Bell Library’s Special Collection and Archives Department Receives Grant to Digitize Blucher Family Papers
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi recently received $25,000 in funding from the Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) under its Texas Reads grant program) to continue the archival process and begin digitization of the Charles F.H von Blucher Family Papers.
The Bell Library’s Special Collections and Archives Department began digitizing a selection of items in the Blucher Family Papers in fall 2021. Patrons can click on the Blucher Family Papers finding aid to view the documents that have been digitized to date. This project is one of 44 made possible by a Tex Treasures grant for fiscal year 2021-2022 (Grant #TXT-22002) from the U.S. Institute of Museum of Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
“This grant allows us to expand the reach of this important collection through a more thorough processing and digitization. There are so many important connections in the Blucher family papers that this grant is highlighting. Some important names included are Sam Houston, Richard King, Henry Kinney, and so many more.
Bell Library Information Specialist Amanda Kowalski
Bell Library Information Specialist Amanda Kowalski says digitization of archive documents is a labor-intensive undertaking; it requires a lot of time and effort to ensure proper digitization processes and metadata creation.
“This grant allows us to expand the reach of this important collection through a more thorough processing and digitization,” Kowalski said. “There are so many important connections in the Blucher family papers that this grant is highlighting. Some important names included are Sam Houston, Richard King, Henry Kinney, and so many more. What is also vital about this collection is the importance of women in the pioneer days of the area. Women played a role that is often ignored but because von Blucher’s wife, Maria, was a proficient writer we have captured the lived experience in Corpus Christi during the mid-1800s.”
The digitization effort has already helped researchers like Dr. Paul Enck of Germany. Enck conducts research on Berlin, Germany, 19th century history, which includes gathering historical documents like the Blucher Family Papers collection. The collection is of a prominent German American family in Corpus Christi dating back from 1840 to 1940. The collection consists of family history, personal family papers, personal and business correspondence, and financial and legal documents.
The completed process will make the collection accessible to remote researchers like Enck and minimize the search procedure without the added expense of traveling long distances to view them or deal with global issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have been unable to identify the archives in my own country so by the tremendous support from the Island University’s Special Collection and Archives, it allows me to study the Blucher Family Collection remotely,” said Enck.
In 2020, the department received initial funding from TSLAC to begin the archival process, which included hiring a part-time graduate assistant, Andrew Karnes ’22, to work through 149 linear feet of paperwork. Karnes, who is working on a Master of Science in Professional Counseling, said he welcomed the opportunity to work in field unrelated to his degree.
“I thought it would be interesting and sort of out of my psychology box,” Karnes said.
Karnes said digitizing fragile material can be difficult and meticulous and must adhere to strict standards.
Lori Atkins, TAMU-CC Director of Special Collection and Archives, said archival processing provides greater intellectual and physical control to collections along with helping researchers know and discover our local, regional, and national identity.
“We have realized that what archivists collect, describe, and interpret is dependent on the approach and attitude of the curators, and in that sense, we have a powerful role in determining how the history of a place and people is remembered,” Atkins said. “We want to preserve an accurate and unbiased record of the past.”
The Blucher Family Papers collection includes many thousands of items in the archive. The project will digitize 2,000 items of regional, national, and global importance with signed items by major historical figures and a massive amount of correspondence that spans generations.
Through the letters, researchers can form an idea of the author’s firsthand experience of life events. In addition to early German-American correspondence, the papers give insight about the early pioneers and development of Corpus Christi, the Civil War, and natural disasters. The current phase of the project will be complete in August 2022.
“Knowing that researchers are already utilizing and anxiously waiting for more documents makes the project feel worthwhile,” Karnes said. “Being a part of this process has been a real learning experience for me by enriching my knowledge of Texas and world history.”
Note: This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services through a grant to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (Grant #LS-249990-OLS-21). (2021)
