1. 1 OR The Challenges in Organizing and Describing the Records of an Evolving Organization Home Economics – More Than Meets The Eye

2. 2 Acronym alert! AAFCS = American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences AHEA = American Home Economics Association

3. 3  Brief history of the AAFCS  AAFCS activities  Cornell-AAFCS connections  Processing the collection  Other collection-related work AAFCS Historical Collection Processing Project

4. 4 The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS)  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.”

5. 5  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 AAFCS – the Beginning

6. 6 Annual meetings Headquarters Council Assembly Senate Executive Cmte Executive Bd. Bd. of Trustees Bd. of Directors Officers Committees Sections & Divisions Student groupsAffiliated orgs. AHEA Foundation Center for the Family Bd. of Trustees State Associations Units Accreditation Certification Projects and Programs Members

7. 7 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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10. 10 Association Activities  Public affairs  Consumer interests and standards  International relations and programs  Education  Assistance in times of need

11. 11 (a few) Cornell-AAFCS Connections  Martha van Rensselaer  Flora Rose  Flemmie Kittrell  Helen Canoyer  Gwendolyn Newkirk  Carol Anderson  Francille Firebaugh F. Rose & M. van Rensselaer, ca. 1920

12. 12 AHEA bumper sticker AAFCS Historical Collection Project

13. 13 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

14. 14 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

15. 15 The Challenges of Archival Processing  What is it?  Why is it there?  Where does it go? Future challenge  How do we save it?

16. 16 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

17. 17 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

18. 18 Where does it go?  The ideal of original order  Arrangement into series  The process of sorting  Information management tools  Database  Reports generated from the database

19. 19 Microsoft Access database

20. 20 Microsoft Word table (generated from Access database)

21. 21 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

22. 22 Additional Responsibilities (cont’d)  Donor relations  National Headquarters  Individual members  Presentations and events  AAFCS conference, Minneapolis, June 2005  Donor event, Ithaca, October 2005

23. 23 AAFCS Donor Event, October 2005 - (L to R) Jennie Kitching, Francille Firebaugh, Sharon Nickols, Peggy Meszaros, Marjorie East, Queen Bowman, Carol Anderson, Sarah Keen, and Sarah Thomas

24. 24 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

25. 25 Questions? For further information, please contact: Sarah Keen, AAFCS Project Archivist sek38@cornell.edu