THE QUARTERLY

FROM THE CAUCUS REPRESENTATIVE

Dear Colleague:

This edition of The Quarterly is dedicated to Archives Week, October 9-14, 2000. As your DC Caucus Representative, I strongly urge you to consider attending one or more of the events listed below. Our colleagues have put a great deal of effort into these events, and as an organization, I think we should show our strong support - through our attendance, and through individual efforts at publicity.

I will note that we all should have received our "Archives Week Poster" in the Summer 2000 edition of the Mid-Atlantic Archivist. Rather than keeping these posters in our mail piles in an archivally incorrect manner, why donít we hang these items in a public space, perhaps including a list of events taking place in Washington.

This edition of the newsletter is being distributed electronically in Microsoft Word, with a paper version being sent to out colleagues who requested that they receive no electronic mail, and to those for whom the publicized e-mail addresses are not working. I'd like feedback on this distribution format.

The DC Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is pleased to announce the schedule of events for Archives Week, October 8-14, 2000. The DC Caucus and several local archives will host a variety of special programs to promote archives and archival collections in the Washington, DC metropolitan region.

 On Thursday, October 12, 2000, the DC Caucus of MARAC will host its 3rd Annual DC Metropolitan Area Archives Fair at the Smithsonian Institutionís Ripley Center from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Archives Fair is an opportunity for people to learn about archival collections in and around DC. Because Washington, DC is our nationís capitol, the collections in the region relate to local, national, and international affairs. There will be "exhibits" on archival collections at several of the Smithsonian museums, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library, the George Washington University, the Catholic University of America, the Arlington County Public Library, the Space Business Archives, the American Red Cross Archives, and the History Factory along with computer demonstrations and videotape showings.

In addition there will be two special programs. At 2:30 p.m., Dr. Frank Burke, former Archivist of the United States will speak on the topic: What are Archives and why do we need them? Dr. Burke is an outstanding speaker, and we urge you to take advantage of this opportunity.

Finally, beginning at 4:00 p.m., several archivists will share stories about their experiences, both good and bad, starting at 4:00 p.m.

To learn more about the 3rd Annual DC Metropolitan Area Archives Fair, contact Ms. Kristine Kaske at (202) 357-3133.

On Friday, October 13, the National Archives Assembly will host a panel discussion on archival impacts of the closing of the Panama Canal Commission. Panelists will discuss the following issues: records ownership and appraisal, the deterioration of 19th Century construction drawings, and the expansion of the National Archives record holdings. Moderated by Lisa Haralampus, Assembly President, the panelists include Thomas Cotter, Appraisal Archivist for the Panama Canal Commission, Patrice Brown, Panama Canal Records Subject Area Specialist, and Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Records Conservator. The panel discussion will be held in the National Archives Main Building Theater (Pennsylvania Avenue & 7th Street) from 9:45 a.m. to 11:15a.m.

On Saturday October 14, 2000, The Peabody Room of the Georgetown Public Library will host a lecture entitled House Histories - Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in Georgetown by Bill Lebovich, an Architectural Historian. The lecture will be held in the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Public Library (Wisconsin & R Street, NW) at 10:30 a.m. Bill Lebovich worked as the architectural historian on the Historic American Buildings Survey of Georgetown. This study resulted in the publication of a number of fascinating volumes detailing the ownership and architectural histories of houses and commercial buildings. He now has his own business doing buildings research. He will speak about how to do building histories with special reference to his experiences on the HABS Georgetown project. For more information, contact Peggy Appleman at (202) 282-0214.

The George Washington University Library is pleased to present "Bright Stars Through the Perilous Fight: Men and Women Who Would Be President." Exhibit hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (October 2, 2000 - January 26, 2001). The exhibit is located in the Gelman Library at The George Washington University (2130 H Street, NW). Opening during the height of the 2000 United States presidential race, this exhibition will showcase items from the vast political Americana collection of brothers Steven and Gary Cohen. Unlike most exhibitions of this kind, "Bright Stars" will highlight candidates who lost their election bids. Buttons, photographs, cartoons, textiles, and numerous artifacts will be used to trace campaigns from the Jackson/Adams contest of the 1820s to the Gore/Bush election. Also-rans Henry Clay, John C. Breckinridge, William Jennings Bryan, John Davis, Wendell Wilkie, George McGovern, and others will be featured. This exhibition is free and open to the public. For additional information please contact, (202) 994-7549.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and Archives Week, the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPVA) and the Washingtoniana Division of the District of Columbia Public Library will screen Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarias, Theater of the First Amendment, on Tuesday, October 10, 2000 at 6:30 p.m. in the Washingtoniana Division on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, 901 G Street NW. The play relates Sor Juanaís navigation through romance, treachery, repression and passion. It won the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play at the Helen Hayes Awards Ceremony this year. For additional information, call Patricia Pasqual at (202) 727-2313.

In addition to the Archives Fair, the DC Caucus is sponsoring a workshop for teachers, Archival Research: Strategies and Techniques. Designed to introduce teachers to primary sources and archives, the workshop is scheduled for Saturday October 14, 2000, from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., and will be held at the National Digital Library Visitor Center, Library of Congress. Pre-registration is required. For further information, please contact Susan McElrath at (202) 786-2513.

Many Thanks to our colleagues, Susan McElrath, Kristine Kaske, La Nina Clayton, Jennie Guilbaud, Heather Moore, Susan Malbin, Faye Haskins, Peggy Appleman, Mychalene Giampaoli, Danna Bell-Russel, and Gail R. Redmann (if Iíve forgotten anyone, profuse apologies!) for their Archives Week activities which serve to strengthen the D.C. archival community.

And please, let your family, friends, neighbors, and historical societies know about these great events!

Next Meeting of the MARAC Steering Committee 

The next meeting of the MARAC Steering Committee is Thursday, October 19, 2000, in Cleveland. If you have issues to be raised, please contact Jim Cassedy.

The DC Caucus will meet during the Cleveland MARAC/MAC Conference on Friday, October 20, 2000, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Hope to see a lot of you good folks there.

The DC Caucus has a web site. If you have not had a chance to look at it, please check out www.dcarchivists.org. Designed by James Melzer of the University of Maryland, it looks beautiful. Many thanks, James!

Unfortunately James Melzer does not have time to update the site, and I am not very adept in html. If you wish to perform a great service for the DC Caucus, and know how, or desire to learn how to update web sites, please let me know. Many Thanks.

The DC Caucus also has a listserve. Through the good efforts of Cheryl Stadel-Bevans, we now have the infrastructure with which to operate a DC Caucus List Serve. This List Serve is voluntary. In order to join this listserve, you need to send a message to marac-dc-subscribe@egroups.com with the message "subscribe YourName". Each new addition needs to be "approved" as it is a closed list. Cheryl has very kindly agreed to serve as list "supervisor," and I will serve as the back up. Please consider joining.

Have you renewed your MARAC membership 2000-2001? The due date was October 1, 2000. If you didnít receive a form, let me know, and Iíll try to help out. If you have received the membership renewal form, please fill it out, and return that bad boy with a check.

The Maryland Caucus, led by Ms. Mary Mannix, is organizing a visit to the Calvert Maritime Museum in Solomonís Island, Maryland. The date for this visit has been set for Saturday, October 28, 2000, and has invited members of the DC Caucus to attend. Stay tuned for additional news, or contact Jim Cassedy.

Your Rep is trying to pull himself together, and organize a panel on Archives and Research of Art Looted by the Naziís during World War II. Although your Rep has obtained the services of some outstanding speakers, and in general talked about the possibility of holding a session in December 7, 2000, at the National Gallery of Art, he has, as usual, lacked the perquisite follow through. Stay tuned for additional details.

Then give Jim Cassedy a call/e-mail/letter. All suggestions gratefully accepted.

A Library of Congress Bicentennial Symposium in affiliation with the Association of Research Libraries and the Federal Library Information Center Committee (FLICC), October 30-31, 2000, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

 A two-day Bicentennial symposium for senior security managers, directors and administrators of libraries, museums, and archives who oversee preservation and collections security programs. Learn how colleagues are handling concerns related to setting standards, using measurements, and justifying budgets for funders. Plenary and breakout sessions have been designed to enable participants to explore issues that overlap and lend themselves to complementary solutions. For more information, visit the Library of Congress Bicentennial Program Web site at www.loc.gov/bicentennial/symposia.html or contact Kathy Eighmey, Project Coordinator, at (202) 707-4836.

National Archives at College Park, Maryland, November 16 - 17, 2000. For further information, see: http://www.nara.gov/program.html

Persons interested in registration information for this conference should contact the conference planning committee at: digitalstrat@arch2.nara.gov

The Small Repositories special interest group met at AAMC headquarters, 2450 N St., NW, hosted by Cynthia Kahn. The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 14, 200, at the MLK Library, Washingtoniana Division at Gallery Place metro. For further information, contact Faye Haskins, fhaskins@capaccess.org.

Money. Paper publication and distribution of the July 2000 edition of the Quarterly cost about $120.00. MARAC has budgeted $250.00 for the DC Caucus 2000 - 2001 budget. It is the opinion of your Rep that a newsletter is an important aspect of the DC Caucus. While some of our members must continue to receive a paper edition, most of us, hopefully, will be able to make do with an electronic edition.

It is extremely important to let me know if an electronic version of the Quarterly is not satisfactory for your needs. The paper edition will continue to be mailed to those who I have been unable to reach via e-mail, who do not wish to receive e-mail, or for whom an electronic edition of the newsletter is an inadequate medium of distribution.

It comes to mind that the DC Caucus budget, the newsletter, the web site, etc., might be an interesting discussion on the DC Caucus list serve. See page three on how to join, and express yourself.

DC Caucus is still in need of a good editor. Please consider assisting in this worthwhile endeavor.

The buck stops with your Caucus Rep. If you have suggestions, complaints, wish to volunteer, etc. please contact:

Jim Cassedy
DC Caucus Representative,
MARACNational Archives and Records Administration
5400 40^th Avenue
Hyattsville, MD 20781
301-713-7110, ext. 258
james.cassedy@arch2.nara.gov