The last will and testament of Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Naples, King of Spain and the Indies, and the older brother of Napoleon.
As the metadata archivist at Special Collections and University Archives (SC/UA), I have had the privilege of working with our collections on a daily basis. Though I’ve just been able to scratch the surface of our ample and unique holdings, I’ve had the joy of making old records publicly accessible while creating new records for materials that were never previously described. This undertaking has allowed me to unearth and publicize various collections that I would consider treasures, and I’m happy to share just a few of those with you here.
Legacy Finding Aids
The first part of my endeavor involved getting previously written finding aids, known as “legacy finding aids,” into our collection management system, ArchivesSpace. Many of these legacy finding aids were decades old, written by staff and faculty members that no longer work here, and only exist as PDFs, their physical counterparts long since gone. These documents were published by creating a new, base-level finding aid in ArchivesSpace for each collection and then attaching the legacy finding aid to the resource record as a digital object hosted through RUCore. Among the dozens of legacy finding aids published via this route are the Joyce Kilmer papers (MC 1547) and the Nicholas F. Brady senatorial papers (MC 660).
Joyce Kilmer was a New Brunswick-born writer and poet, best known for his work “Trees,” published in 1913. He was killed just five years later in France during World War I. Here at SC/UA, we have scrapbooks of his writings created by his parents over a century ago.
The Nicholas F. Brady senatorial papers relate to the work Senator Brady undertook while in Congress. Brady served as a United States senator for eight months in 1982 following the resignation of Harrison A. Williams. As of February 2026, Brady is the oldest living former U.S. senator.
New Finding Aids Published
After publishing the legacy finding aids that hid on our internal servers for so many years, I’ve been able to turn my attention to new collections that were never described in any format. In order to find out which boxes fit this criteria, I’ve been creating an inventory of our spaces, particularly of Room 022 (B-Level, Alexander Library). This comprehensive account of our collections allows me to easily discover which materials have been sitting dormant on our shelves and are in need of archival description.
Comparable to how legacy finding aids were handled, new finding aids are created in a similar fashion. Generally, only a basic, box-level finding aid is written, as we’re prioritizing the publication of many finding aids rather than the thorough description of substantially fewer collections. This has led me to publishing almost 100 new finding aids to date. Favorites of mine include the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission records (MC 1331), the Emerson B. Garrison photographs (MC 1620), and the Joseph Bonaparte papers (MC 1624).
The Delaware and Raritan Canal was a feat of engineering when it was completed in 1834, shortening the journey from New York City to Philadelphia by a hundred miles. The collection at SC/UA consists of land agreements between townships and residents that made it possible for this transportation system to be built.
The Emerson B. Garrison photographs contain images of Cumberland County and adjacent areas of New Jersey dating back to at least the early 20th century. The style of some of the photographs suggest that some of the undated prints might have been created as early as the 1890s!
Perhaps the jewel that I’ve found in Room 022 is the one-box collection on Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Naples, King of Spain and the Indies, and the older brother of Napoleon. Following the fall of Napoleon and his subsequent exile, Joseph fled Europe and settled in Bordentown, NJ; the papers we hold primarily relate to the affairs of his estate and other legal matters, including a printed version of his last will and testament.
Benefits of the Project
The initiative to publish these finding aids offers many benefits to SC/UA. Not only are we providing our patrons with information on collections that have never before been accessible in a digital format, but the push to publish box-level finding aids has allowed us to gain intellectual control over our holdings and free up physical space in our storage areas. When surveying a collection, I am able to consolidate materials into fewer boxes, as oftentimes half-full boxes appear on our shelves, taking up unnecessary space that should be designated for other materials. This will undoubtedly help us as our collections are returned from off-site storage facilities so that we may more quickly and efficiently assist our patrons.
In the coming months, I know I will uncover many more treasures that SC/UA has to offer; I’m looking forward to sharing those with you in the future.
