Message-Id: <199906091921.MAA17276@dns.ccit.arizona.edu> Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 15:14:06 -0400 From: Elizabeth Roderick <mailto:eroderic@VSLA.EDU> Subject: New Digital Library Resources To: mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Greetings: as a follow-up to my previous message about the Virginia Digital Library Program, here is a somewhat lengthy description of the digital resources we have recently released from the Library of Virginia's collections, including:WPA Life Histories World War I History Commission Questionnaires Confederate Disability Applications Henley Marriage and Obituary Database School Buildings Service Photographs Virginia Governor's Letters Received Database
All available at http://image.vtls.com
Please let me know if you have any questions. Elizabeth
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WPA Life Histories
The Library of Virginia's collection of WPA Life Histories consists of approximately 1,350 life histories, social-ethnic studies, youth studies, interviews with former slaves, and a small number of folklore studies, all of which were created by the staff of the Virginia Writers' Project (VWP).
The life histories were microfilmed, then digitized, and linked to a fully-searchable database. The database records contain the name of the interviewer/interviewee, title and date of the life history, a summary, subject terms, and biographical and occupational data. The records can be searched by name, title, subject, and keyword.
A major aim of the WPA/VWP Life History project was to gather information about various occupational groups in urban and rural environments and about the experiences of individuals during the depression. Many interviews conducted in Virginia, however, capture recollections from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ideally, the life histories were intended to provide detailed information about the individual's address, age, race, religious denomination and church attendance, family situation, education, family income, job history, housing conditions, membership in societies and clubs, leisure activities, and information about the individual's parents.
The life histories document family life, health conditions, employment and educational opportunities (or lack thereof), gender roles, religious beliefs, as well as personal and community economic and social conditions in Virginia in the 1930s. The narratives are also an important source of information about race relations, changing employment patterns, and the impact of public events and social trends on private lives.
The life histories are a remarkable "snapshot" of the lives of ordinary people coping with extraordinary times. The narratives describe memorable events in the lives of these people such as births, illness, marriages, and deaths, as well as their reactions to important historical, national, and global events such as the Civil War, Emancipation, World War I, and the Great Depression.
The interviews are divided into three categories: life histories, social-ethnic studies, and youth studies. The differences among the three types of interview are not very distinct, particularly between the life histories and the social-ethnic studies, and the headings on the interviews were sometimes changed by the editors in the Richmond office. The interviews vary considerably in length and style, and the information they contain differs in substance and detail - they are generally between two and sixteen pages in length and are usually written as first-person narratives with commentary by the interviewer. Some of the life histories and most of the youth studies are accompanied by printed survey forms.
The youth studies were surveys of Virginia rural and urban youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who were not attending school at the time of the survey. The youth studies surveys sought to obtain information on the demographic, social, and economic situation of young people who had left school as well as the specific reasons for doing so.
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World War I History Commission Questionnaires
The Virginia War History Commission was established in 1919 to collect, assemble, edit, and publish information and materials about the contribution to victory in World War I made by Virginia and Virginians, and conducted a survey of World War I veterans in Virginia through the use of a printed questionnaire.
The World War I History Commission Questionnaires Database is a fully-searchable database of approximately 15,000 records, one for each questionnaire respondent, accessible by surname, city/county, and race. Each record is linked to digitized images of each page of the questionnaire, as well as any accompanying material. The image database contains approximately 120,000 questionnaire page images.
The database was derived from a database created in the File Express format by Library of Virginia staff and the images of the questionnaires were scanned from 60 reels of microfilm held by the Library.
Each questionnaire has four pages:
The first page records information about personal background, including the full name of the soldier; date and place of birth; name of mother and father (and their places of birth); race; religious affiliation; names of wife and children; fraternal orders and college fraternities; education; occupation prior to entering the service; name of employer; residence before and after time in service; present home address.
The second and third pages record details of the veteran's war record, including date of induction, rank, military branch and ID number; military company, regiment and division; where trained or stationed before going to Europe; port of embarkation and debarkation; experiences in action; citations for and details of distinguished services; details of any injuries; discharge; occupation after the war.
The fourth page contains several questions designed to elicit information about how the war affected the serviceman and how he perceived his experiences during the war. The questions deal with the effect of disabilities upon occupation and employment; the serviceman's attitude toward military service; the mental and physical effects of United States camp experiences and of overseas experiences; how the experience affected his religious beliefs; the effect of all of these experiences as contrasted with his state of mind before the war.
In many cases, the soldier submitted one or two photographs with the questionnaire, one taken before entering the service and another taken afterwards, often in uniform, signed and dated. Questionnaires with photographs are indicated in the database by a keyword-searchable note.
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Confederate Disability Applications
The Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation, effective in 1867 and ending in 1894, to provide artificial limbs and other disability benefits to Virginia veterans of the Civil War.
Injured soldiers submitted certificates from their county court to the Board of Commissioners on Artificial Limbs stating that they were Virginia citizens, that they had lost a limb or had been otherwise disabled in the war, and what assistance they required. The veterans listed the command in which they served; included information on when, where, and how they were wounded; and provided details about their medical history.
These disability applications provide a strong sense of the Civil War's impact on individuals, families, and communities. In truth, many veterans found the postwar battle for economic survival and physical mobility nearly as difficult as the war itself.
The database of disability applications is searchable by the name of the Confederate veteran and by the veterans' places of residence (city or county). In addition, each entry contains links to the digitized images of the actual disability application, including supporting affidavits and receipts for payments issued. There are more than 6,000 entries in the database, linked to more than 24,000 application images digitized from microfilm.
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Henley Marriage and Obituary Database
Bernard J. Henley (1909-1989) served as a reference librarian for more than thirty-seven years at the City of Richmond Public Library. After he retired in 1967, Henley began a systematic examination of more than 150 Richmond-area and other Virginia newspapers, selectively indexing and compiling abstracts of the marriage and obituary notices he found. He recorded each entry by hand, on ruled notebook paper, in chronological order by newspaper. In all, he recorded more than 45,000 marriage and obituary entries published between 1780 and 1876, with special emphasis on the years 1780 to 1830.
The fully searchable database includes the full text for each of Henley's entries. Each record consists of the newspaper title, the date of the newspaper, the text of the marriage or obituary notice, and the location (city or county) of the newspaper. Most entries also include personal names and specific place names. For most of the newspapers, Henley used microfilm copies from the collection of the Library of Virginia. Whenever possible, the Library's microfilm number for the particular newspaper is also included in the database record.
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School Buildings Service Photographs
The School Buildings Service Photograph Collection is a visual record of hundreds of elementary and secondary school buildings across Virginia. This photographic survey was commissioned by the Department of Education beginning in the 1920s as part of the movement to consolidate and reform school systems. The collection includes work by the Department of Education photographers as late as the1970s. The images are complemented by a collection of architectural drawings of schools that is also in the archives of the Library of Virginia. These were the designs that often replaced the rural buildings recorded in School Buildings Service photographs.
Originally commissioned to ensure that recently established requirements for light, air, sanitation, and fire safety in the newly consolidated and reformed schools were met, the Division of School Buildings assumed the responsibility of designing or accepting plans for the schools. Though slight modifications to the plans could be made to conform to each region's aesthetic preference, the basic plan, designed to positively affect the educational experience of the students, came from the Division of School Buildings.
As a matter of form, school designs and plans are submitted to The Department of Education's Facilities Management Division today, though the individual localities themselves choose and approve designs for their schools.
This survey of 3,100 school photographs varies widely in quality, format, and description. The anonymous photographers apparently were sent into rural Virginia without formal guidelines to use in their recordation of schools. The result is uneven coverage that varies from one locality to another. As an example, more than 300 individual structures are documented in Pittsylvania County. In contrast, there are no photographs from the City of Richmond in the School Buildings Service Collection.
These photographs show a variety of schools in various conditions: derelict and abandoned structures, new schools under construction, and buildings designated "colored" or "Negro" schools. In some cases interior photographs and those taken in schoolyards show the students at study and play.
One of the most valuable aspects of the photograph collection is the documentation of hundreds of small, one and two-room schoolhouses. Often, these were abandoned after school consolidation and have vanished with the passage of time. In many cases the School Buildings Service photographs remain the only record of structures that once were an important feature of rural Virginia communities.
The searchable database for the collection provides access to the bibliographic records describing each photograph. These records can be searched by geographical locations, the name of the school, and other criteria, and the database links the records retrieved to the digitized images of the individual photographs.
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Virginia Governor's Letters Received
This database is a calendar of the manuscript collection of letters and other documents received in the Virginia Governor's Office between June 29, 1776, and November 30, 1784. The following governors, with their terms of office in parentheses, are included:
Patrick Henry (July 6, 1776-June 1, 1779) Thomas Jefferson (June 2, 1779-June 3, 1781) William Fleming (acting) (June 4-12, 1781) Thomas Nelson (June 12-Nov. 22, 1781) David Jameson (acting) (Nov. 22-30, 1781) Benjamin Harrison (Dec. 1, 1781-Nov. 30, 1784)
The 5,465 records cover approximately 19,800 pages of correspondence and other documents that provide a detailed picture of Virginia government during the Revolutionary War and immediately after. Many of the manuscripts describe the difficulties of raising and provisioning a national army and state militia. There are also reports of military maneuvers, battles, Indian affairs, and economic and monetary conditions. The digitized images of the documents are linked to the database records. The database was created by transcribing information contained in an in-house finding aid which contains the following information:
- date of the document - name of the correspondent or correspondents (if a letter) - place from which the letter was written - name of the recipient if not the governor - type of document if not a letter - number of pages of letter & number of pages of any enclosures - brief abstract of letter & any enclosures
Some correspondence received by other Virginia government departments, such as the Treasurer and the War Office, is included among the manuscripts. If included, enclosures are described in detail; if missing, a note only is made. Some letters have a draft reply attached.
-- Elizabeth Roderick email (mailto:eroderic@leo.vsla.edu) Manager, Digital Library Program voice (804) 692-3761 Collection Management Services Division fax (804) 692-3771 The Library of Virginia 800 E. Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219***************************************************** http://leo.vsla.edu The LVA Digital Library Project *****************************************************