Saving Ephemera

 

What should we as genealogists and historians do with old ephemera? Surely our children and grandchildren will not what these items when we are gone. How do we know what we should save?

To some extent we need to look at what will be beneficial to others in the future. What can the ephemera be used for? Perhaps they can be used in genealogical or historical research or maybe by a business as part of research on former equipment processes? There are many uncertainties to what can be utilized and to what extent. Many organizations must look at what their mission is and whether items are of relevance to that mission.

We can still take the time to find a home for items that we feel are worth saving. Yet, how much effort do we put forth to that end? How do we know if the ephemera was mass produced and whether it exists elsewhere? Why should we even care? Consulting with others may be our best bet. Networks do exist, it is just a matter of finding them. Iowa has the Iowa Museum Association and that group does have a process for finding homes for artifacts between museums. Many organizations can reach their membership through email or a printed newsletter. Whichever the case, we can get some direction to answer our questions and determine if our ephemera is worth saving. We might just find a worthy home to preserve items where they can be displayed and incorporated into exhibits for educational interpretation.

Mapping Mysteries

 

~1940's aerial held by Secondary Roads Department

Not only is it fun to look at old maps, it is also fascinating to see how the landscape has changed, advancements have been made and development has occurred. These changes can be found on plat maps, aerial photographs and countless other maps used for a myriad of tasks. It is also pertinent to note that most of these sources do contain errors. These errors can be as a result of expediency, yet more often a lack of familiarity between the creator and the vicinity covered. Sometimes it may be a delinquency between the time the map was created and a change occurred. What I find equally complex are the changes in topography as a result of erosion, farming practices, or areas that have gone back to nature. I’ve used maps to track abandoned railroad grades, forgotten cemeteries and former home locations. Each instance contains its own mysticism and often leads to more questions than answers.

An Infant with an Odd Name

Photo courtesy of Karen (Trumbauer) Finley

Has anyone tried to identify an individual based on a first name only? This can be quite the challenge! In the specific incident I am speaking of, it took probably 15 years to definitively come to a conclusion. The more fine-tuned research was closer to four years. In any case, it wasn’t the time span as much as the time spent on the specific project, which is usually the case.

The initial resource used for this case was a headstone in the local cemetery. It is a marble tablet market circa 1865. Upon first inspection, you would see “Our little ELTE. Absent, but Not Forgotten”. No dates appear on the stone, no last name, nothing. The marker is a decorative one, with ELTE set in a different font and style, as well as pits adorning the outer edge of the stone, as if to say, “This little child deserves to have some decoration on her stone.” Strangely Elte does not appear as a name on any list or any online searches for that matter. The only reference found to “Elte” is a river in Germany.

Unbeknownst to visitors, the portion of the stone buried below the ground holds more details. The simple letters L. T. G. The last initial does not match those buried on adjacent lots. In actuality, the stone is in the alleyway and has been associated with different lots from time to time, such as when the WPA walked the cemetery in the 1930s.

Another clue arises from a cemetery map that shows the letters L. G. T. on the grave another block further south. These letters appear to perhaps denote the purchase of a single grave. This location is the burial place for the infant daughter of Griswold, dying in 1865.

If that child is a Griswold, then the initials on the map should end in G. The magic happens when we put the letters L. T. together. L. T. is Elte! Now why cause this confusion on a headstone? Mourning the death of an infant child was in many cases a disassociation to minimize distress. Parents would often linger on choosing a name for the child in fear of losing a more personable identity. Whether or not a name selection was made and whether L. T. stood for an exact first name and middle name, it appears that L. T. could be, and still is Elte into eternity.

Historical Value

 

I started to think deeper about what this blog is all about.  My thoughts were to re-evaluate what my blog is and who it is for. I want to bring the most value possible to readers, yet what does this value amount to and how does this apply to my life?

My intent is to learn how to best apply historical practices to my life and share that with others. This would be in the form of documentation, methodology and the like.

Documentation includes research, not only for posterity, but also at a local level and beyond. This could be for historical societies, cemeteries and those with ties to the area. On a broader level, this type of practice can be found on FindAGrave, Ancestry, FamilySearch and similar websites. Local archives also benefit from volunteers contributing time and resources to their mission. Some Facebook groups benefit from volunteers helping to date old photographs.

Another means of applying historical practice to my life would be methodology. This could in a sense be in the form of archiving. I served on a SAPIC¹ committee nearly 15 years ago to develop a cemetery survey form. It could also be in the format of compiling statistical and demographic details on a historical level.

Even though we often dread meticulous documentation and source citation, I feel that this content would be beneficial to readers and something they could apply in their lives.

 

1. SAPIC stands for State Association for the Preservation of Iowa Cemeteries. I continue to serve on the SAPIC board of directors.

Underlying Drive

 

From time to time I stumble across a newspaper feature article; sometimes it is an author with a new book on research they have conducted, or a long time collector. Not only do I find the history fascinating, but more importantly, the underlying drive they have to stick with it and complete the project. On occasion I have reached out to the individual to learn more, or to exchange thoughts on historical aspects. Sometimes I am able to build upon their resource list or aid in their networking efforts. There is so much that we can pick up from the effort of others, whether we network with them, check out their published materials, or solely ponder details in these feature articles. We can identify resources they have used and methods they have undertaken for research, collection or preservation. There is no shortage to what we can learn, we never learn it all! ~ Guest column of David Frederick appearing in the Waterloo Courier on December 14, 2020.