Final Blog Entry

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Hello Everyone, 

Today is my last blog entry and the day of my culminating
CCEPS presentation. My presentation was an introduction to the Woman’s Club of
Claremont, showcasing some of the interesting items in the collection, and a
summary of my experience processing the collection. I have managed to get the
original 27 boxes processed into 19 organized boxes of folders that will
hopefully enable future researchers to easily access any materials they may be
looking for in the collection. I have a great sense of accomplishment, and my
experience with the CCEPS fellowship taught me many valuable skills I can take
with me into the future, but it also allowed me the opportunity to informally
meet the wonderful ladies of the Woman’s Club of Claremont. Enjoy your weekend
everyone!

“California Sorrows”

Hello everybody!

This week something exciting happened. While I was going through one of the “miscellany” folders, I found a wonderful poem about T.S. Eliot and Emily Hale’s time in Claremont. 
The following is my favorite part of the poem: “Eliot wished to ride with Emily Hale / east in her little roadster / across a scrubby desert / to a hamburger place called the In and Out / that became famous with the poets.” How funny is it to imagine THE T.S. Eliot at In n Out? 
It’s written by Mary Kinzie and I became curious to know her connection to the poets and Claremont. So I wrote to her. She responded back within minutes: “My source for information about Eliot and Emily Hale is the Eliot biography by Lyndall Gordon. I wrote parts of this sequence when I was visiting my daughter who was then attending CMC.” 
I hope to invite her to the Athenaeum to speak about her poem!
Here’s the full link to her poem if anyone’s interested: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20607437?seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
Thanks for reading!
Warmly,
Zoey 

Almost to the Finish Line

Hello Everyone, 

I can’t
believe 
my time at CCEPS is almost over, next week will be my last.
I am so close to being finished with my goals for this project! I am almost
done with the basics of the finding aid. I have been able to work on condensing
the boxes down even further and will continue to work on it next Tuesday. My
goal is to get it all done by next Thursday and be ready for my CCEPS project
presentation by next Friday. Wish me luck!

Photo Albums

Last week I finally finished working on the scattered photographs and moved on to the much easier task of processing the photo albums. As I will be traveling to Hong Kong during the reading days, this is the last week I am working as a CCEPS fellow this semester. I will resume archiving when I return to Claremont in late August. 

The photo albums mostly contain old photos that Norman Yao took in British Hong Kong, some for the US Information Service and others of his own interest. Norman documented many local events such as Zhang Daqian’s (1899 – 1983) visit to an art exhibition, the catastrophic 1952 fire in Kowloon, and industrial exhibitions of native goods. A number of these photos were published in local newspapers as they showcase Hong Kong’s search for identity as a one of the last Asian colonies in the postwar era. 

There is also a particular discourse among Norman’s photo albums. The albums usually begin with a photo of Norman with his camera, and they proceed with a few auspicious photos, usually eagles or Chinese junks. Then Norman would include a few photos of his beloved wife, Anne Yao, before the actually contents begin. 

Have a good weekend! 

Marcus


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Chinese sailor on a British ship, c. 1954


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Anne Yao in Hong Kong, c. 1953

Archive Space

Hello all,

Last week I started uploading the files to Archive Space! I still need to do the item by item for each file. This week I will be starting Omeka and start preparing for the presentation I will give! My presentation will be on T.S. Eliot, the Claremont Connection. I can’t wait to see what you all have been working on as well.

April 20th, 2018

Hello All!

Today Hazel and I finished all of the file verification for all of the Frankish Letters Book II! I am very excited about this and proud of us! Over the next couple of weeks hopefully we will start working on converting the PDF’s to PDF a1b and even a little meta data.

Until Next Week!
Sydney

The Finding Aid is Coming Together

Hello Everyone, I have managed to get quite a bit done this week. I have completed entering all the note headings into ArchiveSpace and transferred the series scope and content notes into them.

I am working on the biographical history of the Woman’s Club of Claremont to enter into ArchiveSpace and hope to have it completed by next Tuesday. In researching the Club’s history for the narrative, I came across some interesting information. The women first purchased their clubhouse, known as the Elegant Lady, in 1925 through fundraising efforts, donations from the townspeople of the city of Claremont, and a loan procured from Claremont First National Bank. Twenty-five years later the women celebrated their silver anniversary by having a grand jubilee which culminated with the original Club President Mrs. Hill and the then President Mrs. Kennard burning the paid-in-full mortgage.

The event was recorded in the local newspaper and a toast and response was recited at the celebration commemorating the club, and the original thirteen members that brought the dream of the Woman’s Club of Claremont into reality. Take a look at the images below.

Have a great weekend!

My Favorite Photos

Hi Everyone! 

Last week I finally finished processing the majority of the collection. Hopefully I can finish the remaining of the collection this week. As I went through the photos yet again, I found a few that I especially appreciate. So here a few of my favorite photos: 


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The doctor seems to be pleasantly surprised that the child has a heartbeat. I really appreciate the humor. 

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The bride looks genuinely happy in this picture, and I hope she has(d) a good marriage. 

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United States Post Office really did not change at all since the mid-1960s, when this photo was taken. I just went there this morning to send my tax forms to the Department of Treasury. 

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As a cat lover, I would most certainly include a cat. This casual yet adorable sketch of a elegant cat is by renowned English-American sculptor Albert Stewart (1900 – 1965) who was appointed the head of sculpture program at Scripps College in 1939. If one looks closely, one can find his works all around the Claremont area (Pomona College, Scripps College, Community Church, United Church, Padua Hills Theatre). 


Hope you have a good week! 


Marcus

Blog post for first week of April

Hello everyone, 

I realized I never uploaded my blog post for the first week of April. I apologize and here is my belated post:
Happy April! April is a special month for this CCEPS fellow because it’s practically T.S. Eliot’s month… One of Eliot’s most famous poem, “The Waste Land,” begins with “April is the cruellest month.” 
Here is a little excerpt: 
“April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers.”
This week, I just worked on disposing old files and moving the materials to new folders. Nothing too exciting but productive. 

From Old Possum

Hello everyone, 

I finished reboxing the collection and arranging them alphabetically! 
This week I found T.S. Eliot’s drafts of “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” The musical “Cats” is based on this book. Eliot had sent initial drafts to Emily Hale. It reads “for Miss Emily Hale, this not quite final text from Old Possum.” I love that he signed it not as from “T.S. Eliot” but from “Old Possum.” Next week, I want to compare this original text to the final version and see what changes were made. 
Thanks for reading!
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