Gladys Worthington Papers, Bancroft Library

Wow, it is hard to believe my internship at U.C. Berkeley‘s Bancroft Library has come to a close. Thursday was my last day, and I will truly miss my time working at the archive. I haven’t updated the blog recently about my internship experience, and so much has been accomplished since my last post. I’ve completed the processing and finding aid for the Dwight C. Steele Papers (BANC MSS 2005/195 c), which are now available in OskiCat, the online catalog for U.C. Berkeley Libraries, and soon the Online Archive of California. Further, I processed and arranged my second collection, the Gladys Worthington Papers, and finished all of the front matter for the finding aid (biography, scope and content, etc.). Only the container list remains, which will hopefully be finished soon, so that this collection will also be available for research.

Gladys Worthington (c. 1911-1982) was a Bay Area social worker who was primarily active in providing services for senior citizens, although she was active in other areas as well. She spent time as a relief worker with the American Red Cross during World War II, when she was stationed in France. She wrote an unpublished autobiographical account of her time in France, titled Not a Donut Dolly. This manuscript is accompanied by fascinating photographs from this period.

I used the More Product Less Process (MPLP) mantra quite effectively while processing this collection due to time constraints. The idea is to make these important collections that have been backlogged available for researchers as soon as possible. Although the bulk of the processing work and finding aid was completed, I was disappointed that I was not able to finish the container list. I do hope that someone else is able to complete this list soon, so that access to the collection is not further delayed.

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