Mark Willett Introduction

Hello everyone. My name is Mark Willett and I am interning at Special Collections for the fall semester of 2023. I had previously gone to Special Collections a few times for prior courses and I applied to intern here in order to gain valuable experience performing the duties of an archivist. Starting in august, I began processing two different collections: the Neala Lynn Balmes photographs and the Alfred Buehman oral histories. These collections consist of CDs that have, so far, yielded a surprising amount of information from their external labels. Using these and a couple of accompanying notes, I was able to find out and record a substantial amount of information and I look forward to seeing what specific kinds of information I can find on the CDs when I examine their contents.

(pictured) An unexpected stowaway found in the Alfred Buehman oral histories.

Over the course of September, I have also begun processing the Robert Moser papers, which mainly consist of various books, pamphlets, property evaluations and color slides. This collection has been interesting because its size is two boxes and the second box contains content from another person by the name of Barton Wright. Whereas Moser’s materials have primarily involved information on specific properties and ranching, Wright’s have revolved around historical topics.

Lastly, I am in the process of learning to digitize cassette recordings within a collection of oral histories from former workers for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The first cassette contains a recording of an interview of a worker named Miguel “Mike” Soto, who worked in the CCC until the outbreak of WWII. While listening to Soto’s story, I have also been able to extract metadata necessary to describe the tape and its contents. I look forward to soon completing the digitization proper and becoming more efficient and timely in completing the steps necessary to do so.

(pictured) The cassette for the oral history I am currently digitizing.

A Brief Introduction

Hi! My name is Daniel Donahue and I’m a senior studying History and Information Science. I’m working as an intern in Special Collections this semester to cap off my history degree. I’m still not set on what I want to do after college, so I want to explore the process of managing an Archive to have a better understanding of Library Sciences. Additionally, I wanted a more hand-on experience of jobs within the History field that weren’t specifically research based. I’m very passionate about history, but I probably am not looking to be a professor. As such, I wanted to explore some other areas related to History. Archival work caught my eye because of my interest in data management. I’ve been enjoying my work so far and can’t wait to learn more!

I’ve been working on a few different things, but the main tasks so far have been processing a new collection from the Alpha Chapter of DKG and converting a cassette collection of oral histories for digital preservation.

As you can see, the process of processing has been a bit messier than I expected. However, I’ve been making good progress and I’m almost done. I’ve heard people say that processing is very polarizing, however I don’t think I have a strong opinion yet. I found all the materials a bit overwhelming at first, but once I got an organization scheme in mind (and understood what I was doing) things we much more smoothly. I still need to write finding aids, so maybe that will drastically change my opinion one way or another.

The digital conversions have been interesting. Working with more analog media has been fun (except when cassettes unspool which happens with too much frequency — though not today so maybe I’m getting better). I still have not finished the metadata, but I’ve enjoyed the actual conversion process even though it can be tedious at times. Again, something I need to do more of before I set an opinion in stone.

I’ll report back once I have more to report on.

September Student Pop-Up Exhibit

The first student-curated pop-up exhibit is now available to view at Special Collections!

Graduate Assistant Zoe Harrison and Preservation Student Worker Brittany Murphy collaborated on two exhibit cases that highlight different aspects of women’s labor.

The first exhibit showcases the legacy of Estelle Lutrell, the first full-time head librarian at the University of Arizona. Lutrell arrived at UA in 1904 and helped to expand the library’s collections and physical space, including helping to design the new library building that opened in 1927.

On display are items that represent her dedication to the libraries, such as statements from coworkers and photographs that show the changes in the library during her time as head librarian.

The second exhibit focuses on tradeswomen workers from the 1970s to the 1990s. All of the materials in the case were donated by local civil rights activist Alison Hughes, who worked with many women’s organizations, including those that focused on tradeswomen. This exhibit case includes several items related to tradeswomen workers, such as magazines, journals, directories, and a shirt from an Arizona tradeswomen organization.

 Please feel free to stop by the reading room at Special Collections to view these exhibits – available until October 16th!

Paper Trails

Beginning in August, I have been surveying this TCE (trichloroethylene) Groundwater Contamination (Lemmon) collection for processing. This collection is notable for its environmental significance; the “Lemmon” in question is James Lemmon, hydrologist (not to be confused with the Lemmons of Mt. Lemmon, or Jack Lemmon). Lemmon’s work concerning groundwater and contamination tells a both dark and fascinating narrative from the history of the water supply in the Sun Corridor.

The first thing to do was open up each of 17 cardboard boxes one by one and take notes on its contents in order to understand the collection, determine preservation concerns, and consider the order arrangement of the materials for processing. I took my notes on a yellow legal pad, writing small and in cursive to preserve paper and time. The collection contained all sorts of materials, from typewritten correspondence to handwritten notes, interoffice memoranda, newspaper clippings, telephone message slips, restaurant menus, hydrological equipment order forms, office supply catalogs, conference poster presentations, symposium agendas, course syllabi, employee evaluation forms, brochures of all kinds, and more.

A quintessential responsibility for archivists and their apprentices is the interpretation of materials in the archives; how the items are described serves the accessibility of collection for the community. So, for this collection, I am thinking about suggesting four series in the processing proposal: Reports, Surveys, & Maps, Correspondence, Research Materials, and Literature. Considering the kind of researchers that may seek this collection, I thought that these categories would be useful (the most important/relevant category should come first).

Moving forward, the decisions may change. There is also the question of what materials will be discarded, in order to weed the collection. While there are lots of interesting materials, space is limited, and so we must interpret and decide what is important. Indeed, there is a great amount of value in this collection concerning water resources that is not documented elsewhere.

Back on Campus!

It’s September and school is back in session. The parking garages are packed, the library is full, and the Pumpkin Spice Latte is in season.

I’m starting off the Fall semester finishing up a few summer work projects, which has resulted in a smooth  transition into the new school year. The biggest project I’ve been working on is processing an addition to the Alison Hughes papers. Alison Hughes has been a committed civil rights activist in Arizona for decades, working with many activist groups focusing on the rights of women and people of color.

Alison Hughes papers

 I have already surveyed the addition and developed a processing proposal so now I am working on sorting the materials and putting them in neat, organized folders. My job is to take a box that looks like this (left image) and make it look like this (right image).

Before

After

I have really enjoyed working on this collection and learning about Alison Hughes’ life and unwavering dedication to improving the rights of marginalized peoples and I will be very sad when I’m done!