NMI Memories Updates
This project was made possible by support from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, a non-profit, private corporation funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project (Sharing KPV Collection with Northern Mariana Islands) do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Update #3
Oct. 27, 2019
KPV Collection & Box Content Inventory
Developments
- Contents
1. PRIOR NMI MEMORIES UPDATES
2. RECENT UPDATES TO NMI PC MEMORIES
3. ADDING CAPTIONS AND STORIES TO PICTURES
4. BOOK BY NMI PC AUTHOR: DR KURT BARNES
PART II: KPV COLLECTION
5. KPV COLLECTION: ORIGIN
6. KPV COLLECTION: PROCESSING AND SHARING
7. VISITING NMC AND CNMI ARCHIVES
8. TYPHOON YUTU, OCTOBER 25, 2018
9. FUTURE HOME FOR THE DIGITIZED AND ACTUAL COLLECTION
10. HELPING WITH DECISIONS ABOUT THE COLLECTION
11. EXPLORING FACEBOOK
- UPDATE #3 Part II is specifically designed for people who are interested in the document collection and those willing to advise as to its future, whole or divided. People are also being asked to recommend documents to be digitized.
1. PRIOR NMI MEMORIES UPDATES
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2. RECENT UPDATES TO NMI PC MEMORIES
Robert J.Bartolotta’s, Micro IX, 301 photographs have been added to Airtable and are ready to have captions and stories added. After sending his original 270 from Rota, he sent additional ones of Saipan and his PC training. Rebecca Wilson, Micro IX, finished sorting her slides and the 500 selected are being processed by Scan Cafe. We expect to receive them around Nov 7, 2019. Helena Telena, Micro XIII, has contacted us that she will soon begin sorting pictures, slides and letters. She also plans to visit Dr. Ward Miles to discuss having a story about him and possible sharing of digitized photographs. Tondalaya Gillepsie, PC staff, has been trying to find time to locate content to share and emails this week: "Hope to trundle through my archives this weekend." She has also been sharing PC email addresses and sharing our website with others. |
Robert Bartolotta (right) going over training materials (1969)
We now have roughly 2,000 images ready to be identified with another 500 in process and more in discussion.
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3. ADDING CAPTIONS AND STORIES TO PICTURES - Searching the Inventory
Kit recently learned how to search the picture inventory to find specific people if names had been added. Her pictures include the names, location and events that were on the original slides in the 1960s. (PLEASE HELP FIX THE MISTAKES AND OMISSIONS). She wanted to share a picture of special woven mats and knew there was a digitized photograph of Mrs Castro weaving them, but could not find the picture. The Airtable search found the picture as well as others of Mrs Castro. For example, she found this one of Mr. Manglona and Mrs. Castro on a school trip (below on right), two of Kit’s favorite people. If families can label pictures we will be able to sort through all pictures that are labeled and then feature an individual.
Of course, the main benefit of captioning pictures is the historical documentation for future generations.
Here's a link to our captioning page. If you do not recognize people or events, please get together with others--form a captioning group--and add what you can. For technical reasons, we need our computer guy to fill in the actual words, so you need to send us what to enter. Follow the directions, or list with PCV name and picture number to email ([email protected]).
Kit recently learned how to search the picture inventory to find specific people if names had been added. Her pictures include the names, location and events that were on the original slides in the 1960s. (PLEASE HELP FIX THE MISTAKES AND OMISSIONS). She wanted to share a picture of special woven mats and knew there was a digitized photograph of Mrs Castro weaving them, but could not find the picture. The Airtable search found the picture as well as others of Mrs Castro. For example, she found this one of Mr. Manglona and Mrs. Castro on a school trip (below on right), two of Kit’s favorite people. If families can label pictures we will be able to sort through all pictures that are labeled and then feature an individual.
Of course, the main benefit of captioning pictures is the historical documentation for future generations.
Here's a link to our captioning page. If you do not recognize people or events, please get together with others--form a captioning group--and add what you can. For technical reasons, we need our computer guy to fill in the actual words, so you need to send us what to enter. Follow the directions, or list with PCV name and picture number to email ([email protected]).
Caption Submission Form Preview
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Mr. Manglona and Mrs. Castro showing off a rabbit (1969)
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4. Book by NMI Author: Sports Legends of Micronesia 1966 to 2012 by Dr. Kurt Barnes
Dr. Kurt Barnes, one of our content contributors, wrote Sports Legends of Micronesia in 2012. We have the cover, introduction, table of contents, and several story links below. Please click on any of the black bordered images to enlarge them for easier reading.
Dr. Kurt Barnes, one of our content contributors, wrote Sports Legends of Micronesia in 2012. We have the cover, introduction, table of contents, and several story links below. Please click on any of the black bordered images to enlarge them for easier reading.
5. KPV COLLECTION: ORIGIN (Why does she have this collection?)
During PC years, 1967-69, Kit sent information about Micronesia and PC to her family (as did many others). Her family saved these and also purchased books she recommended. When she moved to Vermont, she started going to old book stores and purchasing more books.
In 1975 she returned to the CNMI and worked establishing the Title VII Chamorro and Carolinian multilingual/multicultural programs. One day after a typhoon she saw all the audio tapes with interviews and materials given to the DOE library piled outside lower base in the trash. She took these to her home to clean and for safe-keeping. When TTPI publication office closed she purchased two of everything for the fledgling Northern Marianas College (NMC). When the accreditation team visited to evaluate NMC, it had not yet moved to the CCM Nursing School site and Kit's house was the temporary library (along with access to UOG and UOH libraries). This was acceptable to the accreditation team and NMC received Candidacy for Accreditation after the visit. You will be able to read the report after it is digitized.
It is at this point that the mistake happened. In 1983, Kit was completing her contract, had been accepted to graduate school and her mother was ill. When the movers came to her house on Saipan, the books and materials she was donating to the college got moved to Massachusetts. Also shipped by mistake were NMC documents and letters on their way to the college, which was now using the former CCM site . She put the boxes into storage as she had no room for them and the college had not responded.
She continued collecting. When Pacifica Books closed she purchased everything about Micronesia and related topics (about 14 boxes). She kept going to old book stores. She used some of the materials for her dissertation research.
Below are samples of content that has been arranged over the past five years:
Box 11 (NMI & CNMI, Development, Socio Economic, & Manpower Plans (1964-1983)) was just digitized and linked. Most of the content is local and may not be elsewhere in the CNMI after years of humidity, bugs and typhoons. It takes more time to search to see if it is available at libraries than to digitize it.
Box 14 (Songs, Social Studies: NMI, and Micronesia (Undated-1982)) has had all content digitized. Needs to be reviewed.
Box 49 and Box 50 (Reports to UN 1947 to 1982) were recently partially digitized (Table of Contents, Year in Review, Education, Peace Corps). These original reports to the UN from the TTPI were given to the college by the CNMI Public Information Officer. These are probably available from the UN, but the CNMI Governor’s Office or the Archives might like the originals.
During PC years, 1967-69, Kit sent information about Micronesia and PC to her family (as did many others). Her family saved these and also purchased books she recommended. When she moved to Vermont, she started going to old book stores and purchasing more books.
In 1975 she returned to the CNMI and worked establishing the Title VII Chamorro and Carolinian multilingual/multicultural programs. One day after a typhoon she saw all the audio tapes with interviews and materials given to the DOE library piled outside lower base in the trash. She took these to her home to clean and for safe-keeping. When TTPI publication office closed she purchased two of everything for the fledgling Northern Marianas College (NMC). When the accreditation team visited to evaluate NMC, it had not yet moved to the CCM Nursing School site and Kit's house was the temporary library (along with access to UOG and UOH libraries). This was acceptable to the accreditation team and NMC received Candidacy for Accreditation after the visit. You will be able to read the report after it is digitized.
It is at this point that the mistake happened. In 1983, Kit was completing her contract, had been accepted to graduate school and her mother was ill. When the movers came to her house on Saipan, the books and materials she was donating to the college got moved to Massachusetts. Also shipped by mistake were NMC documents and letters on their way to the college, which was now using the former CCM site . She put the boxes into storage as she had no room for them and the college had not responded.
She continued collecting. When Pacifica Books closed she purchased everything about Micronesia and related topics (about 14 boxes). She kept going to old book stores. She used some of the materials for her dissertation research.
Below are samples of content that has been arranged over the past five years:
Box 11 (NMI & CNMI, Development, Socio Economic, & Manpower Plans (1964-1983)) was just digitized and linked. Most of the content is local and may not be elsewhere in the CNMI after years of humidity, bugs and typhoons. It takes more time to search to see if it is available at libraries than to digitize it.
Box 14 (Songs, Social Studies: NMI, and Micronesia (Undated-1982)) has had all content digitized. Needs to be reviewed.
Box 49 and Box 50 (Reports to UN 1947 to 1982) were recently partially digitized (Table of Contents, Year in Review, Education, Peace Corps). These original reports to the UN from the TTPI were given to the college by the CNMI Public Information Officer. These are probably available from the UN, but the CNMI Governor’s Office or the Archives might like the originals.
6. KPV COLLECTION: PROCESSING AND SHARING
Roughly 25 years after moving from the CNMI, Kit contacted different locations about the collection. For example, The Kennedy Library would accept the audio tapes from her Peace Corps service but would not agree to digitize them to make them available and Kit would have to sign over ownership. She had them digitized and they then said they were only accepting PC content from the years when Kennedy was president. This may have changed now. She is currently working with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience.
Another example, the University of Hawaii wanted to know what she had in the collection and she did not know. She started to search UOH collections and realized this would take all her time and if they had something she had, it was usually not digitized yet. In summer, 2015 RPCV, Rosie Casey, came to her house in Massachusetts from Hawaii and helped the project get started by advising or arranging, inventorying and future plans. Now, with the support of the The Northern Marianas Humanities Council (NMHC), we have a better idea of what is in the collection and that increases daily.
The contents have been summarized as important because they:
Roughly 25 years after moving from the CNMI, Kit contacted different locations about the collection. For example, The Kennedy Library would accept the audio tapes from her Peace Corps service but would not agree to digitize them to make them available and Kit would have to sign over ownership. She had them digitized and they then said they were only accepting PC content from the years when Kennedy was president. This may have changed now. She is currently working with the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience.
Another example, the University of Hawaii wanted to know what she had in the collection and she did not know. She started to search UOH collections and realized this would take all her time and if they had something she had, it was usually not digitized yet. In summer, 2015 RPCV, Rosie Casey, came to her house in Massachusetts from Hawaii and helped the project get started by advising or arranging, inventorying and future plans. Now, with the support of the The Northern Marianas Humanities Council (NMHC), we have a better idea of what is in the collection and that increases daily.
The contents have been summarized as important because they:
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1) detail a two year period on Rota with pictures, audio recordings and documents from almost 50 years ago, 2) document aspects of the transition of the NMI from being a district in the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands to being a Commonwealth of the US, 3) preserve history concerning Chamorro and Carolinian language and culture and the role Title VII bilingual bicultural education in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and, 4) detail the development of higher education and Northern Marianas College (NMC) between 1975 and 1983, particularly as it relates to teachers, nurses and government employees. Without the 2015-2016 support of the NMHC, these materials would have been thrown away. (From Preservation of KVM Mariana Islands Collection, MMHC Community Grant Final Report, June 2016)
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Michael working on the inventory (2017)
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Hunter, Kit's grandson, assisting with digitizing the collection (2018)
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In 2016 with the goal of making the content directly available to the people of the Mariana Islands and Micronesia, Kit asked Michael Sousa to design and manage a website. Initial responses to her PC Rota pictures were heartwarming and encouraged her to keep working. Michael also designed and implemented a system for inventorying, scanning and linking the content from the boxes. Kit's grandson is shown above inventorying and scanning content using the systems Michael put together.
The people who first responded to the website offered many valuable suggestions. One was to number the pictures so it would be easier to add content. Another was to use social media. The pictures are now numbered and using social media is in process.
The people who first responded to the website offered many valuable suggestions. One was to number the pictures so it would be easier to add content. Another was to use social media. The pictures are now numbered and using social media is in process.
7. VISITING NMC AND CNMI ARCHIVES
In May 2018, Kit was invited to NMC. At that time NMC President Carmen Fernandez and CNMI Archivist Samuel Crawford wanted the collection actual and digitized to come to NMC and the CNMI Archives. Kit has always wanted the collection to be returned to the CNMI. Plans were started. The CNMI Archives are:
In May 2018, Kit was invited to NMC. At that time NMC President Carmen Fernandez and CNMI Archivist Samuel Crawford wanted the collection actual and digitized to come to NMC and the CNMI Archives. Kit has always wanted the collection to be returned to the CNMI. Plans were started. The CNMI Archives are:
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"Housed at Northern Marianas College as part of NMC's Library Programs and Services, the CNMI Archives are dedicated to promoting the archival mission of preserving historical, political and cultural records, texts, audio-visual materials and artifacts of enduring value for the people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Micronesian region.
Northern Marianas College is mandated by Commonwealth law to "maintain the Commonwealth archives, United States, South Pacific Commission and Commonwealth government documents…" (Northern Marianas College website) |
Kit & Bill being welcomed at Northern Marianas College (2018)
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Kit being shown the CNMI Archive (2018)
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Governor Torres & Kit assisting during NMC Graduation (2018)
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Kit thought that with planning and support the digitized collection could be taken over by the CNMI Archives, the NMHC or another entities within the CNMI. She stopped considering contacting other locations. The fate of the actual documents is a more complex matter as they require space and care. It would be unfortunate if they were all thrown out when Kit can no longer store them, but at least people now know they are available.
8. TYPHOON YUTU, OCTOBER 24-25, 2018
Samuel Crawford wrote March 4, 2019 of staff changes and that he has “been "running the ship" more or less solo (i.e., the entire Department of Library Programs and Services, which includes the Borja Memorial Library, the CNMI Archives, the Pacific Collection, and the Curriculum Resource Center)...," He explained the current situation:
Samuel Crawford wrote March 4, 2019 of staff changes and that he has “been "running the ship" more or less solo (i.e., the entire Department of Library Programs and Services, which includes the Borja Memorial Library, the CNMI Archives, the Pacific Collection, and the Curriculum Resource Center)...," He explained the current situation:
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However, in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu (October 24-25, 2018), NMC has faced much bigger and more immediate challenges, not the least of which is space. NMC suffered extensive damage, campus-wide; the tin roofs on most of the buildings were ripped into pieces, if not ripped off completely, and many offices and classrooms were flooded and/or damaged beyond description. Out of 27 buildings, 24 were damaged severely -- many beyond mere "repair." We lost hundreds of computers, the entire space and inventory of our Bookstore, numerous vehicles, valuable lab equipment, classroom furniture, and other equipment / property. The total cost resulting from the extent of this damage / loss is now estimated to be above $15 million. I've attached several photos, here, to provide you and your colleagues with a clearer picture of what we've been facing...We are rebuilding the best we can, but the road to full recovery will be long and exceedingly costly.
Thankfully, the Library and the CNMI Archives remained remarkably intact. The collections were spared completely, and the building is currently in better shape than most others on campus, but this means that -- for the time being -- numerous faculty / staff are utilizing these spaces within our building as their temporary office areas, and many of their files, as well as other NMC property / equipment, are being housed here. We are certainly still interested in the "kpvcollection," but I'm going to need some significant time to discuss (with our Interim President, Frankie, and with Leo Pangelinan, who is now Director of the Northern Marianas Humanities Council) the possibilities for strategically strengthening and better supporting and sustaining the CNMI Archives, first; your inquiry / interest and continued correspondence with us could be an effective catalyst for change, in this regard. My hesitance to say, "YES!" comes only from a place of care, in recognition of the value of what you're offering us: before the CNMI Archives can reasonably and responsibly accept a gifted collection as significant as yours, we need to seriously explore options for growth, reinforcement, and sustainability, on our end. And, more immediately, we'll need some time to get our space(s) more "back to normal," and align certain other priorities, in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu... --------------------------------------------------------- Samuel Judson Crawford, M.M., M.L.I.S. Academic Librarian / Interim Director of Library Programs and Services Northern Marianas College |
Kit continued to have correspondence with Samuel Crawford, until he moved from the CNMI to another job. It is now uncertain whether or not NMC and the CNMI Archives are interested in the having collection.
9. FUTURE HOME FOR THE DIGITIZED AND ACTUAL COLLECTION
Samuel Crawford wrote on June 5, 2019 that he would be leaving the CNMI for a new job. . This put planning for the collection on hold:
Samuel Crawford wrote on June 5, 2019 that he would be leaving the CNMI for a new job. . This put planning for the collection on hold:
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I'm afraid with the wide range of things I must accomplish in this final two-week period, I will not have much time to discuss or arrange things further in terms of our hopeful partnership and the intake of your richly historical and culturally valuable collection(s). I regret that I'm not personally able to work with you longer on this, but I am somewhat glad that I've already made you aware of the current "state of things," here, both at NMC and across the CNMI as a whole; I've tried to be as candid and transparent as possible. Economically / financially, things are starting to look a bit dire out here (as recent local news reports like this and this might indicate). As for filling my vacancy, I am hoping that a new Academic Librarian and/or Director of Library Programs and Services might be hired before or shortly after our Fall 2019 semester begins, but...that is not likely, unfortunately, and a new, official CNMI Archivist position may very well remain unfilled for another several years. During my time here, it has been exceedingly difficult to garner the support needed for the CNMI Archives to provide even basic services, much less to thrive and improve. ...
Kit, thank you for your dedicated and ongoing work, and for remaining connected and deeply interested and invested in the collective cultural preservation and memory of the Northern Mariana Islands. Any number of institutions would (and will!) be fascinated and thrilled by your extensive project(s) / collection(s), and the prospect of working with you to amplify those through a prominent digital platform and make them accessible for a much wider audience. |
On July 18 he sent more information on people and places that might be interested in the collection. Kit decided to give adding new content to the website, and having more box content inventoried and digitized a priority while waiting for the CNMI to be ready again to plan together.
With the support of the NMHC, she is asking for help reviewing the collection, prioritizing what to digitize and continuing to explore for a location to take over the digital archive once completed. She will be contacting people who have responded to the website and others. Please contact the website if you are interested in helping. Once digitizing is complete she will be prepared to donate the actual collection. It seems now, that the whole collection is too much for one CNMI location and it may need to be divided. The CNMI DOE bilingual/bicultural program has already offered to have Chamorro and Carolinian materials if we divide up the collection.
She continues to ask people to add captions and information to the pictures.
With the support of the NMHC, she is asking for help reviewing the collection, prioritizing what to digitize and continuing to explore for a location to take over the digital archive once completed. She will be contacting people who have responded to the website and others. Please contact the website if you are interested in helping. Once digitizing is complete she will be prepared to donate the actual collection. It seems now, that the whole collection is too much for one CNMI location and it may need to be divided. The CNMI DOE bilingual/bicultural program has already offered to have Chamorro and Carolinian materials if we divide up the collection.
She continues to ask people to add captions and information to the pictures.
10. HELPING WITH DECISIONS ABOUT THE COLLECTION
We have two major decisions to make about the collection.
If you would like to be part of the kpvcollection advisory group to assist with these decisions, please contact us.
The linked image below will bring you to our View the Collection page. You can see all parts of the collection there: documents, books, images, audio. Books and records will not be digitized unless requested by the author or artist or requested and not copyrighted. We are continuously adding to the different inventories and are working on ways to make it more accessible.
We have two major decisions to make about the collection.
- Which documents to digitize? We are inviting all to look at the collection and let us know if any documents should be digitized that have not been.Kit is adding a section to the inventory with information about each box. You can write down the number of the box with the number of what you think should be digitized and send it to kpvcollection.com. Inventorying and digitizing is being updated on a weekly basis.
- What should happen to the digitized collection and actual collection? If you have suggestions, please send them to Kit at kpvcollection.com or email to arrange for a discussion, or contact Leo Pangelinan at NMHC.
If you would like to be part of the kpvcollection advisory group to assist with these decisions, please contact us.
The linked image below will bring you to our View the Collection page. You can see all parts of the collection there: documents, books, images, audio. Books and records will not be digitized unless requested by the author or artist or requested and not copyrighted. We are continuously adding to the different inventories and are working on ways to make it more accessible.
11. EXPLORING FACEBOOK
We want to have more conversations for the public to get involved with. The social media platform Facebook has certain functions that would make conversations easier. We will post updates here about our progress in integrating Facebook into our efforts.
More to come soon.
We want to have more conversations for the public to get involved with. The social media platform Facebook has certain functions that would make conversations easier. We will post updates here about our progress in integrating Facebook into our efforts.
More to come soon.