Practice Activity: Summarizing a Record FACILITATOR GUIDE€¦ · Practice Activity: Summarizing a Record FACILITATOR GUIDE 1. Introduce the activity: An important part of processing

Pract ice Act iv i ty : Summariz ing a Record

F A C I L I T A T O R G U I D E

1. Introduce the activity: An important part of processing a collection is writing the summary of its contents on the Cataloging Worksheet. The summary you write will help future researchers to discover the collection’s contents.

The challenge in writing the summary is finding the right level of detail. You want it long enough so that the significant elements of the collection are mentioned, but you don’t want it so detailed that it is filled with too much mundane information. Nor do you want it too short so that a researcher in need of information overlooks the record.

2. Explain the objective: In this activity you will practice summarizing a historical letter. When you are finished we will compare your summary to that of an expert.

3. Carry out the activity:a. Hand out copies of the historical letter to each participant.b. Ask the participants to read the letter and then write a summary in the space provided. c. When they are finished, hand out the expert summary and then discuss how their answers compared to the expert’s.d. If desired, try the activity again, only this time, have participants summarize 1 Nephi, chapter 1, and compare their summary with the chapter heading.

4. After the activity is complete, summarize the activity:Here are the key points to remember:

• The challenge in writing the summary is finding the right level of detail. Mention only the significant elements of the collection. Including too much detail will take too much time and will obscure the most important pieces of information. But don’t make the summary too short either. Not enough information will keep researchers from finding the item later.• Effectively summarizing the contents of a collection is something that you learn with practice.


H I S T O R I C A L L E T T E R , P A G E 1 O F 2

John C. Calhoun, Jr. to (James Edward Pendleton)

Fort Des Moines July 19th 1844Sacks & Fox nation(,) Iowa Te(rrito)ry

My dear brother. We arrived here a few days ago, after a long journey of more than 2,500 miles by the route from Washington, during which time, we have seen every variety of climate, soil, vegetation, and society. I have not more than recovered from the fatigues of the journey, but still feel, that it would not be acting properly to delay longer, as I know, that you are all anxious to hear from us. Just before starting from St. Louis, I wrote to Sissy (Martha Cornelia Calhoun), and gave her a brief description of our trip up to that time, and therefore will not make a recapitulation, but will commence where I left off.

We left St. Louis on the 21st of last month, after purchasing, ammunition, guns, two double barrells, two brace pistols, two bowie knives, three horses, & a servant.

The steamboat we left St. Louis in, was the Lancet, a pleasure boat bound for St. Anthony falls, we had a fine band of music on board, and a great many Creole ladies, some of whom were very beautiful, they danced once or twice, but we were so much fatigued that we could not take a part. The Mississippi was very full, higher by several feet than it was ever known before, by the oldest inhabitants, it was ten miles broad at St. Louis, which is situated 1,750 miles above the mouth, thus giving you some idea of the magnitude of the river.

The scenery on the upper Mississippi is truly picturesque, the part of the river called the upper, begins above the mouth of the Missouri, where the river entirely changes its character, from a mud(d)y, it becomes a beautiful limpid stream, at this place, the shore rises to a great height, it is one solid wall of limestone, ranging from 3 to 4, and sometimes 500 feet high, the shore is the most beautiful in the Illinois side, in the (“County” interlined) of Calhoun. From this place, Nothing of interest happened (sic) until we got to Quincy on the Illinois side, here, just a(s) we were going to land, a steamboat the El Dorado coming down the river, ran against us, breaking the side of the vessel, and so disabling her, as to cause considerable delay, which gave us time to walk about the city, which is one of the neatest on the river, we found after returning to the boat, that the other boat had purposely struck our boat, there being some bad feeling between the two Captains. From Quincy we started for Nauvoo, and arrived there after dark, it was the evening after the Governor (Thomas Ford) had sent to ar(r)est Joe Smith,* and the city in consequence in a great state of excitement, a large number of us being anxious to see the Prophet, begged the Captain of the boat to wait two or three hours for us, and in a few minutes after, found ourselves in an omnibus, rowling rapidly through water street, and soon our horses were drawn up before the hotel, kept by the Prophet himself, at first he thought we were spies sent by the Governor, so he kept 300 men armed round the house, and sent his Marshall to disperse us, but upon telling him the purpose of our visit, he invited us to the drawingroom, where he soon joined us, ha gave us a full description of his difficulties, and also an exposition of his faith, frequently calling himself the Prophet, in the course of conversation.

Nauvoo in Hebrew signifies the beautiful, & in this case I think fully deserves the name, for its site is said to be the most beautiful in the Western World, it is on a level plain, extending back for 3 miles, and then rises into high bluffs. A few days after leaving Nauvoo, we arrived at Fort Madison Iowa Territory, where we remained 8 days, and spent a pleasant time, while there we received several invitations to parties, at one time we received a note signed the ladies of Fort Madison inviting us to a large Fair and party given by them. On the 3rd of July we mounted our horses and started for this place, the distance from Madison here is 200 miles, which is all one pra(i)rie, there being all together not more than 20 miles of timber, you cannot imagine how much the first pra(i)rie struck me, one has not an idea of the immensity of the Earth(‘)s surface until he sees one; from F(or)t Madison to this place there is a continual rise, at first gradual, then becoming very rowling. Soon after you ascend the sum(m)it of the bluffs of the


river, you strike the timber, which after passing through a very narrow strip of timber you come to the edge of the pra(i)rie which is generally flat, and extends for 30 miles without a rise, covered with grass about knee high, the effect is very singular at (“or over” interlined) the line of vision it looks like water and I frequently imagined I was approaching the ocean. We would have started for the far west before this, but after Joe was killed, the Governor made a requisition to the Gover(n)ment for 700 Dragoons, so we have to remain to see what orders come from the (“Sectary” altered to “Secatary” of war), in that case we will not start until 2 weeks at the lowest calculation. A day or two ago a boat arrived from below, which is the second ever been here, we took a sail up as far as the mouth of Beaver river, 8 miles above this. There are three tribes of Indians here, the Fox and Sacks & Ioways, the two former are very powerful, but the latter though now small, was once a very formidable tribe, the whole amount of the three tribes are 3,800, their boundary extends 30 miles below, and on the east, while on the west are the Soux or Dahcotah’s, the most powerful tribe as far as numbers are concerned in the United States.

The Indians here are quite wild, and not one of them can speak English, except good morning, which they say whether you meet them in the morning or at night, when they drink each others health, they say How, they are in our rooms almost every day. I went with (Lt.) Pat(rick) Noble (Jr.) a few days ago to some of their vil(l)ages, we visited the village of Appenense, Kirkirk, Hardfish, and Kish-Kiikosh, the latter is a great brave & chief and his likeness you can see, among the celebrated (“Fox” interlined) Indians, he is a successor of Black-Hawk, there are two sons of the latter chief here, they are very fine looking men, and considered brave. There is a great deal of game about 50 miles above, such as bear, deer, Antelope, Bison, Elk, and a few wild horses, the Indians are daily coming in loaded with meat, I saw an elks horn a few days ago, measuring 7 ft. some inches in length; & before I forget it, I must tell you a big but true fish story-while at Madison, I saw a boy about your size, catch a blue-cat with a hook and line, weighing 65 pounds, and measuring 6 ft in length, this is what I saw, now I will tell you what I heard, it was that cats are frequently cought in the Mississippi, in weight 200 lbs., jacks are also cought in length from 12 to 15 ft. Pat says you must remember him to his brothers & sisters, & tell them to write to him. I must conclude as my pen is bad and it is getting late.

Pady (Patrick Calhoun) & Pat send their love to you and Willy (William Lowndes Calhoun). Give my love to Kate (Catherine Floride Townes) & Eugenia (Calhoun) & tell them, they must write to me. Direct your letters to St Louis. I remain, your ever devoted brother,

John C. Calhoun, Jr.

H I S T O R I C A L L E T T E R , P A G E 2 O F 2

Your summary:


E X P E R T S U M M A R Y

Letter written by John C. Calhoun Jr. (19 July 1844), who was not a member of the Church, to his brother James Edward Calhoun about his visit with Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois, the day before Smith left for Carthage. It contains information about Smith’s preaching and bearing testimony of his prophetic calling, Calhoun’s impressions of Nauvoo, and Smith’s writing a letter to Illinois governor Thomas Ford. It includes information about commerce on the Mississippi River and the conditions of Native Americans living in the area.


To practice again, look at the artifact and accompanying information. Then, write a summary of the artifact that would be used on the Cataloging Worksheet.

Your summary:

• Sacrament tray used by early members of the Church in Tahiti.• Donated by Charles Evans, a missionary who served there in 1878.• Members used this tray for 25 years. Sister Nu’ui polished it every week, and she safeguarded it in her home in a special box she hid beneath the fire pit. Each Sunday morning, a priesthood holder visited her to obtain the tray. She would remove it from its storage location, give it one more polish, and hand it to the elder. That evening, the tray would be returned to her.


Silver-plated sacrament tray used in Tahiti around 1878 by early members of the Church.



For more practice, look at this collection of personal records from a missionary in the Phillippines and its accompanying information. Then, write a summary of the items and compare it with the expert’s summary on the back of the page.

• Missionary journals of John Carlo Fong while he served in the following areas in the Philippines Tacloban Mission: Philippines Missionary Training Center (January–February 2012), Abuyog (February–December 2012), Tacloban (December 2012–March 2013), Palo (March–May 2013), and Dulag (May–December 2013).• Twenty-seven photographs from Brother Fong, the subjects of which include Marina Soto, Maribel Ramirez, and Chen Cho, Church members; the spring 2013 mission conference and annual basketball game; Brother Fong’s first baptisms in Palo; the Dulag meetinghouse open house; the destruction from Typhoon Haiyan; the missionaries playing games with youth in the street; a service project in the Abuyog Ward; and a Relief Society annual meeting in Palo.• Philippines Tacloban Mission newsletter from February 2012–December 2013. • Some of the major stories include accounts of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which include stories about the aftermath and cleanup. Other stories include the March 15, 2013, opening of Palo for missionary work and the dedication of a meetinghouse in Dulag on June 13, 2013.

Your summary:



Personal papers relating to John C. Fong’s experiences as a missionary in the Philippines Tacloban Mission (2012–2013).

Contains three volumes of handwritten journals (1. January–November 2012, 2. November 2012–July 2013, 3. July–December 2013) describing his experiences in the Philippines Missionary Training Center (January–February 2012), Abuyog (February–December 2012), Tacloban (December 2012–March 2013), Palo (March–May 2013), and Dulag (May–December 2013); 27 photographs of Church member and missionary activities, destruction from Typhoon Haiyan, first baptisms in Palo, and the Dulag meetinghouse open house; and copies of the monthly mission newsletter (February 2012–December 2013).

Includes information about the evacuation of missionaries and Church members the day prior to Typhoon Haiyan, as well as the typhoon’s aftermath and clean up efforts by missionaries and Filipino Helping Hands (November 2013); the opening of Palo for missionary work (15 March 2013), and the dedication of a meetinghouse in Dulag (13 June 2013).

Practice Activity: Summarizing a Record FACILITATOR GUIDE€¦ · Practice Activity: Summarizing a Record FACILITATOR GUIDE 1. Introduce the activity: An important part of processing

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