Week 8: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 27th & 29th of July 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 8:
27th and 29th of July 2015
27th:   7.5  hours
29th:   7.5  hours
Week 7 Total Hours: 15.0

   This eighth, and final week of my archival practicum has brought me back, full circle, to where I began this adventure at Eastern Regional Coal Archives.  It was only two days and 15 hours, yet, after my calculations, I actually worked five extra hours there than I needed to to fulfill my practicum...I don't mind a bit, because when I finished at the end of Wednesday, I felt like I had really accomplished some wonderful things with Becky.
   These last two weeks, I had already experienced some "down time", which hadn't really occurred in my previous four weeks here.  During that time, Becky had me searching through newspapers from 2014 for articles related to coal/industry to cut out, be photocopied and be placed in 'ready reference', 'control' or 'subject' folders in the archives.  Although a bit tedious in keeping on track while going through newspapers, I managed to find some key articles...these focused on environmental impact, legislation, litigation, community events, and obituaries.
   I was able to simply rearrange some of the folders within the seven or so file boxes of the Mahood Collection.  The reason I was asked to do this was mainly because there was some family Christmas picture portraits/cards that had been scattered throughout the boxes, so I centralized them together into one section of a box.  For the most part though, each box had its own broad category:  A.B.M., Sr.'s mother; his father and his financial records; photographs; correspondence; etc.
   I was able to remove key pieces from the Mahood, Sr. scrapbook, including a signed, glowing thank you letter on official letterhead from President Luther of Peerless Coal and Coke Company in Vivian, McDowell County, which is a stunning piece of local history.  I was also able to get the large Mahood items described and arranged within an archival newspaper box, separating fragile pieces with acid free, archival paper, and placing on top, the typed out list of contents, which I had previously compiled.  Putting this paper in the box was actually the final task I had on my list, which was an exhilarating feeling...8 weeks and 155 hours later, I was finished with the volunteer portion of my archival practicum! Yeah!!!!
   All this being said though, the one constant that I had found within both archives during this grand experience was that archival work is a never-ending process.  One days work is done and perhaps the next day it is gone back into in order to tweak.  Case in point are the architectural drawings, which had been identified years ago and were revisited to actually sort and store by subject/county.  It dawned on me that materials get touched by the archivist far greater times than they get touched by researchers...simple concept, but a powerful one when it hit me.
   Following on that idea of the never-ending process, my final week at ERCA found a section of the reading room full of boxes and materials which had recently been on display at a local historical railroad exhibit.  The exhibit ended and all the materials which had been taken from the archives were brought back and waiting for reorganization back into the collection.  So, in essence, I had finished absolutely all my lists, concluding my six week stint here, and now, there was a whole new task ahead!  I told Becky that I didn't want to leave her with it to take care of herself, but it would have been impossible to take care of in such a short period of time.  She brushed it off as going with the curatorial territory and with the attitude that she would get done with it as she is allowed, generally, I feel, little by little, as time allows.
   So, as much as I feel was accomplished during my archival practicum, the below picture shows what I had to leave...artifacts and pictures stacked on tables.  A true testament to the nature of archives...a continuum of inflow and outflow...curators and researchers...students and professionals...all seeking the same goal...to preserve and make pertinent our treasured past.

Even though I finished all my tasks, I had to leave 

Becky with a new project which arrived this week

(Photo taken by author.  All ownership rights belong to Eastern Regional Coal Archives) 

   A big thanks to everyone who took the time to read this blog; to Becky and Eva at ERCA; to Debra, Dick and their son, Joe, Ed, Matt the Golden Eagle, Kyle, Jaime, and Randy at WVSA.  There are of course more great people I've met during this experience, but these are just a few names.  Finally, thanks to Dr. Welsh, my advisor, teacher, mentor and friend from University of Southern Mississippi's School of Information and Library Science!

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )

Week 7: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 22nd, 23rd & 24th of July 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 7:
22nd, 23rd and 24th of July 2015
22nd:   7.5 hours
23rd:   7.5  hours
24th:   5.0  hours
Week 7 Total Hours: 20.0

   This seventh, and second to last week of my archival practicum has brought me back to work at Eastern Regional Coal Archives.  I am so happy to be back!  This place is such a marvel to have in southern West Virginia.  I would love to see it used by more municipalities and as a way to tie all of our region's coal/industrial history together.
   I already had a small list of preservation duties that needed to get done from three weeks prior.  Two items involved addressing materials within a box of personal Mahood effects that I'd previously gone through, described and arranged in folders and folder boxes.  One letter of correspondence had the gummy flap folded inside the envelope and pressed against the letter within.  It was World War II vintage, written to Alex Mahood, Jr. from his grandmother in water soluble ink.  The other item needing addressed was the scrapbook of Alex Mahood, Sr.'s projects...mostly newspaper clippings, but one photograph, a couple semi-glossy periodical pages and some entire newspapers folded up and stuffed in the back of it.  The scrapbook pages appeared to be acidic, so the information needed to be rescued.  A third small project involved rearranging some of the folders within the Mahood folder boxes to more logically reflect the subject matter of said boxes.
   Eva McGuire, Director and former curator of the archives gave Becky and I a lesson in paper conservation.  By using nothing more than water, the universal solvent, we were able to separate pages and pictures that had been glued in books.  It was simple and effective and fun!  She told us a bit about the process of deacidification, but, unfortunately, we were never able to do that this week.  Using a cue tip, and protecting the letter, I carefully painted the glued seam of the envelope with water until it became gelatinous and opened as easy as you please.  We were then able to make out the letter, dry everything off and place it back in its folder for future researchers to peruse unencumbered!

   The next process that I began this week, and will have to finish next, is the careful separation of pages from Mahood, Sr.'s scrapbook, taking digital images of everything, and photocopying the information on acid-free paper.  This is a tedious task, and as Eva put it, newsprint was not meant to last, so the pages can be brittle and/or folded/snagged in different ways.  The full sized newspapers were fully opened and pressed for the weekend in order to make them more manageable for copying.  The rest of the pages began being separated by a razor blade and multiple format copies made.  This is a process which was very difficult for me, yet, I can see how the destruction of the original item can lead to more consistent and sustainable preservation.  I was involved in archaeological digs for several years, which is a 'destructive science' in its nature of excavation, so I know the conundrum of destroying, yet creating at the same time.
   The final project that was begun this week was getting a collection of over-sized Mahood items into an archival newspaper box (tall, wide, but not too deep).  This week, I went through the materials and made a list of them.  I will arrange them in the box and print out the list next week.  Two items of personal interest to me include: a scrapbook of the Mercer County Courthouse, in Princeton, which includes architectural plans and photographs of the finished product...very beautiful...and reminiscent of the plan views that Mahood, Sr. did while studying architecture in Paris...impeccable symmetry; and, proposed sketches to an addition to the US Steel Gary Headquarters building.  The original had been a craftsman style, but the addition he proposed looked as modern as you can get, extremely linear with a sleek glass facing.  I don't know if that ever came to fruition, but it would have definitely been a sight to behold...almost like alter-egos of two different eras.

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )

Week 6: West Virginia State Archives 13th, 14th & 15th

West Virginia State Archives 

@ The Capitol Complex's Culture Center

Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia 

http://www.wvculture.org/history/archivesindex.aspx

WV State Culture Center Building in which the WV State Archives Reside

(Photo retrieved from
 http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/assets/0001/8532/080402culturalcenter_069hdr2p_medium.jpg?1309982987 ) 

Archival Practicum Week 5:
13th through the 15th of July 2015
13th: 7.5 hours
14th: 7.0 hours
15th: 5.0 hours
Week 5 Total Hours: 19.5

   This 2nd and final week working with Debra Basham was bittersweet.  I learned so much within a fortnight, yet don't want to leave.  I'm consoled to be able to return to my friends at Eastern Regional Coal Archives, though.
   Working directly with an archives gives first hand experience of challenges addressed...things that can be read about but only understood through actual experience.  Being able to train with the Assistant Archivist for the State of West Virginia is priceless!  Only in WV is where I could call her up, set up a practicum, work directly with her for the entire time, be on a first name basis with the State Archivist and staff, and feel accepted into the archival family...I love this state!
   This week got dirty and gritty with the addressing of some fire and water damaged blueprints.  Last week, I alluded to the Frampton Architectural Collection, and now I'll specify.  This architectural firm was practicing up until the early 2000's, based out of Huntington, Cabell County, WV.  At some point, some of this collection of rolled architectural drawings was subjected to fire and water.  State Archivist Joe Geiger found out about the collection and personally brought it to the archives for safekeeping.  Debra has rough sorted some of the rolls into metal shelving compartments and the two of us continued that work this week...rough sorting by county, churches, and schools.  Some of the most damaged rolls were brought out into our work area to attempt to salvage as much as possible.  The picture below shows one of the lesser damaged pieces, which is still monumental in effort and time to address.  The heat and/or water sealed the sheets together in places.  Some rolls seemed to have sucked the fire right up the open core of them.  Carefully, Debra pulled the individual sheets apart, and, in certain safe cases, charred paper was trimmed off...the actual ash being an acidic agent that could compromise the preservation of the surrounding paper.  We talked extensively about what and why she was making such invasive treatments of the materials.  She stated that there are purists out there that would condemn the cutting off of paper materials.  I responded that perhaps there could be a restoration process in the future that could reconstitute partially ashen paper.  We both agreed that this was not an archives that preserved and restored paper/parchment/writing sheets from antiquity, with the technology/expertise allowed for such organizations.  For time issues, we salvaged much of the materials, especially the ones that had no copies.
   The architectural drawings came in several materials:  a extremely thin onionskin tracing paper; a similar onionskin paper with a glossy back; matted finished blueprints; resilient glossy pages referred to as Mylar; and, the early 2000's brought about transparent plastic sheeting, also a form of Mylar.  The different forms of Mylar tended to anneal themselves to each other in the heat of the fire, while the onionskin type browned/tanned with heat, but did not stick together much.  The onionskin tracing paper fights against unrolling the most; after being flattened for five years, the edges still struggle to roll back into a cylinder shape...most inconvenient for researching purposes.  When nicely and neatly flattened, architectural drawings are easy as can be to navigate through, but when curling at every flip, two people are needed to manage any kind of research or processing.  When I was studying at the archives at Michigan Technological University, the employees there used a large, shallow humidification chamber to allow mining maps to flatten.  I bet a similar process could be used to finally flatten some of the most contrary plans.

Asst. State Archivist Debra Basham carefully seperates the annealed sheets of Mylar

(Photo taken by author with asst. archivist's permission)

   Another part of my archival practicum at the WVSA was to go through drawers of previously flattened (or somewhat flattened) architectural drawings and record pertinent information about them to enter into the database that Debra has done such a Herculean job in assembling/building.  She currently has a list of what roughly exists within each map drawer; as each drawer's arrangement is gone through and described, that information is put into the master list.  That was the current theme between smaller odd jobs that I did for my two weeks at this archives.  I recorded the data onto paper and then later into the computer database, but Debra and I also had the privilege of being able to partner on part of it, with one of us reading the info and the other typing...this made the process much faster.  Each item on the list contains the following information:

Drawer #; Accession #; Folder #; Town; Building/project/brief description; Date; Architect; # of pages; Type of project; Commission #; County

This was much more detailed information than we recorded at ERCA, but the most telling bit that I would like to see recorded with the Mahood Collection would be the individual projects' commission number...this allows for a chronological view of projects which can sometimes be confusing due to additions and alterations done after the initial construction.

Corcoran adding information into the database as Basham reads off pertinent info

(Photo taken at author's request by Kyle Campbell, County Records Digitization Specialist)

   This final week with the WVSA was not disappointing in the least, because I was able to locate, describe and input into the architectural database a dozen or more residences designed by Welch architect Hassel T. Hicks.  Every new entry we have on his work, represents that much more of an intellectual and physical control we citizens have over the growing body of known work that this prolific early-to-mid 20th Century McDowell County architect designed.  Knowing Hicks buildings can aid in the historic preservation and restoration throughout central Appalachia.  Finally, another jewel within this collection is a set of pages representing the World War I Memorial Building in Welch, which burned to the ground, and is a site of a parking lot now.  These plans, which don't even seem to exist in the Mahood Collection at the ERCA proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was a renovation to a previously occupied school...that point had been up for debate until now.  Debra's son was kind enough to scan these unique blueprints for me and they will be printed out and saved multiple places for posterity.

WV Division of Culture and History Logo 

(Retrived from http://www.wvculture.org/images/logo1.gif )

Week 5: West Virginia State Archives 6th, 7th and 8th

West Virginia State Archives 

@ The Capitol Complex's Culture Center

Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia 

http://www.wvculture.org/history/archivesindex.aspx

WV State Culture Center Building in which the WV State Archives Reside

(Photo retrieved from
 http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/assets/0001/8532/080402culturalcenter_069hdr2p_medium.jpg?1309982987 ) 

Archival Practicum Week 5:
6th through the 8th of July 2015
6th: 7.5 hours
7th: 6.5 hours
8th: 6.5 hours
Week 5 Total Hours: 20.5

   So, I began my archival practicum with the West Virginia State Archives this week.  The experience, as with ERCA, is a dream come true.  Debra Basham, Assistant State Archivist, who has been my sponsoring contact through this process, met me on Monday and took me around for introductions to staff and general tour.  Everyone is very nice and encouraging.  Three Hattiesburg, Mississippi connections were made off the bat, since Debra was born there, another employee got his masters in history from University of Southern Mississippi (as a resident student), and now I'm going to school there on this online masters in library and information science, with certificate in archival studies...truly a small world.
   Joe Geiger, State Archivist, was very supportive of me being here and encouraged me to find some materials to digitize for my final presentation.  This definitely sparked great excitement in me!  I already have some architectural blueprints in mind...and the state archive's has a humongous scanner that can accommodate!
   Debra and I hit the ground running by going up to a dark corner of the top floor of the Culture Center Building.  Cheekily referred to as the 'penthouse suite', this 4th floor has absolutely no windows, so, perfect for an archives, not-so-perfect for living space!  Despite this, I did live in that corner for my first week and I intend on doing so next week too...for it is filled with thousands upon thousands of architectural drawings ranging in size from a legal sized piece of paper all the way up to 8 feet long and 4 feet wide.  This is only the range I saw, so there could easily be bigger or smaller examples.
   Over and over, I'm seeing how archives are a continual process of processes.  Projects are done only to be tweaked further down the road.  At WVSA, there are collections of architectural drawings that are still rolled up and uncatalogued, while many others are flattening in one of the many map drawers on this floor.  This area is packed with map cases of all colors and styles.  Debra tells me that they get all the hand-me-downs from all the state agencies...I love how purveyors of history are such scavengers for materials...after all, it's green, man!...probably out of necessity for our former industrial society's estrangement from preserving the present for the future...too busy trying to grasp and manage the physical world then to attempt learning from their actions.  Anyway, despite this diatribe, the state archives had bought a bank of new glazed metal map cases, so they do have somewhat of a budget for such things.
   Debra is visionary from the standpoint of painstakingly creating a living Microsoft Access spreadsheet, which catalogs a building list of the architectural drawings held at this repository...several different firms spanning the 20th Century.  My mission, which was completely integrated into the archival experience due to the flexible, laid back, yet industrious and appreciative staff, was to work with architectural drawings of southern West Virginia.

A Brief Overview of The West Virginia State Archives

(Retrieved from the WVSA YouTube page: https://youtu.be/LJ2m5MnJdEc )

   After the initial tour of the archival space, we settled into the 4th floor where blueprints/maps/etc. are stored.  Debra showed me the current projects: naming, describing and entering materials into the Access program; and, flattening rolled and trimming damaged materials, as well as Debra's personal priority of weeding duplicate copies from drawers that had been placed in drawers to flatten.  This latter project of Debra's takes a lot of experience and patience, since she's basically the only one who can perform it.  Her memory is impeccable in that  she remembers what is generally in each drawer (which she superbly rough sorted prior) and puts scattered architectural projects together from the Frampton Collection.  This collection, like many others, was donated with no discernible order, although, this one was added to the archival challenge by being a more contemporary collection (up until the early 2000's), therefore, there are many multiple copies, as opposed to earlier 20th Century architectural firms, in part, due to technological ease of large-scale printing.  This produces a space issue...for indeed, how many copies of the same blueprint does one archive need?  Throughout the week, Debra was able to consolidate projects and weed redundant materials.  This case of multiple copies actually worked well for this collections since some of the materials had  been damaged by fire and water.  Debra was able to find the best copies of particular projects and discard the damaged copies.  Next week, I may be able to help out with the preservation efforts of these damaged pieces.
   Also, for my next and final week at the WVSA, I hope to find more of my pet project subject, Hassel T. Hicks, architect from Welch, McDowell County, WV.  After about a decade of fruitless searching, I've finally found that the WVSA has the only known collection of HTH's architectural drawings.  I was able to talk with Debra about this and she is quite glad too, that, through a fluke of luck, those drawings were preserved.  They represent the boom-time development of an area of central Appalachia that has been living in the bust-time since the Baby Boomers started having kids...me being one of them.  Now, McDowell County remains underrepresented in many ways, so these architectural drawings of a resident of Welch, the county seat, represent a way of providing proof of what once was.  The power, wealth and opportunity, so foreign to those of us Gen Xers and Millennials, is encapsulated and protected in the WVSA.  At the end of this week, I did find one of Hicks' residential projects in Williamson, Mingo County, WV.  I remain optimistic that I'll find more of his work next week.

WV Division of Culture and History Logo 

(Retrived from http://www.wvculture.org/images/logo1.gif )

Week 4: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 22nd, 23rd & 24th of June 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 4:
22nd, 23rd and 24th of June 2015
22nd:   7.5 hours
23rd:   7.0  hours
24th:   6.0  hours
Week 4 Total Hours: 20.5

This fourth week of my archival practicum has brought a momentary end to my work at Eastern Regional Coal Archives.  I now look forward to two weeks of working with the history team at West Virginia State Archives in Charleston, our state's wonderful capitol city.  That being stated, it was truly a bittersweet week at ERCA.  Curator Becky George and I were able to finish all the goals we had set, and got ideas of what to do when I return for the last week and a half of my practicum.  It was still sad to walk out the door...in only four weeks, I feel like I've been blessed with experiencing some unique and invaluable primary historical resources.  This is something that not everyone has done and it is something that isn't for everyone, yet it was extremely rewarding to me.  This regional archives holds the memories of the boom days of my home of southern West Virginia.  Not just memories, but, proof of the memories...proof of the history...proof of the people...and proof of the fleeting grand power which was wielded with the extraction of fossil fuels.  In this case, it was bituminous coal, high in BTUs and low in Sulphur, making it the finest metallurgical coal in the known world.  This coal was distilled into coke, an almost pure carbon substance, and used in the iron foundries of the Industrial Age in order to make iron and steel, which became the physical skeleton of our "modern" society...think 'railroads' and 'urban development'.

Special Section Welch Daily News - 1952?  Grand opening of the top of the line bus terminal in Welch, funded by Jack Craft, namesake of Craft Memorial Library, Bluefield

(Photo taken by author.  All ownership rights belong to Eastern Regional Coal Archives) 

The above newspaper photograph, of the bus terminal opening in Welch, is very special to me, being from that city.  The whole newspaper/special section is folded up within a scrapbook put together by, either, A.B. Mahood, Sr. or someone close to him.  This scrapbook forms a collection of materials elucidating Mahood, Sr.'s constructions.  The, now gone, bus terminal must have been quite a site to see...top of the line with neon lit, Art Deco flair.  This brought me face to face with the man who Craft Memorial Library was named after...a man who started his business with one bus, where he was the sole driver, which developed into a booming entrepreneurship with a fleet of transport.

The below photograph is one of the exciting finds within the ERCA's Mahood Collection.  Becky found a small cache of flattened materials at the bottom of a drawer, under nondescript brown packaging paper...which was totally camouflaged from me!  She uncovered it to find artwork done by A.B. Mahood, Sr., while studying at Beaux-arts de Paris, an alternate rendering of what is now the West Virginian Hotel, and two unlabeled matted photographs.  After careful inspection, the labyrinth-style frieze surrounding the building at the top of the first story gave it away to me.  Notice that only five floors had been completed.  Whether the sixth and Mahood's seventh-level penthouse office were completed in this initial construction, or at a later date, is open for investigation.

Rare Matted Photograph of the Law and Commerce building being constructed in downtown Bluefield, WV.  This building would come to be home of A.B. Mahood, Sr.'s (and Jr.'s) architectural firm.

(Photo taken by author.  All ownership rights belong to Eastern Regional Coal Archives) 

So this final week, for the first stint of my practicum with ERCA, has been successfully completed. Except two, all of my goals were met.  We were not able to address two preservation issues: one for a letter of correspondence which had been annealed with the envelope's glue; and, the other is what to do with the scrapbook.  Perhaps these issues can be addressed when I return later on in July.  What was successfully completed is as follows:

• Unarranged box of Mahood Family memorabilia was separated into files and then into archival quality boxes.  
• Associated folders had associated lists and commentary which was typed onto acid-free paper and placed with the corresponding folder/item.
• Larger flattened items were housed in an archival quality newspaper box.
• Miscellaneous blueprints were identified, organized and recorded into the blueprint master list.

Now, I will be spending next week off from any practicum site in order to continue getting my wife and I moved into our new house.  Beginning week after next, I'll begin my two weeks (40 clock hours) working with the West Virginia State Archives.  I look forward to seeing how things are done there, as well as, focusing on furthering the knowledge contained withing the architectural blueprints of Hassel T. Hicks, Welch, WV's premier architect (who came onto the scene about 10 years after Mahood, Sr.).

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )

Week 3: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 16th, 17th & 18th of June 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 3:
16th, 17th & 18th of June 2015
16th:   7.0 hours
17th:   7.5 hours
18th: 5.5 hours
Week 3 Total Hours: 20.0

This was an extra special week to be working in West Virginia related archives due to Saturday being West Virginia Day, we having gained our statehood (under questionable Constitutionality) during the US Civil War, on June 20, 1863. I feel sure that the Mahood Family, whose box of items I finished the bulk of arranging and describing this week, would have celebrated this date during their lifetimes. One very interesting piece from this Mahood Collection is a large drafting paper with a detailed family tree of, both, Alexander Blount Mahood, Sr. and his wife, going back to 17^th Century England. This sheet was extremely helpful to me, while arranging and describing materials from the box. For instance, I was able to piece together names of people and how they fit into ABM, Sr.'s genealogy, and then I put that information on the folder description. I feel sure that will assist future researchers who may not have the luxury of having such a detailed piece of primary documentation at their disposal.

The trick this week was prioritizing what I have left to do on the projects I've gotten started. This is because my 75 hours of archival practicum time is coming to a close next Tuesday. Becky and I have been in conversation about the possibility of extending my stay at Eastern Regional Coal Archives, which would take practicum time away from working at the WV State Archives, yet, it would dramatically shorten my commute time. This is something I will talk with Dr. Welsh about early next week and correspond with Debra Basham, Assistant Archivist of the WV State Archives. One of the most amazing and wonderful components with this archival practicum experience is how welcoming, understanding and flexible that both of my archival destinations have been. True, this is allowing for volunteer assistance at their institutions, yet, it is still time out of their busy schedules to work me into the fold of their workdays. It's a give-take relationship and I like to think that by working efficiently and sincerely, it is a mutually-beneficial work agreement. I can't thank Becky enough for being so understanding and laid back with allowing flexibility with my work schedule...that, to me, a Gen-Xer, is vital to a bountifully productive work environment.

Basically, to get done by next week, four components need to be finished: 1) I need to get through the arranging and describing of the box of Mahood memorabilia, address several questions I had about certain items within that box; 2) Miscellaneous and undetermined blueprints and rendered drawings/photographs need to be examined and assertively identified; 3) All this memorabilia, blueprints, drawings and photographs need to be stored and recorded; and, 4) The blueprints need to be all added to the Master List Microsoft Word document.

This third week of my archival practicum saw me finishing the arranging and describing of the bulk of the Mahood box material. There are several items in it that need further study. For instance, a scrapbook of many of ABM, Sr.'s architectural accomplishments, which I created an index for, that needs typed up...it would also be advantageous to digitally photograph the scrapbook, page-by-page. There is also the issue of full newspapers being put into the scrapbook, apparently for future clipping. What do we do with these items?...And, there is a full special section of the Welch Daily News concerning the opening of the top of the line bus terminal opening in Welch, designed by Mahood, and includes all the municipal improvements made in Welch to accommodate the meteoric rise of automobile space issues...advancements that, to this day, can be seen, yet, are not at the moment needed in my hometown, product of subsequent deindustrialized exodus. As archivists, how do we retain provenance within a scrapbook, yet preserve its contents for the long haul? These questions really prompt detailed conversations.

Eva McGuire, Craft Library Director, was able to come to the archives and give Becky and I some professional advice this week. That was an added bonus, since she used to work heavily in the archives, with Dr. Stuart McGehee and also co-authored, at least one book with him. We asked her about several questions that had arisen over my past time volunteering in the archives. One question involved a piece of correspondence in its envelope. After being initially opened, the envelope flap had been folded into the envelope, touching the letter within. Over time, the adhesive affixt itself to the letter, making it impossible to open. Eva told us that we could protect the enclosed letter with paper towels and dampen the outside seams of the envelope until the whole outer package could be opened. This would allow for minimal intrusiveness and will allow for observation of then enclosed contents. After ascertaining the importance of the correspondence, and testing of the ink's solubility with water, further separation of the letter from the envelope can take place. Eva also showed me the importance of separating certain acidic papers with inert acid free papers.

  

Next week, Becky and I plan on addressing the last few questions regarding the Mahood box of memorabilia, describing and arranging the remainder of the miscellaneous blueprints, and finishing the Mahood Architectural Master List Microsoft Word document.

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )

Week 2: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 8th, 9th & 13th of June 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 2:
8th, 9th & 13th of June 2015
8th:   7.5 hours
9th:   7.0 hours
13th: 5.5 hours
Week 2 Total Hours: 20.0

The second week of my Archival Practicum has continued to spur my imagination and build local history intrigue.  Where do I begin explaining the exciting archival adventures? This is turning out to be an even richer experience than I had planned upon...and I was very excited to come here to begin with! The collection with which I'm working continues to fascinate me. When Alex Mahood, Jr. passed away, his work collection came to ERCA. This collection includes his architectural materials, but even more historically, the architectural plans and specifications of his father, Alexander Blount Mahood, Senior. Along with this seems to be a hodgepodge of Mahood Family documents, including correspondence, genealogical materials, work and recreational ephemera.

One of the major realization I made this week, while Curator Becky George and I were categorizing the blueprints of ABM, Sr.'s work, was how he truly designed, what is now, Bluefield, West Virginia's historic district. The nationwide 'urban renewal' programs of the early 1960s decimated the historic streetscapes of the once thriving metropolis of Bluefield, leaving primarily, a core of structures at the city's core. The outlying areas seemed to be razed in order to encourage 'light industry' development of which I found mention of in certain documents from the Mahood collection. Regardless, the contemporary 'Downtown Bluefield Historic District' contains prominent buildings that were designed by ABM, Sr. in the heyday of southern West Virginia's coal rush (19-teens – 1950s). Not only that, Commerce Street, on which the modern day public library and archives resides, was heavily augmented through Mahood plans, creating a deep cut and retaining wall system. This tells me that Mahood, Sr. heavily influenced the development of downtown Bluefield, in both its buildings, its layout and design. To this current day, buildings such as: The West Virginian Hotel (WV's tallest building south of Charleston, the state capitol!); The Law and Commerce Building (Mahood's architectural office and Bluefield's 'first modern office building'); and, The Commerce Bank (Headquarters of Cole Realty Co., a business which helped propel the Cole Family into statewide prominence.) just to name a few.

This week, Becky and I got the bulk of the Mahood blueprints categorized and stored in specific locations within the archives closed stacks. Patrons who will like to examine certain blueprints will have them retrieved by a staff member and then allowed to work with them in the archive's public reading room. As we categorized the blueprints, we kept lists on legal pad sheets of paper. Then, as we found correct storage space for them, we would record that on our lists. I am in the process of recording that information on a Microsoft Word document, which had already been started by Becky, and our efforts are doubling the amount of information, therefore, intellectual and physical control, over these priceless schematics. Categorization is by state, county, City of Bluefield, residential, educational, and religious. The majority of the architectural works we processed were commercial.

Becky and I proving that archiving can be a laughing matter, while discussing the possible identity of the mysterious photograph signed to Alex Mahood, Sr.)

(Photo taken by WVU student researcher, Brian Smith) 

As for the Mahood Family memorabilia, I'm following the same guidelines which have been used to process other materials within the ERCA. Going through the unprocessed acidic brown cardboard box which the items had been donated in, I separated items into archival quality folders and then placed them in acid free boxes, keeping the original order in which I found them. On the top left of the folder, I place the related date to the item; on the top center of the folder, I write the contents. On the top right, I place the collection name, Mahood, and below that, the acquisition number, 95-260. The Mahood Collection was acquired in 1995, hence the first number and it was the 260^th donation to be received by the ERCA since its inception in the early 1980s. The top of each folder looks as thus:

Content Date(s)                                   Folder Contents                                   Mahood

                                                                                                                      95-260

This was an extra special, and busy week for me concerning historic preservation and southern West Virginia Industrial Age architecture. On Wed., two members of the McDowell County Historical Society and I spoke to the McDowell County Commission during their bi-monthly public meeting. It was really more of an educational session for the commissioners, staff, and public attending. We spoke of the societal, cultural, and identity importance of historic preservation, the stellar record of coalfield architects Alex Mahood, Sr. and Hassel Hicks, and the economic impact of cultural heritage tourism. I think we made a fresh case that caused quite a buzz in the room! Then, on Thurs., my Stepdad (an avid McDowell County historian) and I visited Hassel Hicks's grandson. Hicks was Welch, WV (County Seat of McDowell County)'s premier architect during the coal rush of the 20^th Century. We had an animated visit, with wonderful conversation, information, pictures and food! We plan on getting an article out about the visit.

Next week, Becky and I plan on finishing the processing of the Mahood box of memorabilia, as well as, continuing to add to the Mahood Architectural Master List Microsoft Word document.

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )

Week 1: Eastern Regional Coal Archives 2nd-4th of June 2015

Eastern Regional Coal Archives 

@ Craft Memorial Library

Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia 

http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/Coal%20Archives.htm

Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern 

Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor

(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm ) 

Week 1:
2nd through the 4th of June 2015
2nd: 7.5 hours
3rd: 7.5 hours
4th: 4.5 hours
Week 1 Total Hours: 19.5

The first week of my Archival Practicum has been exceptional. Curator Becky George has been extremely accommodating, which gives me the impression that I'm getting the most out of this time spent with the Eastern Regional Coal Archives. To begin with, Becky and Craft Memorial Library Director Eva McGuire, were both super easy to work with in order to set up this practicum, which gave me an extra boost of confidence when I began earlier this week.

Tuesday, on the second of June, Becky and I began sorting several hundred blueprints and architectural drawings/renderings associated with Alexander Blount Mahood, prominent 20th Century Bluefield architect. Several years ago, Becky and the former archivist, Dr. Stuart McGehee, individually examined all these rolls in order to label what they were on the outer edge. Today, we began to organize the individual rolls by subject.

In the library's 'activities room', a large space with ample linear feet of tables, we began dividing the rolls into the following project subjects: Bluefield; Mercer County (county in which Bluefield resides); several surrounding WV counties; residential; schools; and, several other states. These rolls of paper measure between less than 12 in.(30.5 cm) and up to 40 in.(122 cm) in height. Far more of these rolls are on the large end of this approximation. Several are too long to even place in a drawer, so they are having to stay propped up in a open-topped box. There are also far more pencil drafts than blueprints. After we were done for the day, we had to transfer all our subject piles into the archival reading room, since a book sale was going to take the wide-open space we had been luxuriating in during this day.

Wednesday, on the 3rd of June, we took advantage of the booksale by getting several more boxes of architectural drawing rolls that were being kept in an area that is generally challenging to get into due to book sale material storage. We stashed these boxes just on the other side of the door, in the archives, so that we could take them directly back into the 'activities room' the next day and get back to sorting. For the rest of the day, Becky gave me an uncatalogued box of the Mahood Collection and I began describing and arranging the materials into archival quality/acid-free folders and boxes.

While going through this box, I uncovered a scrapbook with memorabilia regarding Mahood's architectural projects, mostly newspaper clippings, but also several entire newspapers, as well as photographs and correspondence. Almost instantly recognizing the importance of this resource, I went through, page-by-page, and took inventory of the projects recorded. This list, when recorded in the master list electronic document, will allow for researchers to find this resource when searching for projects that exist therein. In retrospect, I now think that high resolution digital pictures of each page would be the safest and most expedient way of recording, making available, and preserving the contents of this scrapbook. It is unclear if Mahood himself, or someone else, assembled this resource.

Thursday, on the 4th of June, Becky and I spent the first part of the day in the reading room while an 88 year young resident of my home county of McDowell came and did research regarding his hometown of Vivian, McDowell County. During this time, he told us about growing up and living in the coalfields during the boom years of the 20th Century. His mind is as sharp as a tack, as he easily identified people in the random historic photographs of yesteryear.

When he finished and left, Becky and I went back into the 'activity room' in order to further organize the boxes of architectural drawings we had additionally retrieved on Wednesday. We probably got through half of them before we had to stop to do the library closing-time routine. We determined that the rolls could be left in this room until Monday, when my next day will be. We uncovered a box of McDowell County sites, particularly Welch, my hometown, so that was especially exciting for me. Not only have I continued to be amazed at the geographic proliferation of Mahood's architectural work, but I have gotten to see many structures in my hometown that he designed...some still in existence, and some kept alive only by memories, photographs, or in the incalculably valuable, meticulous architectural drawings, housed in this collection. I am humbled to go through it, touching the past in such a vivid synergistic display of exceptional wealth and resilient design.

When comparing and contrasting what I've learned in my archival classes, to what I've experienced, thus far, at Eastern Regional Coal Archives, a couple scenarios immediately come to mind. In comparison, the concept of curator/archivist is just as essential, if not more, than all my texts and classes have led me to believe. My first week experience at ERCA shows me the indisputable importance of, both, Becky has as curator, and Eva has as library director. Through the support of the library director, the regional archives are staffed.  Also, through the dedication of the curator, a small space, packed with unique materials, is made accessible. In contrast, I don't think any of my texts or classtime have stressed the importance of space enough...either workspace or storage space. In the ERCA, I'm learning how limited space can be used with maximum efficiency.

Just a sampling of some of the interesting items of note, come across during my first week, have been: proof of the exact placement of Mahood's penthouse office in the Law and Commerce Building in downtown Bluefield, known as "Bluefield's First Modern Office Building", designed by Mahood, himself, in the 19-teens; Mahood projects as far away as Florida; several commercial buildings in Welch, including the opulent Miners and Merchant's Bank (which still exists in a restored state) and the 1,000 occupancy Pocahontas Theatre (which sadly burned in the early 1980s), as well as, a building commissioned by Sam Polan, whose house I grew up in.

Next week, Becky and I plan to finish organizing the architecture rolls and continue describing and arranging to contents of the Mahood box. So far, this architectural subject sorting is putting my historic regional geography knowledge to the test, which is fun, and also sometimes prompts me to research answers, such as town/people locations, allowing us to further categorize specific items.

For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application.  http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf 

ERCA Trademark 

(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )