my wonderful archives processing student Natalie Armstrong

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                                                                Natalie with CMU. Honors

Here is a blog written by Natalie Armstrong.

After finishing the CMU Honors Collection (10 cubic feet) right before the start of the term, I spent much of this school year processing the remaining boxes in the C.S. Bliss collection. The portion of the collection I processed contained mostly financial and business records, including camp orders, check stubs, and bank vouchers and statements. The collection is now fully processed and includes a total of  90 cubic feet of material.

                                                    


Here is Natalie with the last of C.S. Bliss which she processed, on the cart, with most of C.S. Bliss visible behind her. The 120 Bliss volumes are on other shelves.

During the fall semester I photographed portions of this collection as a part of my final project in my photography class. Through this project I wanted to examine the objects in the Clarke’s collection in a different way than I am used to, focusing on the visual aesthetic of the materials rather than entirely on their content. I gained a new perspective on the beauty of the collections we house at the Clarke through the completion of this project. Which helped me keep a positive attitude when later in the semester I had to spend several hours pulling pins from the camp orders.



Photography Final Project Critique Board, Natalie Armstrong

I am currently creating an inventory of the Jane Jelenek collection (11.5 cubic feet), which includes extensive records regarding the Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force of Gratiot, Michigan, of which she was president for decades. The actions of the committee led to the federal government declaring the area one of the nation’s first and most significant superfund cleanup sites. The site is still undergoing cleanup. It was the location of the Michigan Chemical Company/Velsicol, which manufactured multiple “forever” chemicals, including PBB, which led to the poisoning of the St. Louis and Pine River area and the PBB disaster in Michigan. I will not be working at the Clarke during the summer, but will return in the fall to finish processing this collection.

Marian note: Natalie is a very efficient, thoughtful, effective processor. She's had a very productive year. I'm very glad to have her working for me in the archives. Her artistic views of the archives helps me appreciate archives in a new light.

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