By Wood Alter.
In honor of the first ever “From the Archives”, a new feature of the Messenger highlighting a column printed the same month but some years prior, Candler Park deserves to hear from their very own digital archivist: Roger Bakeman.
To say that Roger, a Candler Park resident of 50 years, appreciates the history of this neighborhood would be an understatement. When I met with him to discuss his efforts developing and maintaining the Candler Park Messenger Archive, I left his home with a stack of 20 or so issues of the Messenger, some over a decade old – all duplicates of issues he already had in his possession.
To learn that Roger was a history major in his undergrad days came as no real surprise. When asked what originally drew him to the archives, he shared his belief that people should have access to an organization’s history, and he expressed an interest in being able to track the issues that have emerged time and time again in our neighborhood. Should the fence behind Iverson Park have a gate for easier MARTA access? Does the Candler Park Tour of Homes need volunteers for this year? Perusing the archives will show you that the latter is an emphatic yes, while the former’s answer is much less certain.
What did come as a surprise was Roger’s lack of wrist braces. Since assuming the role of archivist in 2018 after the CPNO website redesign in 2017, Roger has single-handedly scanned 369 print issues of the Messenger, page by page. The Candler Park Messenger’s physical run comprised of 417 issues from 1989 until moving to digital after January of 2024, putting Roger’s impressive figure 48 short of the total issues printed. The missing issues are easily identified in the archives, and Roger would gladly power up his scanner to complete the collection should any readers have them tucked away. While he described the scanning process as meditative, he did not mince words about how much effort went into the task (note: having felt the heft of less than 30 issues, I required little convincing).
When asked how Roger believed the archives benefitted the neighborhood, he matter of factly stated, “When people have questions it gives them a place to find answers,” and hoped that people were aware of the resource. That said, for someone to put in such an effort, there must be a personal investment in the task. To this end, Roger stated “it’s something that stands for the future,” and expressed no concerns whether his name is attached to the effort moving forward. Roger’s only concern is the incomplete nature of the archive.
The Messenger thanks Jennifer Richardson, Mary Alice Bray, and Roger Johnson for their contributions to the archives. Maybe one August many years from now this very article will be pulled “from the archives”, and by then the elusive 48 issues will have been scanned, completing the collection. Only time will tell!