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!

Another day of searching

I went back to the storage room to keep hunting for historical items and found that a lot of boxes had been moved around in the few days since I was last there.  This time, since I had already sorted through the items not already in boxes, I started on a more formal inventory.  I wrote numbers on each box and began making a list, which will also be helpful if someone moves the boxes around again.

Notice the basketball way in the back tossed up from the gym below?  It landed right on a box of photographs.  Sigh.

This small filing cabinet is my processing table.  Not ideal at all, but I can’t fit a folding table up there and most of the boxes are too heavy to move by myself down the stairs to a better location.

Someone threw a lot of papers into this box without much care.  I wasn’t too hopeful about what was in it, but I found some interesting things.  Many are bent and torn, as you can imagine looking at this box.

Another (damaged) print of the Francisco Protestant Orphanage Asylum, Edgewood’s first incarnation.

And lots of newsletters, annual reports, and strategic plans from I believe the late 1990s through mid-2000s.  These may help me to learn when and why Edgewood’s name changed from Edgewood the Protestant Orphanage to Edgewood Children’s Center to Edgewood Center for Children and Families, which was around this general timeframe.  They’ll also give a nice look into the organization’s operations over the past couple of decades.

I also found various unmarked cassette tapes, a CD that I think has a video of a performance by a local dance company as a fundraiser for Edgewood, and a cryptic VHS tape.  More media carriers that I have to find a way to play.

What does USA Germany 2005 have to do with Edgewood?  I’ll have to play it and see.

Right after this, I found a treasure chest of artifacts in a box just marked “balcony” (the storage area).  I had no idea that any of these existed, but I was hoping I would uncover something like this.

First, a giant box of slides, which look like a mix of pictures of clients and staff, and logos.

And more cassette tapes.  Two look like they’re interviews of Edgewood staff, and one is unlabeled.

And even more slides.

And then… a original embossing seal.  I haven’t tried it out, so I don’t know which of Edgewood’s names it uses.

And then a set of seven what I believe are copper engraved etching plates.  I think these were made in the mid-1920s, shortly after Edgewood moved to its current location (1924).

It’s hard to make out, but they show different places around the campus.  This one shows the main administration building.

And this one of the children’s rooms.

I also found three glass plates used in printing the orphanage’s 6th annual report in 1856 and 50th annual report in 1901.

Sadly, one was already broken, but there was a page wrapped around it showing what the plate was of.

I think these are both of the orphanage’s Haight street building.

I also found a wooden mallet in this box, which I will post about separately soon.  It needs a post of its own since it’s an odd find.  Maybe someone will be able to identify what it is.

I’m so happy to have found these artifacts, which are now locked up safely.  They were not packaged or boxed up very well, so I now have them wrapped up better.

And now I’m off to Edgewood to look for more records!