Making progess with the Magnetic Tape Collection

We've just passed the six month mark of our magnetic tape digitization project and things are going great! All of the materials have now been digitized, and the digital files have been delivered to us.  The dvds have found a home on the top shelf and will have their "official" labels attached in the very near future. 

Still to be done is the completion of the finding aid, and usability testing of the web accessible .mov files.  I've played  several of them and all looks well.  I hate to jinx it, but I'm thinking we might even finish ahead of schedule...

Latest addition to the archives

The archives was recently given a collection of tearsheets that contain the works of numerous notable illustrators who were contemporaries of Rockwell including: Austen Briggs, Al Dorne, Stevan Dohanos, Ben Shan, and Robert Fawcett.  These will provide a valuable source of information for researchers interested in illustration art from the early and mid twentieth century.

As you can see, they're not in great shape at the moment.  After I complete the accessioning paperwork, I'm going to assign the task of organizing and sleeving all of these to one of my illustrious interns.  They'll look great (I'll show you an "after" image to prove it) and then the really hard work begins.  That is, finding the space on the shelves for two more boxes...

Show and tell with author James Gurney

The archives was recently visited by Dinotopia author and creator James Gurney.  A good time was had by all, and James  wrote about the visit on his blog which you can find here: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2012/01/archivists-top-ten-tips.html

Back from hiatus - busy as ever!

It's been a while since the last post, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been working hard here in the archives.  We're now in the second year of our NHPRC basic processing grant, and that means.... finding aids!  We're in the process of researching and writing collection descriptions - no small task, to be sure - but we're making our way through it.

We're also well into our NEH grant funded project of digitizing our magnetic tape collection.  The first batch of files and dvd's has been received from the vendor, and all looks good so far.  We expect the second batch in a few weeks.  Now if I could just find some space on the shelves to put all of this stuff...

Norman Rockwell Museum Receives Archival Support from the National Endowment for Humanities

This just in!

Norman Rockwell Museum has been awarded archival support through a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The $85,000 grant will be used to reformat and process the Museum’s collection of magnetic videotapes, which contain hundreds of hours of important oral history and documentation related to Norman Rockwell and the art of illustration. The reformatting of the tapes will be handled by George Blood Safe Sound Archive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with plans to make select films freely accessible to the public through the Museum’s website. Most of these tapes have not been viewed by the public before. They include unique interviews with Rockwell, his three sons, friends, colleagues, models, studio assistants and photographers, and other artists including Jan and Stan Berenstain, David Macaulay, New Yorker illustrators, and many more.

Model Citizen

 

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) "At last - settled in
the new home and ready to welcome new neighbors
and old friends!," 1961. Charcoal on paper.
Norman Rockwell Museum Collection.
©NRLC, Niles, IL.




Norman Rockwell spent the last 25 years of his life in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The small town is now home to our Museum, which the artist personally helped to found. As a citizen of Stockbridge, Rockwell used local people to pose for his illustrations, many of whom still reside here. These familiar faces can be seen today at the local post office, the library, and other businesses along Main Street. A typical workday at the Museum might include a visit from a former Rockwell model, as they occasionally drop in to share their memories with us.

Recently, Elizabeth 'Betty' White stopped by the Archives. A longtime resident of Stockbridge, Betty and her family were invited to pose for many of Rockwell's illustrations. As Betty told her story, we looked through photographs and other documents in the Archives to search for additional details regarding her modeling session. A check register from 1959 revealed that Betty was paid $22 in October of that year to pose for one of Rockwell's illustrations for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Corporation (left). She was delighted to see images of her younger self, and of her children, who also posed for Rockwell. As we found out, the Massachusetts Mutual drawing which features Betty is a part of our collection here at the Museum. Before she left, the drawing was retrieved from storage so that Betty could view it for the first time.



We feel fortunate to be able to connect with these members of our community. Their insights into Rockwell's personality and process is invaluable, and as with all of our visitors and researchers, it is a delight to share our collections with them.

 

A check register from 1959 reveals Norman Rockwell's $22 payment to
Betty White for her modeling session.
Norman Rockwell Museum Archives.



Caring for Your Collections

Saturday, March 5th, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge Curator Corry Kanzenberg and Archivist Jessika Drmacich discuss and answer questions regarding the care of home collections!

http://www.nrm.org/2011/02/preservation-101-caring-for-your-collections/

Discover how factors one might easily dismiss can wreak havoc on treasured photographs, letters, and home videos. These include direct sunlight, mold infestations, and incorrect temperature and humidity.

Listen to guidelines on basic storage, preservation techniques for sentimental letters from one's grandparents or old family photographs.

One can greatly extend the life of personal archives with the adoption of these basic storing and handling practices.

Come join us!