Undertakings, Obligations and a Historian’s Ethics.

Undertakings, Obligations and a Historian’s Ethics.

            Several have asked about the fragments of letters I’ve posted to the blog. These are from the two repositories of Washington family papers and relate to Maria Jourdan Westmoreland-Washington. One came from the New York Public Library archive. It is posted to their web site and available to all. The others come from the Tennessee State Library and Archive. We have ‘obligations’ connected to these. The archive is open to researchers. However, the State Library retains certain legal rights, with these comes the obligation to researchers to not pass on what the library owns. You can, at fifty cents a page obtain scans. We elected to purchase only those documents that we were certain were relevant, doing so because of cost.

            I can ethically post small extracts of documents here, but eventually they must come down. The staff, especially the director of the archive, were exceptionally helpful, more helpful than most institutional libraries we’ve contacted.

            Some years ago I discussed the New York Public Library’s George Storrs archive with a member of the Watchtower Society’s editorial staff. He suggested that it was only marginally relevant. Photocopies cost three hundred dollars at the time. Relevance is determined by one’s approach. The Watchtower Society does not approach their history in the same way that an academic writer does. I did not have, and still do not have, the spare three hundred dollars, but we managed to put together a cogent and accurate picture of Storrs for Separate Identity, volume one.

            I have always found the ephemera of history helpful. A turn of phrase, a sentence, a detectable attitude leads to connections. This is true of the Washington archives I’ve mentioned above.

            Sometimes we acquire things, usually as scans or photocopies, that the owner is willing to share with us but only on the promise that we will not share it with others. It is better to see these things than refuse. Such is the case with a recent acquisition. This poses challenges. We find things that move our research forward, but I am reluctant to cite something another writer cannot see. Usually we find a path to another resource that we can cite and that conveys the same information. A sharp eye might let you see examples in volume one of Separate Identity.

            Sometimes we find an example of the same material in another archive. Then we can use it without compromising a promise. This is the case with a booklet published by M. F. Russell. We do not cite that in S. I., but if I live long enough to write the next book, On the Cusp of Fame, it will be important.

            Recent donations to our work have allowed us to see not just the Washington archives but a pile of letters and documents, newspapers and clippings, a rare booklet not available on Google books, and two books. We had as an imperfect photocopy one of the books, and I cite it in volume one of S.I. It’s recently been republished, and you can buy a copy for about forty-five dollars and postage. An original appeared on ebay. We contacted the seller and he lowered the price to match the POD reprint. We now have the book as an original from 1843, and with that we can read the entire text. We may cite it again in volume three where it becomes relevant again.

 

G. W. Green was a Storrs and Barbour associate.

This tract came to us through your donations. 

 

            Because of ‘undertakings’ between myself and the person who owns the letters and other papers, I cannot share any of it on the blog. You will see results though. And the newspapers and clippings are public domain. We purchased the originals. And they are ours to do with what we wish. The newspapers contain interesting, useful things. We’ve just started sorting and reading. But thus far we’ve found a letter from Jonas Wendell explaining his work; a letter from the pastor who followed Stetson at Edinboro, Pennsylvania, detailing internal difficulties; a short article about the nature of ‘the work’ in Chicago in the 1890s, and assorted other comments on events then current. We would not have this without the contributions you’ve made. I am thankful for your support.

            Before I forget it [I’m becoming forgetful in my old age], the papers explain a comment found in the Bible Student history of the work in Australia. A man mentioned there wrote a weekly letter back home; these were published. This will become a footnote in volume two of S. I.