Name: Jessica Campbell
Supervisor: Claudia Romero
Date: June 3, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Project: Border Heritage Subjects Newspaper Clippings Inventory
Today I made significant progress in processing Series II: Subject Clippings, focusing specifically on boxes SG 6 through SM 20 and SN 1. Each box was carefully reviewed for its contents, date ranges, and special materials, such as photographic negatives or unique ephemera. The topics documented in this group were incredibly diverse, ranging from local and international events to public policy, cultural life, and personal profiles. Among the more memorable themes were El Paso high school graduation clippings spanning nearly five decades, articles on the Holocaust Memorial Museum, NASA space projects, and military-related subjects like base closures and police corps. I also encountered historically poignant material including discrimination cases, the Ku Klux Klan in local politics, and stories on migrant workers and immigration. I verified and recorded each folder’s title and chronological scope, flagging boxes or items that included fragile formats or unusual formats for potential separate housing. Particular care was taken to track series like “Murder” and “Juarez” which appear across multiple folders and years.
As I worked through each box, I continued preparing descriptive summaries and identifying keywords to support future finding aid development. I noted instances of content overlap—especially concerning Hispanic heritage, border relations, and military issues—which may require cross-referencing in the final index to support robust user access. Additionally, I flagged items with visual content (e.g., photographs and negatives) for special attention during the rehousing phase. One of the highlights of the day was stepping back and seeing how the physical scope of the collection is now becoming more visible—the sheer volume of boxes along the wall speaks to the region’s rich and layered history. This inventory process not only builds technical archival skills, but also deepens my appreciation for the nuances and intersections that characterize community memory in the borderlands. I’m learning how important descriptive consistency and intellectual control are, especially in legacy collections with overlapping themes and mixed formats.
Tasks Completed:
Today, I continued processing Series II: Subject Clippings, focusing on SG–SM boxes. I reviewed, recorded, and summarized the contents of each box listed below. The work included verifying date ranges, identifying key topics, noting unique items (e.g., negatives or photographs), and preparing entries for the finding aid.
Boxes Processed:
- SG 6–SG 9: Topics include Good News About People, El Paso High School Graduations (1947–1996), Graffiti Artists, Grammy Awards, Grand Juries, Grants, Graphic Arts Society, Tourist Centers, Guadalupe Mountains National Park (negatives), and Guatemala Earthquakes.
- SH 1–SH 11: Topics include Habitat for Humanity, Halloween, Health (General and Hearing), Helicopters, Heroin, Hispanic Heritage, Holocaust Memorial Museum, Homelessness, Hospital Care, Housing, Human Rights, and Hurricane coverage.
- SI 1–SI 6: Topics include IBM, Immigration and Naturalization, Immunizations, Native American Gambling, Insurance, the IRS, International Bridges, Internet, Iran, Iraq, and Israel.
- SJ 1–SJ 7: Topics include Jail Annex, Jazz Festivals, Job Corps, John Hancock Sun Bowl, Juarez (multiple series), Junior Chamber of Commerce, Judges, and Juvenile Justice.
- SK 1–SK 4: Topics include El Paso TV and radio stations (e.g., KASK, KCOS, KTSM), Kennedy Assassination, Kids Today, KOYE Spanish radio (1958), and Ku Klux Klan in El Paso politics (1953).
- SL 1–SL 11: Topics include Labor Laws, Las Cruces (multiple themes), Laser Weapons, Leadership Programs, Legal Aid, Led Zeppelin, Libyan Terrorists, Literacy, Lordsburg, Lottery, and Low Rider Shows.
- SM 1–SM 20 / SN 1: Topics include Macedonia, Marijuana, Mayoral Candidates, McDonald’s, Medicaid & Medicare, Metallica, Mexican-American relations and cultural events, Migrant Workers, Military (various), Money Laundering, Museums, Music Reviews, Murder (various types), NASA, NCAA, and other public interest issues.
Notes:
- Many clippings featured date spans from the 1940s to the mid-1990s.
- Unique items such as negatives and photographs were flagged for separate storage consideration.
- Some content overlaps (e.g., Hispanic topics, Juarez, and Military) may require cross-referencing in the final finding aid index.
The image showcases a wide stretch of basement wall filled with alphabetized boxes from the Subject Clippings Series, reflecting the extensive physical size of the Border Heritage Collection. Labeled boxes from SG through SN are neatly stacked and positioned for inventory, emphasizing the comprehensive nature of this archival project. The photo captures both the organization of the space and the evolving scope of work as the collection nears full inventory review.