By Ali Fletcher
Bloomington, Indiana is no stranger to ghosts and hauntings. Students at Indiana University have no doubt heard rumors of the Woman in Black who roams Sample Gates, the shadowy figures that can be seen from the windows of the Indiana Memorial Union after the sun has dipped below the horizon, or the statue of Herman B. Wells that just might smile, wink, or wave at them as they walk by. Nowadays, most of the figures in these stories may be nameless characters known only by the shivers they send down the spines of passersby, but they would have once had a place in the lively Bloomington community beyond their spectral shadows. Most of these identities have been lost to time and the impact of their lives on the Bloomington community has become largely overlooked. But for those interested in learning about the legacies left behind, they can be discovered at one of the many archival preservation institutions on the Indiana University Bloomington Campus.
Dr. Barbara Hillers, Associate Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, provided some insight into the importance of IU’s rich archival collections, the opportunities afforded to students in the Information and Library Science Program (ILS), and the ways in which the preservation of Folklore – something often dismissed as being unrelated to modern times – is inextricably linked with the communities we build today. Dr. Hillers, who teaches a Special Topics class on Folklore Archives in the Digital Age (ILS Z604), states that “Bloomington can be a wonderful model for community interactions” and that the greater community of Folklorists value being able to use local resources to explore these interactions. In Folklore Archives in the Digital Age, students get the chance to study those local interactions and their importance through exploration of IU’s incredible archival resources, such as the University Archives, the Archives of Traditional Music (ATM), the Kinsey Institute, and the Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC).
For their final course projects, students experience archival operations, conduct research, and develop their archival skills & expertise under the guidance of archivists and librarians in one of the many world-famous archival institutions at IU that prioritize accessibility and education. According to the University Archives homepage, it is “the largest and most comprehensive source of information on the history and culture of Indiana University.” In this class, students can explore over 18,000 cubic feet of records and papers under the guidance of Carrie Schwier, the Outreach and Public Services Archivist and Associate Librarian with the University Archives. William Vanden Dries guides students through the collections found at the Archives of African American Music and Culture. Students also collaborate with Liana Hong Zhou at the Kinsey Institute to incorporate a local community archive into the Institute’s diverse collection.
Getting to work with local resources is regarded as very valuable in the greater community of folklorists, especially when it comes to “confront[ing] the ghosts of the past,” says Dr. Hillers. The ghosts of the past can give students insight into how cultures have survived and evolved over time, which cultures may have been damaged by historically oppressive forces, and the new ways in which some cultures have come to be represented over time. But like with most hauntings, these “ghosts” can bring with them harmful histories that fuel toxic ideologies. “Anyone with a public facing [job],” says Dr. Hillers, must “become really savvy about how detrimental toxicity can be.” In her other ILS Special Topics course, Fear, Anger, and the Internet (ILS-Z604), Dr. Hillers discusses internet toxicity and how the digital revolution has enabled local and global archives to safeguard their collections and make them publicly available; but has brought the darker affordances of digital communication technology to the public as well.
Through working with the University’s archival institutions and handling materials that exist within contexts of the past, students are given the chance to discuss with their peers and faculty the best way to bring these materials and the tension they may carry into the 21st century. Students are also given opportunities to do so while learning the importance of protecting the intellectual freedom of those who seek information at the University Archives. Dr. Hillers believes a crucial component of preparing students to become culturally-informed archivists is to promote and teach internet literacy: “Ultimately,” says Dr. Hillers, “a more effective tool than putting in technical fixes is to better understand how polarized discourse works and what other features of social media platforms enable and prompt toxic behavior,” a mission to which she says Indiana University is “quite committed.”
This connection with research and the local community encourages what Dr. Hillers believes to be the “real core mission” of the intersection between Folklore and Information and Library Sciences, which is to prepare students for the public-facing aspects of being an archivist. She loves teaching ILS students, whom she regards as a “self-selecting group of do-gooders and idealists” who understand the concept of serving the public as being deeply embedded into the mission of being Information and Library Science professionals.
So, the next time you find yourself exploring Bloomington’s history in one of the many rich archival institutions at Indiana University, remember that you and your local community of librarians and archivists (and, possibly, the local ghosts as well) are actively participating in the continued development of Bloomington’s community and culture.
