Research 2.0: Henry Rutherford Butler + Internet + Internet Archive

Archives and technology. It’s difficult to summarize in a post how technology has and continues to radically change research. Suffice it to say we have taken the digital turn, an exhilarating if not dizzying shift. This is a case in point.

Recently Nicole Carmolingo, a former AARL intern, wrote an entry about Henry Rutherford Butler for publication in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Butler, one of the first African American physicians to establish a practice in Atlanta, lived from 1862 to 1931. While this date range is significant in terms of United States and African American history, one way to view Butler’s life span is through the lens of copyright law. Most of the written traces that document his education, career, and fraternal affiliations are in the public domain, that legal space where technology giants like Google Books thrive, and repositories, including AARL, turn for digitization projects, see here. (Note: AARL holds the Selena Sloan Butler family papers, which include materials related to her husband Henry Rutherford Butler and son Henry Rutherford Butler Jr.)

In addition to traditional research methods, Carmolingo surfed the internet to gather a great deal of biographical information using published secondary sources that are now online. Examples include Daniel Wallace Culp’s Twentieth Century Negro Literature (Or a Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro, by One Hundred of America's Greatest Negroes), published in 1902, and Edward. R. Carter’s The Black Side: A Partial History of the Business, Religious, and Educational Side of the Negro in Atlanta, Ga. from 1894. My fact checking of her entry, part of the editorial process, also was aided by Google Books and online repositories, such as the Internet Archive. (I credit the Atlanta History Center’s now-defunct blog, Pardon Our Backlog, for the tip.)

In one instance, I needed to verify the name of Butler and colleague Dr. Thomas Heathe Slater’s business, Butler, Slater & Co – the first drug store licensed by the state that was owned by and operated for African Americans. As many researchers know, the Atlanta City Directory, accessible in print form and microfilm, is a go-to resource for information about the city’s people and places. The big news, however, is that some are now digitized; sample a virtual copy of the 1878 volume here. What would have taken a visit to another repository and an hour or more of research to fact check one company name turned into a few minutes of sitting and clicking, thanks to the Internet Archive.

Of course, not everything is or will be digitized. Today’s researchers must balance traditional and contemporary practices to yield the best results. But at this moment in time – when each day holds new online discoveries – technology-enabled changes that facilitate access to the records of our collective past are still something to marvel.

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

Archives and Publics: Handling History

Archives preserve collections of documents, records, and manuscripts that hold some level of historical interest. This can include documents of national importance, such as the Declaration of Independence, down to a local company’s financial records. However, one of the most interesting types of collections that can be found in an archives is that of the common person. As an archivist-in-training, I have the opportunity to access these pieces of history as well as to learn how to handle them and preserve them properly. According to fellow intern Sarah Warren, that is why she chose the archival field of history as her career path. “I realized that I have the chance to maintain documents, letters, and photographs,” she notes. “To have direct contact with personal stories as a full-time job seemed too good to be true.” By training how to be archivists and public historians, we can organize these documents created by everyday people and give them a value and voice that they may not have otherwise. (Right: photographs, Archives Division, AARL.)

Archival study can serve as a branch of public history because, as archivists, we are trained to preserve historical documents for public access. We learn preservation and processing techniques and put them to practical use in the public forum so that researchers can use these historical items for years to come. Archives serve a similar purpose as a museum: they maintain documents of the past for the benefit of the present and future. Shannon Danielle Smith, another University of West Georgia intern, considers the idea of “putting history into practice in the public field, rather than inside a classroom” the best part of being a historian.

The University of West Georgia’s Public History Program gives both undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to take classes and learn how best to present historical information to the public. We are trained not only to teach, but also to interpret and exhibit. Graduate students have the opportunity to earn a Museum Studies Certificate, which offers classes in conjunction with the Atlanta History Center and trains in all aspects of museum careers: exhibits, collections, administration, and education. The archival branch of the public history program offers courses in basic theory and management as well as an advanced practicum, which offers hands-on experience in the Archives Division at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Through classes, internships, and research assistantships, we have the chance to work directly within our field so that we are prepared to pursue a career in promoting history to the public in museum and archival settings.

Through graduate internships, I have had access to rare books and artifacts that I never thought I would have access to. An education in archival and historical preservation involves handling history in a way that not only enriches our studies but also our passion for history. Archives offer direct contact with history itself, whether it includes perusing a personal collection like that of James Bryant Smith, or researching the Georgia Political Heritage Collection at the University of West Georgia. Entering the professional field of public history means that I will get to share that passion with the general population on both local and national levels. The work that I am being trained to do behind the scenes creates an accessible way for the public to interact with history on a hands-on, personal level that reaches beyond looking at a museum exhibit through plated glass. (Left: rare book by Phillis Wheatley, Archives Division, AARL.)

Posted by Tiffany Luoma, University of West Georgia Intern