The League of WWI Aviation Historians will award $500 for the best original paper by a high school, undergrad, or graduate student on ANY aspect of aviation between 1914 and 1918. The deadline is May 31. More information at the link below...
http://www.overthefront.com/League-WWI-Aviation-Historians-Student-Papers.php
(courtesy of the AHA blog)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
More about Williamson. and exciting news in the world of research
First of all, I want to share some incredible information, care of the Library of Congress Blog (see the post here: http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/04/pictures-2-0/). The Library of Congress has just launched a brand new version of their Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) which enables users to brows over 1.2 million online prints and photos. PPOC has a lot of great interactive features, so go check it out. This is a fantastic resource for researchers, especially if you dabble in local or public history like moi.
Now that that's covered, I want to give you a brief look at the Williamson Collection (see previous post) so you will understand why I think Mr. Williamson was such a unique legislature.
I would say the collection itself consists of three (sometimes overlapping) categories:
1. Correspondence (between Mr. Williamson and his constituents, state agencies, interest groups, and corporations)
By far the most fascinating portion of this category is the correspondence with constituents. Mr. Williamson, who came to the Texas Congress as a seasoned lawyer, was a ceaseless advocate for his constituents (and occasionally, for people out of his district who wrote him as well). He was happy to send whatever information he had at his disposal regarding various bills and issues to anyone who inquired, answering questions and clearing up discrepancies.
Mr. Williamson spent a tremendous amount of time and resources assisting his constituents in legal matters as well (without discrimination). The best example of this in the collection is a series of letters to lawyers, legislators, and state agents on behalf of a young man coming up for parole review. The young man in question was convicted of armed robbery. His mother, who lived in Mr. Williamson's district, believed her son was not receiving fair consideration from the parole board. Because she could not afford a lawyer, she contacted Mr. Williamson, who proceeded to contact the head of the parole board, refer a pro bono lawyer to represent the young man, and review his trial transcript. In another instance, Mr. Williamson facilitated the transfer of a mentally disabled man from the Austin State Hospital to a Denton facility where he could be closer to his family. Mr. Williamson was especially vigilant in advocating for the fair treatment of his constituents by their insurance companies (often maintaining lengthy correspondences with the state insurance board and the companies in question on behalf of his voters).
Mr. Williamson frequently requested information from interest groups and state agencies that pertained to his committee duties (and his personal curiosities). He also contacted independent experts and individuals who worked in the fields. Mr. Williamson also worked on behalf of his professional constituents (the most significant case I found involved the rights and wages of tuberculosis specialists in state-funded hospitals).
The most amusing collection of correspondence is a series of files he labeled "psy", or "psycho". This includes newspapers, letters, and various publications sent to him by conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and radical religious groups (among others). One of the most bizarre inclusions was a state ceramics group, which he apparently considered pretty off-base.
2. Bills
Mr. Williamson maintained records of every bill, resolution, and amendment during his term. I personally find it interesting to peruse the texts for his personal notes in the margin. He (or his secretary) cross-referenced the bills with correspondence and newspaper clippings.
(side note: at some point, either in his transition away from Capitol Hill or during transit to the University, the files got pretty jumbled up... so a big part of my job is trying to discern what the original system was).
3. Newspaper clippings
Mr. Williamson maintained a massive number of newspaper clippings on all kinds of topics and individuals. Some of these went into yearly scrapbooks and some are attached to various issue files and bills. He scoured newspapers from all across the state.
(another major facet of my job is making copies of the individual articles, due to the acidic nature of the newspaper material)
In the course of my work, I have really become convinced that Mr. Williamson came from a different breed of legislator... his humor, his dedication, and his tireless self-education are attributes mostly lacking from politics today.
As a historian, the Williamson collection has really opened up a whole new world of resources and research possibilities for me. I would never have known how rich and intriguing personal papers could be.
This is the archive blog, maintained by Archivist Deirdre Joyce: http://uttylarchives.wordpress.com/
Check it out for updates on our activities and collections.
Now that that's covered, I want to give you a brief look at the Williamson Collection (see previous post) so you will understand why I think Mr. Williamson was such a unique legislature.
I would say the collection itself consists of three (sometimes overlapping) categories:
1. Correspondence (between Mr. Williamson and his constituents, state agencies, interest groups, and corporations)
By far the most fascinating portion of this category is the correspondence with constituents. Mr. Williamson, who came to the Texas Congress as a seasoned lawyer, was a ceaseless advocate for his constituents (and occasionally, for people out of his district who wrote him as well). He was happy to send whatever information he had at his disposal regarding various bills and issues to anyone who inquired, answering questions and clearing up discrepancies.
Mr. Williamson spent a tremendous amount of time and resources assisting his constituents in legal matters as well (without discrimination). The best example of this in the collection is a series of letters to lawyers, legislators, and state agents on behalf of a young man coming up for parole review. The young man in question was convicted of armed robbery. His mother, who lived in Mr. Williamson's district, believed her son was not receiving fair consideration from the parole board. Because she could not afford a lawyer, she contacted Mr. Williamson, who proceeded to contact the head of the parole board, refer a pro bono lawyer to represent the young man, and review his trial transcript. In another instance, Mr. Williamson facilitated the transfer of a mentally disabled man from the Austin State Hospital to a Denton facility where he could be closer to his family. Mr. Williamson was especially vigilant in advocating for the fair treatment of his constituents by their insurance companies (often maintaining lengthy correspondences with the state insurance board and the companies in question on behalf of his voters).
Mr. Williamson frequently requested information from interest groups and state agencies that pertained to his committee duties (and his personal curiosities). He also contacted independent experts and individuals who worked in the fields. Mr. Williamson also worked on behalf of his professional constituents (the most significant case I found involved the rights and wages of tuberculosis specialists in state-funded hospitals).
The most amusing collection of correspondence is a series of files he labeled "psy", or "psycho". This includes newspapers, letters, and various publications sent to him by conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and radical religious groups (among others). One of the most bizarre inclusions was a state ceramics group, which he apparently considered pretty off-base.
2. Bills
Mr. Williamson maintained records of every bill, resolution, and amendment during his term. I personally find it interesting to peruse the texts for his personal notes in the margin. He (or his secretary) cross-referenced the bills with correspondence and newspaper clippings.
(side note: at some point, either in his transition away from Capitol Hill or during transit to the University, the files got pretty jumbled up... so a big part of my job is trying to discern what the original system was).
3. Newspaper clippings
Mr. Williamson maintained a massive number of newspaper clippings on all kinds of topics and individuals. Some of these went into yearly scrapbooks and some are attached to various issue files and bills. He scoured newspapers from all across the state.
(another major facet of my job is making copies of the individual articles, due to the acidic nature of the newspaper material)
In the course of my work, I have really become convinced that Mr. Williamson came from a different breed of legislator... his humor, his dedication, and his tireless self-education are attributes mostly lacking from politics today.
As a historian, the Williamson collection has really opened up a whole new world of resources and research possibilities for me. I would never have known how rich and intriguing personal papers could be.
This is the archive blog, maintained by Archivist Deirdre Joyce: http://uttylarchives.wordpress.com/
Check it out for updates on our activities and collections.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Meditation on archival work
This coming week, the archive employees will be setting up a display in the new university student center.
I have been tentatively tasked with selecting a few interesting items from the collection I am working on, to include in the display.
A word about that...
As a student worker I perform a variety of tasks, often involving manual labor and/or digging staples out of the carpet. My primary project is the Williamson Collection (a series of correspondence, legislative research, bill proposals, and other miscellaneous records, from House Rep. Billy Williamson of Tyler).
Mr. Williamson served from 1965-1975. He was a unique legislator, and the process of preserving his papers has proven surprisingly interesting. He served during a crucial period of Texas legislative history (check out "The House Will Come to Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics", by Patrick L. Cox and Michael Phillips). His correspondence is really fascinating.
From a researcher's perspective, I am fascinated by the methodology of archive work. Whether I orient my career towards archive work or not, I think this experience will significantly impact my future research. Maintaining an archive requires a huge amount of manual labor, and there are so many gray areas. Watching my supervisor make her day to day decisions has given me a new appreciation for those brave individuals who set out to preserve historical documents.
More about Williamson later... there's so much to say.
I have been tentatively tasked with selecting a few interesting items from the collection I am working on, to include in the display.
A word about that...
As a student worker I perform a variety of tasks, often involving manual labor and/or digging staples out of the carpet. My primary project is the Williamson Collection (a series of correspondence, legislative research, bill proposals, and other miscellaneous records, from House Rep. Billy Williamson of Tyler).
Mr. Williamson served from 1965-1975. He was a unique legislator, and the process of preserving his papers has proven surprisingly interesting. He served during a crucial period of Texas legislative history (check out "The House Will Come to Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics", by Patrick L. Cox and Michael Phillips). His correspondence is really fascinating.
From a researcher's perspective, I am fascinated by the methodology of archive work. Whether I orient my career towards archive work or not, I think this experience will significantly impact my future research. Maintaining an archive requires a huge amount of manual labor, and there are so many gray areas. Watching my supervisor make her day to day decisions has given me a new appreciation for those brave individuals who set out to preserve historical documents.
More about Williamson later... there's so much to say.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Dread Presentation
The presentation has come and gone (see last post for a full version of the interactive Prezi). I had to cut out a dramatic portion of the original presentation to squeeze into the ten-minute time limit for my class... somehow, I still managed to run over (considerably).
The presentation itself was fairly well-received (no one fell asleep). My favorite comment from our anonymous peer evaluation forms was "Very prepared.... maybe over-prepared." :)
Phase II will be polishing up the research paper itself for final evaluation.
This summer, I plan to submit the final draft to the East Texas Historical Association journal for possible publication.
The next frontier:
I may expand this research on my own time, to really get into the nitty-gritty details. Local history resources have more information than I was able to access or afford during this semester, and the National Archives have the mother lode of project files and pictures (also highly cost prohibitive). I may pursue a university research grant to cover some of the costs of travel and printing.
Where would this lead, you might ask? I have my ambitions set here:
Or, perhaps it will come in handy down the road when I begin my master's thesis.
Overall, I enjoyed this project far more than I expected to. Even more important, I discovered that I may be a public historian at heart...
The presentation itself was fairly well-received (no one fell asleep). My favorite comment from our anonymous peer evaluation forms was "Very prepared.... maybe over-prepared." :)
Phase II will be polishing up the research paper itself for final evaluation.
This summer, I plan to submit the final draft to the East Texas Historical Association journal for possible publication.
The next frontier:
I may expand this research on my own time, to really get into the nitty-gritty details. Local history resources have more information than I was able to access or afford during this semester, and the National Archives have the mother lode of project files and pictures (also highly cost prohibitive). I may pursue a university research grant to cover some of the costs of travel and printing.
Where would this lead, you might ask? I have my ambitions set here:
Or, perhaps it will come in handy down the road when I begin my master's thesis.
Overall, I enjoyed this project far more than I expected to. Even more important, I discovered that I may be a public historian at heart...
Useful Works and Damned Good Projects: An Overview of the WPA in Smith County, Texas
Originally a research paper for my Historical Methods course at University of Texas at Tyler, this is my full presentation (the final portion, within Texas, was presented to my classmates on Thursday, April 22, 2010).
If you would like to know more about this free online presentation tool, check out prezi.com.
Please stay tuned to this blog for future updates and further research regarding this topic.
Thank you for stopping by!
(full screen is best)
(NOTE: This presentation has been updated since this post. The version above represents the most current version).
If you would like to know more about this free online presentation tool, check out prezi.com.
Please stay tuned to this blog for future updates and further research regarding this topic.
Thank you for stopping by!
(full screen is best)
(NOTE: This presentation has been updated since this post. The version above represents the most current version).
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