A quarter, a pencil, and four boxes. No, I did not find small change and writing utensils in the attic. And no, those don’t signify my biggest finds to date. In amongst some of Columbus Early Learning Center’s historical documents, I uncovered a Finding Aid from the Ohio Historical Society, which led to a field trip! So I was definitely guided to this treasure. A Finding Aid provides a brief description of an archival collection’s contents so that one might determine its usefulness at a glance. An online search and a few phone calls later yielded confirmation that indeed, the Ohio Historical Society had four boxes full of documents, photos, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the former Westside-Eastside Day Care Association from 1895 to 1971. I was thrilled! I also might be the first person to ask about it since 1975, the year it was donated.

So this past week I met with a collections specialist about donating more materials to the historical society and perused the existing collection. Importantly, the collections specialist and I discussed how best to preserve information in a digital format (recall my last blog post) for the greatest chance at its continued accessibility in the future. He suggested a flash drive of some sort. I’m beginning to wonder, in this vast digital age, if paper hard copies will end up being the best option in the long term. There’s just something about their tangibility . . .

So where do the quarter, pencil, and four boxes come in? Well, you’ve probably figured out that the four boxes are the wonderful troves of historical information at the Ohio Historical Society. The pencil was important because you can only use pencil in the archives. Imagine the disaster that an ill-timed ink explosion could cause to 125 year old documents. And last but not least is the quarter I borrowed to lock up my possessions. You cannot have any bags or purses larger than a microfilm (very small) container while perusing the collections, so the staff have a supply of quarters they lend you for the lockers if, like me, you have no change on your person. How thoughtful!

A quarter, a pencil, and four boxes later, I have a wealth of new, primary source information about the learning centers of the past century. I may have struck gold!