In the archives, sometimes we come across uncancelled stamps and even uncancelled checks (I found one for $50.00, yesterday). This week I found an envelop with an unused stamp and I jokingly said to Brianne, “Hey, do you need to mail anything?”
This 8¢ stamp was issued from 1970-71.
On a more serious note, processing the large Genealogical Files series has been very inspiring as concerns my capstone project. Series III consists of nine archival boxes of research that Ms. Spoden conducted on her family and the families of many dozens of clients. Within the folders are notes, transcriptions, hand drawn charts and a lot of correspondence between Muriel and her clients. This week I found a note from Muriel to her cousin Carty that demonstrates the feelings family historians have about their research and the effect that making connections to people, places, and events of the past have on them.
“Thank you so very much for the
family Bible – if it is all right, I
will keep it for a while to show my
sister’s family and my daughter who all
live out of town before I return it.
I cried when I saw my beloved father’s
name so tenderly placed there. It meant
more to me to see than you can imagine.”
During my practicum, my 22-year old daughter visited me at the Church History Library. The next day she made a comment that I did not have any pictures of her around my desk. I told her that I didn’t come to Utah with any family pictures and wasn’t sure if I would even have my own desk. Well, I decided to bring a picture into the Kingsport Archives recently. This is for you, Anna!
