So Many Projects, So Little Time

Recently I’ve been going back and forth between a few different projects. I’ve been working hard trying to identify people in the digital photos from past Gettysburg College theatre productions in the GettDigital Theatre Arts collection. The staff taught me how to use the ContentDM program so that I can actually have the website show the names I’ve uncovered. I’ve been using yearbooks, alumni catalogs, and some of the staff from the Theatre Arts Department as resources. At the beginning I was making a lot of headway with identifying people; however, things are going a bit slower now and the people in the pictures are getting harder to identify. [excerpt

MS-169: Albert Chance World War II Collection

This collection contains personal documents, correspondence, photographs, and items from Albert Chance during the time he served in WWII. His correspondence and photographic materials dominate the collection. While Chance’s materials give a thorough description of his personal experience during the war in the European Theater and North African Campaign, they also provide perspective into the mind of the common soldier during this time. Through his letters Chance expressed his feelings of commitment to the war effort, his opinions about the sites and people he saw while he was away, and what he did during his leisure time. Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/collections/.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/findingaidsall/1163/thumbnail.jp

The Final Week!

I can’t believe that this upcoming week will be my last as a Fortenbaugh intern! While I am sad that this semester is coming to a close, I am also very aware of all I have left to complete. Abby and I have made great progress with our display. The creative process has been really rewarding for both of us, and I know that I personally have really enjoyed doing this as a partner project. We worked together to decide which fabric backdrop to use and we’re having a lot of fun moving the objects around to see where they fit and look best. It’s really interesting to think like a curator and try to think about how people will look at a display. What will they find most interesting? Where do we want to direct their attention first? These are all questions that we have to keep in mind as we work this upcoming week. [excerpt

MS-194: Richard Hutch \u2767 Papers

This collection consists primarily of materials produced by SCOPE for SCOPE participants, correspondence between Richard Hutch and various companions, and publications regarding civil rights. Though aspects of the collection extend beyond 1965, it focuses most heavily on Hutch’s SCOPE experience during the summer of 1965 and does not provide great detail on other civil rights organizations. The collection provides an overview of the role that SCOPE played in the larger Civil Rights Movement, as well as valuable insight to the individual experience of a participant in the Civil Rights Movement. While the collection includes materials from Hutch’s time at Gettysburg College, it does not provide strong representation of the attitude among the larger student body regarding civil rights. Most of the materials from Hutch’s undergraduate experience were written by him and reflect his own personal perspective on the Civil Rights Movement. Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website http://www.gettysburg.edu/special_collections/collections/.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/findingaidsall/1171/thumbnail.jp

Finished Processing First Collection!

Hello! On Tuesday I finally finished processing and organizing my first collection. On the left is my finished product, all labeled and organized. Processing this collection was a very enjoyable experience for me–I feel that I am the expert on this collection. Throughout the process it was sometimes difficult to know how to group some of the items. Certain things, like meeting minutes, are easy to group together. Some things like handwritten notes or various articles are more difficult to group. If the notes contain a wide variation in subject matter, it might be better to group them into several groups according to subject. However, if there are only a few pages of notes, it might be easier to group them together and indicate their subject matter on the folder in which they are placed. [excerpt

Letter from the Editors

The Gettysburg Historical Journal embodies the History Department’s dedication to diverse learning and excellence in academics. Each year, the Journal publishes the top student work in a range of topics across the spectrum of academic disciplines with different methodological approaches to the study of history. In the words of Marc Bloch, author of The Historian’s Craft, “history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding.” In the spirit of this maxim, our authors strive to elucidate the many facets of human societies and cultures. Whether these young scholars’ research is focused on politics, religion, economics, environmental history, or women gender and sexuality studies, the editorial staff is consistently proud of the diverse subject matter we select for publication. [excerpt

Under the auspices of peace : The Northwest Indian War and its Impact on the Early American Republic

This paper examines the influence of the Northwest Indian War on the development of the early United States republic. In the years between the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 and the establishment of a new federal government in 1789, the United States frontier was plagued by rivalry between citizens and Native Americans. The United States federal government viewed the success and progress of the nation as contingent upon possession of the Northwest Territory, and as such developed and adjusted their Indian policies to induce the Indians to peacefully accept United States authority in the Northwest Territory. The violence that erupted out of the deterioration of these attempts resulted in demands by citizens to quell the aggressive Indians in the early years of George Washington\u27s presidency, which consequently invited reforms that ultimately strengthened the federal government\u27s power

Keeping Busy!

I have been keeping very busy in Special Collections! I just finished a project combing some papers that had initially been separated. One box was intended to be department papers, while the other was supposed to be personal papers. I talked with some of the staff and we decided that it would be best to combine the papers, as they have a lot of common information that would be good to have in one place. That collection is finally complete and it feels great to have my first full project all done! [excerpt

Introducing Fortenbaugh Intern Melanie

My name is Melanie and I am a Fortenbaugh Intern in Special Collections. This is my third week in Special Collections, and I have to say I am loving the experience! I have been giving the task of cataloging the Potuchek Papers. I personally find college history to be very interesting, so I am having a great time going through these papers and examining how past courses were taught. There are also many materials having to do with college committees, and I am getting to see how these different organizations helped make Gettysburg College what it is today. [excerpt

Letter from the Editors

The Gettysburg Historical Journal embodies the History Department\u27s dedication to diverse learning and excellence in academics. Each year, the Journal publishes the top student work in a range of topics across the spectrum of academic disciplines with different methodological approaches to the study of history. In the words of Marc Bloch, author of The Historian\u27s Craft, history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding. In the spirit of this maxim, our authors strive to elucidate the many facets of human societies and cultures. Whether these young scholars\u27 research is focused on politics, religion, economics, environmental history, or women, gender, and sexuality studies, and the editorial staff is consistently proud of the diverse subject matter we select for publication. [excerpt