Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Archival Enterprise Across Early Modern Europe: A Review Essay, Kristen J. Nyitray

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

In the early modern era, archives were a conduit for information transfer across Europe. Historians have increasingly centered archives and archivists as actors in scholarship of Early Modern European (c. 1450-1800) historical concerns. In particular, two linked areas of inquiry have been emphasized: the impact of archives on forming European identities, and the influence of European archivists on shaping archives. Studies of archives are rich sources that tease out ideological shifts in early modern times. This essay discusses recent literature and seminal writings contributing to understandings of emergent archives and archival practices across Early Modern Europe. Exploring the concept of …

Review: The Anarchivist: History, Memory, And Archives, Greg Mcnamara

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Book Review: The Anarchivist: History, Memory, and Archives. By Geof Huth (New York: AC Books, 2020. 145 pp.). Reviewed by Greg McNamara.

Scaling Up Video Digitization At The University Of Maryland Libraries: A Case Study, Elizabeth M. Caringola, Pamela A. Mcclanahan, Robin C. Pike

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

In 2015, a team at the University of Maryland Libraries collaborated on a pilot project to digitize 100 VHS tapes from the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange collection and, in doing so, established organizational workflows for video digitization and access. After completing the pilot phase of the project, staff who worked on the project published a case study in this journal that articulated a question echoed throughout that process: “Is this enough?” Enough descriptive metadata? Enough technical metadata? Enough storage space? This article will reflect on the pilot project, detail how the digitization specifications and workflows established during the pilot project …

What Do You Meme? Preserving Emojis, Memes, And Gifs As Archival Folklore Objects, Elizabeth Meads

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Digital objects, such as emojis, memes, and reaction GIFs, have become common tools of communication between people, clever advertising for companies, and iconic means of identification and association for political figures. The evolution of their appearance and increasing use of these digital objects demonstrates the need to preserve these items as a means to document critical communication methods in the 21st century.

Context Is (Almost) Everything: Academic Historians And Digital Archival Collections, Donald Force, Bradley Wiles

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Access to online archival materials has become vital for many academic historians and other researchers. The COVID-19 global pandemic has aimed the spotlight on the digital archival collections hosted by archives institutions and available through the web. In light of this increased role of digital archival collections, it is imperative for archivists to gain a better understanding of academic historians’ perceptions of these materials. The study reported in this article builds on previous work in the archives, history, and library and information studies disciplines to assess current perceptions that academic historians have toward digital archival collections. The article concludes that …

Chain Of Custody: Access And Control Of State Archival Records In Public-Private Partnerships, Sarah E. Carlson

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

As I write this, Ancestry.com is a central party in a lawsuit with the organization Reclaim The Records, citing that it, a private corporation, received preferential priority and access to public records before individual patrons of the public in Freedom of Information requests for genealogical records.^[i] Concern that public records may move into private hands demarcates an increasingly digital realm of record-keeping and public history. As companies and the public jockey for access to records in a race for access – one open and the other annexed behind a paywall – the blatant corruption is alarming. Yet, public records …

The Library Of Virginia, Local Records, And The Civil War, Eddie Woodward

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Virginia’s city and county court records are not only the resources used to write and interpret history, but they have a history in and of themselves--if they survived. Unfortunately, because of records' legal and administrative importance, they are prime targets during a war; destroying these materials not only erases history, but can also cause a great amount of disruption, confusion, and anxiety among residents. This was the case in 1861, after Virginia seceded from the Union and its state capital also became the national capital of the Confederate States of America. As the courthouses were seen as the head or …

A Shared Space: The Collaborative Alliance Between The College Of Charleston Special Collections And The South Carolina Historical Society Archives, Mary Jo Fairchild, Molly Inabinett, Joshua Minor

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

In December 2014, the South Carolina Historical Society relocated nearly 5,000 linear feet of manuscript material and more than 3,000 rare books and monographs to a shared space within the Special Collections department at the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library. Exploration of the antecedents and evolution of this partnership between a private non-profit manuscript archive and a public academic repository can demonstrate lessons learned from the process of condensing archival spaces and personnel to create a deeply rich repository for research and inquiry. In the absence of a formula or analytical framework for the envisioned collaboration, stakeholders at each institution …

The Case Of The Stanly Will, Ryan Speer

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

This article presents a historical account of the state of Georgia's 1926 suit to recover a colonial will which had been an item of commerce for some 50 years at the time of the court proceedings. Ultimately, Georgia was unable to prove that the will was a state record. The state’s result can been seen as part of a larger pattern indicating that replevin is not consistently effective in recovering documents lacking conclusive evidence of long-standing public custody.

Our Love Won’T Fade Away: Processing The Jerry Garcia Memorial Altar Collection, Scott J. Carlson

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

On August 9, 1995, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead was found dead of a heart attack. Four days later, a public memorial for Garcia, held in Golden Gate Park, was attended by the band and almost 25,000 fans. Underneath an enormous portrait of Garcia, fans deposited letters, artwork, pictures, and a vast array of personal offerings in memory of the late musician. The "altar" materials, as they were called, were eventually gifted to the University of California Santa Cruz, now home of the Grateful Dead’s archives. Out of context, the 3,100 individual items of the collection might seem haphazard …

A Vibrant And Vocal Community: Establishing An Archival Outreach Plan For The Lgbtq Community In Utah And Similar States, Julia Huddleston

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

Despite being both politically and culturally conservative, Utah has a vocal and vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community that has been making history and headlines for decades. However, there is a demonstrated lack of primary source material documenting these movements. The lack of archival material highlights the need for archives in Utah to actively seek out collections from LGBTQ individuals and organizations through a concentrated outreach effort.

This paper addresses the unique concerns associated with acquiring LGBTQ collections—building trust, respectfully arranging and describing materials in a way that maximizes access, and creating inclusive physical spaces through reference …

How Archives Shape Our Collective Memory: A Re-Examination Of The Library Of Congress’ American Memory Collection Of The 1936-1938 Federal Writers Project’S Collection Of Former Slave Narratives And Concomitant Questions Of African American Cultural Knowledge Production, Renee Neely

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

The massive compilation of oral histories of formerly enslaved African Americans by the Federal Writers Project, was an ambitious project. This case study raises questions surrounding the Collection’s provenance within its socio-political framework and its enduring legacy.

Additionally, this examination pursues areas of cultural knowledge production cited within the narratives, that merit further study. A discussion surrounding the conscious or unconscious, outcome of archival practice, and its ability to shape our historical record is the goal of this investigation.

“An Ever-Ready Source Of Inspiration And Information”: Ruth Blair And The Bicentennial County Historians, David B. Parker

Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists

In 1929, the Georgia General Assembly approved a resolution calling on each county to appoint a historian to compile the county’s history for the state’s bicentennial (1732-1932). Ruth Blair, director of the state’s Department of Archives and History, worked closely with the county historians. Their correspondence tells us much about the project and about Blair’s role in the project’s success.