When I was in high school (in a small, northern New Jerseytown), I knew Seton Hall University as a local college with a winningbasketball team and solid Catholic education. These days, the school stillboasts a Catholic mission, but it also focuses attention on a wide array of otheracademic specialties, including diplomacy and international relations, education,law, and, business. According to the school’s web site,it also educates more than one-third of New Jersey’s nurses through itsundergraduate, masters, Ph.D. in nursing programs.
Perhaps one of the unsung jewels of Seton Hall is the Msgr.William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center.It is home to an incredible variety of materials from textiles (think vestmentsand items bearing Seton Hall emblems) to manuscripts of previous N.J.governors, to portraits, and much more. Notably, Seton Hall holds the archivesof the Archdiocese of Newark (much more on that later).
Although the school dates back to 1856, its first archivist,a professor of archeology, Dr. Herbert Kraft was hired in 1960. Later,Monsignor William Noé Field developed a formal archives program in 1970.According to my tour host and friend Alan Delozier, Director of SpecialCollections/University Archivist, “the establishment of the New Jersey CatholicHistorical Commission and the archives of the Archdiocese of Newark transferredto
The current home of the Archives and Special Collections, onthe ground floor of the Walsh Library, was built in 1994. As you might expectof an archives that receives records on a regular basis (including a newarrangement with the United Nations Association, thanks to the school of diplomacyand international relations), they have quite run out of space and also useanother storage facility for materials in addition to the main area I visited.However, this small, but prestigious school squeezed into a neat corner ofSouth Orange, makes great use of the space it does have to care for and provideaccess to the marvelous collections in its archives and special collections.
About the Director of Special Collections/University Archivist
I first met Alan Delozier at the fall 2011 MARAC (Mid-AtlanticArchives Conference) in Bethlehem, Pa. In his very engaging way, he waspromoting next week’s spring meeting in Cape May. A long-time contributor tothe Conference in a variety of ways, Alan explains his work with MARAC in theshort video below.
At Seton Hall since 1999, Alan alsoserved as a Historical Interpreter at Washington Crossing State Park (NJ),College Archivist at Richard Stockton College, College Archivist at St. Peter’sCollege, and the Archival Technician for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Prior to his professional career in the field, Alan internedin the archives at St. Bonaventure University as an undergraduate, then later,at Villanova, he had a practicum in Archival Studies as part of his graduatedegree in History. Topping off his formal education with a Master of LibraryScience at Rutgers, he has always put a high priority on continuing hispractical education.
Here is Alan speaking to the topic of continuing educationon both practical and theoretical levels.
After an earlier career in radio, Alan joined the archivesfield because he always liked the study of history and working with uniquematerials. He says, “I am living the dream, so to speak, professionally!” Inparticular, his favorite collections at Seton Hall include “those thatrepresent the early- to mid-twentieth century religious collections becausethis echoes my own research interests. However, each has its own merit andvalue,” he explains.
As Director and University Archivist, he mainly functions asan administrator, but he also is a faculty librarian and occasionally teaches acourse or two. “The primary job is research assistance along with acquisitions,coordination, committee work, publicity and outreach among other duties,” saysAlan. His favorite part of the job? He says, “helping others to find answers. Seeingthat look of success is worth everything!” On the other side of the coin, “thebiggest frustration is when a full answer cannot be found, or at least a leadin another direction is not evident. Providing quality aid is the priority andalways a challenge in a good and bad way alike,” he says.
Alan also mentors quite a few people in his work, whetherthe mentee is a History student intern, an archives student, or a volunteerfrom the Archdiocese. In the short video below, he talks about how he helpspeople along their professional journey.
Alan has some good advice for new archivists in theprofession, “definitely know the basics of Archival Science, but mostimportantly have a solid and even advanced knowledge of technology in the field.Experience and education in abundance also is key, especially with the lack ofpositions available in today’s job market.” In the short video below, he shareswith me his employee wish list.
About the Collections
Seton Hall’s approximately 1,000 to 1,500 linear feet of collectionsare supported by four full-time workers (Director/University Archivist, ArchdiocesanArchivist, Archives Assistant, and Records Management Clerk). There are twopart-time workers who focus on the Archdiocese of Newark and the New JerseyCatholic Historical Commission. Additionally, there is the Director of theLibrary Gallery. Alan says, “We also currently have four volunteers. Three comein once per week for roughly two-to-five hours at a time. A gentleman, Mr. Jessie Reich from Jespy House comes in three days per week for three hours per day.”
Between 5 to 10 people per week visit the collections during the academic term. One family history researcher has a monthlystanding appointment. “In addition, we have a professor who has been working onthe institutional history of Seton Hall Universityfor approximately 12 years,” says Alan. Seton Hall’s Archives and SpecialCollections also have phone, email, and postal mail requests.
Along with the Sacramental registers, the most utilizedcollections include the Irish Book Collection, course catalogs, schoolyearbooks, and newspapers. In the following series of short videos, Alan showsme some examples of each.
A quick overview of the rare book collections at Seton Hall:
In introduction to the Irish Collections and how they areused at the school:
A brief look into how the community uses the IrishCollections:
An explanation of the value of course catalogs:
A peep inside Seton Hall’s first yearbook:
Early newspapers at Seton Hall:
Along with each of the aforementioned formats, Seton Hallalso collects photographs, three-dimensional objects, ephemera, and others. Alansays, “we are the de-facto Seton Hall and Archdiocese of Newark museumcollection.” In the short video below, he and Msgr. Robert Wister show me someof the textiles in the collection.
Whenever I tour archives, special collections, and othercultural heritage institutions, I always ask my host about the undiscoveredand/or underutilized gems of their collections. In the case of Seton Hall’sspecial collections, Alan mentioned a few that could probably see more usage.He elaborates, “I think that within our Archdiocese of Newark holdings, theclergy and auxiliary bishop papers are not used to their full potential. Also,our general manuscript collections including the Shanley, Hughes, and DreyfussPapers for example,” are underutilized.
To help folks discover the value of the manuscriptcollections at the school, Alan uses the example of the papers of former N.J.Governor Richard Hughes in the short video below.
Because a good portion of the manuscripts in the collectionoriginate with the Archdiocese of Newark, sometimes church researchers such asthe Monsignor (shown in the textiles video above) will be the first to findamazing treasures such as the hologram shown below (from the Bishop JamesRoosevelt Bayley Papers – Bayley was the founder of Seton Hall).
The Bishop Bayley Papers also include a number of scrapbooksthat document a variety of events. Alan shows us one example in the short videobelow.
During my tour of Seton Hall’s Archives and Special Collections,I also met Kate Dodds, Archival Assistant. Her title really doesn’t do justiceto the amount and variety of work she does with the collections. I asked her totell me what a day in the life of Kate Dodds was like, and the types ofmaterials she helps researchers to find. She does that and more in the videobelow.
Some of the Seton Hall collections have finding aids tobetter help researchers locate materials. Their EAD finding aids are foundhere: http://shudigitallibraries.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p13025coll7.Additionally, some of the collections have been digitized. Those materials canbe found online here: http://www.shu.edu/academics/libraries/digital-collections.cfm.Archives and Special Collections regularly displays select materials from thecollections to invite people to interact with artifacts in a different way.Examples of exhibits currently on display and previously displayed may beviewed here: http://blogs.shu.edu/archives/2012/02/historic-archdiocesan-artifacts-on-exhibit-in-archives-special-collections-center/.
Conclusion
It was a pleasure to visit the Seton Hall UniversityArchives and Special Collections and learn more about the types of materialsavailable for research. Alan and his team focus heavily on service, and arededicated to helping patrons find and use the items they need to answer theirquestions. As you can see, I took a lot of video at Seton Hall (partly becausemy still camera is on the fritz), and there are other short bits I did notinclude here, but you can see them at my YouTube page here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hereandthere123.Finally, I hope that this peek into Seton Hall’s treasures will inspire you tovisit the school, as well as its online resources.
Contact Information
Alan DelozierDirector of Special CollectionsUniversity Library400 South Orange AvenueSouth Orange, NJ 07079-2671(973) 275-2378Alan.Delozier@shu.edu
My contact information includes e-mail: Alan.Delozier@shu.edu, or via phone at: (973) 275-2378. The main phone is: (973) 467-8558.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder