Dear IDARM Network member,

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We know this is a busy time of year, so we've extended the deadline for the travel grant application to August 10. If you live more than 50 miles from Pittsburgh and want to participate in the October IDARM network gathering, please consider applying. Applicants who have applied will find out their application status soon. Any questions about travel grants may be sent to the IDARM project directors at IDARM@heinzhistorycenter.org.

Below you can learn more about our IDARM network partners at West Virginia University, resources at the University of Pittsburgh Library System's Archives & Special Collections, and what to expect from the IDARM project this fall.

With gratitude,

Melissa, Lina and Nancy

Meet the IDARM Network Partners

Meet Hal Gorby

I'm a historian of West Virginia and Appalachia, whose work focuses on the role of immigrants in the state's steel and coal mining industries, particularly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My book "Wheeling's Polonia: Reconstructing Polish Community in a West Virginia Steel Town" examines Polish and other Eastern European immigrants in Wheeling, and the process of forging a distinct Catholic working-class culture in the wider region. I'm also a teaching assistant professor of history and director of undergraduate advising at West Virginia University. I teach courses on West Virginian, Appalachian, and American immigration history. I also consulted on the research and script editing for the Emmy-nominated PBS American Experience documentary "The Mine Wars."



Meet Lori Hostuttler

I'm an archivist and historian with twenty-five years of experience working in archives, libraries, and museums and a keen interest in the preservation of Appalachian culture and history. I'm privileged to lead that effort as the Director of the West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC) at West Virginia University Libraries. Although I am not of Italian descent, I grew up in an area that is steeped in Italian American culture. I'm a native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, a small city that celebrates its significant Italian American population annually at the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, now in its 45th year. I’ve enjoyed the food, entertainment, and community at that event for nearly my entire life. Accordingly, I’ve learned about the rich history of Italian Americans in my hometown and across the state.  The WVRHC has a strong base of collections that document the history of Italian Americans in the state. I’ve highlighted Italian American archival collections that cover topics from horrific mine disasters to tasty pepperoni roll recipes through exhibitions and instruction sessions. I’ve also assisted families researching their genealogy and facilitated the use of archival collections. I’m looking forward to the development of the IDARM project because it will help promote the discovery and use of our collections. I’m hopeful too that IDARM will connect us to people from across the state and region who will consider sharing archival materials about the Italian American experience in West Virginia with the WVRHC as we strive to document a more complete history of West Virginia.  See you all in October at the IDARM gathering!    

IDARM News and Updates

IDARM Network Gathering Update

We're thrilled to announce that Daniel V. Pitti, the Director of the Social Networks and Archival Context Cooperative (SNAC), University of Virginia Library and chair of the International Council on Archives Expert Group on Archival Description (ICA EGAD), will join us at our October convening as the IDARM project's Digital Humanities Specialist. From 1993-2010, Pitti served as the chief technical architect of Encoded Archival Description (EAD), a standard for encoding archival guides, and Encoded Archival Context-Corporate Bodies, Persons, and Families (EAC-CPF), a standard for encoding archival identity descriptions. The ICA EGAD has released the first three of four parts of Records in Contexts (RiC), a next generation standard for describing archival records and the contexts within which they originated and are preserved and used. From 1997 to 2017 Pitti collaborated with faculty humanities researchers in research projects that employ innovative research employing computational and network methods.

Reserve your hotel room

Reserve lodging at the Hampton Inn for the IDARM Network gathering (October 9-11) in Pittsburgh. Located off I-579, this hotel is adjacent to the Heinz History Center, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, PNC Park, and other downtown attractions are within walking distance. The Pittsburgh International Airport is 18 miles away. Hotel is equipped with an indoor pool, fitness center, and views of the Allegheny River. Free parking, Wi-Fi, and daily hot breakfast available.

Room rate for the IDARM Network Gathering is $144+tax.

Use code IDA when booking online. Reservations can be made over the phone at 412-288-4350; press 0 and ask to book a room under the "IDARM Project Gathering" room block.

Funding Opportunity for WV Institutions

The West Virginia Humanities Council (WVHC) offers numerous grants and fellowships for West Virginia-based institutions and individuals. Major Grants of up to $20,000 support large humanities projects, such as lectures, school projects, symposiums, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, exhibits, reenactments, and conferences. Media Grants of up to $20,000 support the planning, scripting, and production of audio or video materials, websites, or a newspaper series. The application deadlines for these grants are September 1, 2024.

Please direct any questions to Grants Administrator Erin Riebe at riebe@wvhumanities.org or (304) 346-8500.

IDARM Network Spotlight

University of Pittsburgh's Archives & Special Collections

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) is the archives, manuscripts, and rare books department of the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS). Our mission is to collect, describe, and preserve collections in order to make them available and accessible to the Pitt community and beyond. The collection contains historic documents, photographs, maps, rare books, newspapers, audio and video recordings, and more. A&SC houses over 130,000 rare books and printed materials that include 16th century illuminated books, 20th century underground zines, children’s books through the ages, and an abundance of horror. In addition to documenting the history of Pitt in the University Archives, A&SC is also one of the largest archives of Western Pennsylvania history. Our manuscript collections include papers of Pitt faculty, local authors, and genre defining creators.

Photo Caption: Irma D'Ascenzo's swearing in ceremony for Pittsburgh City Council, February 1956. She was the first woman appointed to serve on City Council. Irma D’Ascenzo Papers, AIS.2018.04 (1944-1991) 

Thanks to the work of Outreach and Engagement Librarian Leslie Poljak, the Italian American dimension of Pitt’s A&SC has been made more discoverable through the Italian American Studies @ Pitt Library Guide (or LibGuide). This micro-site allows all of the University Library System’s resources in the field of Italian American Studies to be easily organized and displayed, from publications in the Humanities and Social Sciences; to research projects; to A&SC collections that illuminate the richness of the Italian and Italian American experience in the region.

Contact Information

A&SC has two Reading Room locations that you may visit:

A&SC at Hillman Library

320 Hillman Library

University of Pittsburgh

3960 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15260

412-648-8190

A&SC at the Archives Service Center

7500 Thomas Boulevard

Pittsburgh, PA 15208

412-648-3232

Visitors are welcome at either location, however, there are some materials that can be only viewed at specific Reading Rooms. If you are unsure of which location to visit, please contact us ahead of time with details of your research request, and we'll direct you to the appropriate reading room.

Both reading rooms are open Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 4:45 pm. We are closed on all University holidays. Appointments are not required, but strongly encouraged. A lot of our materials are stored offsite and may take up to 48 hours to retrieve. Therefore, we cannot promise that we will be able to immediately fulfill all materials requests made by walk-in visitors.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this newsletter, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.