“[Archival research] is the search for fact, not truth…so forget any ideas you’ve got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and ‘X’ never, ever, marks the spot. [Most archival work] is done in a library. Research. Reading.” This quote is joyfully ironic in its original context—Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)—when the title character speaks it before partaking in yet another dangerous adventure, but this quote resonated with me in regards to my work at mountaintop. Despite the fact that archival work has not led me in the same path as the fictional Jones’ (searching for the lost ark, escaping from a temple of doom, drinking from the Holy Grail to gain immortality, etc.), the work I am doing with the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBTQ+ Archives is extremely fulfilling and exciting for me.
The process of creating an exhibition with community archival materials is strenuous, though the team has already risen to the occasion. Our goal is to have a completed exhibition draft/sketch by the end of the two weeks, and we have already settled on an idea. Below I have documented the day-by-day tasks we completed in order to meet our goal (the bolded points are the ones I believe to be the most important of each given day):
06/05/23
- Completed mountaintop orientation
- Presented Google Slides
- Allegedly gave one of the best presentations
- Started brainstorming exhibition ideas
- Connie explained the previous team’s project, Amending Allentown
06/06/23
- Drafted a proposal
- Productive meeting with Mary
- Pitched aforementioned proposal to Mary
- Secured funding source for our associate, Connie
- Structured Google Drive folders
- Re-prioritized collections to look at
- Divided work
- Created questions for Susan/Robin
- Made contact with LTS for Adobe InDesign support
- Began to organize archival research
- Conceptualized overarching goals for the week
- Sorted priorities for next work day
06/07/23
- Generated exhibition ideas (aided by artificial intelligence resources)
- Created and began working on our team’s website domain
- Set up personal WordPress blogs to weekly present progress
- Sorted priorities for next work day
06/08/23
- Finalized our exhibition pitch to our community partner
- Continued digital archival research
- Pitched exhibition idea to our community partner; and got approved!
06/09/23
- Sorted priorities for the day
- Extensive in-person archival research
- Reported our week’s progress to our advisor
The value of the work that we have done is in growing familiar with the materials in the archive in order to discern which narrative gaps we need to fill. For example, we have realized that there is a lack of content in regards to BIPOC queer and trans people, colored photos, and drag kings. We will hopefully assist in material collection drives in order to grow the archive as well as create the best possible story of the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Lehigh Valley.
Although the LGBTQ+ archival work at Muhlenberg is much different than the STEM projects encompassing most of Mountaintop’s summer program, our project is no less important in changing the world for the better. By means of the team drafting a proposal that was then green lighted by our community partner, we are taking off running. There’s a lot of work to be done, but there’s a lot to look forward to!
Visuals:
