Two families have a box of objects that they would like to donate to AJHS. Your job is to accept one box, decide which items in the box you will include in the archive, and create a finding aid for your chosen collection
Choose a Box
You are the historical society’s new archivist and you have been told you can only accept one box. If you haven’t done so already, watch the first 5:13 minutes of the video below in which AJHS archivist Melanie Myers explains how they decide which items to accept. Make sure you make a list at the end of the criteria, then click on the boxes below to see the content.
Jewish Studies scholar Laura Arnold Leibman has offered two boxes to the historical society. The first box contains materials from the desk of her great-aunt Bertha (“Bert”) Berkelhamer who lived in Chicago, Illinois. The second is a box that once belonged to her great-great grandmother Gertrude Hinkson that she brought with her when she migrated to the United States from Barbados as a young woman.
Click on each of the boxes to see the contents. Think about Melanie’s criteria. Which box will you accept and why? (Note: if you don’t like either box and have a box of memorabilia of your own, feel free to reject both of Laura’s boxes and use your own memorabilia box for the Create a Finding Aid assignment.
Choose What to Include in the Collection
Just because the archive decides to accept a donation doesn’t mean that they will include everything from the box in the archive. If you have forgotten, watch the video above where archivist Melanie Myers explains how you will know if you want to keep the items in the box. Make a new folder on google drive and copy the items you will be keeping from the original box into the folder.
Thank the Donor
Now that you have chosen a box, write a short letter to Professor Leibman explaining if you decided to accept their box and why. Be sure to explain how the box does or doesn’t match the mission of the archive. For the box you are accepting also let your donor know if you won’t be including all the objects in the box in the archive and ask whether they want them returned or disposed of. Reassure her that the items that are kept will be properly maintained. Need more help? Check out this resource.