If a picture is worth a thousand words, one archival piece can lead to an unlimited number of stories. However, there are many ways pieces of the story can get lost. Archivists work to manage collections to preserve objects into perpetuity by mitigating the risks caused by outdated technology, dwindling skill sets, deterioration, and neglect.
Audiovisual material from the Native Voices Archives
2019
Photographer: Yuri Shimoda
Digital photograph
This image shows a sample of VHS and mini-DV tapes that include performances and readings from the Native Voices Archives held at the Autry. This material is now stored in a temperature-controlled environment that will slow down deterioration. Thanks to grant opportunities like the Recording as Risk program administered by the Council of Library and Information Resources (CLIR), these recordings have been digitized for easier and longer term access.
Endpoint Audio cylinder machine
2019
Photographer: Endpoint Audio
Digital photograph
Equipment to play outdated formats, such as VHS and mini-DVs, is no longer being manufactured and becomes harder and harder to find. Technical obsolescence has affected the possibility of hearing or seeing information caught on old formats such as wire recordings, floppy discs, magnetic reels, and computer software. The Endpoint Audio cylinder machine created by Nick Bergh and Endpoint Labs, allows for inherently fragile wax cylinders to be played and digitized with the use of a laser or stylus. To see how this works, visit this 2-minute YouTube video created by Indiana University’s Archives of Traditional Music.
Image courtesy of Nick Bergh and Endpoint Labs.
Original sleeve for the nitrate negative image of Mildred Gallahorn (P.53131)
1949
Gladys Knight Harris
Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum; MS.245
Gladys Knight Harris, a copious note taker, scribbled the details of her travels and people she encountered on consent forms, notebooks, and negative film envelopes or sleeves. These empty sleeves originally housed nitrate negatives, a common photographic medium used at the time. Aging nitrates are unstable and combustible, so the negatives were put in acid-free sleeves and shelved in cold storage to stabilize the film. The original sleeves were kept because of the important descriptive information they hold.
Mrs. Mildred Gallahorn
1949
Photographer: Gladys Knight Harris
Photograph
Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum; P.53131
Per the notes provided by Gladys Knight Harris, this is an image of “Mildred Gallahorn, mother of Nellie Henry.” This is a gelatin silver process photograph print made from the original nitrate film. Sometimes what is called a “safety negative,” made of a more stable cellulose acetate film, is made from the original nitrates. To see images of deteriorating nitrate negatives, visit Six Stages of Nitrate Film Base Deterioration by Library and Archives Canada.
Versos del Alba lyrics
1901
Transcriber: Manuela Garcia
Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum; MS.1.5.27
Versos del Alba is the first song in Manuela C. Garcia’s notebook that contains 149 Spanish language songs she transcribed in cursive handwriting. Any library, archive, or museum holding pre-21st century material will most likely include letters, diaries, and other rare documents handwritten in cursive. However, this type of script could be indecipherable to succeeding generations of researchers. Those who work with archive material worry about how to keep these holdings accessible into an unpredictable future. Some institutions are creating handwriting tip guides, in order to accommodate this one prevalent, now declining, skillset.
Assistance League Scrapbook
December 1923-December 1928
Assembler: Assistance League of Los Angeles
Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum; MS.11
Everything ages. There is no better evidence of this fact than the flaking newspapers seen peeking out the edges of this Assistance League scrapbook. Newsprint consists mainly of wood pulp that becomes brittle and discolors as it deteriorates, making handling a tricky situation. Although the aging process can’t be stopped, it can be slowed by inserting acid-free paper between pages, providing polyester sleeve enclosures, and laying pages flat in a box that fits. Digitizing the content also alleviates the need to handle original material.
Unidentified woman and Hortense Bardasch
1876
Photographer: Blessing & Brothers, Galveston, Texas
Sepia-toned photo
Autry Museum; 91.177.1
Silences in the archives prompt detective work on the part of archivists and researchers. This photograph was taken in 1876, eleven years after enslaved people in Texas were freed on June 19, 1865. The 1870 U.S. Census was the first time African Americans were included by name. Sites like American Ancestors’ African American Genealogy, connect to archive collections, government documents, publications, and research tutorials for those looking for African American representation before and after 1870. With the aid of these resources, the date of the photo, photographer, and family name of Bardasch can be used as clues to follow when trying to uncover the story behind the unidentified woman in this image.
To investigate this image further, the Autry Archivist is currently working with genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry who focuses on African American genealogy, slave ancestral research, and DNA. Look out for a recording of their conversation on the Autry website, to be released this summer.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Visit calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Autry Museum of the American West acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). We recognize that the Autry Museum and its campuses are located on the traditional lands of Gabrielino/Tongva peoples and we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.
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