GHRAB Award: UGA's Dr. Barbara McCaskill and Christina L. Davis

Yesterday, I was informed that the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board (GHRAB) selected Dr. Barbara McCaskill and Christina L. Davis's project “J. Richardson Jones: The Atom Bomb of Auburn Avenue” for a 2011 “Research Using the Holdings of an Archives” Award.

A statewide program, GHRAB awards exceptional efforts in archives and records work. To appreciate the scope and depth of their project, which included many research hours in AARL's Archives Division, read the 1-page description below. The poster pictured above, from the Atlanta Life Insurance Company Records, advertises one of Richardson's works, "Parade of Negro Progress."

   

GHRAB_Project_Description_J_Richardson_Jones_CD_2_Final_Edits

 

Congratulations!

 

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

Southern American Studies Association 2011 Conference: “Peoples, Publics, and Places of the Souths”

From February 17 to February 19, 2011, Georgia State University, our institutional neighbor in downtown Atlanta, hosts the Southern American Studies Association 2011 Conference, “Peoples, Publics, and Places of the Souths.” You can read about it here or peruse the program here. The Archives Division is proud to share news of grant-funded project staff and patrons who are presenting.

Dr. Barbara McCaskill and Christina L. Davis of the University of Georgia – whose research at AARL and elsewhere we’ve covered on four occassions – are presenting “The Atom Bomb of Auburn Avenue: Transregional Civil Rights Activism of J. Richardson Jones, Atlanta Daily World Reporter” as part of the session “Black Media, Black Business, Black Power.” Cheryl Oestreicher, project archivist for the CLIR Hidden Collections grant and AARL Archives blog contributor, is presenting a paper titled “Jean Childs Young: The Activist Beside the Activist” for the session “Unveiling the Complexity of Southern Social Activism.” Grace Lynis Dubinson, a graduate student in the History Department at Georgia State University and project staff for the NHPRC digitization grant, is chairing the panel “You Are What You Eat: Farming and Food as Social Markers” and presenting “Summary of the Urban Farm Movement: Cultivating Food Production in the 2009 Growing Season ‘You Can’t Eat Grass’” as part of “Uncovering Contested Spaces/Transforming Sacred Places.” Lastly, I am participating on the panel, “Practices of Public Scholarship: What public? Whose scholarship?”

The Archives Division wishes everyone well and looks forward to hearing follow-up reports from dear friends and colleagues.

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

Archives and Publics: J. (Joseph) Richardson Jones Update

This Archives and Publics post provides an update to Dr. Barbara McCaskill and Christina L. Davis's continuing research on J. (Joseph) Richardson Jones.  Pictured below is a revised timeline of Jones's early involvement in radio and vaudeville, which was compiled by Davis based on her research of historic black newspapers. If any blog readers have access to transcription discs or memorabilia from of any of these performances please contact Dr. McCaskill, who's information can be found here.

In addition to the updated timeline, AARL Archives Division is also proud to present a link to the New Georgia Encyclopedia article on J. (Joseph) Richardson Jones, authored by McCaskill and Davis.  See here. The article is proof of the dedication and collaborative spirit they have exhibited through their research, and we congratulate them on its publication!

Posted by Nicole Carmolingo, AARL Archives Intern

Archives and Publics: McCaskill + Jones

In this Archives and Publics post, AARL's Archives Division brings you an update on Dr. Barbara McCaskill's ongoing research into the life of J. (Joseph) Richardson Jones, a cinematographer, photographer, and reporter for the Atlanta Daily World.   It's a reminder not only of the detective-like nature of research, but also its collaborative quality.

In the screen shot below, McCaskill e-mails Toby Graham and Sheila McAlister of the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) about a discovery in the Charles Douglass Business Records at the Middle Georgia Archives and how it relates to DLG's holdings. Through much sleuthing, McCaskill was able to accurately identify a Joseph Jones from a handbill in DLG's repository as J. Richardson Jones. 

The trace led McCaskill, along with Christina Davis and JoyEllen Freeman, to look for holdings in Florida that document Jones's early childhood in Jacksonville, as well as associations in black vaudeville and the LaVilla community, once known as the "Harlem of the South." A research visit is forthcoming. Then it was back to archives in Georgia, where the team visited Emory University's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) and uncovered important genealogical information about Jones through the Hanley's Bell Funeral Home Records. 

In February next year, McCaskill and team will present their research at the Southern American Studies Association conference in Atlanta.  

J. Richardson Jones's story continues to unfold, and AARL is happy to be a part in the recovery of a little-known past. Stay tuned for more.

ADDENDUM:

Here is news to celebrate.  After reading the post, Dr. McCaskill responded by e-mail with the following:

"This weekend UGA's Civil Rights Digital Library received the Helen and Milton Schwartz Prize for outstanding projects in the Humanities at the national conference of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Our research on Jones is an outgrowth of research projects for the CRDL. Also, Christina was a paid R.A. for the CRDL for one year. The timing of this prize is especially meaningful to those of us at UGA, since in January we will commemorate the 50-year anniversary of UGA's desegregation by Charlayne Hunter, Hamilton Holmes, and Mary Frances Early." 

AARL sends heartfelt congratulations!

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

(Public) Humanities + Archives = Activating the Cultural Footprint

I recently finished a ten-week internship in the Archives Division at the Auburn Avenue Research Library as part of my master’s program in Public Humanities at Brown University. I am frequently asked about public humanities and its relationship to the work of archives.

The humanities are comprised of subject areas that analyze, interpret, and reflect on the human condition. According to the 1965 legislative act that created the National Endowment for the Humanities, the humanities are “branches of scholarly and cultural activity … [that help us] achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future.” These include the fields of anthropology, archaeology, art history and theory, ethics, history, language, literature, jurisprudence, philosophy, and religion.

While university professors and writers are obvious examples of humanists, the interdisciplinary field of public humanities supports the tools and spaces to incorporate a wider group of participants into this sphere. This is reflected in the work of my fellow students, who connect with community historians, schoolchildren, farmers, teenaged Civil War re-enactors, and others in sites as diverse as museums, archives, rural farms, dance studios, national parks, community art centers, neighborhood porches, and cyberspace.

Public humanities recognizes that the general public is an active creator, and not merely a consumer, of humanities. Thus, public humanities also serves as a vehicle for civic engagement for all members of a community. As Thomas Ehrlich writes in Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.”

My summer internship gave me many opportunities to promote the “knowledge, skills, values, and motivation” for civic engagement through the humanities. Processing the Mary Park Washington Papers and creating the collection finding aid allowed me to provide access to Washington’s vast knowledge of African American art and artists, her process as an artist commenting on history and society, and the documentation of her civic engagement as an arts educator and advocate.

I also launched social media initiatives for the Archives Division, creating a Twitter account and this blog, and expanding the Archives’ presence on Facebook. In addition to providing a forum for sharing our collections, social media helps us communicate with our users and donors, allowing us to learn about their priorities, knowledge, and needs. One example was the post on behalf of Dr. Barbara McCaskill, seeking community knowledge about photographer J. Richardson Jones. Social media also helps potential donors (maybe you!) see the far-reaching impact of archives and the importance of donating their papers to an institution such as AARL.

Thanks to the AARL’s collaborative relationship with cultural heritage and humanities organizations in Atlanta, I was also able to work on a special project for the Georgia Humanities Council, in support of their initiative to promote civic reflection on issues of race. Last year, the GHC organized a town hall meeting for the initiative, demonstrating how ordinary people can use their knowledge of morality, history, and philosophy to reflect on ways to improve their communities. Using the insights raised in this town hall meeting as well as my knowledge of Atlanta’s history gained from working in AARL’s Archives Division, I formulated discussion questions and a reading list that will hopefully help stimulate similar discussions in community groups across Georgia.

The interconnectedness of the Archives Division’s staff, collections, donors, collaborators and community of users invigorates the humanities and promotes civic engagement. My internship reinforced the power of archives to help the public use, build upon, and share diverse forms of cultural knowledge in order to improve community life. Janice Sikes-Rogers, an AARL librarian, calls this process “activating the cultural footprint.” How do you see the Archives Division as your partner in activating the cultural footprint?

Posted by Krystal Appiah, Brown University

Archives and Publics: A Scholar Taps Community Memory

From time to time, a new feature, Archives and Publics, will focus on connections between archives and various publics – scholars, interns, genealogists, students, documentary filmmakers, authors, and others. Through this series, we hope to draw attention to the ways in which different groups access and use archives.

Here, Dr. Barbara McCaskill, one of our researchers, asks the public to share information about a little-known African American reporter, photographer, and filmmaker: J. (Joseph) Richardson Jones (b. January 12, 1900, d. February 9, 1948). While Dr. McCaskill and Christina L. Davis of the University of Georgia have conducted extensive archival research across the country, they hope to tap into community and individual memories of Richardson. The documents below summarize their findings thus far and offer contact information.

Please share. Thank you.

Posted by Krystal Appiah, Archives Intern, and Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate