In 2022, Cline Library Special Collections and Archives (SCA) on the campus of Northern Arizona University received the David Muench Photography Records. Since then, SCA staff have been hard at work developing and implementing plans to process, arrange, describe, and preserve this massive collection, believed to be the largest ever acquired by NAU.
The first step of the plans developed by Archivist for Discovery Sam(antha) Meier and Archivist for Collections Management Melissa Lawton was to manage approximately 315 linear feet of 4″ x 5″ color photographic transparencies. These materials arrived at SCA in their original filing cabinets, shown below.
According to Lawton and Meier’s plans, all the Muench materials stored in filing cabinets would be moved into archival-quality boxes and folders (or “rehoused”, in archivist-speak) so they can be handled safely by SCA staff and eventually made accessible to researchers.
In August 2023, SCA hired two student assistants to help with this task: Reina Jasper and Max Schrader. Both are NAU class of 2025. Reina is a Women and Gender Studies major with a minor in Anthropology, while Max is double-majoring in Anthropology and Comparative Cultural Studies with a minor in Museum Studies.
To date, Max and Reina have re-housed approximately 110 linear feet of material into archival-quality folders and boxes that will protect the material over the long term, helping archivists preserve the collection into the future. While the re-housed Muench transparencies are not yet ready for access and use in the Miriam Lemont Reading Room, getting them out of the filing cabinets and into appropriate containers is a huge and significant first step!
Transparencies in archival folder. 
An archival box of material. 
Before… 
…and after!
SCA staff caught up with Max and Reina ahead of the winter break to ask them how their work on the David Muench Photography Records is going and what they’ve learned during their first semester in SCA.
SCA: What have been your favorite aspects of working on the David Muench Photography Records so far?
Max: One of my favorite aspects of working on the David Muench Photography Records has been rehousing the transparencies and slides from David Muench’s collection. The Muench family did a great job of providing context associated with each image, and that makes our jobs during processing much easier! Rather than completing extensive research on and reorganization of these materials, we’re able to maintain the original systems of the photographer and [the photographs] associated context. I also love encountering new formats within these records, such as the commercial posters and calendars that we’ve found intermingled with professional prints of Muench’s work.
Reina: My favorite part of working on the Muench Photography Records has been seeing such a diverse array of landscape photography. It’s given me the opportunity to see areas of North America that I’d never have sought out on my own. I’ve also really enjoyed seeing so many different photographic mediums, many of which I didn’t know existed prior to handling this collection.
SCA: How does your work in SCA, and on this collection in particular, connect to your studies at NAU?
Reina: My work here in SCA and on this collection have supported my desire for a holistic education in both the social sciences and the arts. The collection is so vast and gives me the opportunity to learn so much about the preservation of various mediums, and see much more of the world than I would have otherwise. It’s made me more passionate about my personal interest in photography, and I’m planning to spend more time on that interest going forward.
Max: [The student assistant position in] SCA is the third position I’ve held on campus connected to collections, but it’s the first in which I’ve processed and handled archival materials. Most of my studies so far have focused on the theory behind archaeological fieldwork and exhibit design, so it’s been lovely to shift to a more hands-on approach in understanding collections at SCA.
“It took less than a month of working at SCA for me to redirect my career goals toward working in an archival institution.”
Max Schrader, SCA Student Assistant (NAU Class of 2025)
SCA: How has working in SCA, and on this collection in particular, informed what you’re thinking of in terms of your career or working life after NAU?
Max: It took less than a month of working at SCA for me to redirect my career goals toward working in an archival institution. The work never grows old, and the people here would make it worth it even if it did. Most of my work experience so far has been connected to collections management, though my work on the David Muench Photography Records sparked an interest in me to pursue a role focused more on processing collections. Being able to physically handle the materials I’m working with is a privilege I had no idea I needed, and it has been immeasurably rewarding throughout the last few months. I am incredibly grateful to be working on this project, and I’m excited to see what comes next!
Reina: Working in SCA and on the Muench collection has helped me solidify that working in libraries and archives is what I want to do with my career. I’m planning to go to graduate school for a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) and work in archives in the future. I’m hoping to continue work on photographic collections and to build a photographic portfolio of my own.