Frau Patricia Rich and her German students traveled all the way from Philadelphia to the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, to learn German script, tour the facility, and experience Moravian history. After learning each letter of the alphabet, students practiced their calligraphy skills with quill pens. Here, the class strikes a pose in Vault II; Frau Rich is pictured at top left. Assistant archivist Tom visited the students’ high school (the U School) a few weeks ago in Philadelphia’s Cecil B. Moore neighborhood and gave an introductory presentation on German handwriting.

MORAVIAN ARCHIVES BETHLEHEM APPLIES FOR CLIR DIGITIZING HIDDEN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES GRANT

The Moravian Archives, Bethlehem (MAB) has moved forward with its long-term project to conserve and digitize original materials from the EWI Collection. Submitting a grant proposal to the Council for Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR), the MAB has requested funding for the project Archiving Antigua: A Digital Record of Pre- and Post-Emancipation Antigua, 1760-1948.

If the MAB is awarded the grant, digital reproduction images of original manuscripts (primarily membership catalogs and remark books) from Antigua will be shared in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). Digitization will be carried out by professional conservators at the Conservation Center for Arts and Historic Artifacts (Philadelphia).

SAMPLE OF THE DESCRIPTIVE METADATA INTENDED FOR ARCHIVING ANTIGUA

Below is a sample of the descriptive metadata that will be used in dLOC. This schema is called METS. Using a Dublin Core wrapper in METS, the staff of the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, will describe the items nominated for digitization in preparation for their free public access on dLOC.

Yesterday,  we had a special treat at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Our wonderful volunteer, retired conservation technician Dee Collins, gave a hands-on demonstration for our colleagues from Herrnhut, Germany.

Unity Archivist Claudia Mai and Assistant Archivist Olaf Nippe (both of the Unitätsarchiv / Moravian Archives Herrnhut) learned how to make custom archival boxes to protect fragile and damaged books and bound manuscripts.

Thanks, Dee!

Respectfully submitted,

Tom McCullough
Assistant Archivist
Moravian Archives
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania