Wes Oliver, a rising senior at Ouachita Baptist University
(OBU), has joined the team at Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA) as its
summer intern. Oliver, who is double majoring in history and public history,
and minoring in psychology, became familiar with SARA while touring with Dr.
Wendy Richter’s Archival Studies course in December of 2017. Oliver became
interested in the internship at SARA because he wanted to learn more about the
work, but also to see if archiving is something that he would like to pursue as
a career.
Oliver has kept busy with a variety of projects, which has given him an
understanding of the work archivists do. A project that he has
worked on is helping to organize over 400 courthouse ledgers on the custom ledger
shelving that was installed at SARA earlier this year. He is also helping with processing a collection
of historical information on schools in southwest Arkansas which was compiled by former
SARA Director Faith Riley.
One project in particular that Oliver has enjoyed is working
on processing the unclaimed Hempstead County marriage licenses that were
donated to SARA by former Archival Manager Peggy Lloyd. “Every preacher or
justice of the peace had his own style of writing the records so that you could
get a sense of the individuality of the people involved and some of the
characteristics of the church denominations and local government institutions
they represented,” said Oliver.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading (especially about
history), walking his dog and exploring the outdoors.
The SARA Foundation sponsors the internship each year, and is the friends group for SARA.
SARA Foundation’s mission includes providing volunteer
support, promoting the acquisition of archival materials for SARA, and
conducting special projects and fundraisers benefitting SARA. The SARA
Foundation depends on membership dues and other contributions to fulfill its
mission. For more information, e-mail waterslu@swarchives.org, call
870-983-2633, or write to SARA Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 133, Washington, AR
71862.
