Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
In a folder of unsorted 120mm color slides, we discovered some slides from a trip John and Richenda took out west. They give a glimpse into a 1965 Sullivan Chevrolet car dealership. John must have been fascinated with this building because there are multiple images of the interior, exteriors and the cars inside. At this time, Chevrolet was one of the most popular cars in America – one out of every ten cars sold in America was a Chevrolet. We hope that you find this blast from the past as interesting as we do!
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National
Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history,
literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding
selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional
information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Contributed by Kelin Baldridge,Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
Time has flown by working on the John Rhoden papers, and we
are quickly approaching our 5,000 digitized items goal. As such, our work for
the last few months has largely consisted of scanning and cataloging – not the
most riveting activities to report on.
In the absence of captivating and varied activities, we have provided some photographs from the collection of John Rhoden at work for your viewing pleasure!
John Rhoden stone carving, 1946
John Rhoden wood carving, undated
Rhoden with Horses and Head, circa 1947-1950
Rhoden working on Dancer, circa 1947-1950
Next up, Assistant Archivist Jahna Auerbach will report on an exciting discovery she made this week!
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National
Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history,
literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding
selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional
information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
Jahna and Hoang photographing John Rhoden’s sketchbooks.
Archival collections can range from standard mediums such as papers, photographs, and books to less standard materials like large pieces of art, framed documents, photo albums, etc. Most of the time we are able to digitize items on a flatbed scanner, but other times we need to utilize a copy stand and digital camera setup.
Example of a bound volume in a flatbed scanner.
Example of a bound volume in a flatbed scanner.
Objects that usually need to be digitized with a camera are bound materials (books). This is because the only way to lay a book flay on a scanner would involve breaking the spine. At PAFA we had to capture John Rhoden’s sketchbooks and exhibition catalogs with a digital camera.
An example of a book cradle used for digital capture. These cradles can cost thousands of dollars so many archivists figure out alternative processes. (https://www.digiscribe.info/)
When photographing books, it is important to avoid distortion of the pages, have even lighting, eliminate any shadows that could occur, and ensure everything is in focus.
To accomplish this, we mounted a digital camera onto a copy stand so that it is oriented straight down. A copy stand is a very sturdy alternative to a tripod. We have lights on either side of the book and include the Kodak Color Control Patches in each frame to standardize proper black and white values. Without a ‘V cradle,’ pages can easily look distorted because the pages have a natural curve. To eliminate distortion we photograph the books with the page we want to capture flat while holding the book at a 90-degree angle.
Then Hoang, Kelin and I had to work together. I handled the camera settings and focus, Hoang helped keep the pages flat and straight, and Kelin monitored the images in Lightroom.
What may be surprising is that, to save time, we first capture the recto (the front side) of each page, and then the verso (the backside) of each page. In post-production I will have to edit and merge these images so that a viewer can “flip” through the book digitally.
As tedious as photographing can be, it was a fun change of pace to work together, which is something we haven’t been able to do now that we are primarily cataloging and digitizing records on the flatbed scanner. Now, all we have to do is digitally process the images and we have digital images of a book! The finished digital book will be available as a part of the John Rhoden papers, accessible through PAFA’s Digital Archives.
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National
Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history,
literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding
selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional
information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Contributed by Kelin Baldridge,Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
Here in the Rhoden papers, we have been elbow-deep in the
nitty-gritty work of digitization and cataloging. We are approaching the five thousand
digitized objects mark and, as we are nearing this milestone, wanted to
re-commence our regular posting.
Archives Director Hoang Tran and Assistant Archivist Jahna Auerbach photographing John Rhoden’s sketchbooks.
What we accomplished:
Finished digitizing all prioritized documents,
photographs, and slides
Photographed bound volumes such as sketchbooks
and exhibition catalogs
Up next:
Finish cataloging all digitized objects
Scan all non-priority manuscripts
Thoughts:
We began the digitization and cataloging process by establishing digitization priorities. In our first pass, we digitized all documents with clear informational value – names, dates, processes, plans, prices, etc. – a criteria that depends more on our judgment as archivists than on hard and fast rules. We additionally decided to digitize all black and white photographs of John’s military service, exhibitions, commissions, travel, family and friends, and home and all color photographs of John’s commissions and exhibitions. Finally, we decided to scan all good-quality color slides from John’s travels. (Good-quality simply refers to anything that is not blurry or dark to the point of negating an informational or aesthetic value.)
Above is an example of a prioritized document. It provides specific information on where John was and who he was with during his travels.
As of this week, we have digitized all of the above items and have finished cataloging them. With this in mind, our next step is to return to the manuscripts and scan all of the remaining documents. The manuscripts are simultaneously the smallest and most informationally rich portion of the collection and, as such, I am extremely excited to be able to provide easy access to all of them. Providing access to the entirety of John’s documents ensures that the physical remnants of his story are presented in the most robust manner possible and that each document can be contextualized to the fullest extent.
On a different note, one thing I have learned as a project archivist is that hitting a numerical goal is daunting. It is easy to become fixed on the number and prioritize that goal over others (such as blogging). However, now that we are through the thick of it, I have learned not to become overwhelmed by numerical goals but rather to allow them to serve as a framework for planning a balanced project.
Up next, a post from Assistant Archivist Jahna about photographing John’s sketchbooks!
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National
Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history,
literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding
selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional
information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Contributed by Kelin Baldridge,Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
As a follow up to the previous post, the following is a more visually-focused update on our progress to date!
The largest deliverable of the John Rhoden papers project is 5,000 publicly-available digitized items from the collection. With that said, our recent work has been focused on digitizing and cataloging. At the time of posting, we have digitized 2,610 physical records, totaling 3,275 individual scans.
We have worked our way through the manuscripts and black and
white photographs and are currently scanning Rhoden’s color slides. Scanning
the slides has proven to be an interesting challenge and our resident
digitization expert, Jahna, has a post in the works explaining those challenges
and solutions. Overall, however, digitization and cataloging is fairly
straightforward work. So, in order to keep things interesting, we have included
some gems discovered during the process below!
First, we have John and Richenda’s trip to Egypt touring some of the most iconic pyramids in the world to (precariously) riding camels and donkeys. The Rhodens clearly had the time of their lives!
Richenda, pyramids at Giza, 1958
John, pyramids at Giza, 1958
John, Colossi of Memnon, 1955-1959
United Nations Peacekeeper, 1958
The slides also introduce countless new artists to the collection, both known and unknown. One of the most interesting is Hasan Kaptan, the Turkish prodigy who is largely unknown in the modern era. Born in Ankara, Turkey in 1942, Kaptan exhibited throughout Turkey, had a one-man (boy) show in Paris, and exhibited in the Galerie St. Etienne in New York (Paintings of a Ten-Year-Old Turkish Painter on October 29, 1952) by age ten. Throughout his adolescence, he continued to exhibit around Europe and in the United States. His story and work was featured in Time and Harper’s Bazaar. As an adult, Kaptan seemingly stepped away from exhibiting and selling his art and has largely been obscured from history.
Hasan Kaptan (aged 13-17), with his art, circa 1955-1959
Serbian sculptor, circa 1955-1959
In 1954, John enjoyed the beaches of Sardinia, taking a break from his hard work at the American Academy in Rome.
John Rhoden with friends in Santa Teresa, Sardinia, 1954
Richenda Rhoden posing on a dock in Maddalena, Sardinia, 1954
Rhoden also visited the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford, Ireland and photographed the workers during the crystal making process.
Worker at the Waterford Crystal factory, circa 1955-1959.
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National
Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history,
literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding
selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional
information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Contributed by Hoang Tran, Project Director and Director of Archives
The team reached a project milestone this past week! We have digitized 2500 items! That means we’re 50% done with the digitization portion of the project.
Photographic prints and color slides make up the bulk of the records that have been digitized so far. Since Rhoden traveled extensively through Europe, Africa, and Asia, it has been an amazing experience viewing the exotic locations. The team also began cataloging portions of the digitized records which has been a great team building activity! For instance, since many of the slides were only identified by the country, we spent some time searching for the exact locations John visited. This required us to examine the smallest details within the images–signs, monuments, clothing, bus colors, trolley cars, license plates, etc. We also used Google Street View and Google Translate to help us figure out the specific sites/cities Rhoden visited.
Jahna (Assistant Archivist) was in charge of digitizing the slides documenting Russia. She was enamored with the country’s architecture. We all learned that “Onion Dome” was typically associated with Russian Orthodox churches.
As we continue digitizing Rhoden’s travel slides, we’re excited to get a chance to explore and learn more about the countries he visited (over 35!). Although the countries have changed so much since the 1950s-1960s, many of the buildings, landmarks, and monuments still remain.
This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
