I
began working on a new collection this week. I am told that this donor has
already submitted 300 boxes of materials to the GTU. It includes 200 boxes of
books and 100 boxes of archival materials. Apparently the MacAfee family has
saved everything related to Robert MacAfee. I was processing hundreds of
condolence cards sent to the widow. It was my inclination to pare these down to
a representative sample. I found the cards and letters that told of memories of
MacAfee interesting, as were those from some prominent theologians. But many of
the cards were store bought cards signed illegibly with nothing notable about
them. I was instructed to keep everything and arrange it as best I could. I
suspect there are some donor relations issues to which I may not be privy.
The
correspondence was received over a period of approximately two month, so a
chronological arrangement would be difficult. I have decided that an
alphabetical arrangement best shows the relationships between the senders and
the MacAfee family. I thought it might be best to store the cards and letters
open and somehow attach those that have envelops, perhaps a plastic clip or
sleeves, but I was told to leave them as they were, they may decide to do that
project at a later date. That is where I left off this week.
You bring up something I often wonder about...how much is too much to be donated to a collection. Does the archive have guidelines that specify what they will accept?
ReplyDeleteThey only accept items that are within their mission of documenting religion in California. They have not yet found it necessary to limit the quantity of materials that they will accept as a submission. But this collection may make them rethink this policy.
ReplyDelete