My role at the Moravian Archives is a bit different than that of our student catalogers. Among my responsibilities, I review the work of the students but generally do not catalog the personal papers. I am, therefore, not able to engage with the material to the same degree as the students, because I am often looking to make sure I's are dotted and T's crossed. I verify that the record is accurate for each individual item.
I am currently reviewing the work undertaken on the Desh Family Papers. The papers consist of material related to five family members- Daniel Desh (1814-1895), Orlando Desh (1843-1932), Ambrose Desh (1845-1911), William Desh (1848-1923), Edward Desh (1850-1879), and Harrison Desh (1854-1932). The collection includes children's school exercises, financial records and transactions, and a series of Civil War letters. I have assembled a few photographs of their papers-
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| This was a sketch from Daniel Desh's work book for his mathematical exercises (1835). |
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| This image and the one below are from William Desh's geography work book (1858-1860). |
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I very much like finding bits of ephemera pressed between the pages. |
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| Handwriting exercises, the script is beautiful. |
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| And this is perhaps my favorite- two pigs sketched over text. The words inside the pigs read: A pig with a curly tail and A short tailed pig. (Edward Desh) |
