Preserving Oberlin’s History: Norman G. Long
By Alan Cuthbertson
I am a history major at the University of Akron, and I am hoping to someday obtain a career in historical research. In preparation for that, I recently started a term of volunteer/internship work here at the Oberlin Heritage Center. My first few weeks have been memorable ones. Following introductions to the staff and to the various resources available at the center by Liz Schultz, I was introduced to the collections specialist Prue Richards. Prue helped me to familiarize myself with document preservation, and I was soon after given my first assignment.
As my first project here at the Oberlin Heritage Center, I was assigned the task of preserving and documenting historical artifacts from a fascinating member of the Oberlin community, the late Mr. Norman G. Long. I was presented with a rich assortment of letters, photographs, and various other personal documents with which to preserve and to paint a picture of this man who, it can be said, led a full, rich, significant life.
Mr. Long was a very religious man. He served in the United States Army in 9th Cavalry. His service included that as an officer and a chaplain. He later received a Doctorate of Ministry from Vanderbilt University in 1974. Additionally Mr. Long dabbled in real estate planning.
Among other things, I was able to preserve letters to his wife, college, and many photographs. I also got to work with Mr. Long’s military decorations from the second World War. This was probably the most interesting thing that I did for this project. I say that because I have a keen interest in military history, and to work with some firsthand was was a real treat for me. Mr. Long received many decorations for his World War II service. However as I was researching what exactly what the decorations were for, I came across one that I have yet to identify. It has a band of blue on the edges, followed by an equally thick band of white, followed by a slightly thicker band of red, with a relatively thin band of yellow centered in the middle. All you military experts out there: please weigh in on this!
I have already learned a lot from this experience. I have obtained skills in preservation, documentation, cataloguing, and research. Prue in particular has been an invaluable resource for me throughout this process. I hope that the work that I am doing now will someday be useful to others in trying to accomplish historical research and/or interpretation. Through my work here at the Oberlin Heritage Center, I feel that I am gaining skills and knowledge that will help me tremendously in my forthcoming career. I cannot say enough about the wonderful staff here at the center as well, they are all very friendly and helpful.
