AARL home to Amelia Boynton-Robinson papers

Left to right, Dick Gregory and Amelia Boynton-Robinson, Auburn Avenue Research Library, August 2011

The Auburn Avenue Research Library is now home to the Amelia Boynton-Robinson papers. At 100 years old, Mrs. Boynton-Robinson, pictured above right, is an activist/organizer, speaker, playwright and author. Born in Savannah, Georgia, she is the oldest living graduate of Tuskegee University. Mrs. Boynton-Robinson worked closely with civil rights leaders to plan and strategize rural and regional efforts. Her home in Selma, Alabama, was a meeting place for leaders during the 1960s, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Joan Baez, John Lewis, and Andrew Young. Mrs. Boynton-Robinson along with her husband, Samuel, organized Alabama residents in voting rights campaigns and civil rights activities. Mrs. Boynton-Robinson’s collection reflects her wide range of activities and includes, newspaper clippings, awards, letters, ephemera and photographs. The collection is approximately 8 cubic feet and will be open for research once processed. 

Posted by Kerrie Cotten Williams, Archivist

Full Circle: Mentoring and Internship Programs in Archives

Pictured above is former AARL Archives Intern Maya Thomas, who processed the Charmayne Johnson family papers.

On Saturday, August 27th, Kerrie Cotten Williams and I participate on the panel "Fostering a Diverse Profession: Mentoring and Internship Programs," at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Chicago. We will be joined by Erika B. Castaño (University of Arizona), Steven D. Booth (National Archives and Records Administration), and former AARL intern Krystal Appiah.

Kerrie is moderating the panel, while I present about AARL's Archives Internship Program, which I coordinate and manage. As I prepare my presentation, I am reflecting on the role mentoring plays in the program. In Archival Internships: A Guide for Faculty, Supervisors, and Students -- one of the only texts on the subject -- authors Jeannette A. Bastian and Donna Webber write mentoring "may be the most valuable contribution that supervisors can make to an intern's education" (42). Though I'm still formalizing my ideas on "value" in the contexts of professional development, education, and ethics, I certainly agree with the authors that mentorship is a subject that deserves greater attention than it has received in professional literature.

As I continue to think about meaningful measures and outcomes for AARL's Archives Internship Program, it is gratifying to take pause and acknowledge the successes that former interns have achieved in a highly competitive job market. Towards the end of her internship, Krystal Appiah's blog entries caught the attention of the editor of the African American National Biography, who asked her to write an entry about Mary Parks Washington, which is now published. Since graduating from Brown University in May, she has kept busy as a participant in the HistoryMakers' Increasing African American Diversity in Archives Fellowship. Nicole Carmolingo, a major contributor to the blog, published an entry on Henry Rutherford Butler for the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Her second entry about the Big Bethel A.M.E. Church in Atlanta is forthcoming, and she recently began work fulltime as a project archivist in a for-profit setting. Another former intern, Rico Hall, just began the new Master of Archival Studies program at Clayton State University and is working on a special project at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

While I cannot take credit for their successes, I can say that mentorship plays an important role in AARL's Archives Internship Program. Here, informal conversations about the profession are common, and for interns who ask (and do good work), letters of recommendation and referrals are easy to come by. We intentionally foster a supportive environment for discovery, exploration, and dialog because the intern and mentor relationship is reciprocal and mutually beneficial. All the time and energy comes back full circle.

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

Donors as Advocates: Duncan E. Teague

I was doing a bit of housekeeping recently when I came across an overdue idea for a post -- donors as advocates. Earlier this year, February 11th-12th, readers may recall that AARL held a two day program to announce and celebrate the donation of the Duncan E. Teague collection, which includes the invitation pictured above. (Teague is a founding member of ADODI Muse.) On Saturday, February 12th, WABE aired Rose Scott's interview with Teague, who spoke about the importance of preserving the past, especially that of underrepresented communities.  Listen here.

While advocacy in the field is not a new topic, per say, it is one that remains relevant, especially in uncertain economic times. These days we all are expected to do more with less, and AARL is grateful to have the support of patrons and donors, like Duncan Teague, whose familial, social and professional networks reach far beyond the walls of the library.  

Two publications are listed below for those interested in reading about advocacy and archives.

References:

Finch, Elsie Freeman. Advocating Archives: An Introduction to Public Relations for Archivists. Chicago: Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1994.

Hackman, Larry J., ed. Many Happy Returns: Advocacy and the Development of Archives. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2011.


Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate

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

Exhibit on African Name Origins on loan from Emory @ AARL

"African Origins: Africa's History in a Name," an exhibition of materials from the Emory University libraries, is currently on exhibit at Auburn Avenue. The exhibit is located on the first floor of the building, in the library's reading and reference room.

The exhibit features reproductions of photographs and drawings from the slave trade, as well as route maps and other historical information. A focus of the African Origins project is getting public involvement in collecting information about African names of those slaves transported over the Atlantic. You can both search and contribute information to their database at African Origins. The exhibit will be on display during library hours through October 30, 2011.

Posted by Jessica Epstein, AARL Archives Intern

Life & Times of Robert Small, freed slave and U.S. Congressman

Currently on display in the Cary McPheeters Gallery @ Auburn Avenue: The Life and Times of Robert Small. Small lived from 1839-1915. Born into slavery in South Carolina, Small went on to free himself and his family by comandeering a Confederate ship to Charleston harbor. He later served in the South Carolina state legislature and represented South Carolina as a U.S. Congressman.

Photographs, drawings, ship models and other documents and artifacts representing Small's personal and political life are currently on view in the gallery on the library's first floor. The opening event is next Sunday, July 24, and Donald Sweeper will be performing a reenactment as Robert Small. The exhibit will continue to show through September 18, 2011. You can read more about the exhibit here.

Posted by Jessica Epstein, AARL Archives Intern

Archives and Publics: "Harriet Rising"

The Archives and Publics series highlights connections between archives and various publics – artists, scholars, genealogists, students, documentary filmmakers, authors, and others – and the ways in which different groups access and use archives, with a focus on AARL's constituents.

Today's post features Harriet Rising, a collaboration between artist Lisa Tuttle and writer and activist Alice Lovelace, part of a large temporary public art project titled Elevate: Art Above Underground, presented by the Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs.  Harriet Rising and other installations open August 26th in downtown Atlanta.

Tuttle contacted the Archives Division, hoping to locate images of Harriet Tubman, which will cover various portions of eight four-sided columns, installed in clusters of four on either side of Pryor Street, along the Upper Alabama pedestrian corridor above Underground Atlanta.  Since some of the images will be enlarged to cover the 8' x 3' columns, she needed high resolution images, which AARL was able to deliver.  

In Tuttle and Lovelace's narrative description of the project, they identify several goals that Harriet Rising will accomplish:

1. Bring renewed attention to Harriet Tubman and her historical importance as an American hero.
2. Draw parallels between the historical significance (Civil War to Civil Rights) of Underground Atlanta and the Underground Railroad.
3. Lifting the visibility of courageous women and organizations working today in the Atlanta community for human rights, particularly those working on behalf of minorities and women, often unrecognized.
4. Add dynamic visual, poetic, educational content to visitors' experiences as they walk along Upper Alabama Street this fall. 

Tuttle and Lovelace will bring attention to a number of individuals, among them Glory Kilanko (Director and CEO of Women Watch Afrika, Inc.), Azadeh N. Shahshahani (National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director, ACLU of Georgia and the chair of Refugee Women's Network), Loretta Ross (a founder and the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective) and Ella Ruth Hunnicutt, Minnie Ruffin, Ann Mauney, and Judy "Artemis" Conder of Grandmothers for Peace.  Organizations highlighted include 9 to 5 and WAND.      

Tuttle and Lovelace write:

In the United States, there are many women who embody the spirit of Harriet Tubman, working everyday to make life better for women (and therefore entire families) and working for a better world.  The lives of these women are not as transparent as Tubman's.  They should be.

The Archives Division is pleased to support Lisa Tuttle and Alice Lovelace's work.

Posted by Wesley Chenault, Library Research Associate