In the short time that my business has been in existence (since November 2017), I have received many tips and leads from friends and coworkers. This is what happened with what would become my first big, out-of-state gig.
Amanda, a friend, and real archivist sent me a Facebook post that was on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Facebook page. The job was advertised as photographing a small, private collection of items including a book. It was estimated that the collection was two linear inches. In all honesty, I never knew linear inches was a thing and therefore wasn't quite able to visualize how much material there was. Nevertheless, it was right up my alley and sounded like a do-able job.
So, I reached out to a woman named Margot who had made the post and, long story short, I got the gig! Two weeks later, I was driving out to New Jersey to stay at my cousin's apartment before the job the next day.
My cousin Kim and me in Pret a Manger (a business I had never heard of before this trip).
Thankfully, my cousin Kim rode the NJ transit train into NYC with me and helped me navigate to my assignment. I was especially thankful for her when we got to Penn Station. There were poorly designed signs and arrows pointing every which way. We got the true New York experience from a construction worker who gave us 'tude in a thick New Yorker accent when we asked for directions.
We were greeted with a torrential downpour when we came out of the subway station along 59th Street near Central Park. We knew there was going to be rain, but not this much. I had my portable lightbox with me and was worried about it getting wet. It's about the size of an artists portfolio, so it's near impossible to get it all under the cover of an umbrella. Fortunately, there was construction scaffolding with wooden planks above the sidewalk that gave us good cover for the two blocks we had to walk in order to get to Pret a Manger (a coffee/cafe shop chain based in the UK).
Pictures don't do the storm justice. The one on the left is a view from the coffee shop once the storm had lifted. When we had left the subway, it was almost dark out and the tops of buildings could not be seen. I asked Kim if there was a hurricane coming through that we didn't know about. The weather made for an eerie, apocalyptic atmosphere.
Margot, the archiving consultant and contact I had talked to about the job, arrive at the cafe soon after we did. I said goodbye to my cousin and followed Margot one block back the way I had come. By this time, the rain had stopped so it was a much more pleasant walk.
After checking in with the front doorman, we went up the elevator to the client's apartment. Located off of Central Park, the apartments had to be very expensive to live in, but other than its cost the residence look normal - nothing too fancy or extraordinary.
After briefly talking to the clients I set up my light box. The first and main item was a luach. Along with linear inches, I had never heard this term before either. A luach is a Jewish term for a calendar that shows start and end times for festivals - usually the Sabbath. This particular luach listed the start and end of the Sabbath all the way back to the mid-19th century! It also included notations about the birth and deaths of certain family members. Towards the end of the book, handwritten notes about births, deaths, and marriages were also listed. A handwritten, first hand account of the Chicago Fire of 1871 was also in the book.
After photographing the book, I moved on to family photographs and documents. The documents that the clients have are great historical pieces. They are very interesting to read through and its thrilling to know that some have survived for at least 150 years.
Another interesting item was a prototype of a mechanism dealing with trolley cars. Along with this item was the actual patent issued to the client's ancestor in 1905.
I think my favorite item would be a land grant from President James Buchanan dated 1858. I didn't realize what it was until I reviewed my photos during editing. What an item to handle! Along with this certificate were letters to the Office of Indian Affairs.
As you can see, the document is actually signed. Buchanan's signature has faded over all this time. It made me wonder if the certificate I received for being a good student as a part of the George W. Bush's administration No Child Left Behind Act will every be worth anything with its rubber-stamped, reproduced Presidential signature. Probably not.
Overall, the job took about 5 and a half hours. It was well worth it and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity.