Historical Commission

Sterling Heights Historical Commission Feb 7, 2019 40433 Utica Road Sterling Heights, MI 48313 Minutes of Meeting I. Call to Order Meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mott. II. Roll Call Present: Cynthia Appleton, Nicholas Cavalli , John Connor, Douglas J. Harvey, Meghan Mott, Steven Pomaville, Mark Schell Staff Present: Tammy Turgeon, Library Director; Taylor Gibson, Library Intern III. Approval of Agenda Motion to approve the agenda was made by Cavalli, supported by Connor. Motion carried. IV. Minutes of November 1, 2018 Motion to approve the minutes of the November 1, 2018 meeting was made by Appleton, supported by Connor. Motion carried. V. Communications/Reports/Correspondence Taylor Gibson introduced herself to the Commission. She has been working on the Library’s Oral History collection and digitizing it for the Library’s digital archive. The transcripts of the interviews have been made pdf searchable as well. The Commissioners asked Taylor about her work at the Clawson Museum. It is located on Main Street by the Library and was one of the first houses built in Clawson. The Historical Society bought the house from the city and it is a home styled museum. They collect items about Clawson and 1920s decor. Taylor is a staff person at the library and the museum. She also has Commissioners and volunteers that support her. They have a great yearbooks collection. She indicated that labeling is important for collections, as well as consistency. MCHA Annual Meeting is April 27th at the Packard Proving Grounds. MCHA needs new board members. There will be no passport program for 2019. It may resume in 2020 and be combined with the patch program. VI. Unfinished Business A. Names Project Harvey will work on his family names. B. Oral History Conversion Project Taylor is working on. The interviews were conducted in the 1980s, and a few in the early 1990s. Commissioners are interested in interviewing  current and past City Council members and city retirees. Turgeon will ask SHTV if they would interview people if we came up with questions and made the contact. C. Wikipedia Page No news on a Editathon. May 4th at 2pm CMPL is hosting a program called Demystifying Wikipedia. D. Historical Display in Library Doug’s display on the history of trash is in. The next display will be for August. We will have a collections theme – Nick will have two shelves, Meghan will have a shelf, and John will have a shelf. E. Clippings and Scrapbook Not being worked on right now. F. Historical Marker Program No new applications. G. City Tour This will be held on June 8th. Turgeon will check with Parks & Rec and Jason to make sure to publicize event. Tours will be at 9am, 11am and 1pm. We need to change the route and include the19 Mile and Dequindre area, Lakeside, and Mallow Ave. We also need to add to the descriptions. 9am Tammy will do (Cynthia assist) 11am Meghan will do (Mark assist) 1pm Nick will do mark (John assist) Nick will work on updating the route by the end of February, still set for 1 hour 15 minutes. H. Memorial Day Parade The Historical Commission would like to be in the parade again this year. They will have a vehicle and about 10 people. We need to buy 1000 stickers that say “Visit the Upton House” and will attach them to suckers. I. May Historical Program Program will be May 9th at 7pm at the Library. It will be a program from the author of a book about Faygo. J. Purchasing Items for the Upton House A new donation box, television, and PastPerfect software were purchased with a generous donation from members of the Sterling Heights City Council, City Attorney and City Manager. K. A Sterling Christmas  $50.01 was collected. 134 attended, which was low, but the weather was not good. The organist was good. Turgeon will ask if she is available for Sterlingfest. L. Traveling History Box Nothing new right now VII. New Business A. Fall City Magazine Article Nick will do the article. Turgeon will check with Jason on summer article – Mark is getting caption for photo; Taylor will write an article about the work she’s done for the Library for the fall magazine. B. 2019 Budget Commission reviewed the 2019 budget. C. Historical Commission Donation Account Commission reviewed the 2019 Donation account. D. 2020 Proposed Budget Commission reviewed 2020 proposed budget. Budget includes a WiFi hotspot so that we could add a PC to access the digital archive in the Upton House. E. Inventory PastPerfect software has been purchased. A Policy statement has been created by Appleton. She will send out the electronic version to everyone. She will send out a list of supplies needed to Turgeon, Mott and Gibson. Turgeon will ask the City if they have a floor plan of the Upton House and how recent it is. She will also ask if they have drawings from when it was the Parks & Recreation office. Turgeon will ask Debbie about donation records. Turgeon will gather up any receipts for purchases of items in the house. The multimedia software addition for PastPerfect will be added in July. Archival and photography supplies will also be purchased then. There will be a deadline of March 1st to review the Policy statement. We need to have a cataloging meeting once a month during the day and once a month in the evening. We have examples of donor interview forms, deed of gift forms, and questionnaire forms. We will then have to create a procedure manual with standards for volunteers to use. F. Cemetery Walk The Cemetery Walk will be on October 19th. Turgeon will ask Parks & Recreation if tours can be held at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm. VIII. Communications from Citizens A motion for the Historical Commission to meet bimonthly instead of quarterly was made by Cavalli, seconded by Schell. Motion carried. April 11th will be the  next meeting. The Commission will vote on a policy statement at that meeting. Turgeon will work on the floor plan while at the Upton House on Sunday. Upton house volunteers for the next few months: February – Turgeon; March – Appleton; April – Connor; May – Mott; June – Appleton. IX. Adjourn Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Cavalli, seconded by Appleton. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Next meeting: April 11, 2019 at 6 p.m.