Preserving the Past, Collecting the Present, For the Future

What is an archive? What is the purpose of an archive? What do you do all day in an archive?

I am asked these questions all the time and I love to share my passion for archives and tell others what archives are all about.

The #1 job of any archive is preserving the past. The past can come in many different forms such as documents, photographs, artifacts and even oral histories. The goal is to collect items about the past and preserve them for future generations. We are working everyday to preserve the past for genealogists, historians, family researchers and others who have an interest in the past. Without archives, where would our collections of the past be?

Photo of Unknowns located in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

An archive also engages in collecting the present. You might ask, "What does that mean?" That means as an archive we collect items that are produced today that one day will be part of our past. As people live their lives and as counties, cities and states conduct their business and as numerous organizations hold events and celebrate milestones and as our country experiences disasters and celebrates accomplishments, archives try to collect documents, artifacts and memorabilia to record these events because one day they will be part of the past.

Houston County Leadership Visit February 18, 2016 located in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

And finally, I am asked "Why do you do this?" and I answer "For the Future". Preserving the past, collecting the present, for the future! Our descendants and future citizens of our cities, counties, states and our country will never know about the past if it isn't preserved and made available to them.

When looking for an archive where your ancestors lived, remember that they may not be named "archive". The records of your ancestors could be housed in a county archive, at a historical society, at a genealogical society, at university special collections, at a library or at a courthouse. Historical and genealogical records can be stored in any of these places.

Houston County, Tennessee Archives Office Door Graphic

Remember: It's Not All Online! And this becomes very evident when you realize just how much of our documents and records are sitting in archives just waiting to be processed, indexed and digitized. That is why it is important for the genealogist to contact and visit local repositories in search of records.

So, while you are doing your family history research, please remember to check with local archives to see what they have been doing to "Preserving the Past, Collecting the Present, For the Future"!

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Preserving Old Family Letters

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RootsTech 2025: Genealogy Education at It's Best!

RootsTech 2025 starts in 3 days! This is the largest genealogical conference in the United States and possibly the world. This conference is an in-person as well as a virtual genealogy educational experience. If you have not registered for the FREE virtual aspect of  RootsTech, you still can! Register at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

RootsTech is one of the best opportunities for genealogists to educate themselves on a variety of genealogy subjects. When you visit the RootsTech website, you can follow the daily schedule of presentations at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2025-03-05

I am giving a virtual presentations during RootsTech:

Preserving Documents and Ephemera

Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. Central Time

Attending RootsTech, whether in-person or virtually, is one of the best genealogical educational gifts you can give yourself! Register for FREE to attend virtually today!

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

Have Tennessee ancestors?

Check Out My Legacy Family Tree Webinar

The Tennessee State Library and Archives: A Mega Archives for Your Tennessee Ancestors

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=7644

Black History Month: Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund

February is Black History Month and I want to talk about my favorite African American subject, the Rosenwald Fund. 

1963 Graduating Class at the W.H. Hensley School

Houston County, TN. Archives & Museum

The Rosenwald Fund also known as the Julius Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family with a partnership with Booker T. Washington to build and support local African American schools in the south. Unlike other endowed foundations, which were designed to fund themselves in perpetuity, the Rosenwald Fund was designed to expend all of its funds for philanthropic purposes before a predetermined sunset date. The fund donated over $70 million to public schools, colleges and universities, museums, Jewish charities and African American institutions before funds were completely depleted in 1948.

Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington

Photo Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

One of the more well known projects was providing funds to local school boards to build African American schools. Over 5,000 schools were built in the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, Virginia and West Virginia.

Rosenwald Fund Schoolhouse Construction Map, 1928

Courtesy of North Carolina Digital Collections

In Houston County, Tennessee, where I am the archivist at the Houston County Archives & Museum, we have uncovered documents, photos and information about an African American school we had locally that was funded by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The W.H. Hensley School was built with funds from the Rosenwald Fund. This fund also provided funds for books and other supplies. While the school building itself no longer exists, the history of this school is being documented so that it is not forgotten.

W.H. Hensley School, Houston County, Tennessee

Houston County, Tennessee Archives & Museum

If you think your African American ancestors attended a Julius Rosenwald funded school, check with the local historical or genealogical society and see if they have any information, documents or photos. Many of these school buildings still exist and have historical markers placed to honor the work Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington accomplished.

Courtesy North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

We should be researching all aspects of our families ancestry, including the schools they attended!

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Want To Know More About Researching in School Records?

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The ABC's and 123's of Researching Your Ancestor's School Records

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=3076 

Storing 3-Ring Binders to Protect Your Records

One aspect of organizing that I would like to address is how to store 3-ring binders. Now, this may seem like a very simple idea and you might be thinking "Everyone knows how to store 3-ring binders", but do you?

Family Genealogy Binders, Houston County, TN. Archives

If you use 3-ring binders to organize your genealogical records, do you store them upright on the shelf or do you lay them down on their side? Most of you will say that you store them upright because it takes up less room and that is the conventional way to store 3-ring binders.

However, the best way to store them so that the records that are contained in them do not get damaged is to store them laying on their side.

When you store 3-ring binders upright or on their end, it puts pressure on the binding and weakens the strength of that binding. Over time, those binders will become weak and will start to sag and eventually will start to break down. Also, when 3-ring binders are stored upright, the pages that are stored inside will sag. This means that if you have put your genealogy documents into these 3-ring binders, they will also sag and could get damaged by being put in this position for a prolonged period of time.

The best way to store 3-ring binders is on their side, making sure all the pages are laying flat and not folded or bent in anyway.

Storing 3-ring binders in this manner will take up more room but in the long run it will keep your family genealogical records safe.


REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

*****

Need help organizing and preserving all those old family letters?

Get My Legacy Family Tree Webinar:

Preserving Old Family Letters

 http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1168