Vanderbilt Special Collections

Today we visited the Vanderbilt University Archives and the Vanderbilt Special Collections.

They are located in the same building, the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, but maintain different missions. Here is a short description from their webpages that show the difference:

The mission of the University Archives is to preserve the historical memory of the university and to make this information available, primarily, to the Vanderbilt community and, secondarily, to the world at large. This is achieved through the collection and preservation of historical Vanderbilt university records and artifacts.

Special Collections manages the rare book collections of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. The subject matter of this extensive collection covers a wide range of topics including the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups, American Civil War, Southern literature and civilization, performing arts, Vanderbilt University history, George Peabody College history, Meso-American codices, and religion. 

It was a great visit, which ended in their storage collection "vault" where we were able to see and hold a protected document signed by Andrew Jackson in 1796!

What is Public History?

Here are some common answers:

1) Public history most often refers to the employment of historians in history-related work outside of academia, and especially to the many ways in which historians recreate and present history to the public-and sometimes with the public. Thus, we find historians working in archives, museums, historic sites, state and local historical agencies, newspapers, businesses, trade and labor organizations, and in all levels of government. They work as editors, archivists, oral historians, administrators, curators, historic preservation specialists, writers, public policy analysts--and, lest we forget, as historians!

2) Public Historians, as opposed to academic Historians, work with and for the general public. They work in archives, museums, public policy organizations, historical societies, and in media. Public Historians are devoted to practicing History outside of the classroom. Historians work for local, state, and national groups including corporations and governmental institutions. The purpose of a public historian is to collect, preserve, and disseminate information on the past. Public Historians use such tools as photographs, oral histories, museum exhibitions, and multimedia to address a wide variety of historical issues and to present those issues to a non-academic audience.

3) Public history is a set of theories, methods, assumptions, and practices guiding the identification, preservation, interpretation, and presentation of historical artifacts, texts, structures, and landscapes in conjunction with and for the public. It is also an interactive process between the historian, the public, and the historical object. Finally, public history embodies the belief that history and historical-cultural memory matter in the way people go about their day-to-day lives.

TSLA

Our trip to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, also known as TSLA, was fantastic. We visited the Conservation Lab. Conservation attempts to clean, repair, and preserve documents, blueprints, and photographs. It is different from restoration, which attempts to restore an artifact or document to its original condition or appearance. Conservator Stewart Southard and Carol Robers showed the girls how they clean documents, uses magnesium bicarbonate to flatten and relax the acidity of documents, and applies Japanese tissue paper and wheat paste instead of tape. Director of Conservation Carol Roberts talked about the science behind historic preservation and conservation. The girls also learned about the process of emulsification and using water to flatten rolled panoramic photographs. They were able to see documents from the 1700s! Lessons we learned include: print your pictures, never do anything you cannot undo, and never use scotch tape. The Conservation Lab is hard at work cleaning and preserving documents related to Tennessee history and government.

Mr. Southard's also shared with us his photo collection. The first photographs were called daguerreotpyes. Next were pictures on tin and copper. Essentially the light from the flash would burn the image (through a chemical reaction). Sometimes this could take up to five minutes which is why most people had simple poses and did not smile. Glass plate positives preceded negatives which is why you have to put it on black backing to see the image. Early paper photos were cheaper, allowing people to have a little more fun in their pictures. As such, the first "funny" photos emerged -- some things never change! Paper photos emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.  Below are some of the samples of early photographs.

Prepping the New Exhibit

The Mother Church: Ryman Auditorium

Joshua Bronnenberg, Museum and Tours Manager, explained to our class that the auditorium was originally
a church but also designed as a "theater in the round" with a circle shaped stage in the center and seating all
the way around it.  There was no balcony, backstage, or dressing rooms.

The balcony was added in 1897 for a Confederate Veterans meeting. It was painted
many times before the major renovation and restoration in 1994.  Today is has been restored to
its original appearance and pattern. Renovation is simply improving or adding. The renovation at the Ryman
included adding a new wing which today houses concessions, meeting rooms, rest rooms, ticket sales,
offices, and a gift shop.  Right now (in 2015) they are renovating and expanding this mid-1990s renovation
but not the actual stage or backstage areas. Restoration is returning something back to its original condition, ex. the balcony.

Ryman Auditorium is not only an example of sustainability as it continues to hold concerts and other events (which was its original purpose), but it also serves as a museum.  Adaptable use is another term used often in public history.  A good example of adaptable reuse is the Frist Museum, which used to be a Post Office.

Students enjoyed seeing the Minnie Pearl exhibit. She is perhaps the Grand Ole Opry's most famous female comedian. She was also a graduate of Ward-Belmont, which is one of our predecessor schools. When it closed in 1951 the high school division reopened here -- the next fall -- renamed the Harpeth Hall School. All of the original faculty members, administrators, and most students were from Ward-Belmont.  Minnie Pearl's real name was Ophelia Sarah Colley Cannon.  At Ward-Belmont she was called Ophie as a nickname. In her adult life she used Sarah and her married name, Cannon.

A display showing the process of discovering the original look and design of the balcony. This is on permanent display on the second floor of the Ryman. There is also a timeline which shows historic events, performances, and people who are a part of Ryman history.

Archival "Grand Slam" -- Baseball Card Collection

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/antiques-roadshow-discovers-1m-baseball-card-collection-article-1.2069203

2015 Headline "1795 time capsule opened, centuries after Revere and Adams buried it"

www.cnn.com/2015/01/06/us/feat-paul-revere-sam-adams-boston-time-capsule/index.html