History Fun

A friend is currently engaged in research at an Undisclosed Location. Here's a hint: in a very, very red state.

He emails tonight to explain the level of professionalism at said location. Apparently, no one goes there to do research. So he's the only person there. There really isn't a staff, per se. Instead, the collection has volunteers. Mostly, these are sweet old ladies.

Now, sweet old ladies are not required to know much about archival research. So when my friend asks to see something, they don't always know what to respond. The dialogue goes like this:

JS: Thanks, I'm done with this file. Can I see the finding aid?

SOL: Uh...do you have a call number for that?

JS: No, it's a reference item.

SOL: Oh...who are you again? Do you have an appointment?

etc.

But the best part is that "When the old ladies burn through their volunteer hour and go home, I'm alone in the reading room -- I walk over and get the archivist's office when I want to see more stuff. So I'm alone with, I shit you not, Andrew Jackson's original handwritten letters, and stuff like that. My bag on the floor next to me."

Wow.

Most history archives aren't like that. But some are - some I've worked in. You never really get over the feeling of unreality that comes when someone hands you a 200-year-old letter and walks away. When they hand it to you, walk away, go out to lunch, and tell you to lock up when you're done...that's bizarre.