To be completely truthful, I was not extremely excited when faced with the task of transcribing meeting minutes. I knew that it had some historical significance, and I do believe that making historical documents accessible is a fantastic project, but I thought it would be a mindless activity. I had done some transcription of files for a summer job, and it was absolutely soul-sucking. However, as I began to read the minutes from the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore, I became fascinated with their activities.
Some of the most fascinating minutes I have transcribed thus far came from the 78th meeting. This meeting was noted to be directed by the Committee on Fiction, so I expected the minutes to include short stories or excerpts from novels written by club members. Instead, the first work presented was actually a presentation on scientific hypotheses. Mrs. Fabian Franklin presented an article titled “The Sensation of Color,” explaining the different ideas about sensation and perception of light and color. What was most interesting was what the secretary recorded about Mrs. Franklin’s presentation: “Mrs. Franklin advanced to a new theory of her own, differing from those mentioned,– and supported it with skill and ability.” This line, though short, absolutely astonished me. I had not expected to read that the women in a literary club were presenting their own original scientific theories! I wish the secretary had included more information about the theory, besides saying that it was well presented. I can only hope that this theory was published and will be recovered by one of my classmates as we continue on with this project. Otherwise, her ideas will be lost in history.
In transcribing minute meetings, it is easy to get lost in the technicalities of accurate replication, distracting one from content that seems, at times, mundane. However, in my transcription of the 805th Meeting of the Women’s Literary Club of Baltimore held on October 27th 1914, a sentiment was put forth that piqued my interest. The meeting was conducted by the committee on poetry, led by chairman Miss Lizette Woodworth Reese, who began by reading a poem entitled “Ghosts.” However, it was not Miss Reese that brought forth this reflection, but a musing from the secretary herself that caught my eye. She wrote, “Every house where men live and die is haunted. The house not made with hands is the one we really live in. This is the modern touch, taking the place of cruder apparitions of earlier times. Our ghosts have been turned inward.”
I was immediately struck because, unlike other minutes I had encountered, the minute keeper was not simply relaying the conversation of the group, but weighing in herself. She was so moved by the topic of ghosts and apparitions that she felt it necessary to document her thoughts. It is clear that the “house not made with hands” she is referring to is the kingdom of God, quoting from 2 Corinthians 5:1. It is a religious sentiment, but perhaps a social commentary too. These minutes were taken in October of 1914, shortly after the beginning of the first world war, a time in history when the world faced the grim reality of brutal intercontinental conflict, and Americans feared their nation’s entry into the war. Death was no longer a topic easily ignored, but one in the forefront of civilian minds. Perhaps the minute keeper’s words were just a belief that religion had taken precedent over old-fashioned superstition, but maybe she was instead struck by the reality that war was raging and death looming, finding solace in her divine belief in heaven.
With many topics that arise in the minutes and histories of women literary clubs, the theme of culture runs deep. In the minutes of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore from October 7, 1902 the members announced courses offered in art and then played music and sang. The following week, the meeting of October 14, 1902, was much more packed. Not only had a couple members discussed their newly published books, but also current events.
Much attention was paid to what was occurring within the country, the United State’s impact elsewhere and other countries’ histories. For example there was mention of the Coal Miner’s strike in the US, which then led to conversation about miner strikes in both France and England. Debate over the Panama and Nicaragua Canals, the relationship between the US and President Diaz, and the history of France, Germany and England in that area. Roosevelt, Cuba and the Prince of Siam were also brought up. There is no limitation to the US or Europe, but an intrigue in countries spread across the world.
The women of this era were so interested and invested in being as knowledgeable as possible. Gere makes the point in her novel Intimate Practices that by a woman “acknowledging her own background, she nods toward international travel and the reading of literature as vehicles for achieving the desired cultivation” (182). During these minutes, the President Mrs. J. C. Wrenshall, was abroad. And in the minutes from October 14th after discussion of current events, the conversation returned to the best selling novel of the month and the growth of newspapers. No matter the subject of conversation, these women move around numerous topics, giving thought out and knowledgeable opinions. There is an evident strive to improve themselves individually, but also raise each other up by sharing literature the knowledge.
This past Friday, September 29th, Dr. Cole and I attended the Bmore Historic Unconference at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The Unconference’s mission is dedicated to “people who care about public history and historic preservation in and around Baltimore.” The group of people who fit this description and attended the unconference covered a wide range of ages and professions. I had never heard of an ‘unconference’ before, and the democratic system behind it was very interesting. Any participant could propose their own session and pitch it to all the other attendees at the start of the conference. Then, everyone had the chance to vote for whichever proposed sessions they were most interested in, and based on the results of the voting process, the conference organizers and leaders set up the session schedule that included the most voted-for programming. Each session also designated a note-taker, so the information discussed in each could be shared with all the attendees.
The main hall where the Unconference was held. Image from the Baltimore Museum of Industry’s website: http://www.thebmi.org/exhibitions-collections/permanent-exhibitions/
Dr. Cole proposed the session we wanted to give: “Scripto Transcription Session: Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore (1890-1920),” and it made it onto the schedule! Our initial plan was to spend the first few minutes of the 50-minute session giving an overview of the Aperio project, what we accomplished and learned over the summer, and our goals for the project moving forward. Then, we wanted to have attendees try their hand at transcribing a file containing some WLCB meeting minutes through the Scripto plugin on our Omeka site. Unfortunately, technical issues with the museum’s wifi made it difficult for everyone to do this, and we ended up talking a lot more about the details of the WLCB and the project than we had initially planned. Luckily, the people who came to our session were interested in more than just the process of transcription—we got a lot of great questions regarding the goals, demographics, and inner workings of the Club itself! Despite the internet issues, we were able to get people up and running and transcribing for us, and questions and discussion regarding the Club continued throughout this process.
A photo from the Bmore Unconference’s twitter (@bmorehistoric) of the transcription session we gave!
We also attended a very useful session right before ours about easy digital mapping techniques with Google Maps that will prove relevant in our own digital endeavors as we map Club members’ addresses over time. The final session we attended was an interesting discussion on how to best go about (if there is a ‘best way’) memorializing the sites in Maryland where lynchings occurred. There were also a myriad of other sessions we were unable to attend, covering topics including the recent removal of Baltimore’s Confederate monuments, Civil War history in general, Baltimore neighborhoods and their history, and museum and archival strategies. Overall, the Unconference was a fascinating experience! We got to share our own research and learn a great deal about others’ as well.
The intrepid Summer 2017 Aperio team celebrated in style last Tuesday, commemorating the regular meeting day for the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore with a cold (but very classy) supper of relishes, salmon in aspic, a salad, chocolate and raspberry pie, and a cheese plate adorned with fresh figs and almonds. Chin-chin!
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What did we accomplish? Over 10 weeks this summer:
1700 pages of minutes transcribed
5 notebooks of membership dues and lists, covering the entire 30 years of club existence, deciphered and organized into a spreadsheet showing who belonged when and where they lived;
650+ programs (of ~1000) transcribed and entered into spreadsheet;
Domiciles of members from 1890-1895 plotted onto a huge 7’ x 7’ map recreated from the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps;
42 blog posts, ranging from a few hundred to 2000 words each
A partial map of Baltimore in 1901, affectionately known as the “Big Ass Map.” For scale, the red thing in the lower part of the image is a computer mouse, placed at the Washington Monument. All the little red-orange dots are locations of members’ residences. I had to cut the map in two (down Charles St.) in order to get it into my car (rolled up).
It’s quite a body of work. But I won’t lie– we were a bit dismayed when we realized how much work is left to be done.
For one thing, we need to organize and put into a reasonably readable form all of the transcriptions we compiled this summer. For another, we need to make these documents accessible to the spring 2018 class that will be reading, editing, and analyzing these documents. Luckily, Clara will be doing an independent study with me this fall to do just that!
But the biggest body of work is to transcribe the remaining minutes— about 2400 pages’ worth. Based on the rate at which the team members were able to transcribe this summer (3 of the 5 team members spent the majority of their time transcribing minutes, while two focused on programs and the membership logs), we have somewhere in the neighborhood of another 800 hours of transcription left to go. If we can divvy up this labor among more hands, it will go faster.
Luckily, Friends School has come to the rescue! During both the fall and spring semesters, history teacher Josh Carlin’s senior seminar will be joining the team, transcribing documents and (I hope) continuing to blog about their discoveries. Clara, Hunter, and I met Elizabeth, Alex, and Sanny at Friends School last week and they have already started transcribing. We’ve created a special transcription site (https://loyolanotredamelib.org/Aperio/WLCB/)where you can see what the minutes actually look like– as well as some of the finished transcriptions. We’ll be continuing to populate the site throughout the year with more things to transcribe and more completed transcriptions. And if you’d like to join us in this, let us know and we can add you to the team.
Hunter, Clara, & I met Sanny (pictured), Elizabeth, & Alex, our fall transcribers, at Friends School last week. They’re all in Josh Carlin’s senior seminar on archival transcription.
We are planning a crowd-transcription session at the Bmore Historic Unconference on Friday, Sept. 29. We’ll probably be there during at least the morning sessions if not all day. If you’re interested in Baltimore history, historic preservation, or museums, you should come. We’d love to see you there!
