Traveling Talleys

This past week has been exciting and not just because we had a snow/ice day! It is the week of display for my midwife series which I am proud to announce went smoothly. It was great seeing a collection that only a few others have viewed become available for the public to study and learn. The midwife documents are only a small portion of the entire collection, but they are one of the most interesting. Each day focused on a different part of the story about being a midwife. The first day, we focused on the importance of the midwife bag and the instruction book she carried, not only for her benefit but the benefit of the pregnant woman. May 3rd UALR CAHC Facebook

The second day we explored a book that I found about planning for a baby. Inside are amazing notes and advice for the father and the mother, and include meal plans, what the mother and father need to have handy for when the midwife arrives during labor and what to expect after the baby is born. It is a great booklet from the past! May 4th UALR CAHC Facebook

The third and fourth days were devoted to recipes. You have seen the first recipe in my last posting, about foods to be consumed during labor and the lying-in period. I also added a page that I found about specifically meatloaf – complete with different meatloaf versions! May 5th UALR CAHC Facebook  May 6th UALR CAHC Facebook

Today was the last day of my series and it ended with important food to be consumed before the baby arrives. I thought that was an interesting piece of advice because a lot of the instructions were focused on labor and after birth, but only a few documents were about before the baby (and that wonderful book about planning for a baby!) May 7th UALR CAHC Facebook

I think it is fantastic that I am able to not only share these with the world but be able to do this in an academic setting. It stands to reason that it’s pretty awesome that the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture would allow me the opportunity to display my findings – EVERY DAY FOR A WEEK!  So share, like and enjoy those posts and look back there for more!

My week wasn’t all about the midwife series. Besides continuing to digitize the Scott Collection and Process the remaining folders in the Mary Lee Harris Papers I am also starting to learn about editing a YouTube video from an oral history interview. You’ll remember that last week I wrote about the Japanese-Americans who were relocated to Arkansas from California during World War II to live in the internment camps. Well, the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture are releasing these interview clips to lead into the opening of a new exhibit later this fall about the Japanese-American internment. One of the videos that I am editing will be a part of that! I am very excited. So far, my main task is to take a longer video, find a central theme and then edit it down to a small clip. I’ve got down to about 8 minutes…so close! Its really amazing that we have these interviews and I encourage you to go to the website,UALR CAHC YouTube, and check it out for yourself!

Next week I should have more information to you about metadata – you didn’t think I’d forget, did you?

This week in GA world has brought new tasks and therefore new challenges. I am the “guinea pig” in digitizing an entire collection – basically scanning everything in a processed collection without regard to its significance. Mainly, I am doing this to time myself and see how long it could take an archivist to do this so we can properly plan for the future. The Collection I am scanning -The John Rice Homer Scott Collection – can be viewed in person at the Arkansas Studies Institute. Scott studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1848. During the Civil War, Captain Scott commanded four Calvary companies and took part in the Pea Ridge/Elk horn Mountain battle in northern Arkansas. He also was a state Senator for Pope, Conway and Searcy counties in 1873. Most of the documents in his file are from 1861-1862 but there are a few towards the end that expand out in time. Its a time consuming project but its cool to read through another collection that has been processed – kind of like a cross reference for when I finish processing MY collection.

Speaking of MY collection – the Mary Lee Harris Papers are getting more interesting by the minute. I love reading through her correspondence (though I do wish I had her letters in response to gauge the conversation better). I have started actually processing the papers though, which is a positive step! There are many dead ends and unrelated documents and pictures, but with the help of the Archivists and some Genealogy expertise hopefully I can fill these missing gaps on who some of these people are, how they are related and why they are put together in this collection!

One thing I am looking forward to in the future (aka next week) is the start of creating a video with the Life Interrupted series and learning how to rip a DVD and covert to a different medium. I have not worked with video in this situation before so it will be a great experience and something new to add to my resume!

As for the “everything in-between”, I have learned how to inventory an unprocessed collection; basically creating an itemized list of what is in the folder, but nothing too specific since it has not been processed. I am slowly learning my way around the research room in the Arkansas Studies Institute building and actually attempted to assist a patron yesterday in their research! (Crazy, I know.)

I leave you with an interesting document I scanned from the Mary Lee Harris Papers. These are instructions on what should be consumed during and after labor and gives informative examples. A larger section of these papers contain information booklets and instruction manuals on the process of becoming a midwife, the rules on being a midwife and how to help the family before during and after pregnancy. These are recommended foods and liquids “during labor and the lying-in period.” Enjoy!