UROP Project
Creating Access to the Perra Bell Library
Research; cataloging; rare books; rare ephemera; creating access
Research Mentor: Mr. Daniel Pittman, He, Him, His
Department, College, Affiliation: FSU Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House, Education
Contact Email: dpittmanbhm@rose.net
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Brian Wilcoxon he, him, his
Faculty Collaborators Email: bwilcoxon@fsu.edu
Department, College, Affiliation: FSU Honors, Scholars, and Fellows House, Education
Contact Email: dpittmanbhm@rose.net
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Brian Wilcoxon he, him, his
Faculty Collaborators Email: bwilcoxon@fsu.edu
Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Library Science, Information Science, History, English, Education, Computer Science
Project Location: The Jack Hadley Black History Museum, 214 Alexander Street, Thomasville, GA 31792
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10 hours per week, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 5th, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m.
Topic: FSU UROP Roundtable-JHBHM
Time: Sep 5, 2023 12:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9338491871
Meeting ID: 933 849 1871
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Library Science, Information Science, History, English, Education, Computer Science
Project Location: The Jack Hadley Black History Museum, 214 Alexander Street, Thomasville, GA 31792
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10 hours per week, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 5th, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m.
Topic: FSU UROP Roundtable-JHBHM
Time: Sep 5, 2023 12:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9338491871
Meeting ID: 933 849 1871
Project Description
As a scholar of African American history and culture, Mrs. Perra Bell taught African American history at Towson State University for over twenty years. Before she passed away, she bequeathed her books, manuscripts, notes, and ephemera collection to the Jack Hadley Black History Museum (JHBHM). We aim to ensure it is available for research and enjoyment for years. We have made significant progress with organizing, cataloging, and digitizing her books. Thousands of pieces of her notes, manuscripts, and ephemera remain. Interns will organize, and analyze each piece for historical significance, digitize and store them in museum-quality containers.Research Tasks: The Perra Bell Collection of books and ephemera contains at least 4,550 books. However, what makes the collection even more unique are Mrs. Bell's handwritten notes accompanying each book and most of her magazines. Also, there are four file cabinets full of her notes, manuscripts, and ephemera. We need to go through these and find out what each piece is and if it is of historical significance; organize them, scan them with a description into the museum's Past Perfect database, and then store them in museum-quality storage containers.
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Excellent organization skills; Research skills; Good time-management skills; Attention to detail; Ability to manage projects and give presentations; Computer research skills; Ability to work independently without supervision.
Mentoring Philosophy
The Jack Hadley Black History Museum's mission is to "educate, preserve and document African American History" and ultimately share that knowledge with its audiences. The JHBHM internship programs are vital in fulfilling our mission to educate by transferring knowledge regarding best practices in museum and library management and operations to interns. As part of our internship program, we strive to establish productive working relationships in which interns become mentees and museum staff their mentors. This one-to-one, dynamic, and two-way relationship aims to make the library's 4,550 books and thousands of ephemera available to the public, which was Mrs. Bell's dream. We seek to create a learning environment that encourages a growth mindset. The mentor encourages the mentee to explore different approaches to collections management and turn mistakes into learning experiences. Trial and error are part of the learning process, and mentees will not be penalized. To organize and catalog Mrs. Bell's collection, mentees will work alongside experienced library professionals. As this is a two-way street, mentees are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. Our goal is to provide mentees with empowering and inspiring learning experiences so they stay connected to our museum and library after project completion, eventually becoming professional colleagues.Additional Information
Prospective interns will work in Thomasville at the Museum & Library. As such, the JHBHM will compensate each intern for gas.Click on this link to learn more about the JHBHM, Mrs. Perra Bell, and her collection: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lMbvLeIDyCX2FUIY_-QZzDvd-INChARu/view