Last month we announced that we have been awarded a grant from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SC SHRAB) Historical Records Regrant Program. This project, called Mapping Charleston, will involve processing, researching, and publicizing our map collection from c. 1787 to 2004, allowing for more efficient public access and research. This collection has been previously inaccessible due to its outdated indexing system.
We are excited to work with our team members, Jacob Mossbrook, Adem Dickinson, and Doreen Larimer.
From left to right: Adem Dickinson, Kendall John, Doreen Larimer, Meg Moughan, Jacob Mossbrook
Jacob Mossbrook, our grant project archivist, recently graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.A. in Historic Preservation & Community Planning and Studio Art. He brings experience working on community projects such as the kitchen house excavation and the Dorchester Cemetery Association and is interested in combining his passions for both historic preservation and the arts. Jacob has been processing the index to the maps and researching alongside Records Specialist Kendall John.
Adem Dickinson, our student assisant, is a sophomore at the College of Charleston interested in working in I.T. He will be assisting us with data entry to our public repository system, PastPerfect, and rehousing material.
Doreen Larimer, our community volunteer, is a historical property researcher who has volunteered to guide us on the terminology, history, and potential use of these plats by researchers.
Working with Records Management Division staff, the team is coming up to speed on project objectives and goals and refining the work plan. Team members are familiarizing themselves with the collection and establishing indexing standards. Soon we will transcribe the data indexed on our card catalog system into PastPerfect, a cloud-based content management system that we will use to catalog the maps. Locally, the Historic Charleston Foundation and the Gibbes Museum of Art use PastPerfect in some capacity; we are looking forward to joining our peer institutions in providing enhanced public access to our holdings.
Grant Project staff will also expand on our card catalog entries to provide deeper subject searching and cross-referencing. We will note preservation and conservation concerns that might require future work and rehouse maps in archival folders.
Some of our favorite maps and details
We hope to use this project as a gateway to future collaboration with local repositories. In fact, we kicked off our work with a visit to the Charleston County Register of Deeds (ROD) where we spoke with Michelle Torres, Imaging Supervisor and Archivist. We learned more about their collection, process, storage, and use of plats. This visit provided additional context for our own project and gave us a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of digitizing map collections.
We plan to host public programs along the way to give citizens a front-row seat to our work. At the end, we will roll out the catalog on the Records Management page of the City's website. We will be providing blog updates along the way, so sign up for notifications to stay in the know!
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