[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

the present intrudes upon the past



Colleagues:
        Just ran across this information that you might find of interest. I
am processing material from  the Federal Writer's Project (WPA) related to
compiling county histories of Arkansas. About 1937 a lady named Velma E.
Sample was hired to collect information about the history of Mississippi
Co., AR. This county in is the northeast part of the state, bordering the
Mississippi River. When she arrived the area was in the middle of a major
Mississippi River flood.  One of here jobs was to visit and interview
"pioneer settlers". In desperation she wrote to her supervisor in Little
Rock: "I know  you want me to interview pioneer setters in person but under
[the present] conditions they will not talk to me. All I can get people to
talk about is flood conditions and we [ the WPA workers] are warned to stay
off the roads".  In some ways this reminds me of the past two weeks. Present
events do color our collecting and preserving of the past.

Russell P. Baker, CA
Arkansas History Commission and State Archives
One Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-682-6900
russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us <mailto:russell.baker@mail.state.ar.us>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>