Updating Records
Behind the scenes at the FRHS for the past few months, we have been busily working on a large, time-consuming project. An extensive card catalog that was started in 1921 is now home to thousands of index cards with the names of Fall Riverites and pertinent biographical references typewritten on them.
One of our goals is to increase efficiency and make the records easily available to researchers – it is necessary to change this archaic system by entering the information into the museum software. It is a daunting task.
Currently, we are working on the Central Congregational Church membership logbook. This volume provides information such as: death or funeral dates, confession dates, marriages, divorces, membership status, dismissals, and even the occasional excommunication.
However, to err is human, and since this information was collected and entered by various individuals over many decades, there are several inconsistencies throughout the book. For example: funeral dates entered as death dates, wrong maiden names, incorrect spellings of names, or unhelpful information written next to their name like the word “Died.” Without a date, or at least a year, it makes identifying these people all the more difficult. This information is useless for research if not accurate.
To ensure that the information entered into our database is correct it is necessary to undertake further research into the individual. If we know when they died, we can search newspaper microfilm and look up their obituary, which provides additional information.
Projects like these are substantial and require a significant amount of time. They are invaluable for record keeping and documenting collections. We are correcting mistakes found in the logbook and entering accurate information into our database.
The membership logbook has proven to be a helpful resource to many researchers in the years since it was acquired by the museum, however it was not fully catalogued, nor was it electronically searchable.
Now, this information is accessible to researchers. How exciting!