Yes, I just quoted Men At Work at you, and no, I don't feel bad about it. Let's kick off the holiday season with a brief talk - not about the strong whiff of retail despair coming from the stores in the mall, but about Revisionist History. Changing the story. Straying from the truth. Embellishing, if you will.
You've all seen those little historical themed holiday villages, right? The kind that come with the inevitable Victorian manor, general store, ice skating pond, and several cute figurines in clothing appropriate for some time between 1880-1930? Iron lampposts, fake snow, a couple of decorated trees - they're everywhere. And yours, my dear friend, is vastly incomplete. Because you don't have a Wal-Mart.
I can't find it online - I keep getting lost in Village People stuff and bread - but at least in stores, Wal-Mart is offering an addition - an historicized Wal-Mart store to add to your quaint village for only $12. Never mind that Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962. Now you can pretend it's always been around. Discount corsets, stiff original gold-rush-era Levis, depression glass, firewood, and cast-iron irons for all!
(Anyone with the time to find this product online and link it would be appreciated.) -AL
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
An Archival Thanksgiving
This year, I am thankful for getting back to the simple things in life:
- Money, as in having, as in not having enough, but having barely enough to splurge all out a few months ago and purchase health insurance for the entire family for the first time ever, for at least the next six months.
- The lights are on, at least partially, some of the time, but not in the hallways, and that means we can still pay our power bill, barely, and we’re not archiving by candlelight, which everyone knows is a royal fire hazard, as seen in the Great Fire of Archive #47 back in 1927 when a sleepy archivist forgot to snuff his flame before dozing on his desk, destroying most of the records of the record-breaking Blass-Hoyton merger; the company going up in smoke in the crash of ’29 and both founders ending their lives ignobly selling apples on the corner, singing Disney songs.
- Paper. I can print things, things like recipes that will never actually get made because really, we’re too tired to cook, and who actually has five roasting pans anyway?
- A rolly office chair. It’s fun to scoot around in circles when no one is watching. The chair doesn’t corner very well, so maybe Santa can bring an upgrade. Also, that time I raced a cart down the corridor – good times.
- The last company holiday party I attended, I left with so much swag I nearly fell out of the car. They even splurged on the fancy battery-operated blinky-light trinkets that are not only reusable – the batteries can be replaced – they have actual off switches. (Clearly, this wasn’t an archive event – batteries are not archival material.)
- Tweed newsboy caps. Why not? Hats should make a comeback, so that we can then bring back manners. As in, take your hat off when you walk inside a building, unless you’re a woman, in which case your hat cost so much and looks so fabulous we may well just bury you in it, and wouldn’t you be the best-dressed person in a coffin at that funeral?
- Worst case scenario, we still have a few personal belongings that could be sold to replace income, such as one car, a television, and possibly my spouse’s cat.
- Dave Barry could be working here. No one would be safe then. -AL
- Money, as in having, as in not having enough, but having barely enough to splurge all out a few months ago and purchase health insurance for the entire family for the first time ever, for at least the next six months.
- The lights are on, at least partially, some of the time, but not in the hallways, and that means we can still pay our power bill, barely, and we’re not archiving by candlelight, which everyone knows is a royal fire hazard, as seen in the Great Fire of Archive #47 back in 1927 when a sleepy archivist forgot to snuff his flame before dozing on his desk, destroying most of the records of the record-breaking Blass-Hoyton merger; the company going up in smoke in the crash of ’29 and both founders ending their lives ignobly selling apples on the corner, singing Disney songs.
- Paper. I can print things, things like recipes that will never actually get made because really, we’re too tired to cook, and who actually has five roasting pans anyway?
- A rolly office chair. It’s fun to scoot around in circles when no one is watching. The chair doesn’t corner very well, so maybe Santa can bring an upgrade. Also, that time I raced a cart down the corridor – good times.
- The last company holiday party I attended, I left with so much swag I nearly fell out of the car. They even splurged on the fancy battery-operated blinky-light trinkets that are not only reusable – the batteries can be replaced – they have actual off switches. (Clearly, this wasn’t an archive event – batteries are not archival material.)
- Tweed newsboy caps. Why not? Hats should make a comeback, so that we can then bring back manners. As in, take your hat off when you walk inside a building, unless you’re a woman, in which case your hat cost so much and looks so fabulous we may well just bury you in it, and wouldn’t you be the best-dressed person in a coffin at that funeral?
- Worst case scenario, we still have a few personal belongings that could be sold to replace income, such as one car, a television, and possibly my spouse’s cat.
- Dave Barry could be working here. No one would be safe then. -AL
Friday, November 13, 2009
A Noble Profession?
Do you remember the fuss about a couple years back, when there was a spike in couples marrying on the seventh of July, 2007, all for the auspicious anniversary combination 7-7-2007? Imagine what it will be like on July 7, 7007. Yes, five thousand years from now. All those sevens. And what will these luck-chasing optimists know of us today?
You see, we have records from five thousand years ago, in one way or another. We have archaeological remains of temples and homes, we have bodies and mummies and bones, we have dendrochronology telling of climate change, we have ice cores and pollen counts to tell us what was growing and how far along agricultural practices had developed, we have DNA to trace the domestication of animals, and we have the lasting trails of metals from Copper Age mines - five thousand years ago - showing us clearly that our ancient forefathers, in their ignorance, were subjecting themselves and their families to heavy metal poisoning all in the search for a better axe. We also have records, and languages, and enough to figure out a general idea of population movement and cultural change.
Archivists - and those who work in or with records management - and librarians - all of us - can get buried in the mundane chores, the technical hang-ups, the red tape. We forget that we're all in the same business and on the same team. We're here, every day, doing what we do, for the quiet glory and stubborn persistence enabling the preservation of the records of humanity.
Because one lucky day, a generation that cannot fathom us will stand on the cusp of their future. And some of them will look at brittle papers and ancient bindings, and some of them will ask questions, and some of them will dream of those who came before - us.
-AL
You see, we have records from five thousand years ago, in one way or another. We have archaeological remains of temples and homes, we have bodies and mummies and bones, we have dendrochronology telling of climate change, we have ice cores and pollen counts to tell us what was growing and how far along agricultural practices had developed, we have DNA to trace the domestication of animals, and we have the lasting trails of metals from Copper Age mines - five thousand years ago - showing us clearly that our ancient forefathers, in their ignorance, were subjecting themselves and their families to heavy metal poisoning all in the search for a better axe. We also have records, and languages, and enough to figure out a general idea of population movement and cultural change.
Archivists - and those who work in or with records management - and librarians - all of us - can get buried in the mundane chores, the technical hang-ups, the red tape. We forget that we're all in the same business and on the same team. We're here, every day, doing what we do, for the quiet glory and stubborn persistence enabling the preservation of the records of humanity.
Because one lucky day, a generation that cannot fathom us will stand on the cusp of their future. And some of them will look at brittle papers and ancient bindings, and some of them will ask questions, and some of them will dream of those who came before - us.
-AL
Monday, November 2, 2009
Happy Monday!
It's November, it's Monday, and you need this:
Eric, at the Robert Mills House, downtown, with one of the many scarecrow entries.
Eric, at the Robert Mills House, downtown, with one of the many scarecrow entries.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Public Records & A Giant Novelty Check
Who doesn’t love a giant novelty check? How about with your name on it?
On October 22 and 23, the Archives hosted the 2009 South Carolina Public Records Association (SCPRA) Conference at our facilities on Parklane Road. The theme for this year’s conference was “Dealing with Change in Records Management,” and SCDAH Records Management staff members did a stellar job as both hosts and participants.
The featured speaker on Thursday was South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who made a number of kind comments regarding SCDAH and its mission (whoo-hoo!).
In gratitude for the agency’s past contributions, the SCPRA generously contributed a large novelty check to SCDAH for the purchase of a new microfilm reader to be placed in the research room. (Then, because SCPRA is far too kind for cruel illusions, the actual check followed.)
Says the big E: “We are grateful to SCPRA for the “big check” and to the staff of SCDAH for all of their hard work. Once again you hit it out of the park.”
On October 22 and 23, the Archives hosted the 2009 South Carolina Public Records Association (SCPRA) Conference at our facilities on Parklane Road. The theme for this year’s conference was “Dealing with Change in Records Management,” and SCDAH Records Management staff members did a stellar job as both hosts and participants.
The featured speaker on Thursday was South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who made a number of kind comments regarding SCDAH and its mission (whoo-hoo!).
In gratitude for the agency’s past contributions, the SCPRA generously contributed a large novelty check to SCDAH for the purchase of a new microfilm reader to be placed in the research room. (Then, because SCPRA is far too kind for cruel illusions, the actual check followed.)
Says the big E: “We are grateful to SCPRA for the “big check” and to the staff of SCDAH for all of their hard work. Once again you hit it out of the park.”
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Afternoon Tea, or What Not To Do During A Fire Alarm
The creatures emerged slowly from the darkness, blinking in the sunlight, trailing slowly from the hulking building and straggling over to the Grassy Knoll,* squinting, stumbling, stalling, and eventually forming a loose conglomerate that in ancient Nordic lands would be called a Thing - a meeting of minds on a great hill.
And that's what it looks like when fifty or some-odd archive employees have to evacuate the building for an unannounced fire drill. Darlin' Patrick, looking sporty in his jacket. Elaine from reference, her hair gleaming prettily in the sun. Paul being chatty, Red congenially waving, Eric dapper as usual. All we needed was afternoon tea.
For the record, here's what NOT to do:
- Note the faint buzzing (different from the buzz of printers, lights, etc) filtering in over the music you're listening to while you work.
- Decide that the flickering light isn't the same flickering fluorescent light you always see, but coming from a new source, henceforth identified as the fire alarm.
- Stand there and try to decide if it could be a drill or a real fire.
- Realize there's probably no viable way to determine if there's a fire in one side of the building from the other.
- Try to gauge the flame susceptibility of your location, and in this case, bet whether the walls would be fireproof enough if there's concrete in their construction. Maybe you could keep working? There's a sprinkler head above your chair.
- Wonder if the sprinklers would go off if it was real, and if so, would it be acceptable to try and save your computer's back-up hard drive?
- Realize you haven't saved the file you were working on; save file.
- Check email, looking for a missed notice of an upcoming fire drill.
- Stick head in hallway, see no one.
- Wonder if everyone is outside.
- Wonder if everyone is managing to ignore the alarm.
- Wonder if you go out the closest door, if you'll be all by yourself.
- Wonder if the security system has an auto-lockdown feature in the event of emergencies, and could you be locked outside for the day?
- Wrap up ipod, pack up bag.
- Close down files on computer just in case.
- Stare at fire alarm in case it stops blinking. Hear a door slamming somewhere.
- Stick head back out in hallway. See person putting on jacket, heading outside. Decide to leave with said person, because at least you won't be the only lame duck in the event it's a joke.
Yep. Not advisable in the event of a real fire. If, that is, you believe it's a real fire, and not a drill.
(*yes, that Grassy Knoll - we have our own, you know). -AL
And that's what it looks like when fifty or some-odd archive employees have to evacuate the building for an unannounced fire drill. Darlin' Patrick, looking sporty in his jacket. Elaine from reference, her hair gleaming prettily in the sun. Paul being chatty, Red congenially waving, Eric dapper as usual. All we needed was afternoon tea.
For the record, here's what NOT to do:
- Note the faint buzzing (different from the buzz of printers, lights, etc) filtering in over the music you're listening to while you work.
- Decide that the flickering light isn't the same flickering fluorescent light you always see, but coming from a new source, henceforth identified as the fire alarm.
- Stand there and try to decide if it could be a drill or a real fire.
- Realize there's probably no viable way to determine if there's a fire in one side of the building from the other.
- Try to gauge the flame susceptibility of your location, and in this case, bet whether the walls would be fireproof enough if there's concrete in their construction. Maybe you could keep working? There's a sprinkler head above your chair.
- Wonder if the sprinklers would go off if it was real, and if so, would it be acceptable to try and save your computer's back-up hard drive?
- Realize you haven't saved the file you were working on; save file.
- Check email, looking for a missed notice of an upcoming fire drill.
- Stick head in hallway, see no one.
- Wonder if everyone is outside.
- Wonder if everyone is managing to ignore the alarm.
- Wonder if you go out the closest door, if you'll be all by yourself.
- Wonder if the security system has an auto-lockdown feature in the event of emergencies, and could you be locked outside for the day?
- Wrap up ipod, pack up bag.
- Close down files on computer just in case.
- Stare at fire alarm in case it stops blinking. Hear a door slamming somewhere.
- Stick head back out in hallway. See person putting on jacket, heading outside. Decide to leave with said person, because at least you won't be the only lame duck in the event it's a joke.
Yep. Not advisable in the event of a real fire. If, that is, you believe it's a real fire, and not a drill.
(*yes, that Grassy Knoll - we have our own, you know). -AL
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Return of "Big Red?"
No, we are not writing about the Cornell University football team, which beat Yale 14 to 12 last weekend in a game noteworthy for the quality of the caviar and Scotch being consumed by tailgaters. We also are not referring to the cinnamon-flavored gum first introduced by Wrigley in the year of our nation's bicentennial. We definitely are not referring to the soda of the same name, which has been produced in Texas since 1937.
This “Big Red” is the historic banner upon which The Citadel based its current “spirit flag” and an important symbol for the school. According to historical sources, “Big Red” flew over an artillery battery on Morris Island, which was manned by Citadel cadets. These same cadets fired the first shots of “The War” on January 9, 1861, when they fired upon the Union re-supply ship Star of the West and prevented it from reaching Fort Sumter. An account of the incident can be found in the Journals of the South Carolina Executive Council for 1861, which are located at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Historians at The Citadel believe that they have located “Big Red” at the State Historical Society of Iowa, where it has been stored since being donated by a Union veteran in 1919. Other Civil War flag experts, including a staff member at SCDAH who conducted research on the banner, are somewhat skeptical that the flag located in Iowa is the same flag that flew over Morris Island. Regardless, The Citadel hopes to receive the flag from Iowa on long-term loan. The episode makes for a great story that ties the past to the present. You can read more about the flag at www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/02/historic-find-in-a-storage-closet/. Enjoy the article and remember that nothing excites/inspires/provokes/angers/incites South Carolinians more than a flag related to “The War.”
This “Big Red” is the historic banner upon which The Citadel based its current “spirit flag” and an important symbol for the school. According to historical sources, “Big Red” flew over an artillery battery on Morris Island, which was manned by Citadel cadets. These same cadets fired the first shots of “The War” on January 9, 1861, when they fired upon the Union re-supply ship Star of the West and prevented it from reaching Fort Sumter. An account of the incident can be found in the Journals of the South Carolina Executive Council for 1861, which are located at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Historians at The Citadel believe that they have located “Big Red” at the State Historical Society of Iowa, where it has been stored since being donated by a Union veteran in 1919. Other Civil War flag experts, including a staff member at SCDAH who conducted research on the banner, are somewhat skeptical that the flag located in Iowa is the same flag that flew over Morris Island. Regardless, The Citadel hopes to receive the flag from Iowa on long-term loan. The episode makes for a great story that ties the past to the present. You can read more about the flag at www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/oct/02/historic-find-in-a-storage-closet/. Enjoy the article and remember that nothing excites/inspires/provokes/angers/incites South Carolinians more than a flag related to “The War.”
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