My final finds from the gym storage were mostly related to events and more recent records.
Around 2008 (judging by when the programs end), someone put together a series of materials from the Fair, Edgewood’s main fundraising event.
The Fair began in 1967 and is hosted each spring by Edgewood’s Auxiliary members. I was happy to see that the box contents are very comprehensive and almost a complete series, although some scattered years from the 1970s and 1980s are missing. I’ll add the more recent Fair records to these, and try to fill in the gaps.
The first Fair program and 40 years later. It has really changed quite a bit! The first few years, the event had the same name and look, and now each year has a different theme.
In another box, I came across handwritten notes from an unknown person planning the first Fair, complete with a full list of the Auxiliary members at the time. These items will be helpful in preparing for my oral history interview with a woman who helped put together the first Fair. I’ll definitely be using these records to help craft questions.
I also found many, many, many items related to other events from the past decade. Way too many to photograph. There are a lot duplicates that I will try to weed if I’m able to. For several years, Edgewood held another large event – the Hope Ball – and I think I’ll be able to put together a full series of those related records through what I have found.
Another great contemporary find was this box of annual reports from 1982 through 2008. This probably doesn’t seem very exciting to others, but these will help me trace the name changes that Edgewood has gone through over the years, as well as help the Communications Department with the more recent events in Edgewood’s historical timeline.
And I found a few more newsletters from 1999 and on.
And then I found this mysterious scrapbook on the 1951 Macy’s Easter Flower Show. I have no idea what the connection to Edgewood is. The only tie that I can make is that it is from the agency’s centennial year. The news clippings and photographs inside are all related to the Red Cross.
I’ve reached out to the original Edgewood archivist and several staff members to see if they know what the tie is. If I can’t find one, I may contact the local Red Cross to see if they want it. One thing I learned in my Archives and Manuscripts class is to offer records to more appropriate institutions when deaccessioning (aka removing) items from archives. Luckily, I know people who work there that I can contact if needed. Finding this scrapbook has created a little puzzle to solve, albeit a low priority one.
And underneath it were nine more photo albums from 1996 to 2002. These seem to be a mix of photos from volunteer events and Edgewood’s school’s graduation day. I have passed it along to the Communications Department to sort through since they’re not really archival. As with the other photo albums I’ve found, none of the pictures are labeled and they don’t have photo releases. The Communications Department will select the photos they want to keep, and I’ll go from there on getting some better albums to store them in.
After going through nearly 100 boxes, seven shelving systems, three filing cabinets, and a few random piles, I have uncovered some great finds. I have already found far more things than I ever expected to, which is wonderful but I definitely have to redesign my original plan to digitize everything I find. With several hundred paper items and photographs (so far), I now know that it’s unrealistic to digitize everything. And frankly, not everything will be worthy of digitizing, which is also important to recognize.
I’m starting to get a better understanding of what professional archivists and repositories have to deal with when selecting items to digitize. My challenge is not so much finances, but time. It would be impossible to complete the digitization in any practical time frame, let alone by the end of the semester in mid-December. I’ll have to prioritize the items once I’ve finished my entire search. Things like the hundreds of newspaper clippings-which may even be digitized already-will have to be evaluated, with only the most important records or series selected for digitization.
When I first approached the San Francisco History Center about my project idea, I thought I would find about the equivalent of one and a half boxes of records to be donated to them. Well, I’ve managed to find about eight boxes of records so far and I’m not done. Of course, not all of the items that I find will be added to Edgewood’s existing archives, but I’m still surprised at how much there is to go through.
My next steps are to compile my notes from searching the gym into a more proper container list. Then, I’ll begin searching the vault, a small storage area in the basement of the main administration building. I’ve been told there are some historical records in there. And after that, I’ll work with the CEO to move on to other parts of the building, which are less likely to have any historical records, but should still be checked. And at some point, I need to find some technologies that can read the slides and various types of cassettes that I’ve found so I can figure out what’s on them.
Edgewood Tales 