Hi everyone, and welcome to Mayyim Hayyim’s Archive Deep Dive! My name is Gabrielle Keen, and I am the archivist here at Mayyim Hayyim. I’m a recent graduate of Simmons University’s Library and Information Science graduate program, and I’m currently working on a project to appraise and organize all of the records that have been collected here over the past two decades. Using this series of blog posts, I hope to give you all a little insight as to what it is I’m doing and share some fun finds with you along the way.
Currently, we’re in the “appraisal” stage of this project, which is a fancy way of saying “taking a look at what we have.” This gives me a chance to meticulously comb through each file and see what’s in there, taking stock of the information and thinking about how to best organize the records for the future. Each record, no matter how trivial, tells a story, and they all add up to tell the story of Mayyim Hayyim. The purpose of this project is not only to make sure that the narrative of the past is easy to understand and access, but also to create an organized system that will allow us to continue adding chapters to the story as we move into the future.
The process of archival appraisal is so fun for me because every day brings a new discovery, no matter how seemingly mundane it may be. Over the past month, I’ve already found a myriad of items and records that speak to different eras in the organization’s history, including a ton of audio cassettes and DVCAM tapes of past programs and events. I can’t wait to find out what’s on them! I’ve also found an old outreach flyer (possibly one of the oldest) looking for volunteer mikveh guides. As mikveh guides are such an integral part of Mayyim Hayyim, it’s so cool to see how the outreach for this program has evolved over the years. Even the language we use has come so far in terms of inclusivity! On the funny side, I’ve also found things like faxes where the coating is dried out and cracked so it looks like the paper is covered in glitter. I can’t wait to see what else this project uncovers, and I’m so excited to take you all on this journey with me. I’ll continue updating here each month as things progress, so keep an eye on this space as we dive deeper!
Outreach flyer from our early days for Mikveh Guide training