9/28 Seminar Prep

This week, I accomplished:
I didn't really feel like I accomplished much this week as far as my own research is involved. I wrote Marya Sea Kaminski to see if she had any ideas about getting over solo performance writers block. I have a meeting with John Wilson this Thursday to talk about casebooks and such. I've talked to three potential directors for the piece. I went to Kerry hall and wrote for a little bit...came up with some potential ideas for the container of the script.

The sources I consulted this week were:

People mostly. Marya Sea kaminski. And again Nellie's autobiography.


By next week, I want to have accomplished:

Oh lordy. I want to have accomplished the start of my casebook and have half a draft of my script. I want to have at least run it by some of my potential directors to see if they are interested. They are Andy Crooks, Sarah Warren, and Chelsea Anderson...Terri MIGHT be able to direct, but recommends someone with more time. I also want to talk to the people at Kerry Hall to see if I can get space for the performance.


What obstacles stand in the way of your progress?

BEING TIRED all the time...and rehearsal, and being too damn critical of what I write.

What steps can I take to move forward?
I can isolate things one at a time...also I need to create a schedule for myself two weeks ahead of time!

In this week's seminar, I want to discuss:

Maybe I'll read some of my writing, or the pieces of research that have sparked some of this writing. I may read a few letters. Also, could share the Nellie recording I have.

*NOTE: I'm sitting in the archives, and someone started playing the piano on the 7th floor, and it felt so RIGHT. That what's so different between Kerry and MCC. I felt at ease...like this is what was lacking. Then my friend Romeo walked by and he asked me about the Nellie Cave. I showed him around the office and he laughed and said I'm starting to look like her...which kind of shocked me, but I guess its not such a bad thing. Apparently I look like a hip young version of her, which is strange.

Preliminary Source List:

1. Books and such:

-The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish (have 2 copies of my own...)

-Dark Eyes written by Elena Miramova and Eugenie Leontovich (U.W. has a copy)

-The radio play written by theatre students that premiered all over the U.S. over radio (Must be SOMEWHERE in the U.W. archives)

(I need to get more creative with book lists, look for some information on pertinent artists involved with Nellie)

2. Research databases and news articles:

-well, I have the archives at my fingertips, and there are more news articles than I can name. I've decided to only look at news articles from below 1957, which is the year Nellie Cornish day was established

-I want to go back to the U.W. archives and look for more things specifically on Nellie and Miramova

3. Websites:

-History Link Nellie

-Wiki Nellie

-Wiki Blaine, Washington and Father

-Wiki Dark Eyes

(more to be added later, search engine is finnicky)

4. Field research:

1. speaking with John Wilson about casebooks (trying to get a meeting)

2. bending others ears about solo performance (Marya, Terri, Keira, others?)

3. making a map of the people of Nellie's world, who they were, what they did

4. Figuring out where things use to be in Kerry all, making an old floor plan

5. Watching Kerry hall, just observing, being in, writing

6. doing geneaology work to find relatives of Nellie or Miramova

7. director? Maybe Andy Crooks...need to write some material first before I speak with him.

Waking Up

There is something in the story of Nellie that makes be stride forward. There is something in her story that is healing to me, and inspiring all at the same time.

I fall into bouts of depression quite easily. I shut myself off from my ambition, and I sleep a lot. This is a routine I go into, a kind of hibernation without a need. I slow my body down and I isolate myself from all of the work I've done to live a healthy, creative life, and I become something of an emotional hermit.

Quite simply Nellie got me out of bed today. Just the thought of her, and I shook off my own blocks and defenses and got myself up. I got dressed. I went and sat in the stairwell at Kerry, the old one to her living quarters, and I just was. I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall and I listened, as well as felt, the vibrations trilling through the air from three pianos on different floors making their way into the staircase, flooding the halls, cascading down the stairs with a river full of opposing harmonies. I love this place. The wooden stair rails. The creaky floor boards. The way the curved windows in the 3rd floor stairway are a little buckled from the weather, and don't really fit as perfectly into their panes as before. The leaves of the pines flutter back and forth in the wind outside this particular window. Gold light falls in, smearing a streak across the stairway wall.

How many times did Nellie stop and sigh out of this window as I did today? Did she ever stop and think on these stairs, as I do often? If people found me there, what would they think? I'm starting to get past that now...this wondering what people think. If I constantly harped on this...I would never get anywhere. I believe this is where my frustration lies.

From the beginning of the beginning of this project (there have been lots of beginnings to this project), I've constantly been asking what people think, what I should do. "How should I frame this story?" "Do I sound crazy?" "Do you think this is interesting enough?" HOW, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY...

I think I need to listen to myself for once. Take a gamble on myself. I'm not sure how many times I've really done that in my life. Taken a gamble. Especially on myself. Nellie was one to take gambles. She took them on other people all the time. Like Martha Graham. And herself. And the radio school. And building Kerry Hall. And starting an art school. I don't know where this woman got all of her energy and her "chutzpah" from, but to me it's a wonder.

I would have to say that Nellie is helping me fight this depression somehow...I will finish this project. I will listen to what my inner self has to say. I will graduate senior year knowing I've invested in something worthwhile, and that something is myself. I have something to give to the world, and her spirit reminds me of this, and that I am brave, and willing, and open, and tenacious, and alive.

Note to the Self:

-ask security or someone at Kerry Hall if I can get a FULL tour of the building. Get into the little nooks and crannies some people don't get to see.

-spend more time in the building (Kerry) itself. It's what inspired the first spark.

-research and contact someone at Kerry (Molly in the music office?) about requesting the space for use of the show.

-Walking up those stairs to her apartment is such an experience. I have a writing idea about involving those stairs in the process. What if my piece took place in ALL of Kerry Hall? Which rooms? Go back to her book and tag the places that pop out for you. Go there and write!!!

- whenever you get bogged down by information, go to her room and sit. It helps.

-there is something about the birds around the campus, and in the design of the place. What is the history of the building?

-BE CREATIVE WITH RESEARCH, its how you thrive

Quite a Hot Hot Hot Sheet

*NOTE TO CHRIS* I will revise this by Thursday because it needs revising, but I don't have internet at my house, and I really want to go home from Kerry Hall, so I'm not doing it tonight, but it will be done! :D

Brief Description:

I plan on researching the life of Nellie Cornish, as well as her daughter Elena Miramova, Ellen Ramhurst, and perhaps Theodosia Young. I have letters from these women, and I find the events linked between them very interesting. There is something very intriguing about Nellie's life. It was very grand, but also touched with pangs of sadness and letdowns that I can very much relate to. There is something in her story, and I'm wanting to narrow down my research to her and just a few people so I can begin the task of writing.

Key Words and Phrases:

Pacific North West

Nellie Centennial Cornish

Pianist

Pioneer

Educator

Theatre

Art

Dance

Music

Elena Miramova

Ella Ramhurst

Merce Cunningham

Mark Tobey

Woman

Cornish College of the Arts

Money

Education

Institution

Americana

Questions:

-How am I going to frame my play?

-Should I narrow down the window of time I research Nellie's life?

-How did she exactly leave the school?

-I don't want this project to be exactly about the school's history, I want it to be about Nellie, so how do I do this?

-How do I write when something is period?

-Do I really want to base things off of the letters I found in the U.W. archives that would limit the people in the play?

-How do I feel about all of the work that needs to be done on this project?

-Where am I stuck? Is there another lens to look through here?

-What did Nellie's room and apartment look like?

-What did she do later on after Cornish?

Action plan:

-By September 30 I want to have touched base with John Wilson about a case book.

-I need to go over Nellie's autobiography and make specific notes for myself

-I need to isolate events in her life I want to write about

-I need to do another debriefing with myself about where I am emotionally with this project

-I need to ask the good people at Kerry hall if I can possibly have Nellie's room to do my project in

-I need to think of creative ways to make the world of Miss Cornish, my won personal timelines

By October 15th

9/21 Seminar Prep

This week, I accomplished:
I met with Terri Weagant and spoke to her about my ideas on the project. She is going to be a collaborator during the artistic process. I also met with Molly Scott who is in charge of the archives. She told me that if I wanted to just do Nellie research for the remainder of my time in the archives, that this would be fine.

The sources I consulted this week were:
I consulted the Autobiography of Miss Aunt Nellie and reread some information that I wasn't so clear on.

By next week, I want to have accomplished:
I want to have met with John Wilson about the steps in making a casebook, and start contacting the family of the people I will be using in my play. I also want to get into the habit of writing as research.

What obstacles stand in the way of your progress?

I don't know how to really go forth on my search for the relatives of the people possibly in my play. I'm also very tired and I need to make some better schedules for myself.

What steps can I take to move forward?
I can make some steps by creating a family tree or a who is who chart among the people in my Nellie world. I can also talk to my boss in the cafeteria and decide if it's worth it to work this senior year, or if I'll have much more peace with having a little less money but more peace of mind.

In this week's seminar, I want to discuss:
I want to know how people are keeping track of their research, and how they are referencing between life experience and paper documents...and what is fueling people still about their topics. Plus time management.

Inquiry and 9/14 Seminar Preparation Sheet:

Inquiry:
I'm feeling a little flat on this project, only because I've sat through my senior thesis meeting, and I wondered to myself if I wanted to funnel all of my energy and resources into this Nellie Cornish project that would result in a performance for my senior thesis. I mean it makes sense to, and I've been working towards it for quite sometime. I just don't know how it would look. How this class would be used. If I use this semester to culminate my research on Nellie into a casebook, is this enough for the purpose of the class? I would think so. I've never really gotten the chance to do research like this before, and I think it would be a valuable process to go through in making my own work. I believe I would like to do something like Chris is doing, and put together the research needed do produce a draft of a one woman play, and then workshop it for my senior thesis. So yes, as of now, I'm thinking a casebook is the way to go.

This week, I accomplished:
I accomplished making a blog for my project, as well as getting back in contact with the archives. I also scheduled a meeting with Molly Scott to talk about the archives, and what my goals specifically will be for the archives as an archivist. I feel that getting this settled will help me plan how I will be using my this time this semester, and what my duties are to this project, and what they are as a work study student. I feel that as of now, a lot of my information is tied up in one spot, and that I'm blurring the lines between work and school with this project.

The sources I consulted this week were:
The sources I consulted this week were things I had on my computer that I had saved in a Nellie file, that I've been meaning to transfer to this blog to have all of my data in one place. I have bits of documents and pictures online that I've been meaning to isolate to this blog. One is a proclamation from the mayor of Seattle establishing Nelly Cornish day in 1957. Others are some posters I made for Nellie Cornish Day. I also looked over my past notes. I don't know if this is seen as progress, but I contacted a potential director for my senior thesis.

By next week, I want to have accomplished:
I want to know if I am going to be using this class as a time to explore making a casebook on things I want to include in my one woman show about Nellie Cornish, and if this would be enough for this semester.

What obstacles stand in the way of your progress?
I have had limited hours to work in the archives because of my work schedule at school, and from working in the cafeteria. I've found that I may have to cut my hours back in the cafe to stay sane so that I can spend more time on school work. I need to also figure out where I stand on the work I've been doing in the archives, I just feel very tangled in my thoughts of what I want to do and how this process is going to look if this becomes my senior thesis.

What steps can I take to move forward?
I can move forward by planning out a schedule of when I'm WORKING in the archives, and when I'm researching in the archives. I can also move forward by voicing to my boss that I would like to scale back my hours in the cafe. I can look at all of the documents I copied from the U.W. archives, and I can put them into more of an order. Where does most of my research move towards?

In this week's seminar, I want to discuss:
I want to discuss process and possibly look at the bigger picture of this being an all year thing. I think I have to break it down:
-I have my job in the archives, I have used this to collect my own information.
-I have directed studies, I can use this to pull the information together and explore a dramaturgical process
-I have my writing class to workshop and write a solo piece
-I have my senior thesis, which is going into rehearsal for it, and work shopping it, and getting it into performance

Sooooo...I'm wondering how the time line of this would workout. I want to help myself out as much as possible by making this a joint project between classes...or is this overkill? I think I just want opinions from other people about the shape of this project.

The creation of Nellie Chronicles and its use:

Welcome to the Nellie Chronicles! What will this blog be used for? Well mainly for a reflection of my journey through researching the life of Nellie, and the history of Cornish College of the Arts, along with other interesting topics that pop up while walking the Nellie path. I'm also going to use this blog to keep track of certain research I encounter, to help put things into order, and for my directed studies project that will hopefully have something to do with Miss Aunt Nellie. So as you can see I'm all over the place. I hope to become more organized in my pursuit of this topic, and sometimes my posts will be rather personal, or they will be very factual, or a mix of both. Whatever they are, you are more than welcome to read and follow. A little background into my (Obsession? Fascination? Interest? You decide.) of Nellie C. Cornish. First of all, her full name is Nellie Centennial Cornish, and she actually kept her middle name a secret for most of her life. She would just sign Nellie C. Cornish. She liked having some mystery linked to her name. She was called Miss Aunt Nellie by practically everyone, especially her students. When I write, I'll just call her Nellie. So. I first became interested in Nellie when I walked into the Kerry building on my first trip to Seattle. I flew up to help a friend already attending the school look for apartments, and the Kerry building was the first part of the campus I encountered. I was very taken with the building and its architecture, there was just something about it's energy that made me question, "Who built this school? I must know." And after that, I began to pick up whatever tidbits I could about the school, it's creator, and it's unique history.

I then came back to Seattle as a freshmen in the theatre department. It was the only school I applied to. I just seemed to know that it was the place for me, or I hoped it was, and I'm entering my senior year now, so I guess I would have to say I was right. It's been an interesting journey, and I feel like Nellie has been with me through it all. She became a more prevalent topic in my life when I took my first HS class with Christine Sumption. I did a project where I researched some of Cornish's history, and it had something to do with Nellie's vision she founded the school on, and how the school was today and if it has changed much. That is a whole other subject I'll probably go into later. But I interviewed the president, Sergei Tschernisch, who is leaving the school at the end of this year, and I read Nellie's autobiography. I feel that this was when I really got hooked. I just felt like I knew her so well. Her voice was so fresh that I felt like I was discussing her life with her over coffee. She sounded eerily modern, in her views on education, the arts, and life. I'll stand by that she was a woman greatly ahead of her time, and very in tune with her gut instincts. It's like she had a sixth sense about the art world that gave the school an edge, and I believe her early work is why it is still around today.

So I became a closet Nellie fan (Well, not to my friends. I spouted random knowledge about her life all the time, which seemed at least to be amusing and quirky, though in the fourth year of my interest, I'm learning to tone it down and funnel my knowledge into other things, like this blog for example.) I did another report about her my junior year, which I realized was an excuse to do yet more research about her life, and I stumbled into a work study job on the 7th floor that involves me working in the Cornish archives. Now I have a posse of librarians helping me with my research, and lots of wonderful people on the 7th floor who indulge me in my Nellie rants like, "Hey guys! Look what I found today!", and I bring out a huge metal candelabra looking thing that some people think is a Russian samovar. If you are wondering what a samovar is, its a beast of a teapot. We concluded it to be an oil lamp. Was it Nellie's? No one knows, but for now I pretend it was. There are all kinds of random objects in the archives, along with letters, school documents, random proclamations, and articles and news clippings. And more. And I get to look through all of it. It's kind of like looking through your great grandma's attic for a job, but I'll leave archival explanation for another day.

So where am I with Nellie right now? I spent most of my summer in the Cornish archives, and around August I needed a break. I put Nellie on the back shelf, or burner as you would say, and now I'm opening the door again with the beginning of my senior year. I mean, she never really completely leaves my thoughts, I often think to myself "What would Nellie do?" I guess I'm talking more about application. What I'm going to do with all of this knowledge and the experiences I've had with researching her life. I may write a solo performance show, possibly a script, or do a public project where I try to bring her and the school's history to the students of Cornish. Not many know how rich and awesome our history is. Knowing Nellie, her spirit and her memory, has changed me as a person. I can't say that I know who the real Nellie is, but she has become a muse for me in some way, and I feel that I am definitely on some kind of journey through all of this.

The funny thing is, I've never had an interest that has spurred me to such action before. You think I'd choose someone like Abe Lincoln, or the guy (Or lady...) that invented Nutella (Thank you wherever you are!), but I didn't. I found Nellie Centennial Cornish. I guess it's not so out of left field because she is the founder of my college, but still, it is a bit random. Maybe it's because I like researching the history that I'm a part of, that I'm close to. I love thinking that we are all part of history, right now, as we take every breath. What people remember years from now we only have so much control over, but I'm interested in what we as individuals choose to remember. It says something about who we are...so I guess through this study, I'm finding out about what kind of person I am, what I choose to remember.

Nellie in Photos

Here are some pictures that I came across in the archives that I took to Bridget Nowlin in the library, and she so wonderfully agreed to photograph them for a project I did this summer. I needed them for posters revamping Nellie Cornish Day, which apparently was proclaimed in 1957 by Seattle Mayor Clinton. Nellie Cornish Day falls on Nellie's birthday, July 9, 1876.