Fresh Perspective (student guest post)

by Meghan Zimmerman

Interning for the Records Management Division has been such a unique experience that I am so grateful for! I started volunteering for the City in the fall of 2023 and then during the summer of 2024, I began interning through the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Having spent my school year and summer working for this division has helped me learn so much about the importance of preserving our city’s history and the processes it takes to do so.

Working on the City Hall Art Collection finding aid.

The first large project I worked on through my internship was a collection of records on the City Hall Art Collection. This collection encompasses documentation on the paintings, statues, and artifacts that the City owns and that are on display in City Hall and throughout some parks. To process this collection, I went through three key steps. The first step was to organize documents into logical files that would make sense to future researchers interested in Charleston’s art collection. When I first acquired the documents, they were relatively organized; however, it is still vital to ensure that the documents are not out of place. After that was finished, I began the process of refiling the documents. This is exactly what it sounds like – putting the documents in new folders and naming them. The last step, and probably my favorite, is making the finding aid. A finding aid is a document that includes background information or a summary of the contents of the collection, additional information for researchers, and the list of files that the collection contains. Building this collection was particularly fascinating as it has taught me so much about Charleston. For example, many of the cannon statues at Battery Park are original and date to the Revolutionary War or the Civil War era. The contents of this collection continue to fascinate me. 

Reviewing a collection after it has been processed.

Another large collection that I processed focused on the development of The Charleston Place. We might all take this landmark for granted today, but it actually played a crucial part in the “revitalization” of Charleston under Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. I approached the processing of these files in a similar way to the City Art Collection files; however, this time it was slightly smoother as I had worked out any logistical hiccups from getting over the learning curve of my first project. The Charleston Place files were very different from the City Art files as a majority of the content included the steps a city must take to go through with such a large construction/development project. This collection was also unique in that it revealed just how much community involvement, discussion, and disagreement play a role in municipal projects. This gave me the opportunity to see how local government administrations interact with the public in ways obvious and subtle, such as resolving concerns or planning and orchestrating public meetings and events to get the community involved. You can consult the finding aid on the Records Management Division’s webpage. Both collections I worked on taught me not only so much about the history of Charleston, but also how government interacts with private businesses, other government institutions, and the public.

Scenes from the early planning and development of Charleston Place: 1) a view of the site from the Museum at Market Hall on Meeting Street looking towards King Street. The Riviera Theater can be seen at top left; 2) another view of the site showing a one-story structure that would be demolished; 3) a view of Meeting Street structures in disrepair. The Corinthian Room Restaurant is shown at 229 Meeting Street; 4) a view of The Charleston Place rising in the background looking south from Liberty Street. All images were taken by William Struhs for the Office of Downtown Revitalization.

Although the SYEP has ended, I am looking forward to returning to my volunteer work at the Records Management Division over my fall 2024 semester! I can’t wait for my next project!