On February 22, 2021 Katherine Barbera, Archivist & Oral Historian at Carnegie Mellon University and member of the Committee on Public Awareness (COPA), talked with Clint Pumphrey and Chase Anderson about their remarkable work on the Outdoor Recreation Archive. The Archive is a unique collaboration between Utah State University’s Special Collections and its Outdoor Product Design & Development program and boasts over 2,000 items from 200 outdoor companies, from REI to Patagonia.

In the video interview, Pumphrey and Anderson discuss their special collaboration, their challenges in establishing this new collecting initiative, and their popular Instagram channel with over 7,000 followers where they share outdoor catalog covers from 1904 to today. Pumphrey and Anderson offer insight into how they “caught lightning in a bottle” in creating a home for the history of the outdoor industry.

Clint Pumphrey is Manuscript Curator of Special Collections and Archives at Utah State University and Project Curator for the Outdoor Recreation Archive. Previously, he was employed as the National Register Historian for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Clint holds a master’s degree in history from USU and received his Digital Archives Specialist certificate in 2014. He lives with his family in an 1893 farmhouse, which serves as a base camp for hikes, snowshoe treks, and trail runs with his dog, Duke.

Chase Anderson is Program Coordinator for the Outdoor Product Design & Development at Utah State University where he helps lead the program’s industry outreach and marketing efforts. He’s passionate about helping connect students with great opportunities in the industry. He’s also spent a number of years in industry working for leading fitness / outdoor brands including ICON Fitness and Cotopaxi. Chase enjoys exploring Logan Canyon, biking Cache Valley’s farm roads, and fly fishing local streams.

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Interview

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Transcript

Barbera [00:00:07] My name is Katherine Barbera. I’m here talking with Clint Pumphrey, am I pronouncing that correctly, Clint?

Pumphrey [00:00:15] Yes

Barbera [00:00:16] And Chase Anderson to talk about the Outdoor Recreation Archive at Utah State University.

Barbera [00:00:27] And we’re going to go through a couple of questions so they can tell you all about this amazing new project.

Barbera [00:00:34] So I’ll start off with something pretty easy. And perhaps this is best answered by Clint. But why archives? Why did you become an archivist?

Pumphrey [00:00:48] Well, I’ve been involved in cultural heritage for all of my career.

Pumphrey [00:00:53] I started out actually in historic preservation and had done archives, had worked in archives job as a graduate student and really wanted to be in the university and working with the materials that I had grown to love as a graduate student. And I think the longer I’ve worked in the career, the more I started to realize or better understand that question. And you know why I became an archivist and I think, you know, like I said, I’ve been in the field for for my whole career. I have a personal appreciation for cultural heritage and believe that it’s very important to preserve our cultural heritage, in order to preserve our identity and understand who we are. But that’s always a difficult argument to make for those who maybe don’t share that same experience. And so for me, what it really comes down to in a general sense why archives, is that I think that archives inspire. When you have a student come in and they see a book or a manuscript or a photo that they can connect to in some way, and they just think it’s just an amazing experience. I think that’s what makes archives impactful. And that’s how you can help other people understand why archives are impeccable. There are many other reasons, but I think that one is the most easily understood.

Barbera [00:02:34] I love that archives inspire, in my experience that’s definitely true.

Barbera [00:02:40] So tell me about the Outdoor Recreation Archive. Tell me the story of that project.

Pumphrey [00:02:48] Well, in 2018, Sean Michael, who was the head of the Outdoor Product Design and Development Program that chases involved in, approached us about building some collections that would support their program, which is basically Chase can give you some more information about it, but basically designing and developing outdoor clothing and gear. And so there were there historical materials we could get, we could collect that would help provide inspiration for some of those designs and that would support they also do a history of outdoor recreation class in that program. So is there anything that could be used in the classroom to show the history of outdoor products? And so he connected me with Chase and who does some of the marketing for the program. And we he immediately probed his connections and found a group of collectors who had amassed a collection of about twelve hundred outdoor product catalogs, and they were happened to be looking for a place for it. And so we were able to bring that in and digitize the covers then and to give us something visual that we could send out to promote the archive. And we’ve just kind of proceeded from there. So that’s basically how I got started.

Barbera [00:04:37] Is there anything you want to add from the marketing perspective, Chase?

Anderson [00:04:41] Yeah, so in my role working for outdoor product design and development, I’m kind of on the industry outreach and marketing side of things. So I’m constantly having conversations with outdoor brands.

Anderson [00:04:57] Primarily, I’m trying to help students find full time employment with these companies, as well as integrate more of these companies into the classroom and get getting their involvement in the teaching when it comes to teaching our program, teaching our students. And so this whole project, when I got pulled into it, was was really exciting. The prospect of bringing involving brands in the program in this way was was really exciting. And so I couldn’t wait to get involved. And as Clinton knows, I’m very enthusiastic about the project as well, even though I’m not a trained historian or archivist by any means. I it’s been fun to be a part of the process and be a part of this work. So it’s been fun to see it all come together. And in a lot of ways, it’s it’s really helped enhance the work that I do of building industry relationships to be able to share that we have this collection that’s growing collection and we’re giving back to the industry in that way. It’s opened up a lot of doors and helped me in the work that I’m doing. So it’s it’s been great to be a part of.

Barbera [00:06:08] So what is the current size of the collection? Clint, I think you mentioned twelve hundred outdoor products catalogs. Is that still the case? How large is it?

Pumphrey [00:06:19] Well, we started with the twelve hundred catalogs, but and those came in 2019, and we’ve been continuously receiving new donations and making purchases to build that catalog collection. So we’re actually up to about twenty seven hundred catalogs at this point, representing over four hundred outdoor gear companies. We also have we also are starting to build a collection of outdoor recreation and outdoor gear related magazines, some of them fairly rare, some of them a little more common and widely consumed. But that collection is I’m not exactly sure of the number, but it’s probably around five or six thousand at this point. We wanted to bring in the magazines because we really felt like even some of the more popular ones are maybe first on the chopping block and a lot of public libraries when they’re starting to address their space issues. And so we wanted to make sure that those materials did have a home. And given that we’re collecting on the theme, it made sense that we take that on. We’re also we’ve also been moving beyond the catalogs and magazines. We’ve got about five or six manuscript collections at this point. They it’s not a huge amount of stuff at this point. Probably totals about 30 or so linear feet altogether. But and also a couple of photograph collections as well. And so we’re starting to move from that catalog, the initial catalog and magazine kind of focus into more of the primary source materials and manuscripts and photographs.

Barbera [00:08:15] So interesting, it sounds like it’s it’s growing quite a bit. What were some of the challenges and opportunities you both have faced in establishing this program?

Pumphrey [00:08:30] I can kick this one off Chase, too, and feel free to jump in and add anything you want.

Pumphrey [00:08:37] I think probably the challenges getting started with the archive. I think a big one was just tracking down the materials know, talking about catalogs. Catalogs are ephemeral. And so, you know, a lot of I mean, everyone knows what it’s like when they get a catalog in the mail, they might flip through it. But ultimately, it’s going to go into recycling pretty quickly. And so the amount of these materials that have survived over the last several decades is very few. And so we were lucky to be connected with that initial donor who had collected those over the years. So I think that’s one challenge. The other challenge with tracking down materials is that a lot of the the potential donors to this collection, the people who started a lot of these early outdoor product companies, they sold those companies.

Pumphrey [00:09:34] And so over the years, those the records that they may have created have gotten dispersed among the various founders or they’ve gotten transferred to the companies. And understandably, the companies want to maintain a lot of those materials in-house. And so, you know, we’ve tracked down a lot of really influential and significant people in the industry. And some of them just don’t have anything. I mean, they’ve gotten rid of it or passed it along. And so so that’s been a challenge, I think challenge that an archivist is going to face starting any new collection is convincing people that, you know, their university is where their treasured material should be, especially early on. We didn’t have a whole lot to show. We just kind of had this idea of creating an archive around outdoor gear and recreation. And so we’re and we’re talking to people from all over the country. And so that question of why should those materials come to Utah State University? And we had to do some convincing a couple of times. I had to call. Chase, said, can you call this person and make sure because they’re not quite sure who we are and what we’re up to, and then you just kind of reassure them that, you know, the materials are going to have a good home. So there’s been some of that. In terms of opportunities, I think I would just say that, you know, one of the things that made it easier for us to start has been Chase’s program, outdoor product design and development. I mean, when you can tell a donor that their materials are going to be used by the next generation of outdoor gear designers, I mean, that’s a pretty powerful thing to tell them.

Pumphrey [00:11:29] And then the last thing I’d mention about opportunities is just that. I think the timing is really good for this collection. This archive, a lot of the people who started a lot of these kind of the modern outdoor recreation companies that started in the 60s and 70s, they’re starting to think about what they’re going to do with their materials and, you know, a lot of them are in their 70s at this point. And so it’s also just really good timing to to talk to people and kind of see what kinds of materials they might be willing to donate to the archive. So that’s sort of how I see the the challenges and the opportunities at this point.

Anderson [00:12:15] Yeah, I would echo everything that you said Clint and in terms of challenges, I know that we’re still kind of facing this a little bit is really defining the scope of the collection. And that’s that’s a something that I think you probably wrestle with more than I do. I’m kind of out there talking to everybody and excited whenever and whenever anyone wants to send us something. And I think Clint, I mean, you’ve always been good about trying to make sure that we define what is it that we’re collecting around because we could open up this kind of a collection, outdoor being such a broad term, and we could quickly be overwhelmed and Clint’s team could be overwhelmed and probably are already a little overwhelmed with the amount of materials that have been coming in.

Anderson [00:12:58] But I think that that scope has been a little bit of a challenge. But I think we’ve we’ve kind of really figured out what our lane is and what we want to collect around what areas, what activities.

Anderson [00:13:08] And then the opportunities. I mean, like Clint said, I just think the opportunity is to not only continue to to gather more of these materials, but now put them into use and make them available is kind of the exciting part. And where I feel like I’ve been able to contribute and play a small role in this is now how do we integrate this material into the classroom more or engage some of our industry partners to when in a non covid situation, come to campus and use those materials to inspire future designs. I mean, we’ve had a number of companies who have approached us even during this the last year asking for details about, you know, the early days of their own company that they don’t have a record of. And so I think there’s a lot of opportunity here in the future to just not only preserve the material, but make it more widely available for companies, individuals, researchers, students to access.

Barbera [00:14:16] I’d like to talk a little bit about your cross departmental, cross disciplinary collaboration, and that’s one of the most fascinating parts about the two of you working on this archive together. Can you talk a little bit about how that came about and what it’s like?

Pumphrey [00:14:35] So when Chase and I first got introduced, the first thing I did was I brought him into the archive and our our department generally, and I showed him the stacks. I showed him collection material. I showed him the way that we described things. And I showed him our office space and, you know, work that was in progress. And just really to give him a good sense of how our operation worked so that he could have a better idea of what we’re about and what we can do and what we can’t do. And so I think that was a really good way to start, was just to give him that that tour and give him that exposure to to the department. But since then, I mean, I think one of the strengths of our collaboration is our communication. You know, I think Chase and I are both very passionate about the collection, which is obviously a huge help that we’re much more willing to work together and create great things when you’re when you both share the passion. But just kind of give you an example. We were just texting last night about a collection that I had was going was bringing in and sending in photos of some of the items and kind of telling him how I got into this that that collection. And so, you know, it’s a fruitful collaboration and it’s a close collaboration. And I think that, you know, that shows from the way that we’ve been able to get the word out about the archive and the great collections that we’ve been able to build.

Anderson [00:16:29] You stole my story, I was going to share that as an example of how how well this has worked. I mean, the fact that we’re having these conversations and we’re both excited about, you know, identifying a new collection or bringing something in or finding a new lead. I love getting those texts. Those are exciting for me to see. And I think what has made this interesting is and I think I would hope, you know, maybe opens the door for other departments to do the same or other programs is we’ve found a way to make the archive, I guess, valuable to our program or we’ve just found ways for it to enhance what we’re doing as a program. And so it makes sense for me as I’m doing industry outreach anyways, to have this one more thing in my back pocket that I can present to a brand and say, you know, here’s the list of opportunities for you to be involved in our program from speaking in the classroom to hiring our students to doing sponsor projects. But on top of that, we have this Outdoor Recreation Archive that we would love to involve you in. And for most companies that I talk to, they really perk up when they hear about this project. And in a lot of cases, they’re more than willing to help support us, either sending materials or they want their designers to access the collection in some way. So I think our collaboration works really well because it’s not on all on Clint to do everything. I mean, Clint is doing so much of the finding, but I can also be there to tap the resources that I have, the connections that I have, and we can bounce those ideas off of each other and work together in tandem. But I think overall, the fact that our program really values what archives is doing makes makes a big difference and that I can be a part of it. And and kudos to my department head who sees this as a part of my role. And this this wasn’t in my initial job description there that the archive wasn’t a thought when I when I when I was initially hired by the university in this capacity. And so I think it’s a credit to the university for being open to recognizing that, oh, this could fit within industry outreach and this is worthwhile. And an example of how this has been worthwhile. You know, the collecting for collecting sake is extremely valuable and worthwhile on its own. But, you know, because we’ve been able to do this and we’ll get into the art or the Instagram conversation, but by creating an Instagram account and promoting the collection, it’s made my role doing industry outreach so much easier. We’ve we’ve met with so many more brands in the last year or so through the archive than ever before. So there’s a lot of value in it for our program to to buy in and contribute and be a part of this.

Pumphrey [00:19:35] Yeah, and I’ll just echo what Chase said about sort of sharing the work. I mean, I think we we complement each other and our strengths, too, because, you know, I’m obviously I think a lot of the archivists who will hear this probably have that experience where you’re sort of involved in every aspect of the collection from the donor relations through the processing work and all the way into the outreach. And, you know, Chase’s strength in his position is marketing and outreach.

Pumphrey [00:20:12] And so, you know, while I can kind of help organize the information and make sure that we’re we’re staying on scope and kind of work that in, Chase is really good about finding new potential donors and then by marketing the materials that we’ve already brought in and that I’m organizing and digitizing and those things. And so I think that works really well. And I think that it can’t be understated how important it is that, you know, what Chase said about how the archives helped his program. I mean, that’s been the key to this whole thing. I mean, if it wasn’t helping his program, this whole collaboration wouldn’t really work.

Pumphrey [00:20:56] And so I think it’s kind of an interesting collaboration in that sense that, you know, maybe what started off as like an interesting collecting area to explore, maybe to have a few things that we can put in and that they can use in some of their classes and things has turned into a much bigger thing and a much more important thing, I think, both for us and special collections and Chase and his program.

Anderson [00:21:30] If we can go back to the challenges that the collection faces, just briefly, I’m sure one of the challenges that Clint has to face is my sometimes my overenthusiasm for the collection. He has to rein me in a little bit when it comes to reaching out to people, because I do get excited about reaching out to people. And part of that is to the credit of the collection. It’s like I’ve caught the bug for for archival work and again, not trained in any way, but I definitely bought into the value of of the work. And I’m sure I don’t know. I’m sure archivists feel this way. But like, I’ve got the high, like I get that high when you open up that box and you see some material in there that was hidden away and has a lot of interesting stories behind it. So I’ve definitely caught that and it’s been fun for me.

Pumphrey [00:22:22] So Chase would say that you’re inspired?

Anderson [00:22:24] I feel inspired. Archives do inspire.

Anderson [00:22:31] No, I feel fortunate to be a part of this work because, I mean, as an undergraduate, I you know, like many people, I changed my major three or four times, but my first was history. And so I’ve always had an interest in this. But to be able to blend to the work that I’m doing in a albeit small way, you know, that interest in history with my work and marketing has been been really interesting. So I feel fortunate that I can be a part of it.

Barbera [00:22:58] So you’ve touched a little bit on this already, but what advocacy really looks like for the Ourdoor Recreation Archive. Chase, you just mentioned that you caught the bug. How are you using that spirit to spread the news to other folks? What does advocacy look like for this project?

Anderson [00:23:24] You know, it takes a lot of different forms, and I don’t want to jump ahead of the question. You know, I’ve just kind of integrated advocacy for the collection into my day to day role. Part of it is the Instagram account, and we’ll touch on that more. But I mean, I’m daily interacting with the materials now. And part of that is I’ve just built it into my day to day role is that I am sharing the materials through university channels now through our marketing channels.

Anderson [00:23:55] And so part of that is I’ve just I’ve just found ways to integrate the collection into my day to day. And so it just is more natural for me to have those conversations and advocate for the collection. When I’m talking to a brand, it’s just top of mind for me. So those are a couple of ways that I found I find myself advocating for it. Is like, in the early days of the collection, it was like, OK, this is a cool thing that we’re working on and now it feels like this is part of my job description. And so I feel the responsibility to to keep up on it. It’s not a side project anymore. This is like a core part of what I’m working on.

Anderson [00:24:39] I don’t know if that answered your question, if I didn’t keep me on track.

Pumphrey [00:24:46] I think one of the things that has been new for me, advocating for this collection, I think a lot of times with the work that we do in archives, we spend a lot of time doing advocacy among our peers or maybe to people who are closely related to our work like historians. And I know that I presented about a lot of my work at archives conferences that I’ve published things about what I’ve been working on in history journals. So this has really forced me to move beyond some of the traditional ways that we advocate for our work into a more popular, I guess, venues and Chase I have been, I don’t know, seven or eight interviews with nationally or internationally circulating magazines or websites related to the outdoor industry or design or fashion and a lot of those different areas. And so. And again, a lot of those opportunities have come through the work that Chase has done with with Instagram and some other things, and, you know, it’s weird because it’s like it’s like once you get the ball rolling on that, then it just it just builds on itself because, you know, just to kind of give you a kind of an odd example of how know advocacy has become more advocacy. I had a visual artist from Brooklyn reach out to me and say, hey, I saw what you guys are doing. Like, it’s so cool. Is there any design work I could do for you pro bono that would help get the word out for the archive?

Pumphrey [00:26:44] And so I emailed Chase. I was like, do we need any outdoor recreation arcade swag? And so we talked about all of it. And I finally thought a great thing would be a sticker. Like whenever you order something from REI or I guess Back Country, you know, they send you the little goat sticker. A lot of these outdoor brands. I ordered some Lems shoes and they sent me a little Lems sticker. I was like, that’s a big thing in outdoor industry is to send stickers. So I was like we need a sticker. So this artist is going to design a sticker for us and we’re going to have that printed up to try to promote the collection. But, you know, I think there’s some other ways that we’re reaching out too that are coming up. I don’t know if you want to talk about the history summit that we’re maybe hopefully working on.

Anderson [00:27:41] Yeah, if I talk about it, then we have to do it. You know, then it’s on the record.

Pumphrey [00:27:46] Just in the planning stages, we don’t know exactly what it’s going to be yet.

Anderson [00:27:52] Yeah, no, I’m happy to talk about that. I think we’ve wanted to find new ways for people to interact with the collection. And so we kind of have this idea around.

Anderson [00:28:05] Well, I’ve I’ve been having I’ve been doing some of my own oral histories or just interviews as a part of our larger effort as a program. I’ll do interviews, podcast interviews with people who are currently in the outdoor industry. We’ll record presentations that our guest speakers who visit our classes virtually, we realized, oh, if we have Under Armor here on campus, why aren’t we recording that presentation and then using that as content and pushing that out to our audience?

Anderson [00:28:36] You know, as a part of that, I thought, well, I should be talking to some of these early people at some of these these companies and recording their stories as a way to not only tell their story, but, you know, talk to them a little bit more about the collection and, you know, gain their trust to have a conversation with them about their life and their contributions to the industry. And so we’ve done some oral history work as well, talking with some of these key early gear pioneers. But I’ve also had some conversations with corporate archivists at some of the big outdoor brands. And those have been really interesting conversations, too, just to talk about why it’s important for some of these these companies to preserve their own history, not all of them are going to send their material to us, but we want to help them do better archival work at their company, too. So out of that initiative, we started to have this idea of what if we brought some of these corporate archivists from some of these key outdoor brands together and put together some kind of virtual summit where we can talk about the benefits of doing this in the outdoor industry and why it’s important that we take care of our history.

Anderson [00:29:50] And so we’re again, we’re in the beginning stages of kind of figuring out what something like that looks like. But we see our collection as being more than the collection as it is now, but an opportunity to bring together a community of people who who are also interested in these ideas and this material and the history of this industry. So that’s more information about that will be coming. But we’re excited about the prospect of of bringing together a community of people in that way.

Pumphrey [00:30:21] We were also scheduled to do a panel at outdoor retailer, which is the big gathering of all the outdoor brands in Denver. They have a summer and a winter one, but because of the pandemic that was canceled. And so we’re hoping to do that in the future, too, in addition to sort of being like a, you know, a lot of like, you know, business sales and negotiations and stuff going on. There’s also panels and panel discussions about various topics in the outdoor industry. And so we hope to do one of those in the future.

Barbera [00:31:00] It sounds like you’re taking advantage of many different opportunities to engage the community in the archive, including incorporating parts of outdoor culture, the stickers into your promotion of the archive itself. It all sounds really wonderful and fascinating. A couple of times you’ve talked about the Instagram channel, which I myself looked through and went down a bit of a rabbit hole exploring the different covers from old periodicals and magazines. But I’m hoping you can share a little more information about about Instagram.

Anderson [00:31:38] Sure. So the Instagram, we started that in I believe it was 2019. I’m not sure when I’d have to go back and look at the date, but started that and I think late 2019. And part of that was motivated by kind of an amateur. I don’t know, I feel bad calling him an amateur archivist. He’s done so much work but he’s not formally trained. He’s a photographer based out of New York, Brian Kelly, and he had personally taken it upon himself to gather the some of the early materials of the New York Transit Authority. He started collecting ticket stubs and he would take pictures of these ticket stubs and he created an Instagram account where he would share some of this material that he found relating to the New York Transit Authority. And then eventually he started having people sending him materials, old uniforms from employees and patches and all sorts of material. And so he’s got thousands of items now. And he would just he documented them all in this format. Nice, clean, white background, top down, you know, shooting these items. And I think he ended up I don’t know if he ended up making a book for that, but that that ended up turning into another initiative where he started collecting national parks brochures. And so along the same lines, he would collect national parks brochures and photograph them and kind of the same format and then would share them on Instagram. And I discovered both of those accounts and just fell in love with the format. And just really his initiative and his collections have gained a lot of traction and a lot of interest. And he has since published a book for the parks brochures that people have been very interested in, had some good success there. But I, I just recognize that, you know, Clint and his team, the student workers are scanning these these catalog covers for the digital exhibits that we have on the website already. It’s if the material is already there, it’s easy enough to create an Instagram account to share this material more widely. And a lot of that was motivated by this idea of there’s so many people who use Instagram to explore, to get design inspiration. A lot of designers use it as their personal mood boards. And and so I just I really saw this combination of factors and thought people would love this, like people would love to see this material. And Instagram is the perfect way of bringing this material out from behind this barrier that can be the university and put the material out in front of people where they are already consuming content. And so that’s where that’s where the Instagram really started. And and when Clint you know, when we had these twenty seven hundred catalogs plus the thousands of magazines, like, I just thought I could post every day for years and still have enough content. And so I just, I just started posting every morning a catalog every day and it has just slowly well not so slowly recently, but it slowly grew from there and through the help of people who have larger accounts, who have shared our work. It’s grown especially in the last few months. To give you an example, we have an example of the types of people who are who are accessing the collection or find it interesting. But we had an article written about the collection from HypeBeast. So it’s a well-known publication kind of in the the street wear fashion space, they interviewed Clint and myself and that story was published. And then they they posted on their Instagram account and linked to our account. And since that. Since that story was posted, we went from about two thousand followers to close to seven thousand, and that’s over the course of maybe maybe five months, maybe four months, we’ve just seen some pretty exponential growth. And it’s people from the fashion space, from architecture, from graphic design, from the outdoor industry. That’s probably the smallest segment at this point, people who are following the collection. But but I think that we’re also just seeing that Outdoor is really having a moment right now. And by putting it on Instagram, we’re reaching people who are really interested in this material who otherwise wouldn’t know where to find it if it wasn’t just presented before them in their feeds that they’re on every day.

Pumphrey [00:36:45] Yeah, the Instagram has to say that the outdoor catalog and magazine Instagram has like I don’t know, six times as many followers as the the library’s Instagram. So I think a lot of times, you know, I think archivists are pretty good about pushing out some of the things that they’re working on through their own archives or the library, social media channels. But, you know, if you’ve got a cool collection, you can give it its own social media presence. And it could take off way more than if you just tried to work on it through through your own existing channels. So that’s been really cool to see that that grow.

Anderson [00:37:31] And we couldn’t get to where we are in terms of the the the size that the following has as gotten to without the help of some of these other accounts. We have our own advocates and ambassadors it feels like people who just love the archive. There seems to be kind of a movement on Instagram towards like sharing an esthetic or sharing certain graphic design. There’s there’s a lot of focus on, I don’t know, the correct term for it. But there’s there’s some accounts out there that are just curation accounts. And one is is called organic lab dot zip. And they’re one of the biggest when it comes to outdoor culture and outdoor design. And daily, they’ll post vintage outdoor materials. And they really latched on to our account and have been really supportive of us and and share our material. And they’ve got hundreds of thousands of followers versus our six thousand. But it’s people like that who recognize the value of what we’re doing. And that really helped take us to another level. So we’ve we’ve been fortunate to have advocates and been fortunate to find these communities that we’ve tapped into, which is, I think, an opportunity for other collections that want to get in and try new media as a way to connect with a community is there’s communities that you can tap into that will likely respond really well to this material. We’ve just found ourselves tapping into existing communities and those communities have been really good to support us. So I think there’s a there’s an opportunity for four other collections to do that as well. I think we’re just fortunate that our material is so visual. It just makes sense for Instagram. Not every archive is so visual, but I think we’re just fortunate that those catalog covers, many of them are iconic, they’re beautiful, they’re striking. And people on Instagram want to see that right now. And the tool is, is it’s perfect for the content that we’re sharing.

Barbera [00:39:44] It sounds like you’ve developed this cycle of advocacy, building more advocacy and building more advocacy. What other lessons have you learned from working on the Outdoor Recreation Archive? And do you have any strategies or approaches that you would recommend for other archivists or other teams of collaborators who are working on collections?

Anderson [00:40:09] I I’ve got one and it kind of relates back to the Instagram account. But I think the more that we’ve given away, the more good things come back.

Anderson [00:40:20] I think the the Instagram account is kind of the embodiment of that. It’s like we are giving something of value to the industry and the industry recognizes that. And through that, like you said, that cycle of advocacy is in full effect. And I think it’s because we obviously we want to grow the collection. And that’s part of the motivation of building the Instagram account and trying to build a following. But I don’t think we explicitly come out there and say that. And I think the original intention is we just want people to experience and access this and appreciate it like we do. And that has led to more opportunities for donations. It’s helped us connect with other people who want to be who want to contribute to the collection. And so I think the more that you can give away something to a community that really values it, that advocacy will come. And I’ve seen that through the Instagram, for sure.

Pumphrey [00:41:22] I also want to add, and I know we’ve talked about this already, but the partnership that we’ve developed is just so important. I think archivists I think we know that any good collection relies on building relationships with donors. And if you’re collecting across, you know, a theme of some kind, building many relationships with donors, and those relationships can take years and years to build. What I found in Chase is someone who’s already built a lot of those relationships. And so it gives you a head start on the collecting that you want to do. And so I think if you recognize an opportunity to collect for your department, look for people who already have the relationships that you would need to build a successful collection. That’s just been so important for what we’ve done here.

Barbera [00:42:29] This relationship sounds key to the success of this program. As you’re establishing additional collections and continuing to build the reputation of Outdoor Recreation Archive. What are the remaining challenges that you’re facing?

Anderson [00:42:54] Clint, I don’t want to speak for you, but I feel like just bandwidth, right? Like that’s you probably just need more people. You have so much that you’re doing in terms of scanning and cataloging and doing all of that work that I never touch. And sometimes I can get caught up in the collecting and advertising the service that I forget, oh, someone’s actually got to record all of this and store it and go through that process. So I know you’ve kind of got a backlog right now of materials, and that’s a great problem to have. And so I think one of the challenges is just keeping up. I would I would think. But I don’t want to speak for you.

Pumphrey [00:43:38] Yeah, I think that we’ve been able to keep up pretty well with the processing, creating the finding aids, we’re a little bit behind on the digitization. I just hired one of the students in Chase’s program to do some of the scanning for us. So hopefully we’re going to catch up there pretty soon. But I mean, I feel like and obviously this is only part of my job. I have you know, part of my job, too, is the document, the history and culture of northern Utah and southern Idaho. And so so it’s not the only project. But, you know, in order for us to show the work that we’re doing and be able to show that work to potential donors, we’ve got to have those finding aids created. We’ve got to have that digitization done. And so have we worked really hard to prioritize that and make sure that it is out in front of a lot of the work that I’m doing. Certainly, it’s a challenge. I mean, all archivists have backlogs and we know that prioritization can sometimes be a challenge. But I was talking about this the other day with my wife, actually. I said, you know, I think in some ways we’ve caught lightning in a bottle and we just need to ride this thing as far as we can, as you know, and just put everything that we have toward it. She also works in the library. So she’s always she’s involved in some of the things that we that we do to. And so that has been a challenge, I think, in terms of moving forward with the collection especially we started, I think that people mainly I mean, since our catalogs were so out front, so out in the front with the Instagram and with the digital exhibit that we have, I think a lot of people saw it as a catalog collection. And what we’ve been trying to do since that, since then, since we started, is to kind of move use the catalogs to move past and move into other materials. That’s one challenge I see is like moving out into the the other materials, the photographs and sketchbooks and different records from these designers and businesses. And we’ve had some success in that. And so I’ve been able to get those finding aids online and we’ve been able to send those findings to other donors to show them what we’re hoping to do.

[00:46:24] And so that’s that has helped a lot. And I think with any project I’ve been involved in collecting projects before where, you know, you start out really, you know, really going gangbusters. And then it just you hit you hit a stumbling block or a hurdle and things just kind of fizzle out. And so I think just keeping that momentum going is so is also going to be really important. And so, Chase and I have got a lot of leads right now, so I don’t see that happening any time soon. But just continuing to reach out, build those relationships and follow any leads when they come.

Anderson [00:47:07] Yeah, I’d agree with that, especially the last part there just juggling the amount of leads, I think that we have and I think I think that’s good. That’s a great problem to have. But just managing those relationships is not a challenge, persay. But we have a lot of potential collections that we have our our eyes on. And so just keeping up with those and and continuing to reach out and make ourselves available and build those relationships and build trust is always, that’s a constant that we’re working on.

Pumphrey [00:47:44] And I say, you know, better to have too many leads and too few, so, you know, we don’t want to say let’s just pull back a little bit because, you know, we’ve got enough work for now. Like, I think we just have to keep chasing it and trying to bring in those collections. And if we do truly get overwhelmed, which I don’t feel like we are now, then we may have to revisit. But, you know, one thing that actually I was thinking about when Chase was talking about like. Actually, it kind of goes way back to that question of like, how did my own Chase’s relationship start? And I talked about bringing him in the archives. We’ve also had him scan stuff. So he knows about how particular cultural heritage institutions are about the standards at which we scan things, the way that we name our files, the way that we create JPEGs and TIFFs and PDFs and like all these different kinds of copies. And so when he gets questions about, well, why aren’t all of your catalogs digitized and online? He’s like, oh, let me tell you. You know, we’ve got so many and it’s such an involved process that we’re just not there yet. So it just kind of reminded me we were talking about, like scanning and do we have the bandwidth to keep up with everything? And he knows what it’s like.

Anderson [00:49:08] So I definitely do. Yeah. I spent a little bit of time doing that and can definitely appreciate the work that you and the student workers do every day.

Anderson [00:49:19] I think to that point, that’s one of the challenges that I think we’re still figuring out, like the collection. But I don’t think we by any means, like figured it out. I think we have good things going for us. And but that is the most common question that we get as well. Why can’t I just look at every catalog, the entire collection, and then we have to walk them through that, the process and how time intensive it is to to make even the covers available. So I think continuing to find ways to provide access to the collection is something that Clint and I are always talking about. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to scan everything, but I think we’re always trying to find new ways to just make the collection more available for people, because the more it’s available, the more people get value out of it. And I guess, again, that advocacy work comes comes from that, people accessing it and getting value out of it and then telling their friends about it. So I think that’s that’s definitely something that we’re looking at more and more in the future.

Barbera [00:50:28] So wrapping up here, in addition to building momentum, seeing your backlog as a good problem to have, which for an archivist isn’t necessarily how we would always characterize it so I loved that phrase. But in addition to all of these strategies that you have in place that we’ve already talked about, do you have any advice for other archivists or teams who are starting out with a new collecting initiative at their organization?

Pumphrey [00:51:08] You know, I think looking at your university and thinking about what do you what does your school have or your institution have that is unique, where you could start collecting in a way that no one else has collected. Chase’s Outdoor Product Design and development program is the first of its kind in the nation and I believe one of two that currently exists in the country. And so, that program has allowed me to justify the collecting that we’re doing in outdoor gear and outdoor recreation, and obviously we talked at length about the partnership and how that’s made that collecting successful. And so, you know, there may be it may be that at whatever institution that you’re a part of or the other archivists are working, that there’s some similar kind of program that you could approach and try to build some sort of connection with to build some sort of collection that reaches a little bit beyond what you have normally considered your collecting areas.

Anderson [00:52:41] I guess for I don’t know if I get I’m not on the archive side, but I would say for anyone who might be listening, who is on the program side, look outside of your program. I think it’s easy to be heads down and just be focused on what you’re doing and just working within the four walls of your department or college that you don’t look outside. And so I think and that’s a credit to Sean Michael, who kind of kicked off this relationship between our program and special collections with Clint, is that willingness to engage across, you know, across departments, across colleges. And so I think a lot of that is on the programs and departments to extend that hand or at least reach out, get to know what resources exist on campus and be willing to work across colleges and departments. So I think some of that rests on us as well to be open to those relationships.

Pumphrey [00:53:46] And I think I would add one other thing to for any head of special collections or supervisors that are out there. You know, I know that there are certain restrictions that you have maybe budgetary maybe they’re collecting scope but I think one of the reasons that I’ve been able to be successful in this project is because my supervisor has strongly encouraged it. She I guess she has allowed me to pursue a passion that I have. And obviously, if you’re passionate about something, you’re going to do a great job at it. And the reason I bring this up is I actually just recently had my annual review, which is not something you normally talk about in these public settings. But, you know, I was talking with my supervisor about this project and she said, you know, the reason I think this project is great and it is going to give us the opportunity to get our name out in a way that we haven’t in the past. But she’s like, I also really like it because it makes you happy. I can tell it makes you happy. And I think that sometimes the supervisors that are out there just, you know, sometimes letting your curators or your archivist pursue their passions, I think can result in some really great work. And I really appreciate that here.

Barbera [00:55:21] Incredible. Well, thank you for sharing your time with me today. It’s been really interesting learning more about this initiative and how archives can be tools to inspire. So is there anything else you want to mention about the archive before we wrap up? Perhaps how people can learn more if they want to engage with the program or learn more about the collections?

Anderson [00:55:49] Yeah, I would say the best way to connect with the archive on Instagram is the outdoor rec archive on Instagram. And then if you want to learn about our program, it’s opdd dot usu dot edu to learn about the four year degree. And Clint has information more about on the collection, on the digital exhibits.

Pumphrey [00:56:16] Yeah, so in addition to the Instagram and Chase has helpfully linked to all of the other resources we have in the archive, but we’ve built a digital exhibit in our Omeka platform that has the catalog covers and starting to have more of the magazine covers that we’re collecting. We also have all of our finding aids in a consortium called Archives West. And we’ve also built a LibGuide which has up to the minute inventory of the catalog collection. So that and sort of helps give some explainers about how to use that. We’re working right now on a another LibGuide that’s going to sort of bring all these pieces together in one place. But like Chase said, the Instagram has all those links that can help send you to the resources that I just talked about. So that’s really a great place to start.

Barbera [00:57:26] OK, great. Thank you so much, I, for one, will keep an eye on the Instagram account for sure. Absolutely fascinating. And I recommend everybody check it out and good luck on this very, very cool program.

Pumphrey [00:57:42] Thank you. Good to talk to you.

Anderson [00:57:46] Thank you for the opportunity.