11 October 2010

To Celebrate Archives Month

With the researcher's permission to share her interest with our readers:

An example of how researcher can use archives ...

Byrne Miller was a passionate woman; a literate woman; a woman with a marvelous penchant for the power of words -- which she did not mince. She did not suffer fools. She was generous with her opinions.

Local film-maker and author, Teresa Bruce was an "adopted daughter" of Miller, not in the legal sense but in the emotional sense. Her personal love for Byrne Miller and Bruce's own professional interests in dance, writing, and film-making led her to study the archives of the Byrne Miller and her Dance Theatre papers here in the Beaufort District Collection in conjunction with exploring her memories of her personal relationship with Miller as well as the relationship of others mentored by Miller.

(To read about what sort of materials are in the Byrne Miller Papers, go to the BDC home page, scroll down to the "Finding Aids to Archival Collections" block and choose "Byrne Miller Papers." We are grateful to SC SHRAB for their assistance in preparing the Byrne Miller Papers for public use.)

We appreciate that Bruce gives a shout-out to us in her blog entry of 16 September.

The Beaufort Three Century Project asked Bruce to do a segment on this renowned dancer and dance educator as part of their final "Look Back, Look Forward" forum of 2010. Bruce is shopping her book about her life with Miller around New York publishers. Read about the road to possible publication and the preparation behind the 3C presentation in Bruce's blog "Womenisms." (For the social and religious conservatives of our audience, just be aware that Byrne Miller was a woman who spoke her mind -- and Bruce quotes Miller -- and explores Miller's unconventional thinking. Libraries and archives embrace First Amendment Rights.)

Q: So, what can a researcher do with materials in an archives?
A: 1) Present at a Beaufort Three-Century Project Forum
2) Write a book
3) Make a film
4) Learn more about another person -- and in the process, learn more about one's self.

1 comment:

Teresa Bruce said...

Wow - this is great! I hope you find ways to keep the citizens posted about the wonderful collections you curate. It's a service we're so lucky to have.