[Genealib] Ethics of digitizing embarrassing material

[Susan Scouras]

The information was published in a contemporary newspaper, so I see no
ethical question involved.  Rather, I see a preservation issue in your
statement that your library may have the only surviving newsprint copy.
If this newspaper is not on microfilm, you should have it microfilmed as
soon as possible, whether it is digitized or not, and copies distributed
to your state archives and other libraries for preservation.  Also,
since the author for whatever reason chose not to name specific people,
I (as a historian as well as a librarian) think it is important to make
that list part of the public record by placing it online.   

Susan Scouras
Librarian
WV Archives and History Library
The Cultural Center
1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
Charleston, WV  25305-0300
(304) 558-0230, Ext. 742
 


-----Original Message-----
From: genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu
[mailto:genealib-bounces at mailman.acomp.usf.edu] On Behalf Of Cynthia Van
Ness
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 2:25 PM
To: genealib
Subject: [Genealib] Ethics of digitizing embarrassing material


Hi, all,

In my new job, I have a startling document--the membership list of the
short-lived KKK chapter in Buffalo, ca. 1924.  How we booted the Klan
out of town is a great story told in this book, which is based in part
on the author's use of this list:

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.cgi?path=19515850795724

As part of fighting the Klan, the membership list was stolen and
published.  We have perhaps the sole surviving newsprint copy ca. 1924.
So these names were already published once, though not in Lay's book.

Excerpts appear here:

http://www.buffalonian.com/history/articles/1901-50/kkk/kkk.html

What are the ethics of digitizing it in full and putting it online?  To
compare with other privacy restrictions, it is past the 72-year rule of
the Federal Census, which also has the potential to surprise or
embarrass people.  (Grandpa was 
mulatto?  Or, Grandma lived in the red light district?)

A 21-year old KKK member in 1924 would be 104 now.  Chances are good
that everyone is deceased.


*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.-*
Cynthia Van Ness, MLS, bettybarcode AT yahoo DOT com
http://www.BuffaloResearch.com

"Everyone claims to want a city, but no one here wants city living.
City living by its definition is crowded.  It is tolerant of other
people.  It is dependent on a sophisticated population that makes a
hundred compromises daily so that they can benefit from the collective
energy that a city generates."     --Robert N. Davis, Jr. (1955-2007)
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