Wed. May 24, 2023: Research Into a Place From My Past

image courtesy of  Connor Johnson via pixabay.com

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Come visit the Process Muse, where I talk about Idea Cookies.

Today’s serial episode is Angel Hunt:

Episode 35: Who Is He?

Who is the entity who allowed Lianna entrance? What does he have to do with the hunt?

Angel Hunt Serial Link

Yesterday was just kind of an “I’m disappointed in myself” kind of day. My brain just checked out, early on. I got the blog up. I did some more research on the photographs of the Playland Painters. I’m pretty sure I’ll need to go down and research in the archives in person. I worked on next week’s Process Muse. I crunched numbers. If the grant money doesn’t show up and the debt defaults, we’ll get by, although June will be tight. If either the grant money or the debt ceiling limit is raised by June 1, I can move forward on everything. Even without the grant money in place, if the debt ceiling is lifted, I have enough to take care of everything that needs attention in June, and even a few things that want attention.

The back-and-forth on the Playland Painters was interesting. Playland park itself knows nothing. The new “management” company has no idea, nor do they know where any of the materials from the museum ended up. Typical. No sense of history or lineage.

The researchers at the Westchester Archives are intrigued. They asked for the jpgs, and I sent them over. I told them the search terms I’d used from their collection, which hadn’t yielded results. One had been 8 pages’ worth of thumbnails. The other is over 50 pages, and I’ve only made it through the first 10 (although, in both, I found some really interesting photos that will help with the project). I also found a book on the history of the park, which I will order sometime in June, depending on how all the money stuff shakes out over the next few weeks.

The Archives is only open to appointments one day per week, and then only 2 hours in the morning, and 2 hours in the afternoon. The loose plan is, if/when I book an appointment, I’d drive down very early in the morning to be there when they open, research both sessions, and then either drive back partway and visit a friend, or stay in a motel overnight and drive home the next day. Doing the full drive is possible – especially since I’d be done late afternoon. But, energy-wise, I’m not sure I could do it, especially after researching all day. Play it by ear.

I took a brief look at the Rye Historical society site. It doesn’t look as though they allow researchers; they research “for a fee.” They have very little of their collection digitized thus far. They have some photos of Playland, but I don’t know what other types of records they have. I contacted the Westchester Children’s Museum, which took over the space where the little museum in which I found the photographs used to be.

I tried to look for census records, but the last NY state census was in 1925. Four years too early, and I need a name.  If I want to look in the federal census online, I need to have a name.

What I need are Playland’s employment records. The Westchester Archives might have them. I’m also wondering if maybe they were part of the WPA program? Although that didn’t start until 1935, and, according to the caption below the photo, these women worked there from 1929-1940 panting. They’re wearing smocks, and it’s hard to tell what they have under them, but it looks like, from the hem length, the shoes, and the hair styles, the photo was taken somewhere in the mid 1930’s.

I sent an email to the reference librarian at the library where I got my first library card, just in case. I keep hoping that someone I send the photo to will be related to one of the women in it!

Anyway, that was that rabbit hole yesterday (and early this morning). What else did I do yesterday? I didn’t draft an episode of Legerdemain, which puts me back. I uploaded the Legerdemain episode video on TikTok. I’m having a terrible time with the sound attribution. It keeps listing it as original sound by me. One can only change the attribution line ONCE – and when I change it, it doesn’t save what I entered. I did the social media rounds for Legerdemain. I worked on next week’s Process Muse post. I did two client projects, one fairly large, one short. I sent three plays out on submission.

I did not go to yoga, which I missed, but I wasn’t feeling up to it.

On a practical level, I patched the hole in the screen from the time Spiro Squirrel tried to get in. I got myself a roll of screen tape for this kind of patching.

I’m reading VIVIANA VALENTINE GETS HER MAN by Emily J. Edwards, and it’s lots of fun. I’m thinking I might do book recommendations occasionally on TikTok, too, if I can set up a good template.

Went to bed early, exhausted. Woke up around 3 AM with sense memory stress. Managed to get back to sleep, and got up with the coffee. The oat milk is all clumpy AGAIN – that’s twice lately. I didn’t think plant milk could curdle.

I didn’t go to the laundromat, which I’m fine about today, but will regret next week. On today’s agenda is a lot of Legerdemain, so I can get back on track; more Playland research; a trip to the library to drop off/pick up books,  I have two client projects to do this afternoon. I hope I get in more for tomorrow and Friday. I really want to take the Monday holiday. I need the rest. But we’ll see how it all shakes out. I might have to push through all this week into next.

I’ve pushed working on the flash fiction to the weekend, along with drafting a 10-minute comedy play. I have to start thinking about the radio play for the UK company, too.

So I better get going, hadn’t I, and get a few things done! Have a good one, my friends.