Author: pit-sydneyw

Hello All!

This is my last week as a fellow. This week I learned how to convert files to PDF-A1b and meta-data. Both tasks are relatively tedious, but very important to the archival process. As I reflect on my time as a fellow I am glad that I was able to work here for the semester. I learned a lot about working in special collections, learned some skills, and read several letters from Charles Frankish.

Thanks for a great semester!
Sydney

Hello All!

This week I continued working on verifying files and renaming the verified files to ont file names. While verifying the files I have had the opportunity to read a few more of the letters and while reading them I have been trying to determine what Charles Frankish’s role in the community was. Thus far, I have learned that he sold items to people in the community including rubber packaging, Gas Cox and Hose Valves. I am not sure what these items were used for, but I know that he helped people get them!

This week I have also been working very closely with Hazel (another fellow who is also working on the Frankish Letters Book II). The work has been going well and I am proud of the progress that we have made!  I have really enjoyed collaborating with Hazel on the book because I am able to discuss the progress with her and I feel like we work more efficiently together!

Until next time,
Sydney

Hello All,

This week I continued working with the Frankish Letters Book verifying the file transcripts and scans. I am currently working on the letters that were written in August 1887.

After reading several of the Frankish letters, I have noticed that Charles Frankish often corresponded with the same people over a long period of time. I have also noticed that he addresses different people with different greetings. For some people he says “My Dear Sir” or just “Dear Sir”. I wonder if he addresses people that he is closer to with “My”. I also noticed that some of the letters he writes go all the way to Kansas, I found it very interesting that he had business with people so far away!

I am looking forward to continuing to read the letters next week.

All the best,
Sydney

Hello Everyone,

This week I worked on verifying that the transcripts of the Frankish Letters Book 2 match the correlating scans, and I am happy to report that they do!

While I have been working on this, I have found myself reflecting on the intricacy of the penmanship of the letters. The handwriting is very beautiful and artistic.

Until Next Time,
Sydney

This week I continued scanning Frankish Letters Book 2. I am just over half way through scanning the book. I am very excited about this, and I think I might finish scanning the book by April!

This week I scanned letters from July and I noticed that Charles Frankish wrote less letters in July than in June. I find this very interesting and I wonder if it is because on average more business was conducted in June than July. Hopefully as I continue to read the letters I will find out.

More Next Week,
Sydney

Hello Everyone!

Hi All,

This week I worked on scanning pages and matching the transcripts to Frankish Letters Book 2. This week I also had the opportunity to read some of the letters! Charles Frankish wrote many letters a day, and I have noticed that he regularly writes to the same people. I think it is very interesting that these letters can help us better understand the business relationships that Charles had. I am excited to see the other people Charles worked with.

More next week,
Sydney

Hi all,

This week I broke apart transcripts from the Frankish letters book three and then started scanning the Frankish letters book two. As I broke apart the PDFs and scanned the letters I was surprised by the daily number of letters that Charles Frankish wrote. Some days he wrote twenty! I have also been thinking about the fact that before Charles was able to send the letters he wrote, someone had to transcribe them into a bound book for record keeping. It is making me feel very thankful for email!

Looking forward to next week,
Sydney

This week was my first week working as a CLIR CCEPS fellow. I am very excited to work with and learn at Special Collections this semester. This week I have been exporting individual pages from transcripts of the Frankish Letters Book Two. As I exported the pages, I thought about the diligence put into writing, binding, and transcribing the letters. I am excited that soon they will become a public resource for researchers to use. I am sure they produce something equally as impressive as the letters themselves. Looking forward to what next week will hold.

Best,
Sydney