This article appeared in the Volume 3, Issue 3 Winter 2022 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. By Stewart Plein, Chair, ASA Special Collections Committee Following the devastating flooding in Kentucky, the ASA Special Collections Committee extended assistance on a number of fronts, individually and institutionally, specifically concerning Appalshop in Whitesburg and Hindman Settlement School in Hindman. Two committee members have been engaged in weekly response phone calls coordinated by the Kentucky Arts Council with others from across Appalachia. Discussions on funding sources, volunteers, best practices and other recovery topics were an important part of this weekly discussion. Members of the committee,…
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ASA Special Collections Committee Conference Update
by Jeremy A. Smith This article appeared in the Volume 3, Issue 2 Fall 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. The ASA Special Collections Committee sponsored two events at this year’s conference, both on Saturday March 19. The Committee held a business meeting that morning to continue ongoing discussions around collaborative projects and best practices for Appalachian archives and libraries. Members in attendance were: Jeff Dey (Urban Appalachian Community Coalition), Stewart Plein (West Virginia & Regional History Center), Scott Sikes (Emory and Henry College), Jeremy Smith (Archives of Appalachia at ETSU), and Jed DeBruin (PhD candidate in the Department of…
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Invitation: Join us at a virtual Town Hall to discuss re-opening!
This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 3 Winter 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. Special Collections: Let’s Discuss Re-Opening! In these days of changing health and safety protocols, questions abound. Some institutions are being directive; others are indecisive or non-communicative. Are you in a quandary about re-opening your archives and special collections this fall? Do you have re-opening ideas and news that you would like to share with regional colleagues? If either answer is yes, please plan to participate in a special Online Town Hall meeting of the ASA Special Collections group. (If both answers are yes, be…
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ASA Special Collections Committee 2020 Year in Review and 2021 Conference Update
This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 3 Winter 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. By Stewart Plein, Chair, ASA Special Collections Committee Looking back on 2020 I can certainly say that this was an eventful year filled with unexpected challenges. The year began with an ending. Racheal Vagts,’ the first chair of the Special Collections committee, departed for a new position in Colorado. Following her departure, I was asked to fill the position. Next up was the emergence of the COVID 19 virus. Due to the virus and the subsequent cancellation of the 2020 conference, the first meeting of the Special Collections Committee, which was to be held…
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Raising Archival Awareness in a Regional Studies Organization: The Appalachian Studies Case
This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 3 Winter 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. By Gene Hyde and Liz Harper In September 2020 Gene Hyde and Liz Harper presented a virtual Ramsey Library Brown Bag Talk at UNC Asheville. Their presentation, “Raising Archival Awareness in a Regional Studies Organization: The Appalachian Studies Case,” was originally accepted for the 2020 Society of North Carolina Archivists’ Conference in March 2020 at Elon University, which was canceled due to COVID. Their presentation describes how archivists led efforts to create a Special Collections Committee in the Appalachian Studies Association and also discusses…
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ASA Special Collection Committee Meeting Minutes, April 17, 2020
These minutes appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. Appalachian Studies Association Special Collections Committee meeting minutes April 17, 2020 In attendance: Stewart Plein, Gene Hyde, Jeff Dey, Jeremy Smith, Scott Skies, Cassie Patterson, Marc Brodsky, Liz Harper, Jinny Turman. Meeting held via Zoom. Update on Appalachian Curator Newsletter. The official publication of the Special Collections Committee – Gene Hyde, editor Three issues published to date: Vol 1, Issues 1, 2, 3. Vol. 2 Issue 1 is currently in process, though delayed due to the pandemic. Call for COVID-19 stories and new collections issued…
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ASA Special Collections Committee Update
by Jeremy A. Smith This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. On April 17, 2020, the Special Collections Committee of the Appalachian Studies Association held its first formal meeting via Zoom. The committee was originally schedule to meet during the 2020 ASA Conference and was rescheduled after the conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stewart Plein chaired the meeting and was one of nine archivists and librarians in attendance. Gene Hyde and Liz Harper provided an update on the Appalachian Curator newsletter, noting that viewership continues to increase: from 300…
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Special Collections Committee News: Thinking about Special Collections: The Understory Grounding Appalachian History
By Stewart Plein, Special Collections Committee Chair, Appalachian Studies Association This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 3 Winter 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. Introduction While reading the newspaper on the first day of this New Year, my attention was drawn to an Associated Press article[i] about the impending opening of a collection of letters between the poet T.S. Eliot and his friend, Emily Hale. Sealed for fifty years at the request of Hale as a stipulation of her donation, the correspondence is now available for the first time. The opening of this collection provides students, scholars, and researchers…
