Updated FJP preliminary finding aid now available

We are excited to announce that an updated but still-partial finding aid to the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York (FJP) subgroup I, covering the years 1909 to 1986, is now available here: http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1944047.

This preliminary finding aid describes material of over 500 Bankers boxes (over a football field in length).  The following sections of the collection are now available to researchers:

• Minutes of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee – including links to the digitized files of all of these minutes
• Files of the Executive Vice-Presidents
• Finance Department Annual Agency files
• Fundraising Department Campaign files – don’t miss the digitization of a wire recording of a 1957 campaign workshop
• The Brooklyn Federation of Jewish Charities files – many of these files have been digitized and are linked to the finding aid

We anticipate that these areas will be of immediate interest to researchers.  Please note the following:

• If you would like to go directly to the folder lists and the digital files, use this link to the downloadable container list.
• If requesting boxes to see in the Reading Room, researchers are advised to use this form, with the reminder that boxes are off-site and must be requested at least 2 business days in advance of their visit
• A link to the partial finding aid for the UJA-Federation (UJF) subgroup IV (1986-2000) can be found here: http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=2188444
• And a link to the completed finding aid for the Oral History collection subgroup V can be found here: http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=365697

The completed finding aid to the entire FJP collection as well as the other subgroups will be available in the middle of 2015. Please stay tuned.

Welcome back, Marvin!

One of the archivists working on the UJA-Federation of New York Archives Project broke his foot in July and was, unfortunately, unable to get into work. After several weeks of recovery, we are happy to have Marvin back to work, processing, smiling for the camera, and recording the order of folders in boxes ready to go to off-site storage.

Welcome back, Marvin!

The American Jewish Historical Society was kind enough to throw Marvin a welcome back lunch party with falafel, baba ghanoush, and hummus.

Welcome back lunch–falafel and baba ghanoush

Welcome back, Marvin, hope that you fully recover and thank you for all of the work that you do for the project!

 

Missing Boxes and Zip Codes

This week we received an unexpected delivery of 7 boxes from off-site storage.  Longtime residents of our “missing boxes” list, these 7 had originally been requested for delivery in 2012 and 2013.  Although boxes with content related to all of the 7 were processed some time ago and are already off-site again, having the boxes in front of us will allow us to now include files that would otherwise have been permanently missing.

The boxes range over numerous series, and bulk dates ranged from 1970 through the 1980s: 3 boxes from the Marketing and Communications Department; 1 box from the Medical/Aged functional group; 1 box of Martha Selig’s files, 1 Project Renewal box, and a box from the Executive office.

One document that surfaced in the first box is this memo, from someone’s administrative file from 1963, a memo :

Changes to Federation mailing procedures, 1963

 

I find it interesting that the addition of Zip Codes to addresses would involve actually meeting with representatives of the Post Office, but it no doubt helped them plan what changes would have to be made to their mailing operations.  After all, Federation conducted a large part of their fundraising through the mail, including mailings to very large lists of contributors throughout the year.  As enumerated in the memo, any change to the format of an address would mean changes to thousands of addresses in their master file, to the plates on their Addressograph machine, and, even in 1963, to addresses in their data processing systems.

Also of interest is the fact that Queens had more zip codes than Manhattan in 1963.  Is that still the case?

UJA-Federation of New York Collection – Archivist

AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
JOB DESCRIPTION

Date:                              September 2014
Department:                   Library & Archives
Title:                               UJA-Federation of New York Collection – Archivist
Schedule:                       F/T through end of project, September 30, 2015
FLSA Status:                  Non-exempt
Supervisor’s Title:          Senior Project Archivist
Salary:                           TBD depending on experience, with benefits
Application Deadline:     September 22

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SUMMARY: Performs arrangement and description, rehousing and basic preservation of the United Jewish Appeal – Federation of New York Records. This is a temporary (one-year) position funded by a grant from UJA-Federation of New York, at the American Jewish Historical Society.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS (approx. 80%): Processing of institutional papers in a team with 4 other project archivists

• All work performed according to MPLP processing standards, including processing rate for this project at an average of 6 boxes per week. (required)
• Arrange records according to series and subseries lists developed by the Project Archivist in consultation with members of the project team. Establish order of and within folders as directed. (required)
• Write complete, well-edited historical notes, scope notes and other documentation for finding aid series as they are processed. (required)
• Create folder-level contents lists for inclusion in the finding aid. (as needed)
• Prepare records for archival storage by performing preservation procedures as appropriate, such as refoldering and reboxing of the materials into acid-free folders and boxes, and selective fastener removal; mark boxes for later preservation photocopying as needed. (required)
• Identify and separate oversize items, photographs, audio, film and video materials within the collections to ensure preservation and proper archival storage. (required)
• Must be able to lift full bankers boxes (up to 40 pounds), and pull them on and off the shelves (required)
• Perform other duties as required.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES (approx. 20%):

• Work with other members of the project team to coordinate the arrival of unprocessed boxes from off-site storage and the transfer of processed boxes to off-site storage. (required)
• Contribute to refinement of project workflow. (as needed)
• Contribute to project blog (www.thiscangobacktothearchives.wordpress.com) on a regular basis. (desired)
• Assist with selecting visual materials from the collection for scanning, for AJHS publications, exhibits and special events. (required)

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Skills and Abilities:

• Familiarity with archival theory and techniques, specifically in using MPLP – More Product/Less Process – (minimal processing) to work with very large collections.
• Proven ability to understand hierarchical relationships between series and subseries within a collection and to survey numerous boxes to discover the original order, if one exists.
• Previous experience working with large collections and/or organizational records.
• Proficiency in MS Word and Excel
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Reliability and accuracy in maintaining records.
• Excellent communication skills and good rapport with colleagues.
• Ability to complete tasks in a reasonable amount of time and able to multitask.
• Capable of learning new skills.

Education and Training: MLS from an accredited school.

Work Experience: Experience in processing archival collections required.

ADDITIONAL DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Expertise with Extensible Markup Language (XML), specifically creating electronic finding aid using Encoded Archival Description (EAD).
• Ability to read Yiddish and/or Hebrew.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Physical Demands: Ability to lift 40 pounds.

Special Environmental Factors: Periodic exposure to dusty and moldy materials.

Please send resume, cover letter and sample finding (link or attachment) to:

jobs@ajhs.org / Subject: UJA-Federation position

The American Jewish Historical Society is an equal opportunity employer.