Transcript Celebrating AAFCS History and the FCS Profession

Home Economics – More Than Meets The Eye
OR
The Challenges in Organizing and
Describing the Records of an Evolving
Organization
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Acronym alert!
AAFCS =
American Association of Family and Consumer
Sciences
AHEA =
American Home Economics Association
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AAFCS Historical Collection Processing Project
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Brief history of the AAFCS
AAFCS activities
Cornell-AAFCS connections
Processing the collection
Other collection-related work
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The American Association of
Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS)
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Formerly the American Home Economics Association
Headquartered in the metro Washington, D.C. area
10,000+ members
“AAFCS strives to improve the quality and standards
of individual and family life by providing
educational programs, influencing public policy, and
through communication.”
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AAFCS – the Beginning
 Originated from the Lake Placid Conferences,
1899-1908
 Group of 11 “Founders” headed by Ellen
Richards
 AHEA officially established in 1909
 700 charter members; 1200+ at the end of
1909; nearly 20,000 by 1949
 Growth = Change
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Senate
Projects and
Programs
Center for
the Family
Bd. of
Trustees
Assembly
Council
Officers
AHEA
Foundation
Bd. of Directors
Bd. of Trustees
Members
Executive Bd.
State Associations
Headquarters
Executive Cmte
Units
Accreditation
Committees
Annual
meetings
Sections &
Divisions
Certification
Affiliated orgs.
Student groups
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Key Sources of Published History
 The AHEA Saga by Keturah Baldwin (1949)
 AHEA - A History of Excellence by Helen Pundt
(1980)
 Lake Placid Conference proceedings (1899-1908,
1973)
 Bulletin of the AHEA (1912-42)
 Journal of Home Economics (1909-present)
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Association Activities
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Public affairs
Consumer interests and standards
International relations and programs
Education
Assistance in times of need
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(a few) Cornell-AAFCS Connections
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Martha van Rensselaer
Flora Rose
Flemmie Kittrell
Helen Canoyer
Gwendolyn Newkirk
Carol Anderson
Francille Firebaugh
F. Rose & M. van Rensselaer, ca. 1920
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AAFCS Historical Collection Project
AHEA bumper sticker
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Project Background
 3-year project began in October 2004
 Funded by the AAFCS
 Purposes:
 To organize and preserve the historical records of
AAFCS
 To assist the organization in leveraging its history
to celebrate its centennial
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The AAFCS Collection
 About 400 cubic feet
 Over 500 boxes
 Materials from late 1800s to
mid 1990s
 Includes paper records,
scrapbooks, books,
videotapes, films, slideshows,
photographs, textiles, and
other interesting items
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The Challenges of Archival Processing
 What is it?
 Why is it there?
 Where does it go?
Future challenge
 How do we save it?
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What is it?
 The original box list
 At least there was a list
 But sometimes vague or inaccurate
 The survey – one box at a time
 Verifying collection contents
 Identifying potential preservation problems
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Why is it there?
 Are these materials together for a reason?
 Is there a common source?
 Do we need to keep it all?
 Archival appraisal – deciding research/historical
value, not monetary value
 Disposition of published materials
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Where does it go?
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The ideal of original order
Arrangement into series
The process of sorting
Information management tools
 Database
 Reports generated from the database
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Microsoft Access database
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Microsoft Word table (generated from Access database)
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Additional Responsibilities
 Records management
 More boxes?!
 Working with Headquarters staff
 Assisting researchers
 In person, and via e-mail and telephone
 Dean’s Fellowship in the History of Home
Economics and Nutrition
http://www.human.cornell.edu/che/Fellowship/index.cfm
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Additional Responsibilities (cont’d)
 Donor relations
 National Headquarters
 Individual members
 Presentations and events
 AAFCS conference, Minneapolis, June 2005
 Donor event, Ithaca, October 2005
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AAFCS Donor Event, October 2005 - (L to R) Jennie Kitching, Francille
Firebaugh, Sharon Nickols, Peggy Meszaros, Marjorie East, Queen Bowman,
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Carol Anderson, Sarah Keen, and Sarah Thomas
Future happenings
 AAFCS conference, June 2006
 Society of American Archivists conference
presentation, August 2006
The Politics of Petticoats: The American Home Economics
Association and National Standards for Textile Fabrics
 Lake Placid Centennial, 2008
 AAFCS Centennial, 2009
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Questions?
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Keen, AAFCS Project Archivist
[email protected]
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