Focus on the Archive


Rachel Lieu, Archivist/Registrar


Besides protecting our valuable collection, well-organized archives provide easier access to needed materials


W


hen looking into a basement, garage or attic, the feeling of panic and fear can grip an individual. Years of saying, “I’ll get around to organizing this mess” compounded with unused Christmas ornaments, broken


exercise equipment and ill-fitting, out of style clothing collect into a mountain of neglect and good intentions. Luckily for most of us, the rooms that contain the boxes and piles of our past have doors that don’t need to be opened on a daily basis.


Here at the Coronado Historical Association we have an archive that is filled with boxes of photographs, textiles, documents, banners, flags and paintings. I go into this collections storage area on a daily basis, retrieving artifacts, looking for documents and pulling files several times a day. The disorganization and general chaos that had developed over ten years couldn’t be hidden, even behind the archives three locked doors! I was greeted by non-archival-quality boxes filled with unknown objects every morning. As I gathered my projects onto the carts to bring upstairs these boxes would stare at me begging to be opened and their contents re-housed in proper archival boxes with labels and cushioned wrapping.


The task of cleaning and organizing the museum’s collections storage area seemed monumental until I decided to tackle it one shelf at a time. Organizing one shelf didn’t seem that taxing. As the individual shelves became columns and the columns became the completion of whole bays, the process of inventorying the space turned out to be more rewarding than I thought it could be. By emptying cardboard boxes, I was able to create a more visible storage system using archival trays lined with bubble wrap. Objects, resting comfortably in the trays, were visible but still protected from rolling off of shelves or toppling over in one of our frequent earthquakes. The museum’s abundance of plaques and trophies were gathered together and placed in fabric restraints and tethered to supports in order to prevent them from bumping into one another. Additional shelves were added in the area that houses our rare books so that they no longer had to be stacked on top of one another. In completing the inventory I found some real treasures that I hadn’t seen before. I was thrilled to go through the collection of rare books and discovered a fascinating little pocket guide to Japan that was produced in 1960 by the United States Navy and given out to servicemen who were stationed on the Islands. This particular guide was donated to the museum by Fred Renner, a Navy sailor, and describes Japanese culture and cuisine as it pertains to an American serviceman. Another curious little book describes the constitution and by-laws of The San Diego Racing Pigeon Club. This manual was produced in 1925 and found among the numerous photographs and papers of the Harland family. Within the Museum’s many boxes of coins and tokens I ran across one particular gem, a Tent City carousel token. This token was used to ride the carousel now in active use in Balboa Park, which originally resided in Tent City. It is possible that this well preserved artifact is 100 years old as the carousel began operation in 1910. Additionally, the archive houses numerous awards and medals from local people including this 1924 YMCA basketball medal donated by Bruce Muirhead. Mr. Muirhead, along with other local boys, competed in a YMCA basketball tournament on a team organized by the Presbyterian Church on 10th


Street and C Avenue.


The archive is filled with treasures, big and small. By cleaning and organizing this area, the treasures become more evident and accessible for use in the Museum’s exhibits and the education of the public. I encourage everyone to tackle their closets, garages and attics! Not only will you unearth personal treasures and create a tidier space in your home, but perhaps you will discover something to donate to the Museum. All donations are tax deductible, will be cared for in a secured, humidity-and temperature-controlled environment, and will be available for exhibits, research and future generations to enjoy.


YMCA basketball medal won by Coronado team in 1924


4 www.coronadohistory.org


Charlotte Harris: eight scrapbooks on behalf of the Children’s Home Society. The scrapbooks record the events and charitable acts conducted by the organization from the years 1959 through 1984.


Mary Ann (Quita) Darnell-Nass: two school portraits of the 1952 kindergarten and 1953 first-grade classes from Coronado Elementary School, both of which included her brother, John Darnell.


OLD & Recent Donations


Anonymous: donation of a Navy SEAL trident.


Ruth Porter: a copy of the sheet music to “The Coronado Song,” a tune written and sung to commemorate the city’s Centennial.


Donna Trapnell: a book of poetry entitled, Memories of ‘Over There’ 1917-1918, by Eugene Alfred Epp. The author is believed to have once lived in Coronado, capturing his memories of World War I in this book of verse.


Suzanne Goycochea: a lace shirt and collar, satin dress and various accessories from the Victorian era. The two-piece black dress, currently on display in the


Museum’s Hotel del


Coronado gallery, is a stunning example of Victorian evening wear.


Gwen Haynes: two copies of a photograph of Coronado and one certificate distributed on the final days of the Coronado ferry boat to the Museum’s educational collection.


Louis Goldich: donated three Hotel del Coronado matchbooks.


Mark Aldrich: donated fourteen black and white photographs of various Coronado ferry boats in transit across the bay.


Larry Brown: five framed photographs of various Coronado scenes to the Museum’s educational collection.


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