News from Maryland State Archives

New Leadership Potential for the Maryland State Archives

Author: Elizabeth A. Novara, Maryland Caucus Chair

After almost 40 years of service, the Maryland State Archivist, Edward C. Papenfuse, retired on November 1, 2013. Deputy Archivist, Timothy D. Baker, is currently serving in his place until a new state archivist is found. The governor, Martin O’Malley, will appoint the next state archivist after a recommendation from the Hall of Records Commission.

In August 2013, MARAC sent a letter to Governor O’Malley copying members of the Hall of Records Commission and the Society of American Archivists Executive Committee. Jordon Steele, Member-At-Large, drafted the letter and members of the Maryland Caucus were asked to contribute ideas. The MARAC Steering Committee ultimately vetted the letter and MARAC Chair, John LeGloahec, sent the following list of qualifications to the governor for consideration:

Qualifications

• Advanced communication skills to express a compelling vision for the mission and work of the Maryland State Archives and, more broadly, for the responsible stewardship of Maryland memory.

• Commitment to the principle of public ownership of government records and to open and equal access to government records in all media and in all formats, by all citizens, as defined by law.

• Advanced advocacy skills to ensure that government recordkeeping processes provide for accountability, transparency, and openness.

• Commitment to the development of an electronic records management program.

• Commitment to timely and appropriate scheduling, disposition, and declassification of government records.

• Commitment to protect the professional integrity and political non-partisanship of the Maryland State Archives.

• Deep understanding of archival practice and the major issues confronting government records, especially the importance of preserving and providing access to electronic records and the tension between open records, privacy, and security.

• Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in archival studies and/or accreditation by the Academy of Certified Archivist strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated leadership within the archival profession at the local, regional, and national level, including committee work, presenting at conferences, and writing articles.

• Experience in the leadership and management of a complex organization.

• Ability to communicate effectively and partner with a wide range of stakeholders, including archivists, government officials, researchers, the general public, and Friends groups.

• Experience raising money from federal and private sources to support institutional priorities.

• Commitment to continuing the work of the Maryland State Archives to secure a permanent storage space for paper records transferred from state agencies.

Although we have not yet had a response from the governor to the letter, members of MARAC’s Maryland Caucus are especially interested in how a new appointee will shape archival advocacy and provide bold leadership for the archival profession in the state of Maryland. We hope that the appointee will take the state in a new direction in preserving Maryland’s cultural heritage.

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News from Delaware Public Archives

Searching for Your Irish Family Roots

On March 1, 10:30 a.m., the Delaware Public Archives will present a special Irish genealogical program by well-known Delaware genealogist Nancy Lyons entitled “Searching for Your Irish Family Roots.”

Ms. Lyons will focus on researching Irish American ancestry both online and in U.S. record repositories. Researchers will learn how to utilize the census, vital statistics, church documents, naturalizations, passenger lists and other essential record groups to fill in the blanks of their family trees. Ms. Lyons will also share additional reference resources such as internet sites and suggested reading material.

Nancy Lyons is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the National Genealogical Society. The founder of the Irish Family History Research Group, Lyons has volunteered at the Mormon Family History Center in Wilmington for 19 years. She also served as the chair of the Delaware Genealogical Society Educational Committee for nine years. Other memberships include Friends of the Delaware Archives, Delaware Genealogical Society, Downstate Delaware Genealogical Society, and the Sussex County Genealogical Society.

Ms. Lyons’ program is free to the public. No reservations are required. For more information, contact Tom Summers (302) 744-5047 or e-mail thomas.summers@state.de.us.

For information about the Delaware Public Archives, please visit the website at http://archives.delaware.gov. You can also become a follower of the Archives Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/DelawarePublicArchives) and read the Archives blog (http://archives.blogs.delaware.gov/) to learn more about events and other items of interest at the Archives.

The Delaware Public Archives is located at 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard North in Dover. The Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room is open to the public Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. On the second Saturday of every month the research room is open from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

News from Hershey Community Archives

Collaborations Yield Online Historical Resources

Hershey Chocolate advertisements. Seal-shaped carved ivory toggles. 1950s postcards of Hersheypark. Frakturs. All of these items and more can be viewed online as part of a new collaboration between Hershey Community Archives and The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue. “We wanted to share some of the amazing documents and artifacts our staff encounters each day so we started a Tumblr account,” explains archivist, Tammy Hamilton. “Tumblr allows us to quickly share images of historical objects online so they can be enjoyed by everyone interested in Hershey’s history.”

The Tumblr account, “Documenting Hershey,” can be reached directly at documentinghershey.tumblr.com. “Individuals can even subscribe to the page, so they never miss a post,” said Valerie Seiber, The Hershey Story’s collections manager. “Each post will be a surprise, just as we are often surprised by what we encounter each day.”

Hershey Community Archives also recently collaborated with Milton Hershey School to offer online access to historical newspapers. The Hershey Press (published 1909-1926) and Hershey News (published 1953-1964) are both accessible online via AccessPA’s Digital Repository. “Milton Hershey School’s membership in AccessPA provided the Archives with an opportunity to add these newspapers to a state-wide historical newspaper database,” said Hamilton. “Users can search by keyword for articles related to the community or even their own family.” To access the newspapers, go to www.hersheyarchives.organd use the Collections & Research tab.

MARAC in Baltimore: Call for Workshop Proposals

The Education Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is currently soliciting proposals for workshops at the Fall 2014 conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Workshops will be held on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Workshops may be either a half-day or a full-day and may focus on any topic of interest to MARAC’s constituency, for example: Appraisal, Arrangement & Description, Records Management, Donor Relations, Disaster Planning, Digitization, Electronic Records, and Reference. This year we are especially interested in workshops related to management topics and also digital/electronic records. Workshop leaders will be provided with a monetary stipend.

Please complete the workshop proposal form:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFptdkJVVVd2V0p5R0k0bFppNDB4OGc6MQ&ndplr=1

Deadline is March 28, 2014.

Interested parties may also specify a preference to be considered for the Spring 2015 conference.

Thank you,

David Ranzan – daranzan@salisbury.edu

Ilhan Citak – ilc4@lehigh.edu

Workshop Coordinators/Education Committee

http://www.marac.info

 

News from University of Scranton

The Mutiny on the Bounty: A 225-Year Voyage from Fiction to Fact

Weinberg Memorial Library, University of Scranton

February 7-April 17

Although the mutiny on the Bounty will always stand as a signal event in maritime history, the circumstances surrounding the mutiny have been clouded by early attacks on Lieutenant William Bligh and by motion pictures, which portrayed him as a tyrant. Doubtless, Bligh had a sharp tongue which he used quite effectively to berate his petty officers. But contrary to the portrait created by partisans of the mutineers, Bligh was an enlightened commander who limited the use of disciplinary flogging.

The mutiny is only part of the story. After the Bounty was taken by Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers, Bligh and 18 loyalists squeezed into a launch for a harrowing 47 day open boat voyage in bad weather. Bligh and most of his men survived one of the greatest feats of navigation in history and returned home. But Bligh, eventually a Rear-Admiral, was always dogged by the mutiny and by the concerted smear campaign waged by a couple pardoned mutineers and the family of Christian.

In celebration of the 225^th anniversary of the mutiny, Weinberg Library is presenting an exhibit on the topic drawn from the collection of University benefactor and alumnus Edward R. Leahy. Mr. Leahy has acquired rare and fascinating books showing both the historical facts and the efforts to sully Bligh. From Bligh’s Narrativeto the mutineer’s court martial transcripts to the spurious Fletcher Christian letters and the authentic and rare Peter Heywood letters, Mr. Leahy has assembled the historical evidence. But he has also collected the start of the Mutiny saga in the arts with works like Lord Byron’s The Island. This exhibit provides both the fiction and the facts of the mutiny on the Bounty.

The Heritage Room exhibit will open February 7 and close April 17, 2014. On April 9 at 5:30 PM Edward Leahy will speak on The Mutiny on the Bounty: Myth and Fact in the Heritage Room with a reception to follow. The talk is free and open to the public, but we appreciate an RSVP to plan for refreshments.

Contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies Michael.Knies@Scranton.edu 570-941-6341for more information.

News from the University of Maryland, College Park

Maryland newspapers available on Chronicling America

The University of Maryland Libraries is pleased to announce that the first pages digitized by the Historic Maryland Newspapers Project are now accessible on the Library of Congress website Chronicling America. At present, issues from the German-language, Baltimore newspaper Der Deutsche Correspondent are available for the years 1858, 1866, 1868, and 1870-1892.

Before current funding ends in August 2014, the Historic Maryland Newspapers Project will also digitize several English titles published in Baltimore, including the American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper, the Baltimore Commercial Journal, and Lyford’s Price-Current, the Baltimore Daily Commercial, the Daily Exchange, the Maryland Free Press, and the Pilot and Transcript, as well as one additional title from Cumberland, the Civilian and Telegraph.

The Historic Maryland Newspapers Project is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the NDNP is part of a long-term effort to digitize and provide access to historic U.S. newspapers via Chronicling America. The University of Maryland Libraries was awarded a $325,000 NDNP grant in October 2012 to digitize 100,000 pages of Maryland newspapers by August 2014. Newspapers digitized under the auspices of the NDNP were originally published between 1836 and 1922 and comply with NDNP content selection guidelines (http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/guidelines/selection.html).

For additional information, visit the project’s website (http://digital.lib.umd.edu/newspapers), read our blog posts athttp://dssumd.wordpress.com/ andhttp://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/, or contact Historic Maryland Newspapers Librarian Liz Caringola.

Archives in the News: Division of Old Records in Manhattan

Earlier this week The New York Timespublished an article on Bruce Abrams, an archivist at the Division of Old Records in Manhattan. Abrams, who recently retired after 30 years as a New York Court archivist, returned to work as a volunteer at the Surrogate’s Court the week after his retirement party.

For the full article on this dedicated archivist, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/nyregion/new-york-court-archivist-isnt-letting-retirement-stop-him.html?_r=0

MARAC Baltimore: Call for Proposals

MARAC FALL 2014 Meeting

October 16-18, 2014

Baltimore, Maryland

Call for Proposals

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference invites the submission of session proposals for its fall meeting to be held October 16-18, 2014, in Baltimore, Maryland. Deadline for proposals is February 28, 2014.

The Fall 2014 Program Committee invites proposals on all aspects of archives and archival work, both in traditional and emerging subfields. Creative and timely presentations from professionals in archives and related fields (public history, libraries, museums, genealogy, information science, digital collections, and records management) are very welcome. Session need not be fully formed to be submitted for consideration. The Committee will work with proposers on their submissions. Proposals for individual papers on archival topics will also be considered.

The committee will evaluate all paper and session proposals with a particular emphasis on:

·         A diversity of institutions and perspectives

·         Topics that highlight innovative practices or experiences

·         Sessions and papers that encourage discussion

·         Include a full description of the proposed session or paper

Possible Session Types

Debate: Session chair announces the topic, with a two participant debate following.

Lightning Talks: Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long. Number of presenters will vary based on assigned time slot

Open Forum: Topical discussion with chair leading discussion with attendees. May include discussion leaders to direct breakout conversations.

PechaKucha: Each presentation consists of 20 images displayed for 20 seconds, with comment
Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Maximum number of presenters for this session type is 8-10.

Roundtable Discussion: Three or four participants make very brief remarks then discuss a topic together.

Standard Presentations: Two or three speakers with a chair.

For more information, please contact the Program Co-Chairs: Arian Ravanbakhsh (adravan@gmail.com) and Laura Drake Davis (davisld@jmu.edu).