About the Collection
The "Project"
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The bulk of the collection was kept in over 100 boxes, in addition to many related items (books, tapes, slides, t-shirts, weaving, etc.) which were saved in attics, basements and storage facilities over the past 50 years. The contents of these boxes were likely to remain in storage, until Scott Russell visited and implored that they must be sorted, inventoried, and preserved. My neighbor at the time, Michael Sousa, was invited to help with the initial task of sorting and inventorying. Rose Casey visited from Hawaii after discussions at a NMI RPCV reunion and helped with the design and plan. Below you can see a fraction of the collection during the period we were sorting and collecting all of the materials together. A huge undertaking which had been put off for over 30 years.
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Granting Funding to Preserve the CollectionVertical Divider
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We applied for granting funding from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, largely to pay for Michael's work of designing the inventory, digitizing materials, and making the collection shareable. We submitted a proposal in June 2015 and were awarded funding in November 2015. During this time, in addition to his other responsibilities, Michael helped teach me to use the necessary hardware and software to add to the [now] digital collection.
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Completing the Grant ObjectivesVertical Divider
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Many goals were set within the submitted proposal and all were achieved during the grant period (November 2015 to May 2016). The final grant report was submitted in June 2016. It is an excellent source of information about the collection. You can view the final report here: KPV Collection Project Final Report. Despite grant funding ending in May 2016, the work has continued. Since 2016 we have designed and initiated a website, continued to inventory, digitize and link, and begun combining materials into stories.
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Sharing the CollectionVertical Divider
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The parts of the collection are below (i.e. pictures, slides, audio clips, etc.). In addition to the raw materials being added, I plan to continue writing stories about my experience in the NMI during my time there (1967 to 1983). Our goal from the beginning was to eventually share the materials in a format which was much easier (and more pleasant) to view than just by spreadsheet. Two of the main reasons this website exists are for ease of access and for putting materials in a form that will protect them from typhoons, humidity, pests, and time.
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My grandson, Hunter, processing more documents to enter into the inventories.
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