Update on Archival Processing

[editor's note: This Saturday, May 2, is the last Saturday that we will have business hours until September. Feel free to stop by the Clarke from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm]

by Marian Matyn

The end of the term is here. This term, I had two interns, one paid student, and two volunteers processing collections for various hours during the week. I trained and supervised them all. Only one had prior processing experience, having volunteered for me previously. Three of the students also took or were taking my Archives Administration class while processing for me. Here is a list of the collections that they processed and created finding aids or inventory for:

• Ongoing addition to Lee Barnett [research] Collection: 9 boxes, 6 Ov. Folders (approx. 5 cubic feet) The total collection is now 30 cubic feet (in 51 boxes, 15 Ov. folders)
  
• Ralph Young Courser family genealogy collection, 1870, 2012, 3 boxes, 6 Ov. folders (approx. 2 cubic feet)
  
• Lincoln Township (Isabella County, Mich.) records, 1890-1984, 4 boxes, 41 Ov. v. (Approx. 5 cubic feet)
  
• Coldwater Township (Isabella County, Mich.), records, 1868-1971, 4 boxes, 80 Ov. v. (Approx. 15 cubic feet)
  
• CMU Appleblossom Club.CMU Appleblossom Club addition, 1931-2001, , 1 box, 2 Ov. V., 2 Ov. Folders (Approx. 1 cubic feet)
  
• Deerfield Township (Isabella County, Mich.) records, 1880-1971, 4 boxes, 59 Ov. v. (Approx. 8 cubic feet)
  
• Carol I. Paquette Sing-out Walled Lake Scrapbook, 1967-1969 collection (1 folder)
  
• CMU slides, 1979 (1 slide box). This box was left in the CMU Baseball office. One of the students there was taking my class and brought it to me because nobody there knew what to do with it. Thanks Logan!
  
• J. E. Howard correspondence, 1885-1895, 4 boxes (2 cubic feet). His Michigan railroads business records collection, 1846-1920 which totals 93 cubic feet (in 32 boxes, 276 Ov. v, 11 Ov. folders, 1 rolled item), is separately cataloged.
  
• And they processed all the loose paper records for Morley Bros. family and business records/papers (ongoing) 14 boxes, 1 folder, 2 Ov. folders (6 cubic feet). This is a large, complicated collection which has been processed by several groups of advanced students over several years. Currently, 13 boxes, 5 Ov. Folders have already been processed. At least 229 Morley Ov. volumes remain to be inventoried and organized.

Morley papers processed in spring 2015,
almost ready to be shelved

Their work this term is a notable achievement. Thanks to all my wonderful students for a good term -- Mark Prindiville, Alyssa Halula, Samantha Sullivan, Liz Edwards, and Gwyn Richard. Their work freed me up to process other collections, and catalog and encode finding aids for everything any of us processed. Mark and Samantha are graduating in May. We wish them the best!

For more information about these collections see their catalog records and finding aids via Centra or the Clarke's finding aid page. Finding aids can also be found via a Google search.

I am happy to take interns and volunteers at any time, except the last few weeks of a term. If you have any questions about working in the archives or would like a tour, or want to know more about these collections, or other collections, please contact me, Marian, at marian.matyn@cmich.edu.