Tales from the Crypt - Meeting Notes
November 22, 2005
1) Lubow Wolynetz represented the Ukrainian Museum & Library of Stamford, CT. where she is the Librarian, Archivist and Museum Curator. She divides her time among the three plus a seminary where she also teaches American culture to Ukrainian visitors. The Library has a large collection of books in Ukrainian. The Archives has collections for the Ukrainian Catholic League of America, Parishes, Priests, materials from displaced persons camps in post-war II Europe & the U.S. The U.S. Ukrainian Community in Stamford had a relief committee which sponsored artists, teachers, etc to come to the US and North & South America. Their collections includes Correspondence, Photos, Folk Art etc. Users of their material are Ukrainian Catholics of the Eastern Rite, students from Ukrainian and US colleges, students of immigration& church & cultural brotherhoods. Their major problems are the need for those who can read, write and speak Ukrainian dialects and finances, which they try to help by seeking Grants.
2) Fr. Fred O'Brien, SJ visited the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Manhattan. Their archivist, Dale Hansen, is a part-time volunteer for he works during the week. The Archives is a very small space where 2 people filled the space. Everything on site was archivally boxed and indexed but lacking space! They have an old & valuable Pew Rent Collection from early 19th century. The Archivist considers his main problems are part-time position, which gives him little time, and he lacks contact with other professional archivists. Two suggestions to help him were: publication of an ARI newsletter or a Website with a Chat Room.
3) Joe Coen and Fr. Rob Carbonneau visited the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers, Baltimore Province Archives, which are located on Shore Road in Brooklyn. Joe used a power point to show photos of their archives which while small seemed a well organized and well equipped space. One drawback noticed was a small pail under a ceiling pipe that was leaking. Their collections covered the work of the Redemptorists in the U.S. and are widely used by religious of other communities and genealogists. They do not charge for services but accept donations. One problem (beside the leaking pipe) was that they were German in their early days and their collection has German Language and Gothic script in early materials and it is difficult to locate and hire scholars in this field. At present the Archivist is in his 80"s and looking for a successor. While their collection is very good (e.g. St. John Neuman) it is not easily available to outside researchers. They also have centers in Rome, Canada and Denver. Their staff is volunteers.
4) Karen Franklin & Fr. Rob Carbonneau visited the Manhattan College whose Archivist, Amy Surak, hosted today's ARI meeting. She explained that they have 3 collections - Manhattan College, the Christian Brothers of Long Island and New England and the Christian Brothers of New York. The main challenge was the College Archives, which required the most collecting of materials from various sites on the campus and organizing them in the new Archival facilities. Her next aims were to make the Archives more visible, attract researchers, establish a Web site and interest students. She has done this by have 3 classes each fall semester where the students do research papers using Archival Collections. She also used work/study students from the Library who work in the Archives. Amy also goes to Rome each January to work at the LaSallian Generalate Archives where she has designed a database and introduced archival boxes etc. At Manhattan the Archives out-reach includes a variety of exhibits and each summer she puts emphasis on processing of acquisitions and organizing projects for the student workers.
OBSERVATION SESSION: How ARI can help membership
Suggestions included: