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Re: What do you say? esp for C&U archivists



I got a phone call from a descendant of an alumnus who proudly informed
me that her family prided itself on the fact that an ancestor received
the first gold medal for highest achievement ever awarded to a student
at Mt. St. Mary's, and he wasn't even Catholic!   However, after
checking our catalogs, I had to call her back to report that, not only
did he not receive the first gold medal ever awarded by the college
(medals had been awarded for several years previously), he didn't even
win the medal for his class!  She was crushed.  I tried to console her
with the news that he took "firsts" in a couple subjects--I guess this
system was modeled after the British educational system--and seconds and
thirds in others.  She was able to rally slightly.  I didn't point out
to her that his class consisted of six or eight students.  I figured
that was enough bad news for one day.

Rebecca Fitzgerald, CA
Mt. St. Mary's Archives & Dept. of Special Collections
Mt. St. Mary's College & Seminary
Emmitsburg, MD
301/447-5397
rfitzger@msmary.edu


-----Original Message-----
From:   Holly Hodges
Sent:   Thu 3/29/2001 9:04 PM
To:     ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Cc:	
Subject:             What do you say? esp for C&U archivists

On this list SPAM is just Satyrically Prosaic Archival Material.  (No, I
did
not misspell satirical, I meant satyrical, so look it up...)

Apologies, but my sense of humour is out of sorts.  (After four days of
stomach flu my sister brought me--cold pizza?)

-----------------------
FWIW, on another list, a researcher described frustrations with one of
those
occasions all C&U archivists know so well.  It starts with a simple
request
for Mr. X's graduation photo, year 1901, from your institution.  The
request
is from Mr. X's grandson whom your boss has near the top of the "hit up
for
dollars" list.  He's a chatty type and would love more information about
Mr.
X.  Alas, Mr. X flunked out in 1901.  But you do have a record that he
tried
again (in 1904), and failed yet again.*

I'll tell how I handled it if others will relate similar experiences
first.
(okay, I'm in an "I dare you.." mood!)

Holly Hodges

*names and dates changed to protect the embarrassed...

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