Liberty Ship, SS John H. Murphy

Physical Location

cut only

Legacy Description

metal printing plate

Additional Description

Arrangement

Arrangement of the General File series is alphabetical by subject, with document types and material from across the AFRO's regional offices interfiled. Subjects are primarily original description assigned by the creators of the collection over the history of its creation and use.

Terminology used in original folder titles evolved across many offices and generations of staff, resulting in similar collection content filed under varying terms. Researchers may benefit from searching a variety of related subjects and names.

Processing Information

This series has been processed using accelerated processing procedures. Folders have been sorted alphabetically by folder title, metal printing plates (called cuts) have been removed, damaged folders have been replaced, and the content of thick folders has been divided into multiple folders for physical stabilization.

Accelerated procedures use a minimal approach to editing existing legacy metadata for each folder. Folder titles are compared to titles on the physical folders, and discrepancies are resolved. Married women’s names are added when missing if their names are found in folder content. Unlike detailed processing, dates and document types are not added to folder records. The content of folders that require no physical remediation during processing is not reviewed because the folders are not opened, so in those cases legacy description created prior to the processing project begun in 2023 has not been verified, though it has been preserved and labeled “Legacy Description.”

For some large subjects in the series, more granular arrangement and description is done to facilitate research. For such subjects, dates, document types, and other details may have been added to description.

Researchers may discover errors and gaps in the description, or folders that need content warnings or notes about documents found in fragile condition. Archives staff welcome information to help us improve collection description.