Lara: Thursday, June 29

While I love archives, and esteem them as a treasure trove of information, there are always points in research where the discoveries plateau. I feel like I am at this stage, and it is very frustrating.

Today, I switched between reviewing the Sierra Leone Expedition files and returning to files I had previously marked for scanning in the African Section Collection Boxes. I realized very quickly that the Sierra Leone Expedition files had been tagged already for scanning, and assumed Dr. Zuberi had already found documents of interest. In an effort not to potentially affect which documents had or had not been tagged, I moved back to scanning (on my phone) the files I had tagged earlier in the month. Now that I have a greater understanding of the history of the collections and the vision for the curatorial narrative, I was able to cull documents I thought, previously, were significant. However, combing back through the folders I had already searched through made the day, I must admit, feel rather unproductive. There is nothing worse than looking through sheet after sheet of frayed yellow paper and realizing that the information held within them was useless to the present question. 

The anticipation of unpacking pertinent information, though, is always a motivator to trudge forward folder after folder. At the moment I am in the process of attempting to gather biographical information on individuals whose objects are reflected within the object lists, but so far, are not reflected in the collection files i.e. Florence Whitney and a Mrs. Morgan Wing. Whether their stories will be deal breaking for the curatorial narrative is unclear (especially considering the sheer volume of material acquisition by Umlauff in the exhibition), but its worth a shot to see if more information about these individuals can be found in the archives or online. 

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