From PPG Works #8 to the Work of Processing: Harnessing Personal Experience and Lifelong Glassworkers to Enhance Description of PPG Industries Photographs

Abstract

As an archivist with the Heinz History Center's Detre Library and Archives, Sierra Green was afforded the opportunity to process the PPG Industries Records, a collection pertaining to the history of the glass industry in Western Pennsylvania and throughout the United States. For over 38 years, her father has been an industrial glassworker. As a college student during summer breaks, Sierra worked alongside her father as a glassworker. Serendipitously, this archival collection originated from the very same company for which her father has worked for most of his life. What follows in this presentation are her reflections from this experience as well as applicable strategies to partner with industry workers in order to enhance collection description.