Ask an Archivist!

October is American Archives Month! To celebrate Ask an Archivist Day on October 16th, we asked some of the archivists who work in DePaul’s very own Special Collections and Archives about their collections, careers, and the construction in their space on the 3rd floor!

What is your favorite collection or item within our collections and why?

• I like an old passport in a Vincentian priest’s file that is from before photographs, so it describes his appearance (e.g. “nose: aquiline”) and then later there are photos of him and it helps to teach students about perspective and fact when you compare the official passport with no photo to the photo of the person and decide if the written description was accurate.
• All of our artists’ books, especially Crazy Quilt by Maureen Cummins. I was not all that familiar with the medium before working here, and we have a great collection!
• The Collection on the Young Lords, some of which is available online.

What is one thing you wish more people knew about archives?

• That they are open to everyone, and that there are special precautions but that archivists want the materials they care for to be used.
• You do not need a specific reason to use our collections! While we host many researchers working on long term, scholarly projects, you can pop in simply because you got the urge to go through our zine collections, for example.
• How much labor and time it takes to digitize things and make them available online.

What is the most rewarding or challenging part of your job?

• Donor relations – when you connect with someone and they understand our mission and are willing to share their family or organizational history with us, by entrusting us with their care — it’s really lovely. These materials are a gift to people we’ve not met yet. Conversely, donor relationships can span years and not result in a donation to DePaul or another archival repository and that is frustrating because the materials are vulnerable when left in attics or basements or passed on to family members who aren’t invested in the history.  There is a sweet spot of meeting donors where they are and earning their trust.
• The most rewarding part of my job is arranging and describing archival collections so researchers can access and use them.
• I really enjoy connecting with our researchers, whether in person or through online reference requests. Not only does understanding their research needs expose me to so many new and interesting topics within our collections but being part of their discoveries is often very meaningful. Helping someone find the information they are searching for – whether it’s a poem written by their grandmother in the student newspaper or the history of a specific department on campus – never gets old.

What is going on with all the construction on the 3rd floor?

A new seminar room for SPCA that will enable us to host small groups who would like to collaborate and examine materials from our collections while keeping our reading room quiet for individual research.

DePaul University Special Collections and Archives preserves and shares primary source material documenting the history of DePaul University, Lincoln Park and Chicago, social justice movements and activism, the Catholic left, Vincentian history and much more.

Keep an eye on for more content featuring DePaul Special Collections and Archives as we celebrate American Archives Month through the end of October! If you have any questions, please call us at 773-325-7864, contact us via email, or stop by the reference desk in Room 314, John T. Richardson Library. We look forward to your visit!

Special Collections and Archives supports the teaching and learning mission of the University by providing course-specific instruction, reference services and individual research consultations, and by ensuring access to the rich primary source materials that inform our understandings of self, University, community, and the global society.