After a long hiatus I’m back in the research saddle. I’m in Abilene, KS at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. After a long flight to Kansas City, and a long drive down I-70, I arrived in Abilene, one of the smaller towns I’ve been to in quite some time. The Library sits on a pretty campus that also includes a museum, a welcome center, Eisenhower’s Boyhood Home, and a Place of Meditation. In the center of the site stands a statue of Ike himself, overseeing everything.
Showing posts with label NARA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NARA. Show all posts
Thursday, June 18, 2009
I Like Ike!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Goodbyes of a Sort
My time in D.C. has come to an end, and I'm honestly a bit sad to leave. Two months isn't a lot of time to spend in one place, especially a place like this one. Thankfully I've found a lot of great sources, though every door I opened led me to three more that I'll need to follow up on later on.
To recap the archival materials I used this summer:
NARA I
- Basic INS records, though these never went anywhere
- Congressional Records, especially House and Senate Judiciary Committee Records. Particularly useful here were the Special Subcommittee on Emigration and Refugees, 1955-1959.
NARA II
- Department of State Records. Vexing at times, and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface, but incredibly useful.
- Secretary of Agriculture Records. Not useful at all.
Library of Congress
- Emanuel Celler Papers. (Boxes relating to Immigration and Refugee issues.)
I spent the first few days of this week going through my notes and putting everything onto a time line in excel, so that I could sort by date, keywords, etc. I'm still going through what I have, but I already know that the 1955-1959 period, and especially the Refugee Relief Act, is much more important than what scholars have given it credit for. I also am getting more and more interested in the issue of Military Brides, and how so much of our immigration rules about what constitutes "family" migration emerged from wartime exigencies.
I'm also playing around with a few ideas about governmental institutions, and trying to place together how State fits in with the rest of federal immigration/refugee policy. Daniel Tichenor has already posited the congressional lag thesis of postwar immigration policy, where the Executive Branch led the way toward immigration liberalization, but I wonder if it's even more nuanced than that, with State leading the way, and other agencies following. I need to think about this more.
Anyways, for now this will be my last post, until I spend some more time going through my research, or until I hit my next archive!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more posts from Emily and Sam.
Phil
To recap the archival materials I used this summer:
NARA I
- Basic INS records, though these never went anywhere
- Congressional Records, especially House and Senate Judiciary Committee Records. Particularly useful here were the Special Subcommittee on Emigration and Refugees, 1955-1959.
NARA II
- Department of State Records. Vexing at times, and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface, but incredibly useful.
- Secretary of Agriculture Records. Not useful at all.
Library of Congress
- Emanuel Celler Papers. (Boxes relating to Immigration and Refugee issues.)
I spent the first few days of this week going through my notes and putting everything onto a time line in excel, so that I could sort by date, keywords, etc. I'm still going through what I have, but I already know that the 1955-1959 period, and especially the Refugee Relief Act, is much more important than what scholars have given it credit for. I also am getting more and more interested in the issue of Military Brides, and how so much of our immigration rules about what constitutes "family" migration emerged from wartime exigencies.
I'm also playing around with a few ideas about governmental institutions, and trying to place together how State fits in with the rest of federal immigration/refugee policy. Daniel Tichenor has already posited the congressional lag thesis of postwar immigration policy, where the Executive Branch led the way toward immigration liberalization, but I wonder if it's even more nuanced than that, with State leading the way, and other agencies following. I need to think about this more.
Anyways, for now this will be my last post, until I spend some more time going through my research, or until I hit my next archive!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more posts from Emily and Sam.
Phil
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
One Down and CIS Records
For the second week in a row, I came to NARA I on Monday to find a cart full of boxes, and again only managed to get about two days worth of work from the materials. This week I found some great stuff in the House and Senate records around some of the major pieces of legislation from the period I’m looking at (1943-1968,) but most of Bill files had only a few documents. At least 5 of the 9 boxes I pulled this week weren’t useful at all. It’s frustrating, but at least I’m finding some stuff.
I’ve been working with one of the legislative archivists here at NARA, and from what he’s told me, I’ve seen just about everything I can at this point (a few things are still classified, and Congressional records are not subject to FOIA. Ironic that Congress wrote themselves a exemption…) I’m sure there will be more materials to look at once I get a better sense of my project, but for now I think I’m done at NARA I. I’m planning on spending the rest of my time here moving between the Library of Congress (19 boxes of Celler Papers left,) and NARA II (endless supplies of State Department, Displaced Persons Commission, and Department of Agriculture records.)
The legislative archivist did take me around the bound finding aides for Congressional Committee publications, prints, and hearings. If nothing else, learning how to use this collection was well worth my time at NARA I. The Congressional Information Service (CIS) put together all of the Congressional publications, and indexed them in some of the most complicated volumes I’ve seen.
There are two major sets that the archivist showed me: The CIS US Serial Set Index, and the CIS US Congressional Committee Index. Both run from around 1900 to 1969, relate to Congressional publications, and allow you to search by subject keyword (“immigration” “refugees”, etc.) or by Congress (81st, 82nd, etc.). Once you find the proper call numbers from each set, you then go to the appropriate set of microfiche (published by CIS as well,) to view the documents. Supposedly UCB should have copies of both, either in the Main Library, or in the Government Reference Division.
The US Serial Set Index (Z1223.Z9C65) is divided primarily by time period, and then within each time period, by Subject Index, and then by Finding Aid List. The Finding Aid list contains the numerical list of reports and documents published by each Congress, as well as a list of private bills enacted for individuals and organizations (especially useful for immigration studies.) Entries look something like the following:
“Amend Sec. 319, Immigration and Nationality Act”
H.rp. 877 (90-1) 12753-6
The first line contains the title, while the second contains the Branch of Congress (“H”); the type of documents (rp = report); the publication number (“877”); and Congress and Session (90th, 1st session,) and finally the Serial Number needed to retrieve the document itself (“12753-6”).
Got it so far?
OK. The CIS Congressional Committee Index (Z1223.Z7C6 ) is the list of committee prints from all of the various Congressional Committees. Like the Serial Index, it’s broken up into subject files and lists of prints. According to the introduction, the proper way to do research in the Congressional Committee Index consists of 3 steps:
1. Scan the subject index for keywords (“immigration” “refugee”, etc.) to get the accession numbers.
2. Refer to the main entry/entries in the Ref. Bibliography, using the Accession # this gives the full data, and also the Subdocs (Superintendent of Documents) Number.
3. Retrieve the publication from the microfiche, or from the library if available. (According to the archivist, if the Subdocs number starts with a “Y4” they probably have a hard copy at NARA I.)
If all of this sounds complicated, it is, and I really have to wonder why the process of producing a reference volume makes the final product even more complicated. Still, this is probably the best way to get a comprehensive overview of what’s out there. Up to this point I’d just been using UCB’s library catalog to search for Committee reports, etc. on my topics, but now that I know how to use the CIS collections, I should be able to get the full range of Congressional documents available.
I’ve been working with one of the legislative archivists here at NARA, and from what he’s told me, I’ve seen just about everything I can at this point (a few things are still classified, and Congressional records are not subject to FOIA. Ironic that Congress wrote themselves a exemption…) I’m sure there will be more materials to look at once I get a better sense of my project, but for now I think I’m done at NARA I. I’m planning on spending the rest of my time here moving between the Library of Congress (19 boxes of Celler Papers left,) and NARA II (endless supplies of State Department, Displaced Persons Commission, and Department of Agriculture records.)
The legislative archivist did take me around the bound finding aides for Congressional Committee publications, prints, and hearings. If nothing else, learning how to use this collection was well worth my time at NARA I. The Congressional Information Service (CIS) put together all of the Congressional publications, and indexed them in some of the most complicated volumes I’ve seen.
There are two major sets that the archivist showed me: The CIS US Serial Set Index, and the CIS US Congressional Committee Index. Both run from around 1900 to 1969, relate to Congressional publications, and allow you to search by subject keyword (“immigration” “refugees”, etc.) or by Congress (81st, 82nd, etc.). Once you find the proper call numbers from each set, you then go to the appropriate set of microfiche (published by CIS as well,) to view the documents. Supposedly UCB should have copies of both, either in the Main Library, or in the Government Reference Division.
The US Serial Set Index (Z1223.Z9C65) is divided primarily by time period, and then within each time period, by Subject Index, and then by Finding Aid List. The Finding Aid list contains the numerical list of reports and documents published by each Congress, as well as a list of private bills enacted for individuals and organizations (especially useful for immigration studies.) Entries look something like the following:
“Amend Sec. 319, Immigration and Nationality Act”
H.rp. 877 (90-1) 12753-6
The first line contains the title, while the second contains the Branch of Congress (“H”); the type of documents (rp = report); the publication number (“877”); and Congress and Session (90th, 1st session,) and finally the Serial Number needed to retrieve the document itself (“12753-6”).
Got it so far?
OK. The CIS Congressional Committee Index (Z1223.Z7C6 ) is the list of committee prints from all of the various Congressional Committees. Like the Serial Index, it’s broken up into subject files and lists of prints. According to the introduction, the proper way to do research in the Congressional Committee Index consists of 3 steps:
1. Scan the subject index for keywords (“immigration” “refugee”, etc.) to get the accession numbers.
2. Refer to the main entry/entries in the Ref. Bibliography, using the Accession # this gives the full data, and also the Subdocs (Superintendent of Documents) Number.
3. Retrieve the publication from the microfiche, or from the library if available. (According to the archivist, if the Subdocs number starts with a “Y4” they probably have a hard copy at NARA I.)
If all of this sounds complicated, it is, and I really have to wonder why the process of producing a reference volume makes the final product even more complicated. Still, this is probably the best way to get a comprehensive overview of what’s out there. Up to this point I’d just been using UCB’s library catalog to search for Committee reports, etc. on my topics, but now that I know how to use the CIS collections, I should be able to get the full range of Congressional documents available.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Researching the Library of Congress
OK, so now for the substantive post about doing research at the Library of Congress (and a bit more on the National Archives at the bottom...)
After assorted computer and access issues (see below) I finally got to pend two good days in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division. The LOC itself is split into three buildings, and the MS division is in the Madison building, away from the main reading room. Unlike the National Archives, you store your stuff in lockers inside the Manuscript reading room (though before passing through security.) Each day you check in at the security desk, and they hand you a key for the lockers (also unlike NARA, where the lockers cost $.25.) Your locker number is more or less your ID number for the day, and every time you enter or leave the room, you give the guards your number, and they mark down time of entry and exit (presumably for security reasons...I'm guessing no one really cares how long I take to use the restroom...) The reading room itself is pretty large, and even during the middle of the summer, it seems as though it can hold probably four times as many people. In general it seems like the vibe is much more casual here - most people are wearing shorts, most seem like graduate students or young professors (i.e. much younger than NARA,) and there doesn't seem to be as many casual researchers. People flock to NARA to look through genealogical records, but the LOC collections are mainly personal papers and organizational records, so I would imagine most people have a more serious research interest. (Although I did see one girl watching a movie while going through her materials!)
The advantage to doing research in more clearly defined collections like personal papers is mainly in the organization of the collections. The papers of Congressman Emanuel Celler that I came to look at were donated in two batches, instead of over time like some of the Congressional or State Department Records in NARA. This means that the collections were organized and indexed in one period, so the finding aid is pretty well put together, and pretty comprehensive. Granted it's still a print-only finding aid, and the paper itself looks like a dog might have chewed on it at some point, but it's still all there, and easily accessible. There are something like 500 boxes in the collection, and the finding aid contains an annotated list of the boxes and their contents (i.e. Box 19: Immigration, Notes and Clippings through 1954.) After looking through the collection, I think I'll need to see about 24 boxes of materials.
The archivists at LOC are incredibly helpful and friendly, and seemed very eager to try and help me with my research. Unlike NARA there are no "pull times" for materials, so you just fill out a call slip and they bring you your boxes about five minutes later. They only let you take out four boxes at a time, but again, since you can request materials at any time, it's really not a problem. (The one interesting quirk I found is that they make you fill out a new call slip every day, even if you've placed boxes on hold already. One of the archivists told me that the only real advantage of placing things on hold here is that the carts are left at the front of the stacks, instead of filed away, so you save a minute or two.)
Other advantages of researching in the Library of Congress is that they have free wifi (really helpful for googling names, acronyms, etc. that you come across while researching,) and that the desks themselves are really spacious, and don't have dividers (only two people per desk, though because of the amount of space, no one seemed to be doubled up.) The major disadvantage I've found is that while the room is pretty bright, it's not particularly well lit for taking photos. The images I'm getting from the LOC are much poorer in quality than those from NARA. Oh well...I'll need to spend much more time here before I can get a better sense of the collections, but so far what I've found has been really useful.
On a separate note, it seems like I'm starting to run out of materials at NARA I. I've looked at a lot of the materials from the 1950s, and am trying now to access some of the stuff from the 1940s, but it seems as thought the records from the 1960s are much harder to get at. For one thing, there is a blanket 50 year rule on records containing personal information, so at the very least I'd have to wait another two years before seeing the records (and up to another 10, considering my project goes through 1968.) Congress is also exempt from FOIA, so I can't exactly press for their release. There might be a workaround or two, but I think after this coming week I'll be spending the majority of my time left here at NARA II and the LOC.
After assorted computer and access issues (see below) I finally got to pend two good days in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division. The LOC itself is split into three buildings, and the MS division is in the Madison building, away from the main reading room. Unlike the National Archives, you store your stuff in lockers inside the Manuscript reading room (though before passing through security.) Each day you check in at the security desk, and they hand you a key for the lockers (also unlike NARA, where the lockers cost $.25.) Your locker number is more or less your ID number for the day, and every time you enter or leave the room, you give the guards your number, and they mark down time of entry and exit (presumably for security reasons...I'm guessing no one really cares how long I take to use the restroom...) The reading room itself is pretty large, and even during the middle of the summer, it seems as though it can hold probably four times as many people. In general it seems like the vibe is much more casual here - most people are wearing shorts, most seem like graduate students or young professors (i.e. much younger than NARA,) and there doesn't seem to be as many casual researchers. People flock to NARA to look through genealogical records, but the LOC collections are mainly personal papers and organizational records, so I would imagine most people have a more serious research interest. (Although I did see one girl watching a movie while going through her materials!)
The advantage to doing research in more clearly defined collections like personal papers is mainly in the organization of the collections. The papers of Congressman Emanuel Celler that I came to look at were donated in two batches, instead of over time like some of the Congressional or State Department Records in NARA. This means that the collections were organized and indexed in one period, so the finding aid is pretty well put together, and pretty comprehensive. Granted it's still a print-only finding aid, and the paper itself looks like a dog might have chewed on it at some point, but it's still all there, and easily accessible. There are something like 500 boxes in the collection, and the finding aid contains an annotated list of the boxes and their contents (i.e. Box 19: Immigration, Notes and Clippings through 1954.) After looking through the collection, I think I'll need to see about 24 boxes of materials.
The archivists at LOC are incredibly helpful and friendly, and seemed very eager to try and help me with my research. Unlike NARA there are no "pull times" for materials, so you just fill out a call slip and they bring you your boxes about five minutes later. They only let you take out four boxes at a time, but again, since you can request materials at any time, it's really not a problem. (The one interesting quirk I found is that they make you fill out a new call slip every day, even if you've placed boxes on hold already. One of the archivists told me that the only real advantage of placing things on hold here is that the carts are left at the front of the stacks, instead of filed away, so you save a minute or two.)
Other advantages of researching in the Library of Congress is that they have free wifi (really helpful for googling names, acronyms, etc. that you come across while researching,) and that the desks themselves are really spacious, and don't have dividers (only two people per desk, though because of the amount of space, no one seemed to be doubled up.) The major disadvantage I've found is that while the room is pretty bright, it's not particularly well lit for taking photos. The images I'm getting from the LOC are much poorer in quality than those from NARA. Oh well...I'll need to spend much more time here before I can get a better sense of the collections, but so far what I've found has been really useful.
On a separate note, it seems like I'm starting to run out of materials at NARA I. I've looked at a lot of the materials from the 1950s, and am trying now to access some of the stuff from the 1940s, but it seems as thought the records from the 1960s are much harder to get at. For one thing, there is a blanket 50 year rule on records containing personal information, so at the very least I'd have to wait another two years before seeing the records (and up to another 10, considering my project goes through 1968.) Congress is also exempt from FOIA, so I can't exactly press for their release. There might be a workaround or two, but I think after this coming week I'll be spending the majority of my time left here at NARA II and the LOC.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
What a Week...
Apologies for the breaking in blogging...I was actually in the middle of writing a new post last night, when my hard drive died. So now, after spending a full day at the Apple Store, I have a new drive, more or less updated. (Thank God for extended warranties and external hard drives. I'm really glad I picked one up before I left, otherwise I would have lost all of the photos I've been taking in the archives.)
The dead hard drive capped a really mediocre week in the archives. This was supposed to be my first full week (without weddings, holidays, etc.) to work, but so far I've managed only to get in a full day on Monday, and two half days - Tuesday and Wednesday. I started the week with 14 boxes of materials at NARA, thinking that would take me the better part of the week. I found some great stuff on Monday, but when I got back to the archives on Tuesday morning, I realized that at least 8 of the boxes weren't useful at all, and much of the materials in two other boxes just didn't relate. (You just never know beforehand.) Plus the archivist I'd been working with wasn't going to be back in until Thursday, so I decided to call it a day.
With the lull in materials, I decided to head to the Library of Congress, to check out the Emanuel Celler Papers. It took me a bit of time to find the correct entrance ot the building, and to get to the research room, so by the time I got there, it was closer to 9:45am. I got to the front desk, and the woman tells me: "We're shutting the building. You need to leave now." Considering it was still early, I was a bit confused, but she reitreated. "We're shutting the building for an emergency preparedness drill in five minutes. If you don't leave immediately, you'll be locked in with no power in the building. Come back after 11." Great. Just great. So I came back at 11, with all of the other people who had been kicked out, waited on a very long line to get my reader's card, and finally go into the manuscript division closer to noon.
I've got a lot more to say about the Library of Congress and their collections, but I'll save that for another post...
The dead hard drive capped a really mediocre week in the archives. This was supposed to be my first full week (without weddings, holidays, etc.) to work, but so far I've managed only to get in a full day on Monday, and two half days - Tuesday and Wednesday. I started the week with 14 boxes of materials at NARA, thinking that would take me the better part of the week. I found some great stuff on Monday, but when I got back to the archives on Tuesday morning, I realized that at least 8 of the boxes weren't useful at all, and much of the materials in two other boxes just didn't relate. (You just never know beforehand.) Plus the archivist I'd been working with wasn't going to be back in until Thursday, so I decided to call it a day.
With the lull in materials, I decided to head to the Library of Congress, to check out the Emanuel Celler Papers. It took me a bit of time to find the correct entrance ot the building, and to get to the research room, so by the time I got there, it was closer to 9:45am. I got to the front desk, and the woman tells me: "We're shutting the building. You need to leave now." Considering it was still early, I was a bit confused, but she reitreated. "We're shutting the building for an emergency preparedness drill in five minutes. If you don't leave immediately, you'll be locked in with no power in the building. Come back after 11." Great. Just great. So I came back at 11, with all of the other people who had been kicked out, waited on a very long line to get my reader's card, and finally go into the manuscript division closer to noon.
I've got a lot more to say about the Library of Congress and their collections, but I'll save that for another post...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What I learned today...
A few random thoughts on my time at NARA today:
I started on the Senate Judiciary Committee records today, and the first thing that hit me was how well organized these records were. Each box and file was clearly labeled (and the label matched what was inside,) the boxes had indexes in some cases, and more or less the records were in good shape. 16 boxes so far...and these only cover 1954-1960, and only on refugees.
I also found out that I can only take about 170 pictures (w/o flash) before my camera battery dies. I need to start bringing my camera charger with me - I think this is going to be brutal on my rechargeable battery.
From what I read today it seems like the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 was much more controversial than I had previously thought (or had previously seen in the literature.) The Act is usually portrayed as either an emergency piece of legislation that only functioned on a very narrow level, or as one of the first to break down the strictures of the McCarran-Walter Act, by letting in refugees over and above quota limitations. From what I saw today, it seems that while the Act itself contained a number of more liberal provisions, the administrators dragged their feet and really slowed the numbers being admitted. This led to a showdown between between John Foster Dulles (the Secretary of State,) and Edward Corsi, a former Commissioner of Immigration in 1955. The archival record seems to show much more pushback on the restrictiveness of the RRA in general, and much more of a connection to the Refugee-Escapee Act of 1957 than I've seen anywhere. I'm still working out what exactly this means for the greater story of postwar immigration and refugee policy, but it is promising...
I started on the Senate Judiciary Committee records today, and the first thing that hit me was how well organized these records were. Each box and file was clearly labeled (and the label matched what was inside,) the boxes had indexes in some cases, and more or less the records were in good shape. 16 boxes so far...and these only cover 1954-1960, and only on refugees.
I also found out that I can only take about 170 pictures (w/o flash) before my camera battery dies. I need to start bringing my camera charger with me - I think this is going to be brutal on my rechargeable battery.
From what I read today it seems like the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 was much more controversial than I had previously thought (or had previously seen in the literature.) The Act is usually portrayed as either an emergency piece of legislation that only functioned on a very narrow level, or as one of the first to break down the strictures of the McCarran-Walter Act, by letting in refugees over and above quota limitations. From what I saw today, it seems that while the Act itself contained a number of more liberal provisions, the administrators dragged their feet and really slowed the numbers being admitted. This led to a showdown between between John Foster Dulles (the Secretary of State,) and Edward Corsi, a former Commissioner of Immigration in 1955. The archival record seems to show much more pushback on the restrictiveness of the RRA in general, and much more of a connection to the Refugee-Escapee Act of 1957 than I've seen anywhere. I'm still working out what exactly this means for the greater story of postwar immigration and refugee policy, but it is promising...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Welcome to DC or Spinning My Wheels
I finally made it into D.C. yesterday, and stepping off the train the first thing I felt was the heat and humidity. I forgot just how hot it is here, and I think after two years in California, I’ve lost my tolerance for anything other than temperate climates. I also forgot about the flash thunderstorms on the east coast, but thankfully missed the vast majority of the heavy rain. (There is something really beautiful though about sitting inside watching the lightning.)
This afternoon I went to NARA (Downtown) for the first time. I had already spoken with the INS archivist (see previous posts,) who assured me that there were two boxes of materials already waiting for me here. I got to the archives and went through the registration process (signing into the building and going through the airport-style security; registering my computer and camera serial numbers; registering for a researcher card and going through an informational slideshow about preservation.) At this point the archivist on the main floor told me my materials should already by in the reading room, so I headed to the second floor. When I got into the reading room and went through security, the people at the desk told me they had no record of my materials, and sent me back to the first floor. Back again on the first floor the front-desk archivist sent me to the finding aid room, where they also could not locate my files or an archivist who knew about my case. After about 45 minutes we finally reached the INS archivist who came down and found my boxes. By this time I had missed the 1:30pm pull time, and had to kill another half an hour before the 2:30 pull time (basically I had to wait for a page to literally bring the boxes two flights up. This is only done at specific times during the day, naturally.)
Thankfully while I was waiting I did have the time to meet with an archivist from the Legislative Division, to talk about Senate and House Subcommittee Hearings. Hopefully I will be able to get unpublished documents on committee hearings for various Congressional legislation, but again, since everything needs to be screened in advance, I need to write up a list of the House and Senate Bill Numbers for each piece of legislation I’m looking for, and email it to the archivist to see if they have the files I need.
At 2:30 I headed to the reading room and finally got 2 boxes of materials. Surprisingly, considering all of the security getting into the room, the staff basically leaves you alone once you’re there. I was also struck by how noisy the room was – people freely talking loudly…shocking for a library. Of the two boxes of materials, one contained nothing really relevant – mainly documents too early for my project. The other box seems promising, and I was able to photograph most of it today. Unfortunately it’s mostly correspondence INTO the INS – I was hoping to find responses FROM the INS as well. I may just be missing an obvious oversight, but where do I find the outgoing records???
In terms of equipment – I bought a new tripod before I left California, and it’s made life a lot easier. I’m using a Cannon PowerShot SD400 (5 Megapixels) to document my work. So far so good…
This afternoon I went to NARA (Downtown) for the first time. I had already spoken with the INS archivist (see previous posts,) who assured me that there were two boxes of materials already waiting for me here. I got to the archives and went through the registration process (signing into the building and going through the airport-style security; registering my computer and camera serial numbers; registering for a researcher card and going through an informational slideshow about preservation.) At this point the archivist on the main floor told me my materials should already by in the reading room, so I headed to the second floor. When I got into the reading room and went through security, the people at the desk told me they had no record of my materials, and sent me back to the first floor. Back again on the first floor the front-desk archivist sent me to the finding aid room, where they also could not locate my files or an archivist who knew about my case. After about 45 minutes we finally reached the INS archivist who came down and found my boxes. By this time I had missed the 1:30pm pull time, and had to kill another half an hour before the 2:30 pull time (basically I had to wait for a page to literally bring the boxes two flights up. This is only done at specific times during the day, naturally.)
Thankfully while I was waiting I did have the time to meet with an archivist from the Legislative Division, to talk about Senate and House Subcommittee Hearings. Hopefully I will be able to get unpublished documents on committee hearings for various Congressional legislation, but again, since everything needs to be screened in advance, I need to write up a list of the House and Senate Bill Numbers for each piece of legislation I’m looking for, and email it to the archivist to see if they have the files I need.
At 2:30 I headed to the reading room and finally got 2 boxes of materials. Surprisingly, considering all of the security getting into the room, the staff basically leaves you alone once you’re there. I was also struck by how noisy the room was – people freely talking loudly…shocking for a library. Of the two boxes of materials, one contained nothing really relevant – mainly documents too early for my project. The other box seems promising, and I was able to photograph most of it today. Unfortunately it’s mostly correspondence INTO the INS – I was hoping to find responses FROM the INS as well. I may just be missing an obvious oversight, but where do I find the outgoing records???
In terms of equipment – I bought a new tripod before I left California, and it’s made life a lot easier. I’m using a Cannon PowerShot SD400 (5 Megapixels) to document my work. So far so good…
Monday, June 2, 2008
Pre-NARA part 2
Still not quite in D.C. yet, but I did hear back from the NARA archivist in charge of the INS collections. I had sent him a list of about 40 files that I wanted to look at, to see if they existed, and to get them approved. Of the 40, he's gotten through about 20, and of those 20, about half don't exist. Interestingly enough, almost all of the missing files are categorized under the keyword "children." I'm not quite sure if I should take that as some kind of sign...Still, it's nice to know there are already 2 boxes of materials ready for me to look at.
I've also sat down and compiled a list of all the collections I want to look at - INS records and legislative archives at NARA Downtown; State Department and Displaced Persons Commission Records at NARA College Park; and the Emmanuel Celler records at the Library of Congress. There's also a number of items related to "National Origins" in the Secretary of Agriculture's "Foreign Policy" files. I'm still not sure what immigration, foreign policy, and national origins have to do with Agriculture (at least post-WWII), but I guess we'll find out!
I've also sat down and compiled a list of all the collections I want to look at - INS records and legislative archives at NARA Downtown; State Department and Displaced Persons Commission Records at NARA College Park; and the Emmanuel Celler records at the Library of Congress. There's also a number of items related to "National Origins" in the Secretary of Agriculture's "Foreign Policy" files. I'm still not sure what immigration, foreign policy, and national origins have to do with Agriculture (at least post-WWII), but I guess we'll find out!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
NARA San Bruno
I spent most of the afternoon yesterday at NARA's Pacific Region archive in San Bruno. At the outset I'll say that I think I'm more confused now, having gone to the archive, than before, but we'll get to that.
NARA San Bruno is a windowless space in an obscure federal building, sandwiched between a park and a newly developed housing complex. The first thing that shocked me about the site was the lack of security - no one checks your bags. They do require you to put your stuff in a locker, but really all I had to do was sign in and sign out, and no one really paid attention to what I was doing. (Even the New York Public Library searches your bags when you leave, not to mention every time you enter or leave a reading room.)
So why was I in San Bruno? Well, one of the collections I need to look at for my dissertation is the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) correspondence files. I had been warned in advance that the INS files are tricky to use, but wow was I not prepared for what I found: first of all, the correspondence files only run through 1957, so I already need to find a work around, since my project runs until at least 1968. Secondly, there is no finding aid. At all. What they do have is Record Group T458, a 31-roll microfilm subject heading list. Basically every time the INS added a box to the archival collection, they took a notecard, typed out what was in the box, and microfilmed it. Thankfully, at least these 31 rolls were in alphabetical order, but since the microfilm was created over the span of about 30 years, the keywords have changed (i.e. displaced person to refugee to political refugee,) not to mention the fact that a few of the key terms I expected to be there just weren't. On top of all of that, the microfilm only runs through about 1953, so I'm still not sure how to access 1953-1957. San Bruno happens to have a copy of T458, and archivists and researcher-friends told me I should look through it before heading to D.C. (especially since INS records have to be cleared in advance by the archivist in charge before you can look at them.)
So after spending a number of hours trying to come up with as many keywords as I could think of that would be relevant for my project (and hand-cranking the reals back and forth - they have the old style microfilm readers,) I now have a 5 page excel spreadsheet with what I think are box and file numbers. And even that I'm not quite sure about.
Next moves: Contact the NARA archivist in charge of the INS Collection, contact the USCIS Historian (formally the INS historian) for help, and find other collections for 1957-1968.
NARA San Bruno is a windowless space in an obscure federal building, sandwiched between a park and a newly developed housing complex. The first thing that shocked me about the site was the lack of security - no one checks your bags. They do require you to put your stuff in a locker, but really all I had to do was sign in and sign out, and no one really paid attention to what I was doing. (Even the New York Public Library searches your bags when you leave, not to mention every time you enter or leave a reading room.)
So why was I in San Bruno? Well, one of the collections I need to look at for my dissertation is the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) correspondence files. I had been warned in advance that the INS files are tricky to use, but wow was I not prepared for what I found: first of all, the correspondence files only run through 1957, so I already need to find a work around, since my project runs until at least 1968. Secondly, there is no finding aid. At all. What they do have is Record Group T458, a 31-roll microfilm subject heading list. Basically every time the INS added a box to the archival collection, they took a notecard, typed out what was in the box, and microfilmed it. Thankfully, at least these 31 rolls were in alphabetical order, but since the microfilm was created over the span of about 30 years, the keywords have changed (i.e. displaced person to refugee to political refugee,) not to mention the fact that a few of the key terms I expected to be there just weren't. On top of all of that, the microfilm only runs through about 1953, so I'm still not sure how to access 1953-1957. San Bruno happens to have a copy of T458, and archivists and researcher-friends told me I should look through it before heading to D.C. (especially since INS records have to be cleared in advance by the archivist in charge before you can look at them.)
So after spending a number of hours trying to come up with as many keywords as I could think of that would be relevant for my project (and hand-cranking the reals back and forth - they have the old style microfilm readers,) I now have a 5 page excel spreadsheet with what I think are box and file numbers. And even that I'm not quite sure about.
Next moves: Contact the NARA archivist in charge of the INS Collection, contact the USCIS Historian (formally the INS historian) for help, and find other collections for 1957-1968.
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