This summer the Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department has been joined by Archivist Lisa Kruczek. Kruczek has been working hard to increase access to collections with large amounts of film, video, and/or sound recordings. Many of these collections also have photographic portions which I have worked on.
There are many steps taken to prepare a collection for research use. The materials need to be organized according to archival principles, stored properly to slow degradation, and described in a finding aid (or a guide to the collection).
Since the end of April, five large collections have been completed: Sperry-Univac, Seagram Museum, Avon Products, Cavalcade of America, and American Iron and Steel Institute.
The Sperry Univac Corporation was an early manufacturer of computers. The photographic portion of the collection had been processed several years ago through a generous grant-funded project. Unfortunately the grant did not cover the moving images. The collection includes hundreds of training and marketing videos and films of annual presentations, reports and meetings. The materials provide an interesting look as to how computers were perceived and marketed to potential users.
The Seagram Museum exhibited materials that documented the history of wines and distilled spirits and the history of the Seagram Company, a distillery in Ontario, Canada. The collection contains sales and marketing videos, audio of presentations and company events, and films about the production, marketing and sales training for Seagram’s products.
Avon Products is a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. The audiovisual material in this collection not only depict the company’s beauty products, their manufacture, packaging, and sale, but also the stories of Avon employees and representatives.
Cavalcade of America was a dramatic serial radio show sponsored by the DuPont Company which aired from 1935 to 1953. The collection consists of thousands of phonographic records of the program. Many of the records were transferred to audio reel-to-reel tapes.
The American Iron and Steel Institute is a trade association of North American steel producers. There are audio recordings of a noise study of steel plants and films that document how steel is made and used in a variety of engineering projects.
Two more collections will be completed by the end of the summer.
To learn more about each of the collections click to view the finding aid:
Sperry Corporation, UNIVAC Division photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1985.261)
Seagram Museum collection of photographs and audiovisual material (Accession 2000.202)
Avon Products Inc. photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1997.209)
Cavalcade of America phonograph records (Accession 1968.001.G86)
American Iron and Steel Institute photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1986.268)