Ephemera Journal, Volume XI

While many Ephemera Society of America members derive enjoyment and satisfaction through toiling to find ephemera, other members — curators, historians, educators, exhibition designers — command ephemera to do their bidding. They've learned to mine veins of ephemera for the history it contains. They put it to work informing large audiences in ways that other media can't. Ephemera to them become visual footnotes that contain so much more meat than dry text. In some cases, early ephemeral forms provide the inspiration for telling stories that otherwise would be next to impossible to communicate.

This issue of the The Ephemera Journal looks at how two long-time collectors have put ephemera to work for them and for thousands of others.

Barbara Fahs Charles and Robert Staples have become masters at weaving ephemera into the designs they've crafted for the international museum community over the last 30 years. Their most recent effort opened December 15, 2005 in Philadelphia's National Constitution Center to celebrate the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. The 8,000-square-foot exhibit contains a series of interactive exhibits — some of them inspired by ephemera — as well as the largest collection of Franklin materials, ephemeral and otherwise, ever assembled.

Barbara Charles's article offers an insider's look at how ephemera can be put to work to increase our public understanding of complex topics. As a bonus, there's even a gem by Franklin himself on life's ephemeral nature.

While an aging Franklin may have reflected on things ephemeral, that may not be true of many of the young men and women enrolled at Williams College, unless, of course, they've met Robert Volz. Volz has served as custodian of the Chapin Library of Rare Books at Williams since 1977, with its more than 100,000 manuscripts, historical prints, photographs, and individual pieces of ephemera.

His passion is using the college's ephemera collection to make abstract humanities lessons more tangible. In his article for The Ephemera Journal Volz reflects on putting specific ephemera to work with class after class. From Martin Luther to Princess Diana, Volz exposes students to bits of paper that add a spark of the real world to textbooks and lectures.

Ordering Information:
Available for $18.00; $15.00 to members of the Ephemera Society; plus $3.00 for postage. Order from the Ephemera Society of America, PO Box 95, Cazenovia, NY 13035 or visit the online store.

Members $15.00 Non-members $18.00