of American Political Life, Hartford, CT. See photos!

Michael Moore (NARA) organized an Archives on the Road, along with volunteers Jill Snyder (NARA), Amy Braitsch (Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich), and Margaret Moore (Mark Twain House and Museum) at the Museum of American Political Life in Hartford, CT on April 10th. This event was done in conjunction with NARA�s "American Originals: Treasures from the National Archives" exhibit, which is on display at the University of Hartford until May 14, 2004. 20 program participants brought their family trees, documents signed by Presidents, photo albums, and broken books, and questions. We offered preservation suggestions, distributed information, and got to see some interesting documents.

March 15, 2004: Leicester Historical Society. See photo!

The Leicester Historical Society hosted an Archives on the Road event at the Leicester town library on March 15, 2004. The weather was clear and the room was full as Margaret Gonsalves (Archdiocese of Boston Archives), Mark Savolis (College of the Holy Cross), and Outreach Committee member Heidi Marshall (New England Province Jesuits Archives) led a lively discussion about preservation to the assembled crowd of thirty-five. Integrating items brought by the audience into the discussion allowed the audience as a whole to gain valuable insights into caring for family items such as photographs, postcards, glass plate slides, and paper materials.

Many thanks to the Leicester Historical Society and its members for hosting this event and �kudos� to its members for all the work they do to promote community discussion relating to heritage materials.

2003

November 8, 2003: The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, Greenwich, CT See the photos!

In a fitting end to Archives Week, the Outreach Committee held an Archives on the Road program at The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich�s Bush-Holley Historic Site. Three volunteers from the Committee, Anne Ostendarp [Franklin Pierce College], Michael Moore [NARA], and Mike Strom [Yale University Law School], and archivist for the Historical Society, Amy Braitsch, met with twenty event attendees to discuss how to store and display their "personal archives." Some attendees brought selections from their own collections for examination and comment, including: framed and unframed photographs; newspapers; books; letters; and even Revolutionary War documents. Others came to listen, ask questions, and gather some of the Committee�s free handouts and catalogs. All in all, everyone came away with a little more information about how to care for their own history than they had before.

June 14, 2003: Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, MA

Arranged for the community by the Nantucket Historical Association's archivist, Georgen Gilliam, the June 14 event was held at the Association's state-of-the-art Research Library, in the Edouard Stackpole Reading Room. Outreach Committee members Rachel Wise and Anne Ostendarp were present to assist.

Nantucket Island holds unique preservation challenges for documents, photographs, and other paper-based items held dear by AoR participants, nine of whom were waiting to speak to archivists at the 1:00 PM opening. Extreme fluctuations of temperature in summer homes, along with ocean-bound living, produce high humidity and conditions ripe for mold growth; familiar generations-old documents may result in casual and occasional careless handling. Albumen prints, linen-backed maps, letters, panoramic photographic prints and other items presented to Gilliam, Wise, and, Ostendarp, provided numerous opportunities to discuss preservation and handling improvements with participants.

Thanks are given to Georgen Gilliam and the Nantucket Historical Association for the opportunity to bring "Archives on the Road" to Nantucket.

2002

November 16, 2002: National Archives and Records Administration, Waltham, MA See the photo!

Jessica Steytler was joined by NARA employee Michael Moore and Stuart Culy for a "drop in session" organized for the Waltham community. Although attendance was not as high as expected (despite NARA advertisements and local newspaper coverage), NEA archivists were able to answer questions related to diverse materials, including a late 19th century marriage certificate, a World War II newspaper, several framed photographs, and other individually held "treasures." Consultation with the archivists focused on how to best preserve archival materials and what to look for in storage supplies.

October 12, 2002: Bourne Historical Society, Bourne, MA See the photos!

Judith McAlister contacted the Outreach Committee last fall to plan an Archives on the Road event. She and the Bourne Historical Society felt that the society and community would benefit from finding out how to care for their historically valuable collections. Outreach volunteers Jessica Steytler, Rachel Wise, and Susan Earle talked to approximately fifteen people. Some objects of interest included a Civil War letter from 1862 with a full (and gruesome) description of battle, a red velvet-covered autograph book, a mid-19th century tin-backed photograph, and several scrap books.

Volunteers answered many questions about preservation options, local repositories, and storage. Towards the end of the event, a reporter stopped in to take pictures for a local paper. Society members and Outreach volunteers consider the event a success.

June 21, 2002: Vermont History Exposition, Tunbridge, VT

The Vermont History Expo is an annual statewide celebration of Vermont's rich heritage. NEA Outreach members Heidi Marshall and Andrea Sheehan set up an informational table at this event showcasing the services of the state's archives and historical organizations. Historical societies, museums, heritage centers, conservation and preservation groups, archive and library organizations mixed with vendors and historians to address numerous questions from visitors, whose enthusiasm even the constant rain could not dampen. Heidi and Andrea answered questions from well over one hundred visitors and provided many more with informational sheets, samples, contacts, and catalogs. Questions covered many topics including film, photograph, and scrapbook care and preservation; paper, book, and record storage, and contact information for consultants and archival supply companies.

June 2, 2002: Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston, Newton, MA.

Over sixty members were in attendance at a program held for the Annual Meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston (JGSGB) held in Newton, Massachusetts. Five professional archivists (including three members of the Committee and two volunteers) were part of a panel that addressed care of personal papers and simple preservation measures. Susan von Salis, the Information Systems Administrator and Archivist at the Schlesinger Library, spoke on fundamentals of the archival profession, how archivists process a collection and basic preservation measures. While Ms. Von Salis spoke, audience members were encouraged to write down questions on index cards. The cards were gathered and then distributed amongst the members of the panel who took turns answering the questions. After the question and answer period, members of the audience lined up with items they brought (such as legal documents, photographs and family papers) to show individual members of the panel and ask more specific questions.

2001

November 2, 2001: Boston Public Library's Jamaica Plain Branch (with Jamaica Plain Historical Society)

Archives on Road held its first annual "Copy Day" at the JP branch of the BPL with the JP Historical Society. The event was for residents to bring their historical personal photographs to have scanned, after which the resident could either take the original document home with them (leaving an electronic version with the JPHS) or donate the original image and take with them some version of the electronic copy. The concept was an interesting one, a great way to capitalize on the sexy digitization buzz, while adding to the Historical Society's collection with either original document donations or electronic reference copies. We didn't hear much that day about the issues of tech obsolescence, format migration, longevity and readability of files, all the sorts of things that come to mind when digitization rears its head among relatively lay crowds. Outreach Committee members Anthony Reed and Ginny Hunt were on hand to discuss document care and storage. One particularly interesting conversation with an attendee about personal letters from an early-twentieth century author and a collection of her first editions yielded very positive results and recommendations for possible repositories.

May 12, 2001: Boston Public Library's Lower Mills Branch

The event at Lower Mills was the Committee's first experience with Archives on the Road. Staffing the event were Susan von Salis, Anthony Reed and Jessica Steytler. The coordinator for the library was Adult Services librarian, Georgia Titonis. Ms. Titonis proved very enthusiastic and especially helpful in advertising for the event. Most participants were interested in finding out how to care for their photographs.

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