Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller December 15,1958

More on how affected I was by the Testament of Ann Lee: truly bummed when the self-professed film fan sitting next to me said they found the script unconvincing because they were apparently unaware that Shakers are real and in fact did convince quite a lot of people for quite a while

I feel once again compelled to emphasis the digitizing in the literal scanning sense is fairly unimportant if it is not accompanied with metadata providing context for discovery. Both humans and AI will make things up when they don't know what they are looking at.

The back stacks of Houghton Library were filled with boxes of un/barely cataloged c19th pamphlets. Many of boxes have something written on them thematically like "spirit mediums." The message here is the coolest things that wont be digitized, IME, are unknown to the archivists too!

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

I just saw the Testament of Ann Lee and it was in many ways a perfect film for me (including the surprise on screen singing of a dear friend). The audience response at parts was completely heartbreakin, though, because of the lack of historical empathy

For Public Picks, Global Black History editor @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social recs @imaniperry.bsky.social's "Black in Blues," Nicholas Boggs's "Baldwin: A Love Story," Joycelyn Longdon's "Natural Connection" & @dorothyjberry.bsky.social's "The House Archives Built."

When I've written about project work, I've been asked for a lit review by editors. This is reasonable, but it means I have to look up works that are related to what I did, but that I didn't read when I was doing the work. I can understand how more stressed/less scrupulous folks might be tempted...

Y’all know you want to have something to talk about with Biscuits, so check out this awesome & vital book! @hcrichardson.bsky.social 🗃️

I get students asking me about pursuing a PhD or telling me that my lack of a PhD inspires them to forgo. The secret to my success is very hard work, sacrifice, and a ton of dumb unpredictable circumstance. No advice anyone can give will help with the lynchpin that is the latter of the three!

though I may currently work at a museum, I'm really more of a sleeper agent in this war of attrition

Review for The House Archives Built & Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities: "A powerful, poignant, reflection on the past and future of Black archives." — Kirkus Read more: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

final Christmas decor applied

Thanks to the amazing @taoleighgoffe.bsky.social I have made it under the wire (late October release date!) to an end of the year book list @publicbooks.bsky.social ! There aren't enough crying smiley emojis. www.publicbooks.org/public-picks...

This *wild* story of an AI vending machine is worth reading, but this part—where the journalists convince Claudius it’s a communist vending machine, cannot help but recall Fredric Brown’s 1942 story "Etaoin Shrdlu"—in which a sentient linotype machine sets Marx in type & becomes a communist

Jan 6, 1967 Time cover of "man of the year" and Jim Berry's response.

One of the prints I acquired in London features a young woman who I assume is seductively telling the featured young man, "how about you don't drown this kitten you absolute maniac"

Recent editorial exchanges remind me to broadcast: I maintain a small freelance editing practice, and will have some space free for new clients in the new year. I help writers both scholarly and otherwise, as well as institutional clients. A short description here: benwurgaft.org/editing/

A new book traces the history of Black nationalism in the U.S. through the remarkable, contradictory life of an overlooked activist, Dara T. Mathis writes. On Ashley D. Farmer’s biography of Audley Moore:

Celebrate 60 years of free access. You’ve enjoyed HMML Reading Room (vhmml.org)—now celebrate what makes it possible. Every new or increased gift is matched through the $75,000 challenge. Celebrate 60: hmml.org/give #HMML60 #PreserveAndShare #CulturalHeritage #YearEndGiving #GlobalAccess

(i love hopping on a quick call)

How to Draw Christmas, Ed Emberley 1986. We’ve scanned it in full here www.presentandcorrect.com/blogs/blog/h...

Yes!!! Ugh!!!!! marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-...

This is the exact lighting they use for the pic to accompany a profile of a professor who got suspended because he kept using slurs in class as a supposed intellectual provocation.

Now that I'm back and have received more feedback, even more awed that my writing about my own experiences and thoughts on Black archives in the US resonated so strongly with new and old friends in England

We are super excited to announce the launch of our flagship London Rare Books Summer School! There are a number of bookish courses for you to choose from, check our website for details. Book now to avoid disappointment: buff.ly/7cpbeU1 #RareBooks #SummerSchool

People are taken back when many academics respond so viscerally to so many uses of GenAI, but this is why. One of the only really good values you learn in academia--or at least in my corner of it--is citation. Choosing not to cite just makes you a low-down thief.

I can't imagine not caring about all the cruel and senseless and seemingly endless murder in our world, and it's a shame that others can

For scholars interested in illustration and writing for children, we’re offering a research fellowship — $4,000 to support research, and a very easy application. Please apply! Please repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...

For anyone who uses archival methods, we’ve offering a $4,000 fellowship to use any of our holdings on site in Storrs, CT. Easy application! Please apply! Please repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...

“Ministers are facing calls for stronger safeguards on facial recognition technology after the Home Office admitted that it is more likely to incorrectly identify black and Asian people than their white counterparts on some settings.” Facial recognition technologies are racist by design.

I love that the alt text here makes very clear that I am, as usual, barely visible when standing behind a lectern

Congrats to Jim and the team, and congrats to me for a record breaking keep-your-trap-shut !

'AI is coming' I tell the museum stakeholders as I proudly cut the ribbon of our new Artificial Insemination exhibition

Reading a philosophical magazine of questions/answers from the 1690s: "Quest: Why one hours Sermon seems longer than two hours Conversation?"

I spent a lot of time embedding videos into my PowerPoint so as to not be embarrassed in front of you all! Brave the Edinburgh wind!

Aaron Boehmer on finding books and more in community libraries in times like these: "These local libraries gesture toward a different kind of recordkeeping that is grounded in community stewardship rather than state authority." Read more: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/freeing-the-library/

It's going to be fun when these fake archival sources just get copy-pasted directly from the chatbots into bibliographies and lazily re-cited for years/decades, until someone tries to actually find the original source, fail, and assume the archive has destroyed or misplaced it, rendering it "lost"

Torontonian, #18thc pals, the McMichael Gallery is exhibiting the photographer Stan Douglas' take on John Gay's ballad opera Polly (part of Douglas' long-term reinvention of history painting): Polly & Macheath come to life! Please, someone, ask me to review it .. .. mcmichael.com/exhibition/s...

At least I know Sonja would have liked my keynote because this is mainly what I was talking about

New York City had free college tuition at all CUNY schools for 130 years

Loads of great talks at #ff2025 - this was fab 👇

Talk 2/3 on the international trip complete, as illustrated inception style in this photo @jeaninena.bsky.social texted me immediately after. Big talks are intimidating and so is an absolute lack of hands at the “questions” portion but I had a good time and later ate two pizza danishes

For how often I have stunned silence instead of questions during library talk Q&As I should change my final slide from “Thank you!“ to “Nuff said!”

What does it mean to imagine archival research through the eyes of its users? Join us for a conversation with Dorothy Berry of the Smithsonian (SI: Museum of African American History (Bot)) on 10th Dec. Secure your place: https://edin.ac/4pfKrDp #EdCDCS Chair: Melissa Terras

Lots of busy work things while I’m in London and Edinburgh, but the first will be very hard to beat. A very full crowd of students, faculty, and interested folks came out to UCL for my book talk. There is such a hunger for Black history and archives here, I hope I can continue to be in conversation!

11/11 "...our understandings of history and ourselves rest on those invisible foundations. This book clarifies those foundations [labor and theory that upholds archives] while offering new possibilities for imagining archival futures in and outside of institutional holdings." www.weherepress.org

One week to go! "How Users Imagine Archival Research." Don't miss the chance to hear Dorothy Berry speaking about her work on the Johnson Publishing Company Archive (JPCA) #EdCDCS Chair: Melissa Terras 📆 Wed 10 Dec 🔗https://edin.ac/4pfKrDp

WHO'S READY TO TEACH SOME HILDESHEIM DOORS?!

📣🎬 Calling all filmmakers & artists! Celebrate Public Domain Day in January 2026 by making a 2–3 min short film using public domain works from 1930 & earlier. 📆 Deadline: January 7, 2026 💰 First prize: $1,500 ℹ️ Details 👉 blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2... #contest #filmmaking #publicdomain