During my internship at Kodak in June, I focused primarily on processing a large collection of documents, photographs, and objects related to the Kodak Camera Club (KCC). The KCC was an organization of Kodak employees who were interested in amateur photography. At the height of Kodak's success in the mid-to-late twentieth century, the Camera Club had hundreds of members across all departments in the company. Members could rent photographic equipment and enter their work in salons and exhibitions that took place several times a year. The organization disbanded entirely in the early 2000s when Kodak was struggling financially, but all of the meeting minutes, exhibition planning materials, event photographs, and other materials remain in the Kodak Archive. In trying to piece together the story of this employee organization, I realized quickly that almost none of the current employees at Kodak had any knowledge of the KCC, as many of the employees who were members of the club have either retired or lost their jobs when the company declared bankruptcy.
My idea for my thesis is to record oral histories from retired and former Kodak employees who were members of the Kodak Camera Club, to get a better understanding of how the club functioned and the role that it played in the corporate culture at Kodak in the second half of the 20th century. As many of the people who were employed at Kodak in its heyday are either deceased or very elderly, there is an immediate need for oral history research. These interviews, coupled with the resources in the Kodak Archive, could result in an online exhibition about the history of the Kodak Camera Club.
I think this is such a cool idea, this is a long history that seems to have been forgotten about by so many people and it is an important part of the Rochester community! I look forward to seeing how this online exhibit pans out!
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you're going to be able to use the work you did during your internship to build your thesis. I've never heard of the KCC, but I look forward to learning more about it and the role it played in Kodak's history and culture.
ReplyDeleteAfter going through most of that KCC material as well, I'd say you have plenty to work from and I look forward to seeing how and what you utilize from the collection for your project! I think adding on to the written documentation with oral histories would be a great addition to the knowledge/literature around the KCC.
ReplyDeleteNot to be a downer, but you might want to approach Kodak about the ability to carry out a digital public-facing project (since they retain rights to the collection). They may wish to curate the KCC content with a different focus/output, such as the KCC Twitter page. That said, the KCC project is very much in keeping with the social/community history of the employees. How does this relate with city camera clubs that were popping up at the turn of the last century? Love the snapshot of your ideas, here (pun!); can't wait to see how ideas develop (again, punny!)
ReplyDelete