 |
| Dr. Fatme Myuhtar-May lectures July 20 at the Craighead County Public Library in Jonesboro. |
Dr. Fatme Myuhtar-May, archival manager at the Northeast
Arkansas Regional Archives, provided a summary of the branch’s holdings July 20
at the Craighead County Public Library in Jonesboro as part of Genealogy Night
Lock-in.
About 120 people attended the annual event. Myuhtar-May
spoke before an audience of 40 genealogy enthusiasts. She talked about the
services, resources and collections, including the Lawrence County Court and
Walnut Ridge Court records, available to researchers at NEARA.
The court records are among the core collections of the
branch and have been well used as a source of genealogical and academic
research.
Myuhtar-May explained how NEARA’s staff prepare detailed
indexes – in addition to finding aids – for the collections that can then be searched
to locate a person’s name, a location, a year or an event with a few
computer-keyboard clicks. She also highlighted how important the work of
volunteers and interns is for NEARA in processing collections and making them
research-accessible.
“Making collections available to the public requires a lot
of work,” Myuhtar-May said. “We could not do it without our volunteers and paid
summer interns.”
The branch recently held its annual Volunteer Day. About 18
volunteers helped NEARA unfold court records June 14. NEARA summer intern
Lindsay Penn also has diligently indexed records.
“I am very grateful to them all, as well as to our sponsors
who make it possible to hire an intern,” Myuhtar-May said.
Myuhtar-May invited the audience to visit the archives and to
become volunteers. Residents can volunteer in multiple ways and can take part
in archival initiatives, such as the Gathering Oral Histories Project, which
collects audio stories.
For more information, contact NEARA at 870-878-6521 or email
the archival manager at Fatme.Myuhtar.May@arkansas.gov.
