Friday, September 30, 2016

September 2016 Arkansas State Archives Newsletter

Look inside the September 2016 Issue of the Arkansas Archivist for these and other features:


ASA Presents Seminar on Preservation for Archives Month

Researching the history of a property can help someone learn about their heritage, stimulate the local economy, or perpetuate a community’s identity.  But what types of sources are used to conduct property research?  October is American Archives Month and the Arkansas State Archives’ theme for  Archives Month is using archival  records to research historic  structures and properties.
 

ASA Announces George Sylvester McCue Collection

George Sylvester McCue was the son of an Irish immigrant who joined the army just before the Spanish American War  in 1898.  After the war, he spent time stationed in the Philippines,  holding the rank of Second Lieutenant.   A decade later,  he was stationed in the American Southwest and
Mexico City during the United States’ search for Pancho Villa.  In 1917, McCue came to Arkansas to train soldiers at Camp Pike.  That year he also became a Mason, posing for a photograph alongside hundreds of fellow Masons on the front steps of Albert Pike  Consistory,  a  building  that  would
within a few short years, be destroyed by fire and replaced with the current Masonic Temple in downtown Little Rock.


Black History Commission News

In a few months we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  As we get closer to that time, we recognize the loss of so many of our World War II veterans and we recognize the need  to memorialize  those brave men and women who served.  Often it is difficult to find first-hand accounts of African American soldiers who were serving during World War II.  We recently received the final report from a Curtis H. Sykes Memorial  Grant  recipient,  Michelle Hamilton Rhodes, whose project, “A Soldier’s Heart: From the Philippines to Arkansas,”  details the military career of Rhodes’ grandfather, Lewis J. Jackson.  The letters document the life of Jackson, a teacher in Pine Bluff to Nanette White, his girlfriend and soon to be wife.


From the Director


As you know from our lead article, October is American Archives Month.  Did you also know that another day recognizing the importance of records preservation is celebrated in October?  Electronic Records Day is October 10 or “1010” —think bits and bytes.  The commemoration, first held in 2010, is sponsored by the Council of State Archivists for the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of managing electronic files and digital data.