Where are Those Materials? Creating a Digital Collection

Posted on May 17, 2013 by fernandn

A reflection of my current project: The creation of an online exhibit for the Bobbie Nunn and Robert Ford Collection

I can’t say I remember a time when there was no internet. I was born right around the time that the World Wide Web was invented and implemented, which has officially made me a kid of the Information Age. While growing up, I have had the luxury of curing my boredom by “surfing the web” and having Google answer any question I have within .45 seconds (I just typed  Why OSU? into the Google search bar and it kindly rewarded me with “7,190,000 results 0.37 seconds”). The technological advances during the Information Age have led to an increase in both information sharing and information storage, which has created an interesting situation for me this term at the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

During the fall term, the OMA acquired a collection of materials consisting of newspapers, photo albums, letters, books, and magazines pertaining to the Nunn Family, a prominent African American family in Portland. The plan for the collection was to process it, create a finding aid, scan all of the materials, design an online exhibit, and then give it back to the donor. Therefore, after everything is complete, the OMA would be left with a collection that was solely digital. Returning a physical collection as per the donor’s wishes and instead, having a collection that is solely digital may seem uncharacteristic of an archive, however, having the ability to scan materials and share them on the Web is an amazing opportunity that provides extensive access to the collection. And, as with any digital collection, it means that people who are conducting research across the country can use our digital resources even if they can’t make the trip here.

Making history more accessible to a wider audience has always been a mission of mine, but this term I began questioning my project of creating a digital collection. How do I choose what gets digitized? Should I digitize everything? What if I chose not to digitize something and it could have been helpful to someone’s research? I quickly realized that having a collection that will only be digital takes more thought and planning than I ever realized. Even though we have developed a wonderful relationship with the donor, the OMA will not have the collection once we return it. Not having access to the collection means that the material I choose to digitize or do not choose to digitize will be important. The materials that are in the collection will dictate who will be interested in the collection, who will use the collection and how the materials will be used. Last week, after a considerable amount of thought, I came to the conclusion that just as I would have weeded (archives jargon for “removed”) certain materials from a physical collection, I should let the story within the collection guide me to decide what materials should be digitized. Sometimes it is difficult for me to remove materials from a collection, but I think that if I keep in mind the story that the collection is trying to tell, I will be able to create a digital collection that represents the entirety of the physical collection.

And so, over the course of these next few weeks, I will continue working on the creation of the online exhibit and will of course post again soon!

~ Until next time, Hannah Mahoney (OMA student worker)

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The OMA at NWA 2013

Posted on May 9, 2013 by fernandn

AABC and NWA Conference 2013

The OMA was busy at this year’s AABC/NWA conference! Earlier this month the Archives Association of British Columbia (AABC) and the Northwest Archivists (NWA) held a joint conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the OMA participated in three sessions:

Session 1: Roundtable: “Prescripts and Postscripts: Connecting Theatre Companies and Archives in the Pacific Northwest” ~ In this session the OMA shared information regarding the Miracle Theatre Project; intern Mike Dicianna presented. Helice Koffler of the University of Washington was the session moderator and she discussed the American Theatre Archives Project as well as the Seattle Theatre Archives guide. Other presenters included theatre researchers, Renée Bucciarelli, City Stage New West, and Ken McIntosh, co-author of Burning Up the Infield.

Click here for access to the Presentation about the OMA and the Miracle Theatre Group

Session 2: Panel: “The Oregon Tribal Archives Institute: Providing a Professional Development and Networking Opportunity for Oregon’s Tribal Communities” ~ The OMA has blogged quite a bit about this project and for the first time was able to share it on a  regional level! The OMA presented on its role within the project the other presenters included  David Lewis, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; Jennifer O’Neal, University of Oregon; and Larry Landis, Oregon State University. More information is located on the OTAI Project Website

Click here for access to the OTAI Presentation

Session 3: Roundtable:  NWA’s Native American Collections Roundtable ~ The NWA-NAC roundtable was first conceived at the 2012 NWA Conference during the session, “The Protocols for Native American Archival Materials.” NWA-NAC Roundtable members, including the OMA, shared the history and progress made to create the roundtable; discussed the bylaws; and brainstormed topics for the NWA-NAC blog and future projects. The Roundtable Moderator was Mariecris Gatlabayan, University of Alaska Anchorage. Be sure to check out the NWA-NACR website for more information.

Conference Highlight:

Kim Christen, Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies and Director of Digital Projects at the Plateau Center for American Indian Studies at Washington State University, gave a great keynote address “Relationships not Records: Connecting Communities and Collections.” Christen’s ongoing work explores the intersections of cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, intellectual property rights, the ethics of openness, and the use of digital technologies in and by indigenous communities globally.

Click here for the Full Conference Program (PDF)

Next up for the OMA during conference season is two upcoming presentations at the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums, in New Mexico this June! 

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“The Fall of ’41: Students of Japanese Descent at Oregon State College”

Posted on May 1, 2013 by fernandn

In celebration of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Oregon Multicultural Archives presents the display “The Fall of ’41: Students of Japanese Descent at Oregon State College”

Beginning with an overview of the Japanese immigration to Oregon, the display largely chronicles the campus reaction, both the students and the administration, in the months  after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and concludes decades later with the honorary degrees awarded to the Japanese students in 2008.

If you are interested in learning more, all of the documents and photographs within the OMA collections pertaining to the events have been digitized and are available online, see the blog post: OSU’s Japanese American Students During WWII

The Flickr collection of the display showcases the photographs of many of the students enrolled at OSC during 1941-1942.

 Display Information:

Dates: May-June 2013
Location: OSU Valley Library, 5th Floor across from the main elevators
Exhibit Curation and Design: Hannah Mahoney, OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center Student Worker

Special Thanks: The exhibit includes photographs from the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (ONLC) in Portland, Oregon. We were lucky to have the opportunity to work with the ONLC on this exhibit to gain a better understanding of the Japanese American population in Oregon.

Want to learn more? Contact Oregon Multicultural Librarian Natalia Fernández at natalia.fernandez@oregonstate.edu

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Minorities in the Barometer, the 1960s

Posted on April 16, 2013 by fernandn

Microfilm Boxes Containing the 1960’s Barometer

Last year the OMA began a project to search through The Daily Barometer (day-by-day) to find as many minority issues/multicultural related articles as possible, scan them, and make them available online. We started with the 1970s and just completed the 1960s!

Minorities in the Barometer Online Collection

The Daily Barometer, OSU’s student newspaper is a fantastic source of information regarding special events and campus controversies as well as a great way to get a sense of the general atmosphere on campus from the student perspective. The archives has copies of the Barometer dating back to the early 1900s both in print, in large bound editions, as well as on microfilm, which can be viewed via specialized equipment.

This project will continue, decade by decade, and we will be sure to post about it when we make another decade worth of articles available!

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Oral History Interview Regarding Colegio César Chávez

Posted on April 9, 2013 by fernandn

Colegio César Chávez advertisement, Silverton-Appeal Tribune–Mt. Angel, Sept. 1980 (Andrew Parodi on left)

Several years ago Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo shared a part of their lives with the OMA through their donation of a collection of materials pertaining to the Colegio César Chávez.

As the first and only independent Chicano-oriented and managed four-year college to emerge in the nation, Colegio César Chávez occupies an unparalleled place in Chicano history. Andrew and Karen were a part of that history; they lived at the Colegio from 1980-1982. Arthur Olivo, Karen’s husband was a student at the Colegio as well as the campus groundskeeper. For more information about the collection, be sure to view the collection’s finding aid: Colegio César Chávez Collection 

Last year, Andrew and Karen again shared their lives with the OMA, this time through an oral history interview. In the interview, Olivo and Parodi begin by chronicling Karen’s early life and her time spent living in Alaska. They continue by discussing how Karen met Arthur Olivo, her future husband, while attending De Anza Community College; Arthur’s work at Center for Employment Training in central California; and how Arthur and Karen began their relationship. The bulk of the interview begins when they explain Arthur’s decision to move to Oregon. During this part of the interview they detail their time working and living at Colegio César Chávez in Mount Angel, Oregon. They discuss the physical grounds of the college; the people they interacted with while they were there; events at the college; ethnic discrimination they endured; and the politics behind the closing of the college. Throughout the interview the two discuss aspects of Mexican culture and the family structure of the culture. They conclude by explaining the end of Arthur’s life and how having him in their life impacted them.

Interview Information

Title: Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo – Oral History Interview
Date: July 23, 2012
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Length: 02:26:43
Interviewees: Andrew Parodi and Karen Olivo
Interviewer: Natalia Fernández
Transcriber: Hannah Mahoney

Interviewee Brief Biographies

Andrew Parodi (b.1975) was born in Mountain View, California. He is the son of Karen Olivo and the stepson of Arthur Olivo. He lived at Colegio César Chávez with Karen and Arthur from 1980 – 1982. He attended Western Oregon University.

Karen Olivo (b. 1939) is the widow of Colegio César Chávez student and groundskeeper, Arthur Olivo. Born in Chicago, at age 6 her family moved to Anchorage, Alaska to Yakutat where she lived with the Tlinget indigenous people. In 1977 while living in Sunnyvale, California and attending De Anza Community College, she met Arthur Olivo. Arthur was a teacher for the Center for Employment Training. When he was offered a job in Tigard, Oregon in 1979, Karen and her youngest son Andrew moved from Sunnyvale, California to Oregon with Arthur. In the Fall of 1980 Arthur enrolled at Colegio César Chávez and was also the college’s groundskeeper. Karen, Arthur and Andrew lived on the property of Colegio César Chávez until they were asked to vacate in 1982.  Karen has lived in Gervais, Oregon, since 1983. She has volunteered for nearly a decade with the Foster Grandparents organization as a “Grandparent” at the Western Oregon University Day Care Center and the Jensen Arctic Museum.

Interview Transcript and Interview Audio

For more information about the Colegio’s history, read the book Sonny Montes and Mexican American Activism by  Glenn Anthony May

 Also, check out two digitized items from the Colegio César Chávez collection:
Colegio Catalog, 1978-1979
Colegio Newspaper Advertisement, 1980

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Thoughts on Theatre Archives Organization

Posted on March 11, 2013 by fernandn

Unorganized File Box

After spending some quality time with the Miracle Theatre Group’s archives, I have already developed some ideas on how to arrange this substantial collection.  After thirty years of accumulation, the miracle of the Miracle Theatre archives is their completeness and organization. Theatre folk are not normally known for their organizational skills, artistic, left brain types seldom are. However, these boxes and binders of theatre history actually lend themselves to an organized structure or “arrangement”, in archivists’ terms.

Archival collections are broken up into series and sub-series, think…”outline”.  The Miracle Theatre records generally fall into three main categories:

Accounting, Promotional, and Production Materials

      Series I:  Theater Operations and Finances

  Series II:  Productions (Theatrical Seasons)

            Series III:  Promotional Materials

Within these groupings are natural sub-series. Boxes of financial records and three-ring binders containing ledgers, grant applications and old receipts/bills. Records of the daily operations of a theatre group can be just as important to a researcher as play scripts or promotional photographs. This inventory of the Miracle Theatre Group has also shown that keeping absolutely everything is not the best practice.  Thirteen year old phone bills are well past the records retention date and should be purged from the boxes. A reduction of probably 1/3 of the original volume of accounting records will be achieved by using best practices of Records Management.

Records Management Examples

The Miracle Theatre has a long history of productions, community workshops and outreach. This involvement is well represented in the collection with various forms of media.   Posters, programs, photographs (of all types) and other ephemera have been gathered over the years and placed in storage. These items are of historical importance to the theater as well as the Latino/a community.  Sub-series within these topics will be arranged based on the Miracle Theatre’s yearly seasons. Playbills, tickets, and programs are currently stored in Zip-lock bags by season. Additionally, there are files of production materials such as budgets, lighting plans, costume designs, and artwork for these plays that still need to be inventoried.

This project began as an initial inventory of the Miracle Theatre Archives.  It has evolved into a lesson in arrangement and description, even before this process has officially started.

~ Mike Dicianna, Miracle Theatre Group Archives Project Intern

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American Theatre Archive Project Presentation at Miracle Theatre

Posted on March 5, 2013 by fernandn

Helice Koffler, Rachel Kinsman Steck, and Jeff Katz of the Northwest Region of ATAP

On Thursday, February 28th, the OMA’s Miracle Theatre Project participated in a meeting of local Portland, Oregon arts groups featuring the American Theatre Archive Project (ATAP).  Helice Koffler, Rachel Kinsman Steck, and Jeff Katz of the Northwest Region of ATAP gave presentations about the importance of preserving theatre history.  Every theatre group has some type of archive, either organized or accumulated.  It is of historical importance for these groups to get a handle on their volumes of records, ephemera, and production materials.

Examples of Various Forms of Media Found in a Theatre Archives

To illustrate just how theatre archives can be managed, I put together a display of Miracle Theatre materials.  I arranged some of the theatre’s archival holdings along with the proper archival storage and organizational materials.  Different forms of media, such as video, CD/DVD, photographs, and floppy discs were used to highlight the need to preserve productions for the future.  Good records management practices were also stressed.  A records retention schedule for items like financial records can thin out the bulk of many stockpiles of theatre papers.  A sign with “Do we really need to keep thirteen year old phone bills?” helped to drive home this concept.  The representatives of the Portland theatre community learned that setting up an archival program has many benefits.

ATAP Meeting Group

ATAP’s Helice Koffler presentation included information about the national program and its history, as well as efforts underway in the Pacific Northwest.  Jeff Katz introduced the ideas that not only are physical archives important to establish, but gathering oral histories of important theatre founders is equally imperative.  Rachel Steck showed how theatres can have an online archive, possibly including videos, interviews or photographs.  OMA Archivist Natalia Fernández spoke of the relationship we are developing with José Gonzalez and the Miracle Theatre Group.  She emphasized that organizations such as the OMA can provide expertise, collection storage, and arrangement assistance.

I felt that the ATAP meeting was very successful.  The OMA Miracle Theatre Project was well represented and proved to be a model that other theatrical groups can emulate.  The theatre groups in attendance learned the importance of comprehensive archive programs to preserve the history of the arts in Portland, Oregon.

~ Mike Dicianna, Miracle Theatre Group Archives Project Intern 

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RG 248 Centro Cultural César Chávez

Posted on February 24, 2013 by fernandn

The collection RG 248 Centro Cultural César Chávez (4Cs) is now available!

The 4Cs was established at OSU in the 1970s to provide a location and facility for various academic, cultural, recreational, and social events related to Chicano/Latino/Hispanic culture. The 4Cs is managed by the office of Diversity Development, a unit of Intercultural Student Services. For more about the history of the 4Cs check out the blog post A History of the Precursors to the 4Cs, the 1970s. And, 4Cs is in the process of getting a brand new building and on November 1, 2012, OSU held a groundbreaking ceremony.

The RG 248 4Cs collection includes 16 photo albums that represent 20 years of the 4Cs’s history. All of the albums have been digitized and the physical albums remain at the 4Cs.

The 4Cs Photo Albums

Album 1, circa early 1990s
Events and Activities depicted: Various dinners and dances, a Teatro Mestizo performance, a boat trip, the building of the 4Cs’s deck, various gatherings at and within the 4Cs, and the event Noche Bohemia “El Encuentro de Dos Mundos / The Encounter of Two Worlds” on January 31, 1992. Also Included: 4Cs staff circa early 1990s.

Album 2, circa 1990-1995
Events and Activities depicted: 4Cs staff posing by the new 4Cs sign, dance and guitar performances, and various gatherings at and within the 4Cs.

Album 3, 1991-1994
Events and Activities depicted: Retreat to Otter Crest, 1991-1992; camping in Madras, 1992; retreat to the Coast, 1993; Cinco de Mayo, 1991-1992; ski retreat, 1992-1993; Bohemia Night “How to Build a Nation in Indigenous Ways” 1993; cooking for Hispanic Month, 1993; Cinco de Mayo, 1992-1993; MEChA conference in Portland, 1993; camping, 1993; summer EOP freshman, 1993-1994; Fall Cultural Centers Open House, 1993-1994.

Album 4, 1994-1995
Events and Activities depicted: Student Activities Fair; first Hispanic Student Association (HSU) meeting of 1994-1995; first fundraiser – Bolivian Sweater Sale, October 1994; Condor music concert; Hispanic Night – display in the MU East, ticket sales, practice, cooking, decorations and set up, serving food, dancing; HSU Thank You meeting, February 1995; protest / march regarding immigration; and various unspecified gatherings.

Album 5, 1997-1998
Events and Activities depicted: Document with 4Cs’s mission statement, brief history, and services provided; page one of the 4Cs’s newsletter El Mensajero issue 1, October 1997; Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) altars; images of the 4Cs, the  house; page one of El Mensajero issue 2, January 1998; Día del Amor y la Amistad (Valentine’s Day) preparation and celebration; El Mensajero Spring issue, April 1998; volleyball game; and various unspecified gatherings.

Album 6, 1998
Events and Activities depicted: “The Fight in the Fields” A Tribute to César Chávez, Thursday April 23, 1998 – this album contains various items all regarding the tribute to César Chávez event, items include: a brief biography of Chávez; an event flyer; a flyer for the Dolores Huerta lecture; an event brochure; newspaper clippings, promotion for and reflection of the event; page one of the 4Cs’s newsletter El Mensajero Spring issue, April 1998; an event ticket; photos of the event preparation, speakers, and location; and a “congratulations to the 4Cs” note written by OSU Professor Erlinda Gonzales-Berry.

Album 7, 2000
Events and Activities depicted: The Kick Off BBQ, June; Summer Outdoor Olympics, July; All Cultural Center Garage Sale, August. Also Included: various cultural centers’ staff members.

Album 8, 2000-2001
Events and Activities depicted: All Cultural Center Staff Retreat in Lincoln City, January 2001; Día del Amor y la Amistad (Valentine’s Day), February 2001; Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) preparation and celebration including an Aztec Dancers performance, November 2000. Also Included: various 4Cs staff and event attendees.

Album 9, 2002-2003
Events and Activities depicted: Christmas Gift Exchange; Midnight Breakfast; Valentine’s Day; SB 10 support demonstration; a tour of the 4Cs for young students; and dance performances. Also Included: 4Cs staff for 2002-2003.

Album 10, 2003-2004
Events and Activities depicted: Various unspecified gatherings during October 2003; food demo, February 2004; bowling night, February 2004; computer classes for adults and daycare for attendees’ children, February 2004; awards ceremony, undated.

Album 11, circa 2005
Events and Activities depicted: Anti HR 4437 (Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005) protest. Photos of the march on the OSU Campus and the county court house.

Album 12, 2007-2008
2007-2008 Events and Activities depicted: César Chávez Tribute Month, April 2008, activities including the César Chávez Tribute Dinner,  symposium, and candle light vigil, a keynote speech and workshop regarding Latinos in the Media by Lalo Alcaraz, and a presentation on Che Guevara by OSU Professor Joseph Orosco; Open Police Forum – Discussion on Racial Profiling, February 2008; “I Heard It in Class” conference, April 2008; 4Cs Open House, October 2007; OSU Talent Show; Baila con Mexico / Dance with Mexico; Spanish Conversation Nights, February and March 2008; Condoms and Candies, February 2008; All Centers Retreat, January 2008; Ropes Course Retreat; Loteria Night; “Stop Blaming the Victim: Immigration in Historical Context” presentation by Professor Dan Goldrich; Cumbia lessons; Día del Niño / Children’s Day. Also Included: 4Cs staff for 2007-2008.

Album 13, 2008-2009
2008-2009 Events and Activities depicted: Women’s Self Defense course, October 2008; Noche Caliente, November 2008; Stress Reliever Day, December 2008; “Welcome Back!” event, January 2009; “Candies and Condoms” sex education event, February 2009; Chicana Feminist Fair, February 2009; OSU Talent Show, March 2009; “Fear Factor Live” event, March 2009; Tribute Month Events, April 2009: Dinner and Dance, Blood Drive, Candle Light Vigil, Día de los Niños, “Viva La Causa” movie discussion, Professor Joseph Orosco lecture and book signing on César Chávez, Tree Planning and Rededication Ceremony.

Also Included: 4Cs staff member names and positions: Emanuel Magaña, external coordinator; Hunn An Pope, internal coordinator; Leo Soto Jr., activities; Yessenia Alarcon, activities; Mike Shingle, publications coordinator; Cindy Hernandez, community outreach coordinator; Yesenia Leon, activities office assistant; Valerie Ortega, activities office assistant; Patrici Baez, office assistant; Christina Bein, office assistant; Nancy Perez, office assistant; Wolof, G.T.A.

Album 14, 2009-2010
2009-2010 Events and Activities depicted: 4Cs open house, October 2009;  “Cupcakes and Condoms” Valentine’s Day event, February 2010; fried ice cream workshop, February 2010; Tribute Month with keynote speakers Patty Sakuri and Jesus Jaime Diaz, April 2010. Although not pictured, there is a page with various flyers with information about the following events: Salsa con Sabor, November 2009; “Test and Time Management” workshop, October 2009; “Stress and Homesickness” presentation, November 2009; Transforming Columbus Day, October, 2009; and “Systems of Oppression” presentation with Philosophy Professor Lani Roberts.

Also Included: 4Cs staff member names and positions: Juana D. Luna, activities coordinator; Tomas Cortes, publications coordinator; Pepe Zamora, office assistant; Letty Rodriguez, office assistant; Valerie Ortega, activities coordinator; Yesenia Chavez, office assistant.

Album 15, 2010-2011
2010-2011 Events and Activities depicted: 4Cs Open House; Los Tres Reyes Magos / The Three Wise Men celebration; Día de los Muertos / The Day of the Dead celebration, November 2010; Cupcakes and Condoms, February 2011; Corridos presentation by Jim Garcia; How to Build a Burrito event; Pachucos presentation by Pedro Arenas;  César Chávez Tribute Dinner, April 2011. Also Included: a poster for Cumbia dance lessons, November 2011 and a poster for Traditional Posada Night, November 2011, as well as 4Cs staff for 2010-2011.

Album 16, 2011-2012
2011-2012 Events and Activities depicted: Staff Training; Multicultural Tailgater; Transforming Columbus Day event; Día de los Muertos / The Day of the Dead celebration, November 2011; Posada Night; Cumbia Night; Indigenous People of The Americas event; Secret Santa / Christmas celebration, December 2011; Valentine’s Day, February 2012; Latin@ Heroes presentation; Tribute Month Events flyer, April, 2012; Occupy Movement and Latin@s presentation by OSU Professor Joseph Orosco, April 2012; Single Parenting Factors Affecting Child Development presentation by CASA – Voices for Children Executive Director Maria Chavez-Haroldson; César Chávez Tribute Dinner, April 2012. Also Included: 4Cs staff for 2011-2012.

Also, be sure to check out the archival collections of two other cultural centers: the BCC and the APCC. Of note, materials from the NAL are soon to be added to the archives!

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Borderless Stories Exhibit

Posted on February 18, 2013 by fernandn

Borderless Stories Exhibit

The traveling exhibit Borderless Stories is now at the OSU Valley Library!

Borderless Stories shares the lives of immigrants in Rural Oregon. The exhibit is coordinated by the Rural Organizing Project (ROP) with the Immigrant Family Advocates (IFA) in Deschutes County.

“Borderless Stories documents the complex human stories behind the polarizing issue of what to do about immigration in our country. Last year Sue Nell Philips and Mimi Graves of IFA conducted interviews with 8 families touched by the experience of immigration. The stories are deeply personal, speaking to the underlying political realties in a way that is intimate and real.”

 ~ Rural Organizing Project 

 Exhibit Information 

OSU Valley Library, Main Floor, Learning Commons
February 18th – 28th
Exhibit Curation: Sue Nell Philips, writer; Terry Re, Photographer; Mimi Graves, Coordinator; and Irene Bonilla & Steve Fisher, videographers
The exhibit is brought to you through the collaborative efforts of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Casa Latinos Unidos de Benton County, Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center, Corvallis First United Methodist Church, and the OSU Valley Library.

Exhibit Photos

 

 

 

 

 

Selected Stories

Brian Tapia “Expecting the Best”

Maria and Andrés “Hoping for a Life Not So Hard”

Elena de los Angeles “Freedom for a Caged Dove” 

All 10 Stories

Maria and Andrés “Hoping for a Life Not So Hard”
Maricela Ramos “Seeking Opportunities, Not Problems”
Enrique and Luisa “It Feels Good to Belong”
Aracela Dominguez “Driven to Succeed”
Krystal Loverin “It’s Complicated”
Gerardo Zuniga “Let Me Follow My Dream”
Brian Tapia “Expecting the Best”
Elena de los Angeles “Freedom for a Caged Dove”
Efrain “You Are Going to Do Great Things”
Isabel and Lupe “No One Will Be Able to Take that From You” 

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Miracle Theatre Group Inventory Project

Posted on February 12, 2013 by fernandn

The Miracle Theatre Group of Portland, Oregon is the Northwest’s premier Latino/a Arts and Culture Organization. For almost thirty years, Teatro Milagro’s mission is to share the diversity of Latin America and advocate for global unity through theatre. Like many theatre groups, over many years they have accumulated volumes of records and production materials that are in need of archival rescue.

José Gonzáles, Miracle’s co-founder, has been working with the Oregon Multicultural Archives since the Fall of 2012 to discuss the possibility of donating the theater’s archival holdings (or a portion thereof) as a new Latino themed collection for the OMA. After various conversations, together they determined that an initial inventory of the Miracle Theatre Group Collection should be conducted before further action.

As of January 2013, my current project is to conduct an initial inventory of the collection. My name is Mike Dicianna and I am a Student Assistant/quasi-intern, OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center. I am a Graduate Student at Portland State University in Public History, and since I am in Portland on a regular basis for Graduate classes, it is a perfect opportunity for an on-site inventory of the collection. The initial inventory of the Miracle Theatre Group collection will be conducted over the Winter Term. When the inventory is complete, we will have a better idea of what type of records need to stay in Portland, such as scripts and current production materials, and which archival materials that can be stored in Corvallis with the OMA.

The Inventory Project Begins…

For thirty years, the theatre’s archives have been stockpiled by a progression of volunteer, intern, and paid staff.  Quite surprisingly, they are well organized and identified. The storage practices could be better, but at least the records are intact. Two storage rooms in the bowells of an old building on SE Stark Avenue in Portland house the collection. The bulk of the administrative records collection is housed in 3-ring binders and boxes. Various forms of media are included in the production files such as VHS video tapes, photographs and CDs, as well as ephemera and programs all bagged up in zip-lock kitchen bags.  Oh, and of course, there are the obligatory boxes of 3 1/2” Floppy Discs, many without labels.

Over the course of the next few months I will be sure to provide project updates and more photos!

~ Mike Dicianna, Miracle Theatre Group Archives Project Intern 

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