Archived Records That Are Off The Beaten Path......

Court records, deeds records, scrapbooks, photographs... these are some of the more well known record groups that most researchers access when they visit an archive, historical society or library.  

But did you know that there are numerous other record groups and types that are housed in these repositories that are almost never requested to be viewed by researchers. Why is that?  Maybe it's because the researcher doesn't know these wonderful collections exist.

                          Newspaper clipping from "Wisdom Lodge #300 Records Collection" 

                                         located at Houston County, TN. Archives

Here are 5 tips for genealogy researchers to learn about and view unique records in the repositories where their ancestors lived:

1. Plan, plan, plan!  Every genealogist who visits an archives, historical society or library to do research needs to have a research plan in place before they step foot in the door of the repository.  

2. Ask the archivist or librarian what record collections they have that are unique or unknown to the general public.  Possibly there is an index of what is in the collection or better yet a Finding Aid.

3. Ask the archivist or librarian to allow you to view all of their records indexes or all of their Finding Aids. Most repositories will have these printed and in notebooks or they will be available on patron computers in the facility.

                                           Election worker's payroll request  from 
                     "Houston County, TN. Election Commission Records Collection"                                                                       located at Houston County, TN. Archives

4. Specifically ask to view the Vertical File collection index.  This index will be alphabetical and will include surnames as well as subjects such as "Erin United Methodist Church".  Each file could contain just about anything. Remember...Vertical Files are like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get!

5. Specifically ask to view the index to the Manuscript Collection.  Again, this listing will be alphabetical. The titles could be named anything, some of the more familiar titles will look something like this: "John Doe's Family Papers 1812-1900", "Erin Methodist Church 1848-1920".  These collections could be contained in one box or in multiple boxes, the Finding Aid for the collection will help you decipher what is in the collection.

The next time you visit an archives, historical society or library to dig up those records on your ancestors, try these 5 tips to help you find those unique records, the ones that will tell more of your ancestor's story, the ones that will put "meat on your ancestors's bones"!

And always remember:  It's not all online, so visit an archives!

Preserving the Fabric of Our Ancestor's Lives

Some of the most interesting items we have in our own family genealogy collections as well as in archives are items made of some sort of fabric.  Things such as a christening gown, quilts, high school sweaters and doilies are just a few of the items some of us have as part of our family archive.

Preserving and storing these items can be a challenge and if not done properly could result in the destruction of these precious heirlooms.

        Hand embroidered and laced handkerchief. Located at the Houston County, TN. Archives


For most fabric items you will need archival tissue paper and the correct size archival box for storage. First, put a layer of tissue paper in the bottom of the box. Then put your fabric item on the tissue paper. If the item is large such as a quilt or a piece of clothing, it is okay to fold it but put layers of tissue paper between the folds making sure that none of the fabric touches itself.  I also like to put extra tissue paper as a "filler" in the box so that the item doesn't move around in the box. I just ball the tissue paper up and put it around the item and that will keep it still in the box. Then place the box in a dark, cool and dry storage place. With fabric items I like to take the archival box and place it in another box such as a plastic tote which can be sealed, this is to deter moths and insects which can destroy fabrics.

Be sure to put documentation in the box to explain in detail all pertinent information about the item.  If it was handmade, include the name of the person who made it. Also, if applicable, include the "chain of ownership" of the item and how it has been passed down in the family and which ancestors owned it before it was passed down to you. The more information you include in your description, the better!

             Handmade christening gown. Located in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Finding fabric items in an archives can be a challenge but they do exist in collections housed in many of the our wonderful repositories. Most items of this kind will be found in families records collections which are normally part of the archives larger Manuscript Collection or Special Collections. When a families records have been donated to an archive, the collection could include fabric items and they would be processed right along with the documents and should be listed in the finding aid.

Another way a fabric item could be cataloged in an archive is in a group collection such as a "Quilt Collection" which could include many quilts by different makers and are housed in one collection. Or maybe these items are cataloged in a local high school collection, such as the lettermen's sweater in the photo below.

         Letterman sweater from Erin High School. Located in the Houston County, TN. Archives

As genealogists we are always searching for that next important document to help tell our ancestor's story.  Don't forget our ancestors are also trying to tell us their story through things that they made, things that they wore and things that they used on a daily basis. The story behind a handmade quilt can be just as interesting as the story behind a document.

Preserving the fabric of our ancestors and the stories that go with them should be part of every genealogists journey to document our families.

 

Old Letters: Preserving a Rare Genealogical Record Source

Stationary, envelopes, postage stamps....what am I describing? Yes, an old fashioned, handwritten letter.

Handwritten letter from Mattie to Miss Alice Reynolds dated October 25, 1903.
Located at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Today most of us write emails, tweets, Facebook posts and texts to communicate with our family and friends. When was the last time you sat down and wrote an actual handwritten letter and mailed it to someone? This type of genealogy record source is what I call a "rare genealogical record source" because while the old letters still exist there are practically no new records of this type being produced.

As genealogists what do we do with these old letters that we have in our family collections? We preserve and archive them!

Before the actual physical archiving starts, I always encourage genealogists to scan or digitize their letters and to transcribe them word for word, that way once you have physically archived them you don't need to handle them as much. Handling them with your hands can cause damage over time if the items are handled a lot.

Original envelope for letter by Miss Mary Carpenter with post mark of December 17, 1889, Erin, Tennessee.
Located at Houston County, Tennessee Archives

When archiving old letters, it is important to keep the original envelope with the letter if it has been saved. There is valuable genealogical information on the envelope that you want to save. My advice is to remove the letter from the envelope, flatten the letter and put both the letter and the envelope into an archival polyester sleeve or into an archival page protector. Store them in an archival box or in a 3-ring binder and keep in a dry, dark place where it is preferably as cold as possible. Heat and humidity can destroy your documents, so it is always a good idea to store your records in a cold environment.

Now, how do you find old letters in archives, libraries or any of our wonderful repositories that hold genealogical records? This task can be a bit difficult but if you are diligent you might just get rewarded.

Most old letters will be found in Manuscript Collections. These collections of records are usually arranged by subject, surname or with titles such as "John Doe Papers 1871-1922". Once you have identified a collection that interests you, then you need to look at the Finding Aid. The finding aid is a document that is produced by the archivist and is an outline of what the collection is all about and will include a list of what is contained in each box. Most of the time the box list is not detailed by what each piece of paper is in each folder but rather it will say "Folder #1: Correspondence 1871-1888". You will have to open the file and read through the correspondence to see if there is anything of interest to your research.

Greeting card with letter sent to Mrs. W.T. Smith of Erin, Tennessee dated 1919.  Notice how small this letter is next to this cell phone. Located in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Lastly, let's not forget postcards! Our ancestors were avid users of postcards of all kinds. The preservation methods described earlier in this blog can be used with postcards. Also, postcards will be found in Manuscript Collections the same as old letters. Postcards come in all shapes, sizes and kinds. There are even postcards made from photographs. If you are looking for a photograph of your ancestor, just maybe there is one out there that is on a postcard. 

      Postcard to Master Marshall W. Wynns in Erin, Tennessee from L.F.J.

        Located in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

While the art of letter writing is no longer in fashion, we as genealogists have an opportunity to peer into our ancestors lives by reading their wonderful letters. The information that could be contained on our ancestors letters help us to put "meat on the bones" of the ones we are researching and helps their story come alive!

The Care and Preservation of Family Bibles

Family Bibles, genealogists either have them in their collections or they are desperately seeking them.

                   Family Bibles owned by Melissa Barker, Houston County, Tennessee Archivist

The care and preservation of these precious family heirlooms should be taken very seriously so that they will survive for future generations to enjoy.  As an archivist, I have helped many a patron archive and preserve their family Bible.  Depending on the condition of the Bible you may just need to get some archival tissue paper to wrap the Bible in and an archival box to store the Bible.  For Bibles that are in much worse shape, my advice is to not use any kind of tape or glue to put it back together, there is no such thing as true "archival tape" or "archival glue".  First rule of archiving is, Don't do anything to your documents that you can't undo.

If your Bible is falling apart, put it back together as best as you can and then wrap it in archival tissue paper and store in an archival box.  Then store your boxed Bible in a cool dark place where the humidity is low.

                                                       Items found in a Family Bible

You may have a Bible that is chocked full of all kinds of records, newspaper clippings, photos or just about anything.  The best way to deal with these items is to make an inventory of what was found in the Bible. Scan and digitize each item and save them to your computer or hard drive. Take each piece and put it in an archival safe sleeve or envelope and then return all items to the Bible.  This is especially important for original newspaper clippings.  Newspapers are full of chemicals and over time the chemicals can bleed onto the Bible pages or onto other documents and leave a yellow or brown stain.  You don't want this to happen.  I suggest that all newspaper clippings be photocopied and the originals thrown away.  If you choose to keep the original clippings, make sure to put them in archival safe sleeves or envelopes so that they are not touching anything else in the Bible.  By returning the items to the Bible as they were originally found, you keep the integrity of the artifact intact and in original order.

                                          Handwritten family information in a Family Bible

Most family Bibles have places in them to fill out family trees or family information.  If your Bible has this in it, do not take it out.  The best thing to do is scan the pages and also make photocopies of the pages.  If your Bible is in very bad shape and the binding will not allow you to put the Bible on a scanner or a copier, then take a digital photograph of the pages like I did in the photo above.  This family information is important to your genealogy research and you want to make sure it gets preserved in case the Bible gets destroyed or comes up missing for some reason.

Family Bibles are a unique and precious piece of our family history.  There are many organizations online that have collected and digitized family Bibles.  One such place is the Tennessee State Library and Archives Bible Project where you can see actual digitized family Bibles.

If you have a family Bible, please be sure to preserve it properly so that it is still here 100 years from now.  If you are a genealogist searching for your family Bible like I am, don't give up! One day it might just surface.

Photographs In Archives

Are you looking for that photograph of your ancestor?  Or that photograph of your ancestors home, the church they went to, the school they attended?  Why not check out the local archives, historical society or library in the area where your ancestors lived.

          Erin Baptist Church, Summer 1943, Photograph from Houston County, Tennessee Archives 

Most repositories that collect and preserve documents also have collections of photographs.  Whether these photographs are in a collection all to their own or mixed in with other collections, they are there for genealogists and researchers to find.

George Washington Stringfield Family, ca. 1903, Photograph from Houston County, TN. Archives

Many of these repositories place their photograph collections online such as the Tennessee State Library and Archives who has put the Puryear Family Photograph Albums online, among other photograph collections.

Unfortunately, many photographs housed in archives collections are not unidentified. Archivists struggle to identify the people and places in the photographs they have in their collections and are forced to wait until a patron can come along and make the identification.

    E.E. Collision, Jr. Photography Studio, Erin, TN., Unidentified, Houston County, TN. Archives

A recent announcement that a newly identified photograph of Billy The Kid that has surfaced gives us all hope that we too will find the photographs of our ancestors.

If you are searching for your ancestors photographs, check out the local archives, historical society or library where they lived.  These repositories just might have what your looking for!

     

Scrapbooks...A Genealogy Gold Mine

Scrapbooks are one of my favorite record sources to do research in and to also process in the archives.  There are all kinds of scrapbooks, each and everyone is unique and one of a kind!

The origins of scrapbooking is said to go back to the 15th century in England and it is still a hobby enjoyed today.  Most archives, libraries, historical and genealogical societies have them in their collections.  They will most likely be found in the Manuscript Collection as part of a specifically named collection.

Scrapbooks could contain any kind of record, clipping, photograph or even candy bar wrappers.  One of my favorite scrapbooks that we have here in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives is one that Evelyn Ellis compiled in the 1930's-1940's.  Among the normal newspaper clippings and event programs are interesting pieces such as a Baby Ruth candy bar wrapper with a caption "Always remember June 11, 1938 at Beach Grove at the Ice Cream Supper". 

This original ticket from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee where Evelyn Ellis visited and recorded her comments.

And this Mexican cigarette that she received from a friend.

There are scrapbooks for just about any subject. Here in the Houston County, Tennessee Archives we have several personal scrapbooks but we also have a couple scrapbooks that were compiled during World War II and contain newspaper clippings detailing the war.  We also have a couple scrapbooks that contain only obituary clippings from the local newspaper.  A lot of these obituaries are unique because the original newspapers did not survive for the time period and so having these obituary clippings is great for genealogists.

I would encourage genealogists to check with the archives or historical society in the area where your ancestors were from and see if they have any scrapbooks that might contain newspaper clippings about your ancestor.  These local scrapbooks could also help tell the story of the area where your ancestor lived and what was going on during the time your ancestor lived there.

Scrapbooks....A Genealogy Gold Mine!



 

 

October Is American Archives Month!

It's that time of year again!  October is American Archives Month!  

Archives, libraries, historical societies, genealogical societies and any other repositories that hold archived records and artifacts should be celebrated in the month of October.  While I believe these places should be celebrated all year round for the hard work they do to save, preserve and archive our historical records, October is normally set aside to put a spotlight on these repositories.

                                     Tools of the trade used at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Since 2006, American Archives Month has given the profession an opportunity to remind the general public the items that are important to our collective history are being preserved, cataloged, indexed and made accessible to the general public.  This event also gives us all the opportunity to champion all of our archivists across the United States.  And let's not forget our many dedicated volunteers that give of their time to help us get our work done.

So, you might be asking yourself, "What can I do to show my appreciate during American Archives Month?" 

I would like to suggest that you visit your local archives, historical society, genealogical society or library, wherever the records are kept in your city, county or state during the month of October.  Let the archivists and volunteers know that you appreciate the work they do. 

Another way everyone can can help is to volunteer your time to help your local repository.  Archives are always needing volunteers to help process records, index completed records and other duties that the archivist needs help with on a daily basis.  

If everyone volunteered one day a month at their local repository, just imagine how much help that would be?!

                              Collection of  family memorabilia for the Lyle and Rye family donated to the 

                                                                          Houston County,Tennessee Archives

If you are on Twitter, the Society of American Archivists is having a one day event on October 1st called #AskAnArchivistDay.  On this one day, archivist from around the world will take to Twitter to respond to tweeted questions from the public. Their website is: http://www2.archivists.org/  

So, join in the fun!