I finished editing the Wallulahs today!
The only problem I had was with the 1972 Wallulah, and the problem is that I can't find it. So I don't really know what to do about that one.
So the Wallulah project is almost done. The ABBYY software still isn't working very well, but I will keep working on that when I get back in the first week of school.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Friday
The moment we've all (and when I say "all" I mean, probably like, Sara and I) been waiting for:
All of the Wallulahs have been scanned. All of them.
And I wish I could say it was all done. But alas, in the archiving world, the work seems to never be done. Which is good for us, amiright? I need to finish editing 4-5 of the Wallulahs. And then I should probably recheck everything. But the main part of the work is done!
Next week will be my last week for the summer. I'm working from 8am to 11 or 12 each day. My plan is to get through editing at least one Wallulah a day, but it will probably be more. So by the end of the week the project should be entirely done.
All of the Wallulahs have been scanned. All of them.
And I wish I could say it was all done. But alas, in the archiving world, the work seems to never be done. Which is good for us, amiright? I need to finish editing 4-5 of the Wallulahs. And then I should probably recheck everything. But the main part of the work is done!
Next week will be my last week for the summer. I'm working from 8am to 11 or 12 each day. My plan is to get through editing at least one Wallulah a day, but it will probably be more. So by the end of the week the project should be entirely done.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Their Stories
As monotonous as scanning and editing the Wallulahs can be, I actually really enjoy it. Right now I'm editing the Wallulahs from the 1970s. The pictures and the hair and the quips have literally made me laugh out loud. It seems like such a cool time to be at Willamette, to be in college. My dad graduated from UCSB around this time. After hearing all of his stories, and seeing all of these people and their lives here at Willamette in the pages of the Wallulah, I've become so nostalgic for this time and this life.
Full disclosure: I totally check out the guys in these yearbooks. A lot of them are so cute or look like they would have been really fun guys to know. I like to wonder what they did at Willamette or who they dated or what parties they went to or where they are now.
Today, in one of the pages of the 1977 Wallulah, a picture caught my attention. It was the graduation photo of a senior. This guy was super cute, so I stopped editing to stare at him for a second. I looked over at his name, and realized that it was someone I knew. He was a family friend, and he died a year and a half ago.
For the majority of the archival documents and images I work with, the people who are associated with it have died. Most of the documents and the images are from far, far in the past. But with the Wallulahs, I just keep moving forward in time. And because I'm from this area, I guess I'm bound to recognize a few faces or names. Now, going through the 1970s, the people in the pictures are my parents age. These are my friends' parents. These are my parents' friends. And some of them have died.
I look at pictures of people living their college lives all day, but I don't really know their stories. So when I stumbled across someone I do know, the moment hit me in a different way. I think because in his graduation photo, he didn't know his future--his four kids, his wife, his career as a doctor, his cancer--but he looked proud and happy and hopeful. And now that image and that moment are forever captured and archived and remembered.
Full disclosure: I totally check out the guys in these yearbooks. A lot of them are so cute or look like they would have been really fun guys to know. I like to wonder what they did at Willamette or who they dated or what parties they went to or where they are now.
Today, in one of the pages of the 1977 Wallulah, a picture caught my attention. It was the graduation photo of a senior. This guy was super cute, so I stopped editing to stare at him for a second. I looked over at his name, and realized that it was someone I knew. He was a family friend, and he died a year and a half ago.
For the majority of the archival documents and images I work with, the people who are associated with it have died. Most of the documents and the images are from far, far in the past. But with the Wallulahs, I just keep moving forward in time. And because I'm from this area, I guess I'm bound to recognize a few faces or names. Now, going through the 1970s, the people in the pictures are my parents age. These are my friends' parents. These are my parents' friends. And some of them have died.
I look at pictures of people living their college lives all day, but I don't really know their stories. So when I stumbled across someone I do know, the moment hit me in a different way. I think because in his graduation photo, he didn't know his future--his four kids, his wife, his career as a doctor, his cancer--but he looked proud and happy and hopeful. And now that image and that moment are forever captured and archived and remembered.
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