Make the most of your local resources

Your local area may be filled with valuable resources for research. Within a minimal half hour radius of where I live I can find at least eight extant textile collections, a collection of ledgers, numerous diaries and letters, a long list of material culture collections, and many other useful collections along with the standard County Historian collections. This actually doesn’t include any of the resources in the city, which I can’t count off the top of my head. I suggest starting with a list of possible resources in your area. Then start networking to see who has what. Your list could include town or village historical societies, county historical societies, landmark societies, local libraries, county libraries, museum libraries, museum collections, and private collections. Don’t over look anything. The Jell-O Museum in a nearby town is adjacent to that town’s historical society and has a substantial collection of 19th century underclothing. When you make your list, be sure to write down the open times and contact information. Be prepared for some unusual or restrictive access times. The reading room which has ledgers I consult is open after work only on Tuesdays for about 45 minutes. That takes some strategic planning. Some places will make arrangements for you to look at a collection at specific times. For those places with continuous or rotating exhibits, consider paying a visit during their regular hours or a presentation program. This will let you get an idea of what they have out already and give you an opportunity to introduce your self in person. If the curator has the time while you are there, talk about what you are researching or interested in.

For your visit –

Some organizations have a fee for accessing their libraries or collections. If they do not ask for a fee, it is courteous to give a donation.

When looking at textile or material culture collections:

– Bring your own pair of clean white cotton gloves.

– Bring multiple pencils and a wire-free notebook

– Bring a camera that you can turn the flash off on.

 

When transcribing or taking notes from original books or letters:

– Bring your own pair of clean white cotton gloves.

– Bring multiple pencils and a wire-free notebook.

– Bring a laptop if allowed.

– Bring a stiff acid free paper for ease in page turning.

 

Published in: on January 5, 2009 at 2:17 pm  Comments (1)  

Group purchases

            Some items you can only buy in large quantity or are best bought in larger quantities. This can include straw plait, caning, buckram, tape, spools of ribbon, etc. The average person does not need 100 yards of plait (enough for 5 bonnets) or a full coil of reed (many, many bonnets) or a 50 yard spool of one ribbon. Chances are though, other people who live near you  or attend the same events may need the same items. You can get together to purchase the larger quantity and end up paying less by dividing the cost. Or, you can buy the larger quantity then trade for other items you may need. For example, Bevin and I have traded reed for buckram in order to each make caned bonnets. To find out who may want to split a purchase or trade resources, consider in-person networking, putting a note in a group’s newsletter, posting on a networking site or on a forum you are part of.

Published in: on January 5, 2009 at 11:41 am  Leave a Comment  

Volunteering to Ease Economic Hardships

Many, if not most, of us are feeling the effects of our hurting economy. We are short on our budgets, finding our retirements lighter, losing our jobs, and watching costs rise. While we are feeling the pinch of bad times, so are our favorite museums and historic sites. Many sites are getting hit hard with lower attendance, cut government funding, and endowments significantly decreased. Some are finding it necessary to let some dedicated staff go, pull back on programming and post pone improvements. We all would love to support these important institutions, but simply can not give all the money we would like to due to our own hardships. While we may not have the money to give, we do have time. Volunteering costs only time, the gas to get to the site and possibly a lunch packed at home.

Museums and historic sites will have an increasing range of needs as they find it necessary to tighten their budgets. Some will need help in the office with mailings or fliers. Some will need help on the grounds gardening, cleaning up or painting. Some will need help with staffing events and programming. The volunteer opportunities at most sites are endless.

 

If you previously donated money to a historic site or museum but can not budget it this year make up for it by donating time.

If you are still able to donated money, add to your donation by offering your volunteer time as well.

If you attend an event at a museum or historic site, offer your time to show your support of their programming.

If you already volunteer, donate more of your time to increase your support.

If you regularly volunteer, ask a friend to join you in donating their time.

If you have never volunteered before, call the museum or historic site’s volunteer coordinator or human resources director to offer them your time.

Published in: on December 18, 2008 at 8:51 am  Leave a Comment  

Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1870-1930

 

Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1870-1930 By Hal S. Barron 

This is the last book for the “Reading Between the Lines” program at GCVM through the NYS Counsel on the Humanities. This book is chronologically just beyond the time period I regularly read but the focus on rural society is on I find interesting.

I am reading this book out of order, starting with the chapters catching my attention first. I began with the chapter on the improvement of roads called “And the Crooked Shall be Made Straight.” This chapter made me want to know more the development, placement, and types of roads in the first half of the century. I hadn’t previously looked at the social and agricultural influences on the establishment of roads. Barron’s explanation was enlightening. I now better understand many of the roads I drive on, on a daily basis. All-in-all, a nice chapter. I think I will see about finding Common Landscape of America, 1580 to 1845 by John Stilgoe.

The next chapter I read was the one on mail-order catalogs called “With all the Fragrant Powders of the Merchant”. I have mixed thoughts on this chapter. I liked that pre-war information was included. I found this very interesting. I did not like the tone as the chapter progressed. It almost felt patronizing. I also felt Barron neglected to fully acknowledge those who lived in rural villages who didn’t abide by the republican simple life he describes. In addition to these issues, some of the statements made were not documented as well as I like. One example was the generalizations made about pre-war merchants. These merchants were described as manipulative and greedy. The few passages quoted came from secondary sources, rather than primary research.

 He makes a few statements but doesn’t cite as well as I would like. Some of what he says I can accept as generally true:

“Besides these attitudes, the main source of tension between country merchants and their rural customer was the determination of value and the negotiation of prices, and because both parties tried to by cheap and sell dear conflict was inherent in their dealings. For agricultural produce such as butter and grain, farmers and merchants could refer to newspaper market reports to determine a satisfactory price….”

But he continues into what I think needs more primary documentation to avoid over generalizations:

“… although storekeepers had to remain vigilant against such ploys as rancid butter at the bottom of the tub and other adulterations.”

His quotations are minimal, including one by P.T. Barnum (which the author does admit has exaggerations)

“It was ‘dog eat dog’ – ‘tit for tat.’ Our cottons were sold for wool, our wool and cotton for silk and linen, in fact nearly every thing was different from what is was represented…. Each party expected to be cheated, if it was possible. Our eyes, and not our ears, had to be our masters. We must believe little that we saw, and less that we heard. Our calicoes were all ‘fast colors,’ according to our representations, and the colors would generally run ‘fast’ enough and show them a tub of soap-suds. Our ground coffee was as good as burned peas, beans, and corn could make, and out ginger was tolerable, considering the price of corn meal. The ‘tricks of the trade’ were numerous.”

Since this section irritated me so much, of course, I need to do some additional reading. The author notes an article by David Jaffee “Peddlers of Progress and the Transformation of the Rural North, 1760-1860” in the 1991 Journal of American History. 

I’ve gone back to read the chapters on education reform and the dairy industry at the same time. Lets see if I get this done for Saturday with the distraction of the new pile of books Kathy handed me.

Published in: on December 11, 2008 at 9:41 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags:
Newer Entries »