Through the month of March, my pop-up exhibit will be on display in the Reading Room. Having the freedom to choose a topic, I featured materials relating to interracial marriage legislation in Arizona. Until March 12, 1962, a statute criminalizing this was still on the books! A few years ago, I learned that Henry “Hank” Oyama and Mary Ann Jordan were the couple that successfully challenged our state's anti-miscegenation statute, and to my pleasant surprise, I found his papers (MS 448) in Special Collections. While his collection mostly relates to his work as a bilingual educator, we also have the Records of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union (AZ 182). The Oyama case in 1959 was the organization's first. While there weren't photos in either of these two collections, I was relieved and delighted to find the wedding photos in the Jack Sheaffer Photographic Collection (MS 435). I was able to scan a 4x5 negative and print it for the showcase. I hope this won't be my last time curating and using archival materials to tell a story. I probably didn't do Oyama and Jordan's story justice, but I'll be happy if any visitors learn about this civil rights triumph for the first time.

In addition to the exhibit, I'm still sorting the George Chambers Papers into my proposed series. It's about the midpoint of the semester, so I feel a sense of urgency. It's tempting and useful to read through the files, but only so much granularity is needed for the final arrangement. One reason I find myself spending time on certain items is letterhead. Chambers managed the newspaper business and also had a publishing company. There are letters typed on his company stationery, but that doesn't necessarily mean they relate to business. He had many civic pursuits and historical interests. Materials that don't fall under the larger series will likely belong to Research Files.