This is the fourth post in a continuing series about the processing of the Lawrence Joseph Hogan, Sr. papers, a key part of UMD Libraries’ Living Democracy Initiative. See additional posts Introduction to the Lawrence Joseph Hogan, Sr. papers, Processing the Hogan papers – The Beginning, and Processing the Hogan papers – Watergate and Impeachment for an introduction to the collection. Note: Hogan was the father of Larry Hogan, Maryland’s 62nd Governor (2015-2023).
An essential mission of archives is to preserve, promote, and make available materials of historical and cultural significance to the public with the goal of gaining insight and understanding into the complex history of human existence. With this important mission in mind, archives and archivists developed a systematic method in which to document and organize the collections that they acquire, ensuring their accessibility and usability for the public. At the University of Maryland’s Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA), we follow this methodology, which includes accessioning, inventorying, processing, and finding aid creation. Once these activities are completed, then a collection, such as the Lawrence Joseph Hogan, Sr. papers, is ready for use in the Maryland Room, SCUA’s reading room.
Accessioning allows archivists to understand the history of the collection, rights, and ownership information, what type of materials and content is in the collection, the extent or quantity of the materials, and determine the best storage location for the collection in the archive. At UMD, this step often also includes the creation of a preliminary inventory. Having intellectual and physical control over the collections provides the archivist with a good understanding of what the collection contains and ensures that it is properly documented and described as it joins the other collections in the archive.
Notecards (Lawrence Joseph Hogan, Sr. papers, 0256-MDHC.)
Processing consists of activities centered around the arrangement and description of a collection to make it accessible and ready for future researchers. A processing archivist reviews the collection, creates an inventory (if there isn’t already one), performs basic preservation activities, and rearranges and rehouses the materials as needed.
Arrangement includes the physical organization of the materials in the boxes and rehousing if needed. If the materials did not have an apparent original order, then a processor would create an order. This is usually based on topic, date, or grouping that best highlights the materials in a collection. For the Lawrence Joseph Hogan, Sr. papers, it was decided to arrange the papers based on Hogan’s major careers from his time in Congress as a Representative (1969-1975), as a member of the House Judiciary Committee (1971-1974), as Prince George’s County Executive (1978-1982), his campaigns, and his pre-political careers with various law and public relations firms.
Description includes inventorying and finding aid creation to describe what is in the collection. Depending on the level of processing, inventorying can be at the item, folder, or box level; item-level description is rare for archival material because of the resources and time needed. With this current processing project, the papers are inventoried at the folder level, providing more insight into the various topics Hogan was addressing throughout his career. The finding aid is a resource that provides a summary of information about the collection, a brief biography of Hogan and his careers, and a guide for how the collection is arranged.
During the arrangement process, a processor may encounter preservation issues such as rolled, folded, fragile, or damaged materials, as well as metal clasps or adhesives. In addition, the materials might need new acid-free boxes. The rest of this post will discuss some of the preservation issues encountered during the processing of the Hogan papers for SCUA.
Issues encountered include rusted paper clips, rubber bands, and brown staining from acidic migration. In addition to staining and warping the documents, rubber bands will eventually dry out, snap apart, and leave pieces behind in the folder, which we don’t want to leave with the materials. In this collection, there are a lot of newspaper clippings mixed in with the documents. This can be detrimental since newspapers tend to become very acidic over time. Older newspapers were made from wood pulp that contained impurities such as lignins (an organic polymer in cells) that deteriorate over time when exposed to various environmental factors such as light and humidity.
As a result, newspapers will become yellowish-brown and leave colored stains on other papers they are placed next to due to acidic migration. A couple of activities that a processor can perform to mitigate this issue include using acid-free buffer paper between the documents, separating the newspapers, or creating preservation photocopies of the materials. For the Hogan collection, a combination of the first two activities was performed since there are many newspaper pages and clippings mixed with the documents and many others also stapled to other documents.
Another common problem I encountered with this large collection (210 boxes) was that many folders were overly stuffed, making folders cumbersome to handle and not conducive to protecting the documents themselves. Overstuffing folders can cause tearing on the documents and increase the risk of documents falling out of the sides into the box. Whenever I saw an overstuffed folder, I separated the documents into further folders, keeping the same title of the original folder and adding a numerical sequence, e.g. “Interior and Insular Affairs (1/2),” to indicate the related folders.
There were many times I had to create new folders due to the documents’ housing being envelopes (often untitled), folder labels falling off, unclear titles, or the documents having been left loose and unfoldered in boxes. Documents that are left in envelopes have a greater chance of being damaged due to repeated handling in and out of the enclosures. In addition, there is the potential for the documents to stick to the envelope if it has a sticky flap. Out of around 5,000-plus folders, I created over 1,000-plus new folders.
In addition to creating new folders, I also rehoused audio-visual materials that didn’t have containers. There are over 250 audio-visual materials in this collection, including: photographs, audio cassette tapes, audio reels, VHS tapes, CDs, microfiche, and film reels of various sizes. Many of these are Congressional clips in which Hogan is interviewed about various pieces of legislation passing through the House and Senate.
Other items that needed rehousing include maps and oversize items that were mixed in throughout the collection. In our processing plan for the collection, we made the decision to separate these materials into an oversized map drawer and an oversized flat box, making sure to create separation sheets to indicate which item belonged in which folder. In addition, documents that were in big binders or plastic folders were rehoused due to space and preservation issues. Plastic materials are not good for paper documents since they can trap moisture inside if there is any water, and ink can also transfer to the plastic. These documents are placed in buffer paper folder sleeves with the identifying information transferred from the binder or original folder.
As I finish rearranging, I enjoy looking at the documents and getting a glimpse into the concerns and issues of the early 1970s, many of which are very similar concerns currently occurring in our modern times. Issues such as war, taxes, Civil Rights, social justice, minimum wage, campus unrest, energy crisis, and environmental concerns, are but some of the issues Congressman Hogan addressed for his constituents during his time in office. It’s eye-opening to consider just how much Representatives (and Senators) have to address in their short time in Congress, responding to constituents, making media appearances, creating and voting on legislation, campaigning, and other responsibilities, private or public.
Resource
Ludwig, Kathy and Bryan Johnson. “Preserving Newspapers: When and How to.” Minnesota History Interpreter (March 1997), p. 2-4. Accessed April 10, 2024 from http://www2.mnhs.org/about/publications/techtalk/TechTalkMarch1997.pdf
Irene M. Lewis -Processing Assistant with the University of Maryland’s Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA).
Special Collections & University Archives 
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