First Research Update—Campus Archives Visit

Campus’ Special Collections sit high above the surrounding academic buildings in a corner of the third floor atop the library. The sterile, warmly lit main room is lined with tables, an encased Gutenberg Bible, large computer monitors, and a select handful of rare books. These few books that sit out in the open here have been deemed sturdy enough for the harsh environment outside vaulted areas, and the single line of bookshelves they rest on runs beneath a lofted area accessed by a white spiral staircase. High windows look out on the general sciences building, Student Union, and a panorama of the northeast Missouri sky.

We had scheduled yesterday’s appointment with Amanda at the beginning of the semester, and as per usual, she was well-prepared with materials for us. The bulk of her findings fell into two main categories: previous oral histories, and local history.

A stack of perhaps a couple dozen or more CD’s and their accompanying transcripts formed the bulk of an oral history project carried out by interdisciplinary classes almost exactly a decade ago. Focusing on the Hispanic population in nearby Milan (pronounced MY-lən in local parlance), the data, which occupies two boxes, is still unprocessed. Milan is now also home to a number of Congolese, so these boxes will hopefully, upon further inspection, yield an already-existing migration narrative into which a new population has recently arrived.

In addition to the Milan project, Amanda also walked us through the Collections’ sources on local history; among these sources, the most impressive was a catalog of several decades worth of issues of the Kirksville Daily Express, compiled by a former president of the University. While compiling an historical narrative on local migration would be a whole project in and of itself with these sources, glancing at them was at worst intriguing, and at best assured us of easily accessible texts should they become necessary.

We agreed to work with the Congolese population some weeks ago. Having now glanced through both the Milan project as well as other oral histories for class, the following few questions (among others) have come to mind:

  1. What was life like in the home country?
  2. When did this people begin to arrive in Kirksville? What various factors compelled them to leave their country and come here (both the US and Kirksville specifically)?
  3. What impressions did they have of this place before they moved here? How was this different from the reality?
  4. What is a hope they have for themselves/their families’ futures?
  5. How can the local community help them achieve these goals?

One thought on “First Research Update—Campus Archives Visit

  1. It sounds like your campus archivist gave you access to many helpful resources! It will be nice to have those older student oral histories to use as possible guides. In addition, the local history resources will provide a wealth of background knowledge to supplement your final project. As for your questions, I especially appreciate numbers three and four. I think these questions will help humanize the narrative you intend to write; both questions focus on the human experience of expectation and hope. Further, question five gives the interviewee an opportunity to explain what he/she may need from the community at large. This is an important step in starting any sort of dialogue between the migrant community and the rest of the townspeople of Kirksville.

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