The final donation of items

Hello!  It has been a long, long time since I’ve shared an update on the status of my Edgewood project.  Even though I’ve been neglecting this poor little blog, much has been happening.

I’m still working on finalizing the transcripts for two oral history interviewees.  One keeps requesting small changes every time I sent what I think is a final draft and there is a communication issue with another.  But hopefully I can wrap that up soon.

I also finished digitizing all of the important records, which was essentially everything between 1851-1951.  This included old photos, a scrapbook from 1936 (which I originally thought was a photo album until I took it out of its display case), lots of old annual reports, correspondence and ephemera.

But most importantly – I completed the donation of archival items to the San Francisco History Center, which was my ultimate goal!  Yes, it is finally true.  It took much longer than expected thanks to a crazy school and work and life schedule, but at least I made it happen.  Part of the delay was in me digitizing everything I wanted to before the transfer.  That was way more time consuming than I had planned for.

At the end of July (yes, sorry, I am very slow in posting this), three wonderful archivists from the SFHC came out to Edgewood and picked up about 12 boxes of assorted papers and artifacts and 14 or so boxes of orphan records from the 1850s to 1940s-ish.

What the vault holding most of the boxes looked like before:

and after:

You can see how much was cleaned out!

Here are some boxes waiting for the assembly line of getting moved to the van.  You can see the vault they were stored in in the background (black door).  These were orphan records from about the 1910s, I believe.

And a few more boxes in my office

And then it was all about playing tetris with the boxes and getting them into the van.

It was a very close call in being able to fit everything in the car.  I have to credit the SFHC archivists with doing an amazing job of fitting 25+ boxes of different sizes, some without lids, some with fragile items, into this minivan and maintaining their sanity.

It feels so good to have completed my main goal of this project.  All of the most valuable papers and items are now safely in the hands of the professionals, where they will last another 160 years of Edgewood history.

Someday the staff will process the collection (I’m dying for this to happen, but trying to not pressure them) and I’ve already begun referring people making genealogy requests to Edgewood over to the History Center for information.

In 2016, Edgewood celebrates its 165th anniversary!  It is my hope that the collection can be at least partially processed as part of the anniversary celebration.

What started as a class project requiring 135 hours over a semester turned into a year-long project totaling somewhere around 400 hours.  I am so happy and proud that it’s done and it was worth all of the time and stress.

I have some more to share and will hopefully get that posted soon.

Success!

I finally managed to schedule a meeting with the San Francisco History Center to go over which of the items that I found in my project that they might like to take.  Two archivists came to Edgewood to see the orphan files – undoubtedly the most important records I found – and some other things.

Before the meeting, I pulled out all of the things that I both really wanted them to take and that I thought they would most likely want.  These were mostly papers from the 1850s through the 1950s, plus some older newsletters from the 1960s-early 1970s, as well as the artifacts I found, like the copper engraved plates and the glass plates.

I’m so happy to say that the meeting went really well.  I first took them into the vault to see where orphan files.  They were delighted by the vault, which is a giant safe…

And about all of the boxes of orphan records.  I pulled out a few of the oldest papers so they could see them, and they were really excited and we spent a few minutes reading them.  They are so charming and I wish I could just sit down and go through every single one of them.

Then we went upstairs and I showed them the old orphan register and other things in a display case in the conference room…

I already knew that they wanted all of these things, but it was great to be able to show them everything in person.  Then I nervously pulled out the two boxes of other items that I was hoping that they’d take and we spent some time going through all of it and they decided to take everything except that crazy mystery mallet that I found (they didn’t know what it was, either)!  They said that the items would round out the existing collection really well.  They also said they’d take all the oral history interviews that I do.

Even better, they said my work was very well organized and professional!  I was so excited and felt very successful in my work, especially since I’m still just a student.  It feels great to know that I uncovered records that are seen as a valuable addition to an existing archival collection, and that I’m helping to preserve those amazing orphan records.

Right after, I finally got underway with digitizing and have finished up two subseries already.

The next steps are to totally finalize the list of items they’re going to take and for me to finish digitizing the records they’re going to take that I think will be fun and helpful to have electronically at Edgewood.  Then we’ll schedule the pickup.  I’m hoping to finish up everything in the next month or so.

More on this as it progresses!

Winding down

It’s hard to believe it’s the end of the semester already.  I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot with this special studies project and learned so much about working with paper-based archival collections and about oral histories.  It’s been an amazing opportunity to create a mini archival collection.  I realized about halfway through the semester I was incredibly ambitious when I made my original plan.  I actually only added an oral history component because I didn’t think there’d be enough to do with the surveying and preservation aspect!  Only about 70% of what I hoped to do actually got done, but I’ll keep chipping away at everything.  The most important thing is that I found all of the old orphan records from the 1850s and on and that they’ll be preserved.

Over the past week, I met with Edgewood staff to go over the inventory of everything I found to see which records they wanted digitized.  I had already planned to digitize a number of items for preservation reasons and for use in marketing projects.  But I was surprised by some of the other items that people asked for electronically, like photographs from the 2000s.  I politely declined to do anything too contemporary because of the sheer volume of items.  But I somehow still ended up with a digitizing plan for approximately 200 records, most of which have multiple pages or need some sort of special handling!  For now, I’ve prioritized the order of digitizing, but I am reserving the right to modify the plan as I progress.

The oral history interview that I had scheduled for December 3rd was unfortunately cancelled by the interviewee because of a severe rainstorm we had in the Bay Area that day.  I was disappointed, but I completely understood and also didn’t want an elderly lady driving by herself across a flooded Golden Gate Bridge, so it was for the best.  This interview and the interview with another former client of Edgewood have been scheduled for the first week of January.

I heard back from the archivist at the San Francisco History Center and she’s asked some questions about the records to help her decide which ones to take.  I’ve also reached out to leadership at Edgewood to see which orphan files I can donate to the History Center, due to privacy issues.  I suggested a 70-year gap, which I think is a standard and would allow files through 1944 to go to the History Center.  At this time, Edgewood was still an orphanage, but some of the files do contain medical and adoption information, so there are definitely privacy issues to be considered.

I have completed a very thorough first draft of the transcription of the oral history interview I did a couple of weeks ago, with two full listens completed.  Now, I just need to fact check a few names he mentioned and read it through one more time to check that it’s all coherent and flows well.  Then I’ll share it with Edgewood staff and the interviewee.  I’ll also check to see if the History Center would like a copy.

It’s astonishing to me, but I added up the hours I’ve spent on this project and it’s already over 168 hours – and I didn’t even finish everything on the project plan!  Every step of my plan has taken so much longer than I expected.  This is mostly due to finding so much more than I originally thought I would during my survey and having more people respond to my request to be interviewed for the oral histories.  And of course, I’m a little slower than a professional archivist because this is my first time doing any of this in real life.

Now I’m just wrapping up my final report.  The work will continue for several more months, until I can complete as much of my original plan as I can.  What’s left is digitizing records, donating materials to the History Center, and completing two more oral history interviews.  It’s a lot, but it’s doable over time.

I’ll continue to post updates here on my progress as I can!

Inventory and container list

This week, I finally managed to finish inventorying everything and finalize my series organization and basic container list. I did reorganize a few things from subseries to series after looking at the finding aid to the existing collection. There were a couple of areas that I had as subseries of another series, but the original archivist had as a series and vice versa, so I shuffled things around a little to better match the existing arrangement. I now have 10 series and 26 subseries. I then sent off the list to the archivist at the San Francisco History Center, highlighting the items that I think she’d be most interested in. I am looking forward to the next steps of choosing the items and getting them donated. I know that she would like the orphan records and the orphan register, but there are some other series, like property records, that I hope she’ll also want.

I found this recipe for sweet potato fries in the middle of a binder of Board of Directors meeting minutes from the 1950s.  There was also a remote control in the box.  I have no idea what people are thinking sometimes.  I would love to see a list of strange things archivists find while processing!

In other news, I spoke with a staff person that it was recommended I talk to to see if she knew of where any more archival records might be hidden within the building. She said she didn’t know of any, but then handed me four files of orphan records that had been sitting on her desk for years! Oh my. She also told me that long ago, another person had indexed the orphan files but since that person left, she had no idea what happened to it. I plan to contact that former employee this week to see if she can remember what the file was called. It was also burned to a CD, so I hope she can remember if it was labeled. She left a few years ago, so I don’t have much hope of finding it, but you never know!

I also finalized my questions for the oral history interview this week and made a checklist of items that I need for that day. I admit I’m pretty nervous about the interview, but this man also really wants to tell his story so I think it will be fine – as long as the recorder works!

Series organizing, oral histories, and more

I was able to accomplish a lot this week and am feeling pretty good about where I am in the project.  I finished sorting and inventorying the Garden Fair event (the organization’s primary event, and therefore very important) records.  Someone in the past had already organized many years through folders, so that gave me a great head start.  I added the extra records I found to the appropriate existing folders, and I was able to add three more years’ worth of records that didn’t already exist.  Now I only have sporadic gaps from 1969-1980. I also created subseries for publicity materials and photographs, although I did not inventory them because these subseries seem like less of a priority.  With the time constraints I have, I’m trying to focus on identifying the most important records to work on.

For organizing information, I changed the structure of how I was going to sort  Auxiliary records.  Originally I planned to have a Garden Fair series, with subseries for photographs, invitations, etc.; and an Auxiliary series for everything non-Fair.  But after more consideration, I decided to create one Auxiliary series and turn everything into subseries, further dividing by folder where appropriate.  It makes much more sense to have it as one giant series than two smaller, somewhat duplicative series.

I also finished inventorying all of the annual reports from 1856-1931.  The good news is that I have multiple copies of some years, but the bad news is that some of them have what I think is mildew.   I discovered I have three biographies or stories written by former clients from when Edgewood was an orphanage, which is very fun—I thought I only had one.  If I ever get the chance to do an oral history interview with a former orphan, these will be very helpful.

I now have four sorted and inventoried boxes, and just a few more to go through.

I started making digitizing plans by identifying individual items and/or subseries to digitize.  Everything from 1969 and earlier is automatically on the list for digitizing.  Everything from 1970-1999 I’m less sure of and need to talk to certain staff to see what their needs are.  I’m not inclined to spend the time digitizing things after the 1980s, but there’s fewer records in the 1970s so I’m more comfortable with adding those to the plan.

I did more prep work for my first oral history interview, researching the staff names the interviewee mentioned and confirming his admission and discharge dates to Edgewood.  I’ve already come across one issue during my research; the date he gave me for when he moved to Edgewood was off by a year.  I hope he doesn’t try to debate me on it.

I had the chance to talk to the former executive director of Edgewood from the time the interviewee lived there.  He was able to confirm some of the staff the interviewee mentioned, and tell me stories about his time at Edgewood.  It was a very fun conversation and he said to contact him anytime I have questions, which I will!  Because of the lack of records from that time period (late 1950s to early 1960s), it is incredibly helpful to have someone to turn to for information.  He’s my only connection to the time period.  He lives out of state now, but I hope he comes back so I can do an oral history interview with him.

Finally, I wrote out the first draft of questions for my second oral history interview, which is with a former Auxiliary member who was at the first ever Garden Fair in 1967, and sent those out to staff for feedback.  I made copies of the 1967 Garden Fair planning materials to avoid having to keep going back in to the box when writing the oral history questions and doing research.

Whew!  The fun discovery phase is pretty much over, but I’m finding the sorting and organizing phase really fascinating.

Image source

Sorting extravaganza

The time finally arrived to sort through the surprisingly massive amount of materials I had uncovered during my survey.  Once I got all of the boxes in one place, it turned out that I had way underestimated the number of boxes I needed to go through.  I thought I had 14, but I really had 23!  I was able to use my boss’s office and there were boxes everywhere…

And more that were hidden under desks and tables.  I had been thinking the entire semester of the best ways to organize the records, so luckily, the sorting passed by relatively quickly and easily.

This is about a third of the way through

And more progress, about two-thirds done

I was able to give five boxes worth of materials to the communications director, as there were piles of recent photos, printed materials, and publicity documents.  I was also able to recycle the equivalent of two boxes due to the many duplicate items.  A couple of the boxes were artifacts, which I previously inventoried, and I gave one box to my boss since it was old donor files that were inadvertently given to me.

With everything sorted, I began organizing the newsletters into subseries.  I came up with eight subseries, which were organized by title and one for random newsletters.  I was happy to find that I have a pretty complete series of the earliest newsletters, from 1965-1972, but I have a gap until 1981.  I’m not positive they were even creating newsletters during this time period, though.

I was able to turn this

Into this!

Next I began to organize the large amount of event materials.  These records posed a much larger challenge in terms of organizing.  There were several types of records that could either be a series itself or a subseries. After much debate and consideration of what I know about the agency and what would be most beneficial to staff and volunteers, I decided upon one main events series, with subseries for each year of a large fundraising event, a subseries with all materials for another event where it wasn’t necessary to have each year separated, and a subseries for miscellaneous events.

I also decided that any Auxiliary-related events would be a subseries under the Auxiliary series, and not under the events series, due to the history of the Auxiliary (since the 1940s) and how people search for information related to them.  It would be most helpful for people to have all Auxiliary records together, rather than as subseries in other areas.

This towering pile of event invitations and programs

Became this…  And this was actually subdivided a  little more.  I inventoried the records for the large fundraising event, but not the miscellaneous events because there are too many (probably around 100) and it’s actually unlikely that anyone will ever want to reference them.  These are the types of materials that have very little research value but no one wants to get rid of.  I may go back later and try to record the general time frame that these cover, though.

Next, I inventoried the annual reports, which equaled three boxes of records.  I still have to count the annual reports from 1853-1931, but was able to count (and weed) the more current ones.  Based upon a discussion with my boss, I am saving up to five of each.  I think this is too many, but it’s a good start to removing duplicate items.  This group is complete from 1982-2013.  So, combined with the earliest records, I’m missing annual reports from 1931-1982 – a huge gap – yet, I’m still thankful that I have any older reports at all.

I was very pleased that things went smoothly.  Even though everything is sorted into general type, I still have eight boxes left to organize and inventory.  Not too bad since I started with 23!  I hope to have that done in the next week or so.  In the meantime, I’m already starting to refine my digitization plan based on what I’m learning that I have.  Obviously, I won’t take the time to digitize anything too current, but definitely the older newsletters and annual reports.

I’m also very happy to say that I found the missing photo albums that I thought had been thrown out!  You may remember me mentioning it a few weeks ago.  I found them in a box under a pile of VHS tapes.  I was about to give the whole box to the communications department when I saw the albums.  I don’t know how they ended up in that box, but I’m so happy to have found them again.

In other news, I wrote the questions for the first oral history interview, which is in just a couple of weeks, and sent it out to colleagues and the CEO for feedback.  I confirmed that I could borrow an archivist friend’s recording equipment for the interview, which is very helpful and a big weight off my mind.  I also typed up the inventory list of the completed series.

I also began transcribing the oral history interview that the original Edgewood archivist did back in 2001.  It took me about 45 minutes to transcribe the first 15 minutes, and I type about 100 wpm!  That really opened my eyes up to the time required for transcription.  I will put transcribing that interview on the back burner for now and focus on my immediate project plans.  I will also need to rethink my goal of having both interviews transcribed by the end of the semester, since the second one is just a week before the semester ends.  This project is really helping me to learn about the exciting work of an archivist, as well as the challenges in time allocation and deadlines!

Display case

So far, I’ve been focused on what historical records are hidden away, but there’s actually a few known archival items sitting in a display case in a conference room.  The display case was put together about 10 years ago after the original Edgewood archives was created.

As you can see, it’s right between two windows.  It may not have been moved in the last 10 years, or at least not very often.  It’s been there for at least two years for sure.

Here’s a little bit better view of what’s inside.

A cash box used by the organization when it was the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum (1863-1920).

A key to the Haight Street building (manufactured ca. 1874-1887).

A gavel used in Board of Managers meetings and some bank books.

A Camp Swain photo album from 1936.  The orphans spent every summer there.  I really want to look through this.  As you can see, the photo album is coming apart, but it looks like it has some fun photos inside.

And most importantly, a register of orphans from the first 27 years of the orphanage (1851-1878ish).  This register has over 1,800 entries.

I’m sorry the writing is impossible to see in these photos, but the page is quite faded.  I don’t know if it’s just the age or because no one has turned the page in 10 years and it’s been faded by sunlight.  Probably both.

The register has information on the childrens’ names, ages, eye color, hair color, complexion, admittance date, birth place, nationality, their history, who referred them, discharge date, and where they went.  In other words, a genealogy gold mine.

Here’s an example:

Orphan #1256, Mary Jane Thomas, age 9, had blue eyes, light hair, and a light complexion.  She was admitted August 17, 1872 and was born in Sierra, CA.  She was Welch.  Her father remained in Sierra.  She was recommended to the orphanage by Wm. A Jones of 435 Second Street.  Mary Jane was discharged on September 26, 1876 and was indentured to Mrs. EK Stockide (?) of Stockton, CA.

You know who else is in this register?  Jack London’s stepsisters!

It is a big priority of mine to donate this register to the San Francisco History Center so that it can be properly preserved and stored, and used for research.  Although it is a nice conversation piece to have in the conference room, it is of far more benefit to others at the History Center, where it can be used for genealogy or academic research.  My plan and hope is to also digitize and index this as part of my special studies project.  At 1,800 names, I may have to choose one or the other.  I’ll work with the History Center to see which option they prefer, if any.  They may not even need me to do it.  But I certainly want to read through it before I donate it!

Not pictured are three dolls form the 1930s and an embossing seal for documents.

C. Frederick Kohl and the SFPOA

In an earlier post I mentioned that Edgewood’s gym, where so many archival items were hidden away, was named the C. Frederick Kohl Memorial Gym and I wanted to find the reason behind the name.  I had been researching with no luck.  But then I found all of the annual reports from the 1850s through 1930s and my luck improved!

In the 1925 annual report, Frederick Kohl’s estate is listed as giving the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum (now Edgewood) over $27,000, by far the largest gift the orphanage received that year.  That’s $375,555 in today’s money.  He was a millionaire, but it’s still a very generous gift!

The first annual report published after the orphanage moved to its current location, it describes the campus and the amenities for the children.  The report mentions that a gymnasium was made possible “by Mr. Frederick Kohl’s bequest.”

The story of C. Frederick Kohl is intriguing.  His life started out uneventful yet privileged.  Born in 1863, Charles Frederick was the son of the wealthy William H. Kohl, co-founder of the Alaska Commercial Company, and Sarah Hunter Kohl.  He grew up on a 16-acre estate in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, which is now a large city park. “Freddie” enjoyed a life of travel and high society parties.  In 1896, he married Edith Dunlop, who died of appendicitis just four years later.  On October 7, 1903, Freddie remarried to Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” Godey, and his father died later that year.  All was well until 1911.

And then a French family maid named Adele Verge shot Freddie.  Hired to help Freddie’s mother, Adele began to exhibit frightening behavior, getting into a fight with a hotel clerk and spitting on guests while on a vacation with the Kohl family.  Freddie had her arrested and evaluated.  She later sued Freddie over the incident, but the court ruled against her.  Angry that she lost the case, Adele waited for Freddie outside of the courthouse and shot him on June 8, 1911 with a derringer.  Freddie survived, but the bullet was lodged in his chest.  The maid was deported back to France and committed to a mental institution.  Most sources agree that at some point, she began sending him threatening letters.

Source (I love the picture of her with the cops.)

A couple of years after the shooting, Freddie and Bessie built The Oaks, a four-story, 63-room Tudor mansion on a 40-acre lot in Burlingame, as a grand venue to showcase Bessie’s singing talents.  Unfortunately despite being the toast of the town, Freddie’s mental state continued to deteriorate in the wake of his paranoia that Adele would return to seek her revenge and finish the job she started.  By 1916, just a year or so after moving into The Oaks, Bessie moved out and went on a Red Cross World War I entertainment tour throughout Europe.  Freddie moved into the St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco (built by the same architects who built Edgewood!!) with a mistress, Marion Louderback Lord.

Not only did Freddie remain paranoid, he began to experience more physical health problems brought on by the bullet that remained trapped near his heart.  In 1921, he suffered a stroke and Freddie and Marion went to the Del Monte Lodge near Monterey to help him recuperate.  Yet on November 21, just one month later, he shot himself.

Surprisingly, Freddie left most of his estate, including the mansion to Marion.  His wife, Bessie, received “only” $250,000 – just over $3.3 million in today’s money.  Imagine how much Marion received.  Marion sold the house to the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, and it is now used as a high school and event space.  The Kohl Mansion is now a State Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bessie seems to have fared much better than Freddie.  Apparently she never left Europe after her singing tour and ended up marrying two French nobles, Comte de Lambertye and Comte de Thiene.  She reportedly died in 1949 in Monte Carlo.

Other fun facts about Freddie’s story are that he purportedly haunts the Kohl Mansion to this day, and that the mansion appeared in the Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks movie, “Little Lord Fauntleroy”.

So what is Freddie’s connection to the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum?  Why did he leave such a large donation in his estate to the orphanage?  I read through 20 years of annual reports along with other research and couldn’t find that he, his parents, or Marion Louderback Lord ever donated money personally to the orphanage.  However, I did find in the 1913 annual report that his mother’s estate left the Orphan Aslyum $2,000 when she died in 1912, and also found articles in newspapers mentioning her donating to other Bay Area orphanages.  Also, Freddie and his wife hosted fundraisers for other orphanages, so it may have been just a typical type of gift for his family.

I wish I could find a more concrete tie between the Kohl family and Edgewood, but sometimes there just isn’t an obvious answer to be found.  It was still a fun little research project and gave me new insight into a very overlooked detail in Edgewood history.  How often does someone look into the meaning behind a sign on the wall?  Now I have a new story to share with colleagues and visitors to the organization.

Please note: There was a lot of contradictory information in the contemporary articles that I found while researching this post.  I have verified everything to the extent possible.

References

Alper, P. R. (2010, September 6). Music and other mysteries of Kohl Mansion. Daily Journal.  Retrieved from http://archives.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=140355

Buchanan, P. D. (2001, January 16). Kohl Mansion contains history — and mystery. Daily Journal.  Retrieved from http://archives.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=1732

C. Frederick Kohl is Shot. (1911, June 9). The San Francisco Call. Retrieved from
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1911-06-09/ed-1/seq-1.pdf

Charles F. Kohl Weds Miss Godey. (1903, October 8). The San Francisco Call. Retrieved from http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19031008.2.24

Dossa, L., Gouailhardou, M., and Wilkinson, C. (2013). Freddie Facts. Retrieved from  http://kohlmansion.com/wordpress1/freddie-facts/

Mariages. (1925, October 17). Le Figaro. Retrieved from http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2945490/texteBrut

Mrs. Wm. Kohl dies in Santa Barbara. (1912, February 28). The San Francisco Call. Retrieved from http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19120228.2.23

The Peerage. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thepeerage.com/p53911.htm

Richter, J. (1999, October 15). Kohl Mansion has its roots in The Oaks. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Kohl-Mansion-has-its-roots-in-The-Oaks-3062547.php

Surprise finds

More historical records keep popping up in unexpected places.  As word has gotten out about my archival project, coworkers are now giving me things that they have found in their offices.

Hidden in the bookshelves at this desk, a coworker found a few items and handed them off to me.

A front page of the declaration of the end of World War II… I don’t know why someone held on to this for nearly 70 years, but it was interesting.  She also found a couple of old San Francisco Examiner supplements from 1955 and 1962 that featured Edgewood.  I think these used as fundraisers.  She also found a lot of photos of clients from the 1980s.

And in the filing cabinet of another office were many, many newsletters.  They went back to the early 1990s through today and were a mix of internal and external newsletters.

I’ll add these to my growing pile of items to inventory.

Week 6 update

This week, I scheduled a second oral history interview, for mid-November.  John was the first person to call me wanting to participate and he lived at Edgewood from 1958-1963.  I need to begin doing more research on the time period, but he is full of stories and eager to share his experiences so I don’t think the interview will be too challenging.  It will be a good first ever oral history interview.  The hardest part will be staying on track and limiting it to just an hour.  He wants to come to Edgewood for the interview, so I’ll give him a tour after and I’m sure he’ll have even more to share!

I also called the third oral history interviewee, a man named Jim who left Edgewood right before John came, and they have mutual acquaintances.  Between the two interviews, I’ll be able to capture nearly 10 years of residential life.  I talked to Jim for about half an hour on the phone to complete the biographical profile form and learn a little bit about him.  He also wants to come to Edgewood for the interview so he can see the campus again.  I told him I’d like to do a little more research before scheduling the interview, and he was fine with that.  I’ll call him in early November to arrange a time.

News continues to spread around the organization about my archives project.  My boss got a call from someone saying they found a box of “old stuff” and was wondering if I wanted it.  It turned out to be records from the 1980s, photographs and other things similar to what I found in the gym balcony, so I added to the pile.  A couple of days later, I got an email from another person saying they found boxes of old Board meeting minutes and the CEO had told her to contact me to see if I wanted them.  I discovered the minutes went all the way back to the 1950s, so I decided to take them and added another three boxes and four binders to my ever growing stash of records to organize.  It’s getting harder to find storage space to keep everything together.

I had been planning on spending an upcoming weekend day sorting all of the records into series, but I believe I’m now up to 20 boxes of materials to go through!  It’s going to take longer than I originally thought and I am going to try to recruit some help so it doesn’t take an entire week.  I think I have a good idea of what series I want to create: Hope Ball, Garden Fair, orphan files, other events, newsletters, annual reports, Board meeting minutes, photographs, etc.  I’m not as sure about what to do with some things, like the newspaper clippings, though.  I’m debating about whether they should be a series themselves or if they should be sorted into other series based upon content, such as if they are about an event.  That’s probably more proper and professional, but it’s also a lot more time consuming.  I’m learning that some records very clearly go together as a series, while others are more debatable and can be viewed in multiple ways.  The challenge is then to think about how a user may search for the records so they can be organized to be most easily retrieved.

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