Maddie Monday – June 26, 2023

Happy one month of Maddie Mondays! The research for the Auditor’s exhibit is in full swing. Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been utilizing the Commissioners journals and newspaper articles for my portion of the research.

Commissioners’ Journal 9 pg. 149

The Commissioners journals were helpful for finding information about past elections, and I have continued to find interesting information in The Western Star archives. However, much of this week’s research was aided by the Warren County Genealogical Society. They provided me obituaries and various articles which have been helpful for accessing information about the personal lives and careers of past Warren County Auditors. For example, I have discovered several Warren County auditors that were Civil War veterans. I have been independently researching for the exhibit, but I have also been brainstorming designs and topics for the exhibit with the rest of the Records Center. On Friday, we visited the Corwin House to take photographs for the exhibit. I look forward to sharing a few more photographs and research in the Mondays to come! 

Antique Auditor’s Weights & Measures Kit, image courtesy of Maddie Durham

Keep following along every Monday for new installments of #MaddieMonday on our blog and Facebook page!

Maddie Monday – June 19, 2023

#MaddieMonday is here for week three! Check in on intern Maddie’s latest and greatest work at the Records Center & Archives.

Maddie Durham, Archives Intern

This week, I have been doing a lot of transcribing and proof-reading. I have been entering names from Commissioners Journals into a database which will then be transferred to the Warren County Records Center and Archives website.

https://www.co.warren.oh.us/recordscenter/Indexes/

While this task is a part of the digitization process, it has also provided an interesting account of Warren County’s history.  Additionally, I have been manually processing the Probate records. This will be one of my ongoing projects for the duration of my internship, and I enjoy the process of handling and organizing old records. Lastly, I have been researching Warren County auditors. My findings will likely be on the auditors’ office exhibit! 

https://www.wcauditor.org/

Be sure to look out every Monday through the Summer to see updates from Maddie on her newest discoveries at the Warren County Records Center & Archives!

Maddie Monday – June 12, 2023

Welcome back to week two of Maddie Mondays! This week, I did a lot of preservation. Specifically, I learned about how photographs and film are preserved at the archive, and I finished preserving photographs from the Warren County/Ohio Bicentennial.

August 2003 (L to R): Commissioner Pat South, Commissioner Tom Ariss, Musical Artist Lee Greenwood

I also continued transcribing entries from the Commissioners’ journals, and I am starting to see improvements in my understanding of cursive which will be helpful with the upcoming Auditor’s Office exhibit. Speaking of which, I have continued to find interesting newspaper articles on past Warren County auditors through the Western Star’s database. I am hoping to share some of my findings through the exhibit! 

Commissioners’ Journal 6, pg. 2 – June 7, 1824

Check back next week to see what new adventures Maddie has been up to in her time with Warren County!

Maddie Monday – June 5, 2023

Welcome to our very first Maddie Monday! Throughout the summer our intern, Maddie Durham, will be guest appearing on our social media to update everyone on what projects she is working on! We hope you enjoy this series and learn a bit about what we’ve got going on!

Hello! My name is Maddie Durham, and I am this summer’s intern at the Warren County Records Center and Archives. I am excited to spend this summer learning and working here in Warren County. A bit about me: I live in Loveland, Ohio, and I am a junior at Miami University majoring in History with a co-major in Global and Intercultural Studies. After graduation, I intend to enter a Master’s program for Library Science, so I am excited to learn from the wonderful staff at the Warren County Records Center and Archives! 

During my first two weeks of the internship, I started several interesting projects. I am currently proof-reading the database for the Commissioner’s journals, and I have manually processed estates from 1882. Through these projects, I am getting used to reading cursive again (nineteenth century handwriting can be tricky) and familiarizing myself with Warren County surnames. I have also been practicing preservation techniques and methods by filing film and photographs. My biggest project, however, is a display for the Auditor’s Office. I get to assist archival specialist Tori Otten with research, writing, and designs for the exhibit, and I am currently in the beginning stages of the research. I look forward to continuing this project throughout the summer and showing everyone the final product!