Paul Coverdell Papers Transferred

Selections from the Frederick R. Koch Collection on Exhibit at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Congressional Papers Forum in Washington, D.C. During SAA Meeting

Minnesota Orchestra Archives Established

New Collaboration Between Museum and Corporation

Grants Awarded To Carl Albert Center

Civil War Diary or Student Creative Composition?

Candidates for Section Vice Chair/Chair-Elect

Candidates for Section Steering Committee

Summer/Autumn 2001 Calendar

Leadership and Next Deadline

From the Chair
by Kathryn Neal

It almost seems like yesterday when SAA last met in Washington, DC, but indeed six years have passed. In August, we will have another opportunity to gather in our nation's capital for SAA's 65th annual meeting. I hope that Manuscript Repositories Section members new and seasoned will attend this year's business meeting that will take place on Thursday, August 30 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. Naturally, we devote a brief portion of the meeting to conducting section business. Besides announcements and possible updates, the agenda also includes the election of a new vice chair/chair elect and two--rather than the traditional three--steering committee members. You might recall that at the 2000 meeting in Denver, the election for one seat resulted in a tie between Karen Spicher of Yale University and Kathryn Allamong Jacob of the Schlesinger Library. Karen began her term at that time, and Kathy will join the committee this year. I would like to especially thank immediate past chair Christine Weideman and steering committee members Susan Dick, Mark Shelstad, and Karen Spicher for their efficient work in compiling such a strong slate of candidates. Many thanks also to past chairs Mark Greene, Herb Hartsook, and Mary Wolfskill, and vice chair/chair elect Peter Blodgett for their insights.

What also lies in store is a program on archival ethics that promises to be outstanding. Steering committee members Beth Bensman, Cynthia Pease Miller, and Craig Wright developed this program that will feature David Horn, head of archives and manuscripts at Boston College, as guest speaker. Horn, a member of the SAA Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct, will launch a discussion of this highly significant and often provocative topic that will benefit archivists at all levels. After the presentation, there will be ample time for members to join small groups to talk in greater depth about issues that Horn will raise.

The SAA annual meeting overall offers a slate of potential stimulating sessions. I'm happy to report that each of the four sessions submitted on behalf of the section was accepted for the program: "Documenting Music: Archival Evidence of the Composer's Creative Process," Thursday, August 30, 1:30-3:00 p. m.; "Open or Closed Collections? Creating Access Policies to Sensitive Materials," Friday, August 31, 10:30 a. m.-12:30 p. m.; "No 'Field of Dreams': Documenting Sports in the U. S.," Friday, August 31, 1:30-3:00 p.m.; and "The Road Not Yet Taken: Documenting Diverse Communities," Saturday, September 1, 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. I hope that this "global archival odyssey" in DC will spark session ideas for the 2002 program in Birmingham, Alabama. If you would like assistance in developing a session or would like to submit a proposal for section endorsement, please contact Peter Blodgett who becomes the new section chair following the 2001 meeting. Although proposals must be postmarked no later than October 6, 2001, if you seek section sponsorship it is best to submit proposals well in advance to give the section chair and steering committee members adequate time to evaluate them. We welcome your ideas, so please don't hesitate to volunteer them.

Have a good summer, and I look forward to seeing you all soon in Washington, DC!

Paul Coverdell Papers Transferred

Georgia State University officially transferred papers of the late U. S. Senator Paul D. Coverdell to Georgia College & State University's Russell Library on 10 January 2001. The collection, which was housed in the Pullen Library at GSU, contains the state senate papers of Coverdell which were deeded to Georgia State University in 1990. Coverdell was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1970 and was chosen by his peers to serve as Senate Minority leader, a post he held for 15 years. The Russell Library's collection is now complete, containing the papers, memorabilia, photos, correspondence and other important documents and artifacts representing three decades of Coverdell's public service as the director of the Peace Corps, as a state senator, and as a U. S. Senator.

The inter-institutional collaboration was carried out on behalf of the citizens of Georgia and to honor the wishes of Coverdell, who died 18 July 2000. Georgia College & State University wishes to acknowledge the generosity of Georgia State University, and to announce that the Georgia Senate Papers of Paul D. Coverdell are open for research.

For more information regarding the papers of Paul D. Coverdell, please visit http://library.gcsu.edu/~sc/collections/coverdell/index.html.

Susan Dick Georgia Historical Society

Selections from the Frederick R. Koch Collection on Exhibit at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

From Heinrich Schütz to Henry Miller, an exhibition of manuscripts, scores, books, art, and photographs from the Frederick R. Koch Collection, is on view at the Beinecke Library through July 14, 2001. Assembled chiefly in the 1980s, Mr. Koch's collection reflects his interests in literature, music, theater, and visual arts, with an emphasis on music manuscripts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Included in the exhibition are a recently discovered score of Jacques Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffman, a complete draft of a vocal score of Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, a short score of Erik Satie's ballet Parade, with annotations by Jean Cocteau, and other scores in the hands of Pergolesi, Boccherini, Mozart, Berlioz, Schubert, Liszt, Gounod, Chopin, Fauré, Ravel, Stravinsky, and other composers. A diverse range of literary works on display includes a manuscript of A. A. Milne's When We Were Very Young, a typescript of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, and drafts for A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs from Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu.

Vincent Giroud, Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, prepared the exhibition and has published an illustrated catalog with extended commentary on each item. Organized as part of Yale University's tercentennial celebration, From Heinrich Schütz to Henry Miller opened with a concert of music from the Koch Collection, performed by Yale School of Music faculty and students. For more information about the exhibition and a program of the opening concert, see the Programs and Services listing on the Beinecke Library website at http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/blexhib.htm.

Karen Spicher Yale University

Congressional Papers Forum in Washington, D.C. During SAA Meeting

With the Society of American Archivists meeting in Washington this August, the Congressional Papers Roundtable is sponsoring a forum to discuss and explore key recommendations of the Third Report of the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress. Established by law in 1990, the Advisory Committee is composed of the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, the Archivists of the United States and appointees of the leadership of the House and Senate (not Members of Congress, but usually historians, political scientists, or archivists). The committee is required to submit a report every 5 years. The report is not a look back at accomplishments but rather an agenda looking forward to the next five years. The first two reports focused on the official records of the House and the Senate and the records of other agencies of the Legislative Branch. The topic of this third report is members' papers. Copies are available from Karen Paul, in the Senate Historical Office (Karen_Paul@sec.senate.gov).

This Congressional Papers Roundtable forum is not a part of the official SAA meeting, so you do not have to register for SAA to attend. You do not have to belong to SAA or the Roundtable to attend. It is free. It will be held Wednesday, August 29, from 1:30 to 4:30 in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room of the U.S. Capitol. Two topics will be discussed: records management in members' offices and regional centers for political collections. Please RSVP to Karen Paul in the Senate Historical Office so that you can be notified if there is a change in location and so that we have enough chairs and handouts. The last extended opportunity to focus exclusively on congressional papers was in Portland, Maine, in 1994, at the conference sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library. The Harpers Ferry conference that established standards for congressional collections in 1985.

With the support of this report and the active involvement of congressional archivists, there may now be an opportunity for the recommendations that archivists have been making over the years to finally be heard and seriously considered by congressional offices.

Cynthia Pease Miller Senate Finance Committee

Minnesota Orchestra Archives Established

The Minnesota Orchestra Archives is becoming a reality after 25 years. The Orchestra was formed in 1903 as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and changed its name to the Minnesota Orchestra in 1968. In the mid 1970s, under a loan agreement with the University of Minnesota, the Orchestral Association began depositing its records in the Manuscripts Division as part of the Performing Arts Archives. Due to perennial staff shortages, only minimal appraisal, organization, and description were possible for the first 200 linear feet of materials. The collection includes office files, programs and publications, scrapbooks, photographs, and recorded media. Since then, the Orchestra has deposited an additional 300 linear feet of materials that need to be brought under archival control.

With the approach of the Orchestra's centennial in 2003, plans were made to produce a published history and a retrospective CD set. Orchestra staff realized the need for information, images, and recordings that were in the collection and the necessity to have the records fully arranged and described. Last year the Orchestral Association agreed to transfer ownership of its archives to the Manuscripts Division. It also arranged for a three-year gift from a private source to enable the Manuscripts Division to hire an archivist, purchase archival supplies and equipment, and microfilm valuable scrapbooks of newspaper clippings that will be retained after microfilming. In addition, the Orchestral Association made a grant request to the NHPRC that, if funded, will provide an additional part-time staff member to assist the archivist.

I was hired and started work in January of this year. After establishing a work plan and an organizational scheme for the collection, I started processing the thousands of images created by and for the Orchestra during the last century. They range from large "class" photographs of the Orchestra from 1922 at the old Lyceum Theatre in Minneapolis to slides and contact sheets from photo shoots of the Orchestra's summer season, Sommerfest. Orchestra staff will use the best of the images for centennial publications. Recently I worked with the archival management consultant/audio producer to identify recordings in the collection that may be used for the centennial CD-set of the best recordings of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra/Minnesota Orchestra. I plan to complete the appraisal, rearrangement, and description of the first group of materials this calendar year. In the remaining two years I will deal with the newly-acquisitioned materials and work with other University staff to mount the EAD finding aid on the Web. Much work is ahead of us, but we now have the means to make the Minnesota Orchestra Archives a valuable and useful resource for the Orchestra staff and for other researchers.

Leslie Czechowski University of Minnesota

New Collaboration Between Museum and Corporation

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village has owned and managed the pre-1955 records of Ford Motor Company (approximately 5,000 cu. ft.) since 1964. After a long period of minimal contact between the two institutions regarding historical records, the relationship was re-energized in 1997, when a formal collaborative agreement was put in place between the Museum and the re-vivified Ford Motor Company Archives. The Company and the Museum agreed last year to revise the existing relationship. Responsibility for putting the new agreement in writing fell to HFMGV's Head of Research Center Programs, Mark Greene, and Ford's Global Information Manager, Elizabeth Adkins--the new arrangement will be in place at the beginning of 2002.

In a nutshell, the most significant changes will be that basic reference service for Ford business inquiries and most cataloging activities for Ford records, will become the responsibility of the Museum. Ford Archives staff will continue to provide reference service for those Company records closed to the public and those undergoing review, responsibility for which will stay with the Ford Archives; Ford Archives staff will also continue to undertake major research projects for the Company. The Company has also agreed to speed the process by which records are reviewed for donation to the Museum, meaning that the collection of Ford historical records in the Research Center will grow steadily. To support these activities, the Company will support a total of eight full-time positions at the Museum. These eight staff, while focused on providing cataloging and reference service to the Ford Historical Records, will be Museum employees. To the best of our knowledge, this type of formal service relationship between a repository and a corporation is unique in the U.S.

In addition to supporting the staff positions, the Company also generously contributed funds to the construction of the new Benson Ford Research Center, which will be opening early next year. Specifically, these funds were targeted at enlarging the archival storage area, and at office and work space for the new staff.

Mark Greene Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

Grants Awarded To Carl Albert Center

The Oklahoma Humanities Council recently granted more than $10,000 to the Carl Albert Center at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The funds will enable the center to convert two existing in-house exhibits into traveling exhibits.

One of these is titled "Climbing Capitol Hill and Staying," and it highlights the impact that women have made in transforming national government, especially the U. S. Congress. Drawing on the holdings of the Library of Congress, the Schlesinger Library, and other repositories, the center's archivists used reproductions of photographs, sheet music, campaign buttons, cartoons, and pamphlet covers to show the myriad ways in which women have made a difference through their involvement in such national issues as abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, equal pay, education, care of the elderly, prohibition, protection of the mentally and physically challenged, child welfare, birth control, health care, sexual harassment, and drug enforcement. Among the women depicted are Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Edith Nourse Rogers, Maggie Kuhn, and Margaret Chase Smith. The exhibit was created in conjunction with the conference "Women Transforming Congress: Gender Analyses of Institutional Life" that the center hosted in April 2000.

The other exhibit reviews the life of Carl Albert (1908-2000) and focuses on his role in the House leadership, first as majority whip (1955-1961), then as majority leader (1962-1971), and finally as Speaker (1971-1977). During his tenure, he witnessed the turmoil caused by Vietnam, school busing, and Watergate. When vacancies arose in the vice presidency, he was twice "a heartbeat away from the presidency." During his Speakership, the office gained more power than it had since the early 1900s. The exhibit was displayed to honor Albert after his death, and it drew upon photographs and documents donated by Albert to the center. During 2000, the center displayed these exhibits on OU's Norman campus. The grants will pay for construction of new traveling cases and packing crates and for development of secondary school classroom study guides. The exhibits will be available to interested host institutions through the Oklahoma Museum Association's TRACKS traveling exhibit program beginning in 2002.

This past winter the center's archival staff and its student assistants created two new exhibits shown on the Norman campus. A twelve-panel display honors the life and career of OU President David Boren by displaying photographs and memorabilia from his years as Oklahoma state legislator, Oklahoma governor, U. S. senator, and Intelligence Committee chair. The exhibit is aptly titled "Happy Birthday President Boren" because it accompanied a cake-and-punch celebration held for Boren in April on the sixtieth anniversary of his birth. The other new creation, "Inside the Closed Box: Unusual Thingamabobs and Doodads in an Archives," presents some of the more interesting and humorous items boxed in the center's archival collections.

Todd Kosmerick University of Oklahoma

Civil War Diary or Student Creative Composition?

In April, the staff of the special collections department of John C. Pace library at the University of West Florida made a momentous discovery. Hidden among a stack of materials being prepared for inclusion in The Bibliography of West Florida collection was a twenty-page typewritten transcript of a diary allegedly describing the events in Pensacola during the Civil War.

A number of questions arose regarding this manuscript. Was the diary authentic or did an industrious student create the document for a class project? Was the author of the alleged diary, Mary E. Caro, a real person who lived in Pensacola during the years covered in the diary or a descendant of the Caro family of Pensacola taking courses at the university?

The staff began a search for Mary E. Caro and the original diary, if they existed. A search on Rootsweb.com provided an e-mail address to only one genealogist researching the Caro family in Pensacola. The researcher was contacted and provided information that indicated the diary was genuine and in the possession of a Caro descendant's widow.

The owner of the diary was located and is interested in comparing the original diary with the transcribed copy and entering into negotiations for its full transcription and eventual preservation. The staff at special collections will be discussing this project for some time to come.

Few primary eye-witness resources exist which describe the happenings in Pensacola during the Civil War. The city was all but deserted; sadly by Mary Caro's family, as well. But the imagery and detail present in the Caro Diary will be invaluable for future researchers of Pensacola and the Civil War.

Russell D. James University of West Florida

Candidates for Section Vice Chair/Chair-Elect:

Susan Potts McDonald
Education: MA in History with concentration in Archives Administration, Florida State University, 1984 and BS in Social Science Education, Florida State University, 1978.
Professional Experience: Head of Technical Services, Special Collections Dept., Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, 1997 to present; Project Archivist, Georgia Archives and Manuscript Automated Access (GAMMA) project, University Center in Georgia, 1995-1997; Archives Supervisor 1, Arrangement and Description Unit/Public Services Section, Florida State Archives, 1986-1994; Archivist (various levels), Public Records Section, Florida State Archives, 1982-1986; and Visiting Associate Professor and Lecturer, Historical Administration Program, Florida State University, 1983-1993.
SAA Activities: Description Section, Steering Committee, 1993; Manuscript Repositories Section, Steering Committee, 1998-1999; and Subcommittee on Archival Descriptive Standards, 1998-2001.
Activities in Other Archival Organizations: Society of Georgia Archivists, Program Committee, 1995-1997; Program Committee Chairman, 1998; Education Committee, 1997-1999; Education Committee Chairman, 1997; Director, 1997-1998; Vice President/President-elect, 1998-1999; President, 1999-2000, and Past-President and Nominating Committee Chair, 2000-2001.

David C. Tambo
Education: Archives Administration Program, MLS, and MA in history, all at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professional Experience: Head of Special Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1991-present; Head of Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University, 1979-1990.
SAA Activities: Manuscript Repositories Section, past steering committee member; Acquisitions and Appraisal Section, past chair and steering committee member; Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable, steering committee member.
Activities in Other Archival Organizations: Society of California Archivists; past president, program committee chair, local arrangements committee chair, and board member.

Candidates for Section Steering Committee (Choose Two):

Jodi Allison-Bunnell
Education: MLS and MA in History, University of Maryland at College Park, 1996; BA (summa cum laude) in English, Whitman College, 1992.
Professional Experience: Archivist/Assistant Professor, K. Ross Toole Archives, University of Montana, Missoula, 1997 to present; Project Archivist, Katherine Anne Porter Papers, University of Maryland, 1995-1997; Lemelson Center Fellow, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 1995; Archives Fellow, George Meany Memorial Archives, 1994-1995.
SAA Activities: Member since 1995.
Activities in other Archival Organizations: Northwest Archivists: Montana Representative since 1998; Local Arrangements Committee Chair for 1999 meeting in Missoula, Montana; Scholarship Awards Committee since 1998.

Amy Cooper
Education: Master of Science in Information/Archives and Records Management Specialization (MSI/ARM), University of Michigan, 1999; Sister Claudia Carlen Scholarship, University of Michigan (for excellence in archives scholarship), 1998; MA in Comparative Literature, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1988; BA in French/English Literature, University of Michigan, 1985; French Literature and Composition Certificate, University of Caen, Normandy, France, 1983.
Professional Experience: Archivist/Special Collections Librarian, University of South Dakota, 1999 to present; Archives Assistant, University of Michigan Special Collections Library, 1999; Managing Librarian, University of Michigan Women's Studies Library, 1997-1999; Intern Archivist, Diné College Ned A. Hatahli Museum.
SAA Activities: Co-Chair, Women Archivists Roundtable (formerly Women's Professional Archival Issues Roundtable), 2000-present.
Activities in other Archival Organizations: Midwest Archives Conference: Program Committee member, Spring 2002 meeting; New Author Award Committee member and Margaret Cross Norton Committee member, Spring 2001. South Dakota State Historical Records Advisory Board, three-year appointment beginning in 2000. South Dakota Library Association Archives Committee, 2000 to present.

Cynthia A. Ghering
Education: Master of Science in Information/Archives and Records Management Specialization (MSI/ARM), University of Michigan, 1999; BA in English Literature, Western Michigan University, 1987.
Professional Experience: Head, Manuscripts and Audiovisuals Department, Ohio Historical Society, 2000 to present; Collection Access Coordinator, Ohio Historical Society, 1999-2000; Project Archivist, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, 1998-1999; Simmons Intern, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, 1998.
SAA Activities: President, SAA Student Chapter, University of Michigan, 1998-1999.
Activities in Other Archival Organizations: Society of Ohio Archivists, Public Information Committee member, 2000 to present.

Paul Theerman
Education: Ph.D. in history, University of Chicago, 1980; MS in Chemistry, 1980 and MA in History, 1976, University of Chicago; BA in chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis.
Professional Experience: Head, Non-Book Collections, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, 1998 to present; Associate Archivist, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, DC, 1993-1998; Associate and Assistant Editor, Joseph Henry Papers, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1981-1993; Historian, Research Department, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, 1980-1981.
SAA Activities: Member and sometime program organizer for Architectural Records Roundtable and Museum Archives Section. Variously a member/attender of Manuscript Repositories Section, Preservation Section, Visual Materials Section, and Science, Technology and Health Care Roundtable.
Activities in Other Archival Organizations: Member of Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. Presenter at Museum and Library Archives Conference, 1995 to present.

Summer/Autumn Calendar 2001

August 1: Deadline for applications to attend Western Archives Institute/Utah, to be held at the State Capitol Complex, Salt Lake City, Utah between October 29 and November 9, 2001. For additional information and an application form, contact Administrator, Western Archives Institute, 1020 O Street, Sacramento, California 95814. Telephone: 916-653-7715. FAX: 916-653-7134. E-mail: ArchivesWeb@ss.ca.gov.

August 27-September 2: Sixty-fifth annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists, Washington, D.C. For more information, see the SAA Website at http://www.archivists.org/conference/dc2001/index.html or call 312-922-0140.

September 12-15: Annual meeting of the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), Indianapolis, Indiana. For more information, see the AASLH Website at http://www.aaslh.org/annualme.htm.

September 22-28: "Why Collect? The Purpose of Audio-Visual Archives." Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)/International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) joint meeting, sponsored by the British Library National Sound Archive in London, United Kingdom. For more information, consult the Website at: http://www.arsc-audio.org or http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/iasa.html.

September 30-October 3: Forty-sixth annual meeting of ARMA in Montreal, Canada. For more information, contact ARMA International, 4200 Somerset Drive, Suite 215, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208, 913-341-3808, 800-422-2762, http://www.arma.org.

October 25-27: Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) fall meeting in Richmond, Virginia. Contact the co-chairs of the local arrangements committee: Jodi Koste, Virginia Commonwealth University, jlkoste@vcu.edu; and Tom Crew, Library of Virginia, tcrew@lva.lib.va.us.

MANUSCRIPT REPOSITORIES SECTION

News items, articles, letters to the editor, and comments are welcome.

Next deadline: October 20, 2001

Send to Peter J. Blodgett (see address below)

Chair (2000-2001)
Kathryn M. Neal, Curator
Givens Collection of African-American Literature
Special Collections and Rare Books
University of Minnesota
111 Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-624-3855
FAX: 612-626-9353
nealx008@tc.umn.edu

Past Chair/Chair of Nominations (2000-2001)
Christine Weideman
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven, CT 06520-8240
203-432-1740
FAX: 203-432-7231
christine.weideman@yale.edu

Steering Committee

Beth Bensman
Presbyterian Historical Society
215/928-3884
bbensman@history.pcusa.org

Cynthia Pease Miller
Senate Finance Committee
202-224-4599
Cynthia_Miller@finance.senate.gov

Craig Wright
Minnesota Historical Society
651-296-7989
craig.wright@mnhs.org

Susan E. Dick
Georgia Historical Society
912-651-2125
sdick@georgiahistory.com

Mark Shelstad
University of Wyoming
307-766-2574
shelstad@uwyo.edu

Karen Spicher
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University
203-432-4205
karen.spicher@yale.edu

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Material Copyright © 2001. Last revised 2/27/2007