David Rumsey Map Collection #KeeperoftheDay

#KeeperoftheDay – The David Rumsey Map Collection, where you can explore the immense WPA model of San Francisco, assembled together (virtually) for the first time since 1942.

Digitally knitting together all 158 separate pieces with over 6,000 blocks gives the viewer a sense of the extraordinary accomplishment the model represents. Recently recovered after decades of dusty storage, the model has been cleaned and photographed by a dedicated team of individuals as part of the SFMOMA and San Francisco Public Library project called Public Knowledge: Take Part. The model pieces were expertly photographed by Beth LaBerge. David Rumsey created the large Composite image below of the 158 pieces, as well as the image and metadata database of all the images, which he hosts. Rumsey also georeferenced the large Composite image and placed it in Google Earth.

Read more, and start exploring at davidrumsey.com

SPUR #KeeperoftheDay

We were lucky enough to visit the San Francisco office of the urban planning and policy think tank SPUR for our podcast San Francisco—Stories from the Model City. While there, we spoke with SPUR’s Editorial Director, Allison Arieff, who told us some great stories. Including one about the Glen Park Freeway Revolt.

“In 1948 the California highway department decided they wanted to crisscross the city with freeways and a bunch of moms and housewives stopped that from happening. The Glen Park Glen Park Outdoor Art League and the San Francisco Women’s Club managed to stop this freeway effort. Women and moms have actually led quite a number of revolts like this around the Bay Area.”

Listen (and subscribe) to the podcast here and learn more about SPUR’s visionary work at spur.org.

Gun Violence Archive #KeeperoftheDay

Gun Violence Archive provides free online public access to accurate information about gun-related violence in the United States, collected from over 6,500 law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence.

Tiny Pricks Project #KeeperoftheDay

“It began in January 2018 with the quote, ‘I am a very stable genius’ stitched into a piece of inherited textile….”

Thus was born the Tiny Pricks Project, a public art project created and curated by artist Diana Weymar that records some of the most outrageous tweets and quotes from Trump in textile and thread. Artists from all over the world have contributed to the project. The goal is to have 2,020 pieces by the year 2020. Watch the video below to learn more.

See the pieces in person at Lingua Franca in New York until September 3rd, and at Speedwell Projects in Portland, Maine September 14-November 2.

You too can make a Tiny Prick. Learn how to contribute at tinypricksproject.com

D.A. Pennebaker, 1925-2019 #KeeperoftheDay

RIP, D.A. Pennebaker, 1925-2019.

Learn more about this legendary documentary filmmaker at npr.org.

Toni Morrison, 1931-2019 #KeeperoftheDay

RIP Toni Morrison, 1931-2019.

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

J. Franklin Jameson #KeeperotheDay

Today we’re heading to Austin for the annual gathering of the Society of American Archivists to accept the 2019 J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award for our series The Keepers. The award honors an individual, institution or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation or support of archival activities or programs. Past recipients include Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ron Chernow for Hamilton!

The Lou Reed Archive/Papers (which we’ve been chronicling for The Keepers—story coming soon) is also being honored at the conference.

Who was J. Franklin Jameson? From the American Historical Association’s website:

John Franklin Jameson (September 19, 1859–September 28, 1937) was distinguished by his exemplary efforts to preserve the documentary history of the United States, and his vital role in shaping history as a profession and a discipline. After receiving his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1882, he taught at Johns Hopkins, Brown, and Chicago. He served as the managing editor of the American Historical Review from its establishment in 1895 until 1928. As director of the historical research department at the Carnegie Institution, he worked tirelessly for the establishment of a National Archives building, which was completed just three years before his death. He subsequently served as chief of the manuscripts division at the Library of Congress from 1928 to 1937. He was also noted for authoring The History of Historical Writing in America (1891) and The American Revolution Considered as a Social Movement (1926) and editing the 19-volume Original Narratives of Early American History (1906–17).

Desert Libraries of Chinguetti #KeeperoftheDay

Listener Steve Karsch wrote to tell us about the Desert Libraries of Chinguetti. From kottke.org:

For hundreds of years, families in Mauritania have been maintaining libraries of old Arabo-Berber books. Originally on the route of pilgrims travelling to Mecca, the libraries are now at risk from the spreading Sahara and ever dwindling numbers of visitors, in part because of security restrictions due to terrorism.

Check out this thread from @incunabula to learn more.

Help Transcribe Suffragist Papers #KeeperoftheDay

“The Library of Congress Needs Your Help Transcribing Suffragist Papers”

From Smithsonian.com:

“Over the past year, By the People has introduced a number of “campaigns” calling on volunteers to transcribe the digitized papers of Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, Walt Whitman and others. The suffrage campaign coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which was passed by Congress in June 1919 and ratified the following year. Library experts hope that by transcribing these documents, volunteers will not only help make suffrage materials more accessible, but also ‘engage with our collections and feel a connection with the suffragists,’ as Elizabeth Novara, an American women’s history specialist and curator of a new suffragist exhibition at the library, puts it.”

Read the entire article here.

Ebony Archive #KeeperoftheDay

From the New York Times: “The most significant collection of photographs depicting African-American life in the 20th century is being auctioned. Historians fear the archive could end up hidden away.”