Yama Yama Halloween

Need an idea for Halloween? See the photograph below from a costume party in Turkey, ca. 1920-21, except for the French soldiers, who are real and probably on duty (which doesn’t rule out their garb for your party purposes). The other men are in “Pierrot” costume, perhaps inspired on this occasion by the popularity of “Yama Yama Man,” a strange song and dance routine not to be missed for your daily dose of weirdness from another place and time.

The photograph is from an album formerly belonging to Dorothea Nesbitt Chambers (Blaisdell), daughter of missionaries William N. and Cornelia P.W. Chambers.  Dorothea, a Bryn Mawr graduate, was a hardworking but fun-loving woman who grew up in Turkey and worked there for the YWCA before her marriage in 1926.  She is probably the photographer here.

Friends of Dot Chambers in Turkey (probably Adana).  Photograph from the Williams-Chambers-Seelye-Blaisdell Papers.

That the Yama Yama dance was popular is clear from this photograph of the 10th reunion (in 1912) of the Class of 1902.

The Class of 1902 at their decennial reunion, June 24 1912. Published in

The Class of 1902 at their decennial reunion, June 24 1912. Published in “College on the Hill.”

Yama Yama Man continued to appear through subsequent decades, including in this album’s title and in one of its tracks.

Chris Barber Band, album ca. 1960.

Chris Barber Band, album ca. 1960.

If anyone ever wanted proof that our small college’s archives has everything from soup to nuts, here it is, our own Yama Yama Man costume (or most of one), a gift from the family of Arthur F. Ells, Class of 1902, who owned it originally and is no doubt in the reunion photograph above.

Portion of a Yama Yama Man costume used by the Class of 1902 in 1912.

Portion of a Yama Yama Man costume used by the Class of 1902 in 1912.

Who Wore It Best: A Renaissance Costume Party

While it might be a little late for you all to change your Halloween costume plans, the following woodcut illustrations from Habiti Antichi, et Moderni di Tutto il Mondo (1598) could still provide some last minute inspiration.

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Sixteenth-century sheet ghost. Member of the “shamefaced poor” of Venice.
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Inhabitant of Virginia in the New World.

 

 

 

 

 

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A Roman soldier.

Costume books became popular in the sixteenth century, as increases in travel, technology, and literacy fed the innate human curiosity to know about the dress and customs of people in other parts of the world.  Habiti Antichi, et Moderni di Tutto il Mondo features men and women from a wide variety of regions and social statuses. Everyone from the pope to the peasants are featured in often highly-stereotyped woodcut illustrations. As the book was published in Venice, there is a particular emphasis on the wealthy Venetian merchant class, but other people from as far away as Russia, China, and the Americas are also included.

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A wealthy Venetian.
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A woman in ancient costume.
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A Turkish fighter with some fierce headgear.

An interest in costumes of the world did not end with the Renaissance, as the popularity of sites such as The Sartorialist and other street-style blogs attest. “Who wore it best” polls are a common feature of celebrity tabloids, and the internet has made it easier than ever to know what people all over the world look like. On Halloween, most of us decide we want to be someone else for the night. Who knows, maybe you’ll see a dogalina antica wandering the streets this weekend!

National Action Plan 3.0

On Tuesday, the White House announced the release of the third U.S. Open Government National Action Plan in conjunction with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit taking place in Mexico City this week.  In her opening remarks to the summit, Samantha Power, the US Ambassador to the United Nations discussed the status of the OGP and open government around the world and the importance of civil society engagement and critique in the OGP.

OGP Global Summit Power

Samantha Power at the opening ceremony for the Open Government Partnership Global Summit. Video of Power’s remarks begins here: https://youtu.be/cV9b9tMnKzY?t=20m51s

Several NARA staff members are participating in the OGP Global Summit this week and worked on the interagency development of the third NAP. The development included eight months of collaboration with Federal agencies and engagement with the public and civil society. NARA also hosted a public meeting on July 30, 2015, to engage the public in the development of third NAP.

The third U.S. Open Government National Action Plan (NAP) has more than 40 new or expanded initiatives to advance open government across federal agencies, including the National Archives. NARA’s commitments in the third NAP reflect our significant, ongoing work to strengthen open government. NARA’s commitments include:

Improve Management of Government Records
We will release a public dataset to increase transparency in the positions of government officials whose email will come to the National Archives for permanent preservation under the Capstone approach. We will introduce targeted questions regarding email management to agencies regarding their implementation of the Managing Government Records Directive and report on publicly on agencies’ progress, allowing stakeholders to track progress on agencies’ email management efforts. We will also seek feedback from civil society to improve NARA’s online repository of Records Control Schedules.

Modernize Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act
We will participate in a pilot program led by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to test the feasibility of posting FOIA-released records online so they are available to the public.  NARA’s Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) and DOJ will also work to issue guidance and create best practices for agency FOIA web pages in order to encourage agencies to update their FOIA websites to be consistent, informative, and user-friendly.  Additionally, we will work to increase the understanding of FOIA by developing tools to teach students about FOIA and develop resources that will be made available online.

Streamline the Declassification Process
NARA’s National Declassification Center (NDC) will implement a special systematic declassification review program for previously reviewed and exempted historical Federal records that were accessioned to the National Archives and reviewed prior to the creation of the NDC in 2010.

Implement the Controlled Unclassified Information Program
We will continue implementation of an open and unified program for managing unclassified information that requires safeguarding or dissemination control, known as Controlled Unclassified Information. We will issue implementation guidance, establish phased implementation schedules, publish an enhanced CUI Registry, and work with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to propose a FAR rule.

Develop a Machine Readable Government Organizational Chart
The National Archives’ Office of Federal Register will work with the General Services Administration to facilitate access to information about government agencies and better leverage the underlying data published in the United States Government Manual.

Increase the Impact of Open Innovation Activities
We will expand our Citizen Archivist activities to include citizen scanning of the Federal records in our new Innovation Hub.  This offers an opportunity to further our engagement in the public and collaborate to make our records more accessible through these digitization efforts.

While these are NARA’s topline commitments, we will be involved in the work of many more NAP commitments and we will also continue our work in implementing our agency’s third Open Government Plan, which reflects commitments throughout the agency to strengthen transparency, participation, and collaboration.

School Spirits: Ghosts at Florida State

ghostHave you ever felt a slight chill while walking up the College Ave. hill, and it was much more than a midsummer sweat? Perhaps you’ve woken up in the middle of the night in Cawthon and seen a girl peering through your window (on the 4th floor!). Don’t worry – you’re not ill or in the middle of some sort of mental episode – you’ve probably just had a paranormal experience. FSU is home to several ghost stories, with wraiths purportedly haunting different buildings and landmarks around campus. While many students and alumni hold these stories near and dear to their hearts, keep in mind: they’re campus mythologies born of the imagination of FSU’s inhabitants.
Westcott Gate, where Gallows Hill used to be located
Westcott Gate, where Gallows Hill used to be located

The oldest ghost story originates decades before the institution was even founded. Written about in Tallahassee: A Capital City, Gallows Hill was constructed in 1829 as a place to hang Tallahassee’s most unsavory criminals, right about where the Westcott Fountain is today. The first and most famous execution to happen at Gallows Hill was of a mother convicted of killing her own child. Over the years, students have reported feeling chills and hearing strange sounds while traversing the Westcott Fountain at night. Another story from long ago involves the ghosts of the Confederate Cadets trained at the (briefly named) Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, one of FSU’s predecessor institutions. Members of the FSU ROTC have made claims that the ROTC parade grounds are haunted by the cadets, where they continue their drills and turn off the lights during showers.

Sarah “Tissie” Landrum Cawthon, ca. 1920s

For those who live in Cawthon Hall, they don’t have one ghost to worry about – they have two. One story told is about the ghost of Sarah “Tissie” Landrum Cawthon, the namesake of Cawthon Hall. Cawthon, the first Dean of the College Home (now known as Student Affairs) at FSCW was hired to oversee that students were consistently on their best behavior, and representing themselves as fine young women. She was described as becoming dismayed when students picked up more modern and revealing fashion, started drinking and smoking and public, and expounding more liberal ideas during the Roaring ’20s. In Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities,  it is said that her ghost moved into Cawthon Hall after its dedication, and she continues to look over the female students in the dorm. Some say that her new residency in Cawthon Hall occurred not-so-coincidentally when campus became co-educational and men moved into the dorm.

"Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?" by Lucy Weber, Florida Flambeau, 1971
“Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?” by Lucy Weber, Florida Flambeau, 1971
The other ghost of Cawthon Hall isn’t nearly as benevolent as the ghost of Tissie Cawthon. In 1971 the Florida Flambeau ran an article entitled “Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?” and speculation about new ghosts began. Legend has it that an FSCW student was sunbathing on roof of Cawthon when suddenly a thunderstorm rolled in. Trapped on the roof, the girl pounded on windows and doors, hoping for someone to let her back into the dorm, but she wasn’t discovered until after she had been killed by a lightning strike. To this day, students who live on the top floor claim they occasionally hear someone pounding on the window, crying and screaming, and sometimes will see a girl looking into the window from outside.
Do you have a favorite FSU ghost story that isn’t listed here? Leave it in the comments and we’ll be sure to add it to our collection! To see more photographs, ephemera, and artifacts related to the history of Florida State, check out the FSU Heritage Protocol Digital Collections or like the Heritage Protocol Facebook page.

School Spirits: Ghosts at Florida State

ghostHave you ever felt a slight chill while walking up the College Ave. hill, and it was much more than a midsummer sweat? Perhaps you’ve woken up in the middle of the night in Cawthon and seen a girl peering through your window (on the 4th floor!). Don’t worry – you’re not ill or in the middle of some sort of mental episode – you’ve probably just had a paranormal experience. FSU is home to several ghost stories, with wraiths purportedly haunting different buildings and landmarks around campus. While many students and alumni hold these stories near and dear to their hearts, keep in mind: they’re campus mythologies born of the imagination of FSU’s inhabitants.
Westcott Gate, where Gallows Hill used to be located
Westcott Gate, where Gallows Hill used to be located

The oldest ghost story originates decades before the institution was even founded. Written about in Tallahassee: A Capital City, Gallows Hill was constructed in 1829 as a place to hang Tallahassee’s most unsavory criminals, right about where the Westcott Fountain is today. The first and most famous execution to happen at Gallows Hill was of a mother convicted of killing her own child. Over the years, students have reported feeling chills and hearing strange sounds while traversing the Westcott Fountain at night. Another story from long ago involves the ghosts of the Confederate Cadets trained at the (briefly named) Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, one of FSU’s predecessor institutions. Members of the FSU ROTC have made claims that the ROTC parade grounds are haunted by the cadets, where they continue their drills and turn off the lights during showers.

Sarah “Tissie” Landrum Cawthon, ca. 1920s

For those who live in Cawthon Hall, they don’t have one ghost to worry about – they have two. One story told is about the ghost of Sarah “Tissie” Landrum Cawthon, the namesake of Cawthon Hall. Cawthon, the first Dean of the College Home (now known as Student Affairs) at FSCW was hired to oversee that students were consistently on their best behavior, and representing themselves as fine young women. She was described as becoming dismayed when students picked up more modern and revealing fashion, started drinking and smoking and public, and expounding more liberal ideas during the Roaring ’20s. In Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities,  it is said that her ghost moved into Cawthon Hall after its dedication, and she continues to look over the female students in the dorm. Some say that her new residency in Cawthon Hall occurred not-so-coincidentally when campus became co-educational and men moved into the dorm.

"Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?" by Lucy Weber, Florida Flambeau, 1971
“Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?” by Lucy Weber, Florida Flambeau, 1971
The other ghost of Cawthon Hall isn’t nearly as benevolent as the ghost of Tissie Cawthon. In 1971 the Florida Flambeau ran an article entitled “Is there a ghost in Cawthon Hall?” and speculation about new ghosts began. Legend has it that an FSCW student was sunbathing on roof of Cawthon when suddenly a thunderstorm rolled in. Trapped on the roof, the girl pounded on windows and doors, hoping for someone to let her back into the dorm, but she wasn’t discovered until after she had been killed by a lightning strike. To this day, students who live on the top floor claim they occasionally hear someone pounding on the window, crying and screaming, and sometimes will see a girl looking into the window from outside.
Do you have a favorite FSU ghost story that isn’t listed here? Leave it in the comments and we’ll be sure to add it to our collection! To see more photographs, ephemera, and artifacts related to the history of Florida State, check out the FSU Heritage Protocol Digital Collections or like the Heritage Protocol Facebook page.

Third Open Government National Action Plan Published

Yesterday, the President issued the Third Open Government National Action Plan (NAP 3.0) as part of the Open Government Partnership, a cornerstone of his administration.  Included in the NAP 3.0 are new and extended commitments under the specific initiative, “Streamline the Declassification Process.”  Under this initiative, the President pledges to identify processes and tools to help automate and streamline declassification.  He also reiterates his position that “while national security requires that certain information be protected as classified, democratic principles require government to be transparent, wherever possible, about its activities.”

The four commitments specifically outlined in the NAP 3.0 are goals that will combat the “time-consuming and costly process often involves manual review of records.”  The administration will:

  • develop a plan to implement technological tools to help automate declassification review,
  • pilot the use of a topic-based inter-agency declassification guide,
  • establish a special systematic declassification review program and
  • declassify historical intelligence records in the public interest.

Of particular interest to the PIDB is the first commitment, which concerns the implementation of technology the Central Intelligence Agency and National Archives developed in response to the NAP 2.0.  These pilot projects yielded real results through the development of a technological capability to assist decision-making in declassification.  The members are proud these efforts steamed from a recommendation made in our 2012 report on Transforming the Security Classification System and continue to support these efforts.  The June 25, 2015 public meeting of the PIDB was an opportunity to showcase these pilot efforts and call for the implementation of these proven concepts.

When the President tasked the PIDB with studying the security classification system and recommending changes for transformation, he sought to modernize and reform the system to one that will function in today’s digital information sharing environment and in the future.  The members share the President’s vision of a security classification system that limits secrecy and promotes transparency throughout government.

Again, the PIDB congratulates the President and stands ready to support the Classification Reform Committee in its work to meet the commitments of the NAP 3.0.

You can view and print a copy of the Third Open Government National Action Plan here:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/final_us_open_government_national_action_plan_3_0.pdf

Amherst vs Wesleyan Football

tickets from 1891, 1926 and 1937In honor of Homecoming Weekend, and the Amherst vs Wesleyan football game tomorrow, here are a few glimpses of past games, mostly from our Athletics Collection. Here’s hoping the score tomorrow is more like the one in 1915 or 1935, and less like 1899!

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One hundred years ago this weekend, Amherst won against Wesleyan, 10-6. According to the student newspaper “Despite the fact that the deciding touchdown was scored on a fumble, the victory was deserved, the Purple and White eleven making eleven first downs to their opponents’ seven.”

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November 18, 1899 – Wesleyan won, 40-0 (!)

October 22, 1927

October 22, 1927 – Wesleyan won, 20-12

October 26, 1935

October 26, 1935 – Amherst won, 26-0

October 23, 1937 - Amherst won, 12-2

October 23, 1937 – Amherst won, 12-2

October 22, 1949 - Amherst won, 14-7

October 22, 1949 – Amherst won, 14-7

Amherst vs Wesleyan Football

tickets from 1891, 1926 and 1937In honor of Homecoming Weekend, and the Amherst vs Wesleyan football game tomorrow, here are a few glimpses of past games, mostly from our Athletics Collection. Here’s hoping the score tomorrow is more like the one in 1915 or 1935, and less like 1899!

footballarticle

One hundred years ago this weekend, Amherst won against Wesleyan, 10-6. According to the student newspaper “Despite the fact that the deciding touchdown was scored on a fumble, the victory was deserved, the Purple and White eleven making eleven first downs to their opponents’ seven.”

football1899cover001

November 18, 1899 – Wesleyan won, 40-0 (!)

October 22, 1927

October 22, 1927 – Wesleyan won, 20-12

October 26, 1935

October 26, 1935 – Amherst won, 26-0

October 23, 1937 - Amherst won, 12-2

October 23, 1937 – Amherst won, 12-2

October 22, 1949 - Amherst won, 14-7

October 22, 1949 – Amherst won, 14-7

Greensboro community history site added

Material digitized as part of UNCG’s partnership with the Hayes-Taylor YMCA Youth Achievers program is now online!

Over the past year, we have been working with students in the Hayes-Taylor program and with community members to uncover rare and personal items that are of unique historical value and that might not have made their way into a digital collection otherwise. We encouraged community members to contribute items that they thought were significant and documented a particular aspect of Greensboro’s history with specific attention given to African-American communities in the southeastern quadrant of the city.

Greensboro residents brought in some amazing items. Here is a small sample:

We will be spotlighting additional items from this amazing project here and on our Facebook page in the coming weeks. The project was completed using funds from a federal Institute of Museum and Library Services Sparks! Ignition Grant.

Friends of the Vancouver Archives Photographic Cold Storage Facility

We have a specialized, custom-built freezer to provide the highest standard of care for the storage of our photographic materials. It was the first institutional freezer built to the specifications researched by the Smithsonian Institution and it was officially opened by Mayor Philip Owen on February 20, 2002.

Mayor Owen being offered scissors

Mayor Owen is offered scissors to cut the ribbon on the freezer in 2002.

Why a Freezer?

Some types of photographic materials are unstable and cold storage will prolong their useful lives. Storage at freezer temperatures will prolong their lives the longest.

Without cold storage, cellulose acetate negatives wrinkle and become brittle 
as they give off acetic acid (vinegar).

Deteriorated acetate negative that would get even worse if stored at room temperature.

Deteriorated acetate negative that would get even worse if stored at room temperature.

Colour photographs will fade, even when stored in the dark. Frozen storage will stop the colours from fading further.

faded colour photograph

Faded colours: the trees and water should not be red!

Movie films can have the same problems and will also benefit from frozen storage.

Frame from a faded colour motion picture.

Frame from a faded colour motion picture.

How big was our problem?

In 1995 and again in 1998, we surveyed our deteriorating acetate negatives using A-D (Acid-Detecting) Strips. These strips change colour to indicate how deteriorated the acetate negatives are, giving us a good idea how much time they have left before they become wrinkled. They were developed by the Image Permanence Institute for the motion picture industry and won an Academy Award in 1997.

Acetate negative being tested in a ziploc bag with an A-D strip.

Acetate negative being tested in a ziploc bag with an A-D strip.

We noticed that the negatives had deteriorated in the three years between tests and we counted about 113,000 negatives that should be frozen as soon as possible, with hundreds of thousands more that needed freezing eventually.

We packaged the high priority negatives in Critical Moisture Indicator packaging developed by the conservation research labs at the Smithsonian Institution and adapted by Betty Walsh of the British Columbia Archives. The packaging kept the moisture content of the negatives low by using two thick, sealed plastic bags, and pieces of dried mat board. The moisture content could be monitored using the small blue indicator square on one end.

Critical Moisture Indicator package: 2 layers of ziploc bags, absorbent mat board, identification, and a blue square to indicate the moisture content.

Critical Moisture Indicator package: 2 layers of ziploc bags, absorbent mat board, identification, and a blue square to indicate the moisture content.

The packages were created, assembly-line style, in a ventilated area to protect staff from the acetic acid given off by the negatives.

Negative packaging assembly line in a photographic darkroom.

Negative packaging assembly line in a photographic darkroom.

In 2000, the packages were boxed and driven to a cold storage facility in Port Kells which specialized in storing frozen food. They were secured on a pallet and stored on a high shelf in a quiet corner.

Unloading boxes of negatives at the cold storage facility.

Unloading boxes of negatives at the cold storage facility.

An hour down the highway, under layers of pallet wrap, corrugated plastic and packaging, access was difficult, but the negatives were safe.

OUR OWN FREEZER

We began to plan for our own on-site facility. The Smithsonian was sponsoring research into a low-cost and energy-efficient freezer that archives could use, and we discussed the design with them while the research was underway. Once it looked like the design worked, we built one.

The Friends of the Vancouver City Archives raised funds to purchase the freezer. The freezer was built from an ordinary, modular walk-in freezer, as used by restaurants but with a couple of small changes to help keep the humidity low. It was built in 2001. After testing in early 2002, we brought our negatives back from Port Kells and put the boxed packages on shelves in the freezer in time for the opening in February 2002.

Packaged negatives in our freezer at Vanier Park.

Packaged negatives in our freezer at Vanier Park.

MORE EFFICIENT STORAGE

The Critical Moisture Indicator packaging was meant for small numbers (perhaps fewer than 20,000) of photographs, as a professional photographer might have. It’s not very efficient for larger volumes, as it involves freezing many layers of packaging—bags and mat board—which take up a lot of room in the expensive freezer space. We knew this, but we had to act quickly and there was no other reliable way of packaging them at the time.

Fortunately, the Smithsonian was also researching a storage method that could store photographic negatives safely and with minimal packaging. Storage cabinets with gasketted doors were put into the freezer. The shelves were lined with mat board and half a kilogram of dried silica gel was placed in each cabinet. The photographs could be stored on the shelves in their regular archival boxes, without extra plastic bags. We were able to get 50,000 negatives into the first cabinet we filled.

Gasketted cabinet filled with 50,000 negatives.

Gasketted cabinet filled with 50,000 negatives.

Traditionally, cold storage for cultural materials uses active dehumidification systems, which means they not only have an electrical system that controls temperature, but a separated electrical system that removes humidity from the cold air. Active dehumidification systems are

  • expensive to purchase and install (especially at temperatures below zero)
  • fussy to maintain (requiring HVAC engineers to adjust)
  • require about four times the electricity to achieve the same humidity at freezer temperatures

The passive dehumidification system we use, which combines the freezer design with the gasketted cabinets, is

  • inexpensive to purchase (some mat board and silica gel)
  • easy to maintain (regular maintenance calls and the easy task of drying of the silica gel)
  • green in its energy consumption
Two of the four rows of cabinets in the freezer today. The camping coolers are used to gently acclimatize the photographic materials to a change in environment when they are moved in or out of the freezer.

Two of the four rows of cabinets in the freezer today. The camping coolers are used to gently acclimatize the photographic materials to a change in environment when they are moved in or out of the freezer.

Today, the freezer holds approximately 750,000 negatives, colour slides and films. We still receive inquiries from around the world on our experience with this successful project.

Download a detailed, illustrated account of our work to provide cold storage for photographs at the Canadian Council of Archives web site.

By the Numbers: Connecting with Customers in Person and Online

At the National Archives, we connect with customers in a multitude of ways: face-to-face, over the phone, across the desk, in our research rooms, in the classroom and of course, online.  We serve a diverse set of customer communities, including educators, historians, genealogists, researchers, veterans and now groups such as civic hackers, Wikipedians and many more. To meet our goal of making access happen, we need to become more agile, more creative in connecting with them – whoever they are, wherever they are, to deliver what they want when they want it.

This second post in a series for American Archives Month explores the impact the National Archives is making as we strive to meet the needs and requests of our researchers, visitors, and customers, both in person and online.

Connecting with Customers (1)

As we review the numbers from the past year, we see that our researcher community is as active as ever before and the total number of researchers we serve is growing. Researchers explore our nation’s history through documents, photos, and other records in the holdings of the National Archives. During Fiscal Year 2015, the National Archives opened its doors to 84,000 researchers nationwide who visited our research facilities (a slight decrease from 104,000 in FY 2014). In terms of written reference requests (requests received through fax, letter or email), our staff across the country answered over 1.1M requests in fiscal year 2015, which is a 5% increase over last year. Our online research catalog received over 1 million views in fiscal year 2015, which is an increase of 20% from the previous year (834K). Additionally, there were over 243 million views of National Archives records on our partner websites, including Ancestry.com, Fold3 and FamilySearch. As the number of platforms we use to connect with our customers grows, so does the total number of researchers we are able to help.

Another important consideration is how information seekers are benefiting from and interacting with National Archives records online. On Wikipedia, for example, more than 7,600 National Archives images are currently being used in Wikipedia articles, and those articles have been viewed 925 million times during Fiscal Year 2015. These incredible numbers demonstrate how much online researchers, as well as Wikipedia editors, interact with our records on a daily basis.

The outstanding work NARA staff perform on a daily basis to engage with the public makes all the difference in satisfying the needs and requests of our researchers, whether in person or online. Through their many efforts and dedication to our mission, our staff will continue to honor our goal to connect with customers, understand their unique needs, and respond to their requests with professionalism and courtesy.

See my first post in this series exploring the impact the National Archives is making through our increased efforts to make access happen by maximizing value through web and social media. Stay tuned for more details on the results of our digitization and citizen engagement efforts.

 

The Song that Made Janis Ian the Most Notorious Folk Singer in America

It’s hard to imagine a teenage singer-songwriter today climbing the Billboard charts with a folk-rock song about a young, interracial love affair. But that’s exactly what happened in 1966 when Janis Ian, a 16-year-old from East Orange, New Jersey, released “Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking).”

This live studio recording aired on WNYC only months before Ian became a household name and “Society’s Child” became a flash point in the 1960s culture wars. The song was banned at radio stations across the country, but despite – or maybe because of – the controversy, it reached #1 in several major radio markets, and peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

This performance includes five songs, four of which appear on the 1966 full-length album also called “Society’s Child”. The fifth song we’ve been unable to identify on any of Ian’s released material.  Ian calls it a “bleep bleep” song, presumably for its racy lyrics, which detail the exploitation and fears of a teenage girl on the streets of New York City.

1. Younger Generation Blues2. Society’s Child3. I’ll Give You A Stone If You’ll Throw It (Changing Thymes)4. (Too Old To) Go ‘Way Little Girl5. Bleep Bleep Song

Audio courtesy of the Dave Sear Folk Music Collection.

The Days of Our Lives: FSU Archives Edition

What do archivists do all day, anyway?  Look at old photos?  Dust yearbooks? Take papers from one file folder and put them in another?

Those are all true to some extent, but university archivists play more roles in their community than one might think.  Take a look at some of the extraordinary events during an average week in FSU Special Collections and Archives:

Thursday, October 15:

Students from the ART5928 workshop “Creating Experiences” visit the Claude Pepper Museum.  Their project this semester involves creating a public event that could be held in in a museum space.  The students have designed a Claude Pepper Pajama Party event and social media campaign, and today they’re walking through their ideas with Pepper Library Manager Rob Rubero.

Rob Rubero with ART5928 Students. (c) Justyn D. Thomas Photography. Used with permission.
Rob Rubero with ART5928 students in the Claude Pepper Museum. (c) 2015 Justyn D. Thomas Photography. Used with permission.

FSU Special Collections has always considered local history one of its collecting strengths. In an effort to deepen community connections and learn more about the Tallahassee music industry, Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick attend a public appearance by influential songwriter and producer George Clinton.  Aside from smiles and photo opportunities, our archivists enjoy many conversations with Clinton’s family and associates about his work and his legacy.

Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick enjoy photo opportunities with songwriter and producer George Clinton.
Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick enjoy photo opportunities with songwriter and producer George Clinton.

Friday, October 16:

Today, the Special Collections Research Center reading room has the privilege of hosting the members of the Florida State University History Club.  A dozen history undergraduates attend an informational presentation by Manuscript Archivist Rory Grennan and Rare Books Librarian Kat Hoarn.  Presentations and instructional sessions for students, faculty, and the public are a core part of the Special Collections mission, and occur frequently at the beginning of the school year.  History Club members are excited to see 4000 years of human history laid out in documents from our collections including cuneiform tablets, a page from a Bible printed by Gutenberg, and artist books from the 21st century.

Rory Grennan looks on as Kat Hoarn closely examines a rare book with the FSU History Club.
Rory Grennan looks on as Kat Hoarn closely examines an illustration by Theodore de Bry with members of the FSU History Club.

Monday, October 19:

Monday morning, archivists Sandra Varry and Krystal Thomas visit the University Registrar’s office to consult on the preservation of student transcripts on microfilm.  The filmed student records see heavy use, and unfortunately enough of the film has been worn down that some records are losing information.  The group discusses modern strategies such as digitization to preserve these essential historical records that document a century of higher education.

Later, Sandra Varry and division staff prepare for a new exhibit opening today in the Special Collections Exhibit Room on the first floor of Strozier Library.  “Mittan: A Retrospective” celebrates the work of photographer Barry Mittan, and documents student life at FSU in the 1960s and 1970s.  The exhibit was curated by graduate assistant Britt Boler and runs through January 2016.

Exhibit title card at gallery entrance; Sandra Varry adjusts a framed print in the exhibit room.
Exhibit title card at gallery entrance; Sandra Varry adjusts a framed print in the exhibit room.

In the afternoon, Krystal Thomas carefully reviews and uploads recently-digitized cookbooks and herbals to the FSU Digital Library.  The Digital Library features digitized versions of the highlights of our collections, as chosen by Special Collections staff and our users, and new content is added regularly by archives staff.

Tuesday, October 20:

Things They Don’t Teach You In Grad School #47:  Water and vinegar makes an effective, non-abrasive cleaner for a headstone.

Former FSU faculty member Paul Dirac was a giant in the fields of mathematics and quantum mechanics, and his papers are a frequently-consulted resource by researchers at FSU Libraries.  Since no members of the Dirac family remain in Tallahassee, it has become the unofficial duty of our library and archives staff to visit Dirac’s grave once a year and see that it is kept clean.  October 20th is the anniversary of Dirac’s death, and seems an appropriate time to visit the site.  Archivists Katie McCormick, Rory Grennan, and Krystal Thomas, accompanied by library Director of Development Susan Contente and a handful of Physics Department students, scrub the headstone and plant fresh flowers this afternoon.

Top: Krystal Thomas, Katie McCormick, and Susan Contente remove grime from the Dirac headstone. Below: A clean headstone with fresh flowers planted on either side.
Before: Krystal Thomas, Katie McCormick, and Susan Contente remove grime from the headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac.
After: A clean headstone with fresh flowers planted on either side.

Wednesday, October 21:

Early this morning, archives staff notice an uncharacteristic rise in temperature in the stacks.  After confirming initial impressions with a few temperature readings, contact is quickly made with library facilities staff to take steps to correct an issue with the building’s HVAC systems.  Constant environmental monitoring is an important part of preserving our collections, as paper, film, and other substrates are vulnerable to fluctuations in temperature and humidity.  There’s no point to collecting items that can’t be made to last!  You never know what someone might need next week…

The Days of Our Lives: FSU Archives Edition

What do archivists do all day, anyway?  Look at old photos?  Dust yearbooks? Take papers from one file folder and put them in another?

Those are all true to some extent, but university archivists play more roles in their community than one might think.  Take a look at some of the extraordinary events during an average week in FSU Special Collections and Archives:

Thursday, October 15:

Students from the ART5928 workshop “Creating Experiences” visit the Claude Pepper Museum.  Their project this semester involves creating a public event that could be held in in a museum space.  The students have designed a Claude Pepper Pajama Party event and social media campaign, and today they’re walking through their ideas with Pepper Library Manager Rob Rubero.

Rob Rubero with ART5928 Students. (c) Justyn D. Thomas Photography. Used with permission.
Rob Rubero with ART5928 students in the Claude Pepper Museum. (c) 2015 Justyn D. Thomas Photography. Used with permission.

FSU Special Collections has always considered local history one of its collecting strengths. In an effort to deepen community connections and learn more about the Tallahassee music industry, Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick attend a public appearance by influential songwriter and producer George Clinton.  Aside from smiles and photo opportunities, our archivists enjoy many conversations with Clinton’s family and associates about his work and his legacy.

Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick enjoy photo opportunities with songwriter and producer George Clinton.
Rory Grennan and Katie McCormick enjoy photo opportunities with songwriter and producer George Clinton.

Friday, October 16:

Today, the Special Collections Research Center reading room has the privilege of hosting the members of the Florida State University History Club.  A dozen history undergraduates attend an informational presentation by Manuscript Archivist Rory Grennan and Rare Books Librarian Kat Hoarn.  Presentations and instructional sessions for students, faculty, and the public are a core part of the Special Collections mission, and occur frequently at the beginning of the school year.  History Club members are excited to see 4000 years of human history laid out in documents from our collections including cuneiform tablets, a page from a Bible printed by Gutenberg, and artist books from the 21st century.

Rory Grennan looks on as Kat Hoarn closely examines a rare book with the FSU History Club.
Rory Grennan looks on as Kat Hoarn closely examines an illustration by Theodore de Bry with members of the FSU History Club.

Monday, October 19:

Monday morning, archivists Sandra Varry and Krystal Thomas visit the University Registrar’s office to consult on the preservation of student transcripts on microfilm.  The filmed student records see heavy use, and unfortunately enough of the film has been worn down that some records are losing information.  The group discusses modern strategies such as digitization to preserve these essential historical records that document a century of higher education.

Later, Sandra Varry and division staff prepare for a new exhibit opening today in the Special Collections Exhibit Room on the first floor of Strozier Library.  “Mittan: A Retrospective” celebrates the work of photographer Barry Mittan, and documents student life at FSU in the 1960s and 1970s.  The exhibit was curated by graduate assistant Britt Boler and runs through January 2016.

Exhibit title card at gallery entrance; Sandra Varry adjusts a framed print in the exhibit room.
Exhibit title card at gallery entrance; Sandra Varry adjusts a framed print in the exhibit room.

In the afternoon, Krystal Thomas carefully reviews and uploads recently-digitized cookbooks and herbals to the FSU Digital Library.  The Digital Library features digitized versions of the highlights of our collections, as chosen by Special Collections staff and our users, and new content is added regularly by archives staff.

Tuesday, October 20:

Things They Don’t Teach You In Grad School #47:  Water and vinegar makes an effective, non-abrasive cleaner for a headstone.

Former FSU faculty member Paul Dirac was a giant in the fields of mathematics and quantum mechanics, and his papers are a frequently-consulted resource by researchers at FSU Libraries.  Since no members of the Dirac family remain in Tallahassee, it has become the unofficial duty of our library and archives staff to visit Dirac’s grave once a year and see that it is kept clean.  October 20th is the anniversary of Dirac’s death, and seems an appropriate time to visit the site.  Archivists Katie McCormick, Rory Grennan, and Krystal Thomas, accompanied by library Director of Development Susan Contente and a handful of Physics Department students, scrub the headstone and plant fresh flowers this afternoon.

Top: Krystal Thomas, Katie McCormick, and Susan Contente remove grime from the Dirac headstone. Below: A clean headstone with fresh flowers planted on either side.
Before: Krystal Thomas, Katie McCormick, and Susan Contente remove grime from the headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac.
After: A clean headstone with fresh flowers planted on either side.

Wednesday, October 21:

Early this morning, archives staff notice an uncharacteristic rise in temperature in the stacks.  After confirming initial impressions with a few temperature readings, contact is quickly made with library facilities staff to take steps to correct an issue with the building’s HVAC systems.  Constant environmental monitoring is an important part of preserving our collections, as paper, film, and other substrates are vulnerable to fluctuations in temperature and humidity.  There’s no point to collecting items that can’t be made to last!  You never know what someone might need next week…

Rest in Peace Professor

Yesterday was the 31st anniversary of Paul Dirac’s death. As has become tradition, faculty and staff from the FSU Libraries, where we hold the physicist’s papers, and students from the Physics departments visit Dirac’s grave to clean it and plant flowers. Learn more about this in a post later this week but for now, we honor Professor Dirac.

Headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac in Roselawn Cemetery, Tallahassee.
Headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac in Roselawn Cemetery, Tallahassee.

Rest in Peace Professor

Yesterday was the 31st anniversary of Paul Dirac’s death. As has become tradition, faculty and staff from the FSU Libraries, where we hold the physicist’s papers, and students from the Physics departments visit Dirac’s grave to clean it and plant flowers. Learn more about this in a post later this week but for now, we honor Professor Dirac.

Headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac in Roselawn Cemetery, Tallahassee.
Headstone of Paul and Margit Dirac in Roselawn Cemetery, Tallahassee.

A Haunted Halloween

As soon as September ends and October begins all thoughts turn to Halloween. Everyone looks forward to the costumes, parties, candy, and haunted houses. What would Halloween be without horror movies or scary stories of ghost filled houses, grotesque murders, creepy voices, and supernatural beings? Who is the ultimate teller of such tales? Edgar Allan Poe.


Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is remembered as a “morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles” (Poe Museum Website). Poe’s short stories have gone down in history as some of the most creepy, scary, and macabre of all time. His most famous works include “The Raven”, “A Tell-Tale Heart”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. 
This last one, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, is available in Special Collections! In addition to the story, this 1931 copy contains engravings by Abner Epstein which make the story even creepier! Epstein’s drawings are all done in black and white. They also are all of very skeletal figures which adds to the spookiness of the story.
 
“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a story told by an unnamed narrator who arrives at the house of his friend Roderick Usher after receiving a letter from him claiming he is ill and needs help. The house, noticeably, has a crack running down the face and into the lake. The narrator during his stay realizes that Roderick’s twin sister, Madeline, is also ill and goes into deathlike trances. He attempts to make Roderick feel better by listening to his songs and reading him stories. Eventually creepy things begin to happen which, as any Poe enthusiast knows, has extremely terrifying results. 
Edgar Allan Poe’s poetic genius has ensured that these fabulously creepy tales will be told again and again. For me, Halloween would not be the same without Edgar Allan Poe’s hauntingly spooky and macabre stories. There is no scary campfire story or scary movie that can get your heart racing or spine tingling like Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. His work never fails to make me shiver and raise the hair on the back of my neck. In fact, the creepiest part of his short stories are that they all could happen in real life. Not one of them contains an actual ghost. Instead, his descriptions of the environment are what make his stories feel eerie and supernatural. All of the horror comes from the minds of his characters and the psychological terror that they and the reader experience. Poe’s imagination is like no other when it comes to stories of morbid, gruesome murders or dark, creepy graveyards or crumbling castles with a disturbing past. There are no better stories to read on Halloween than those of Edgar Allan Poe. 
For further information or just a fun trip, I recommend trying to go see the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA. I learned quite a lot from their website so I can only imagine that the museum itself would be incredible and full of information about one of the most outstanding and well-remembered American authors. In addition, visit the Special Collections Department in the Library to check out “The Fall of the House of Usher” and to learn about more spooky stories!
–Ariel Wilks, Class of 2016


Bibliography:
Poe, Edgar Allan. 1931. The Fall of the House of Usher. New York: Cheshire House.


2014. The Poe Museum: The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe. Accessed October 14, 2015. http://www.poemuseum.org/index.php

Acting Black: Exhibition, Opening, and Press

Our newest exhibition, “Acting Black: Black Performing Arts in RI since the 1700s”, guest curated by Robb Dimmick, explores the roles played by Black musicians, actors and actresses, models, writers, storytellers, poets, and dancers.

This past weekend the Providence Journal published an article about the exhibit, including a series of beautiful photos.

An opening reception will be held at the library tonight, October 19th, 2015, from 5 – 6:30 p.m. Please join us if you are in the area!

October is LGBT History Month

October is LGBT History Month which gives us all the opportunity to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and its history around the Tallahassee and right here at Florida State University. LGBT History Month began in 1994 when Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher who believed that a month should be dedicated to teaching the history of the gay and lesbian community. He organized teachers and community leaders where they picked the month of October because public schools were in session and existing traditions (such as National Coming Out Day on October 11th) already occurred during October.

Gay & Lesbian History Month was recognized and endorsed by a number of national organizations including: GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, National Education Association and others. By 2006 the Equality Forum took over the responsibility for providing content, promotion, and resources for LGBT History Month.

FSU Special Collections is currently processing the records of FSU’s Pride Student Union. The collection is part of FSU Special Collections Heritage Protocol & University Archives. This collection shows the rich history of members of the LGBTQ+ community in Tallahassee and at FSU fighting for their civil rights as members of this community and as students fighting to be recognized as a student organization by the Student Government Association.

This year has been an effective year for positive change though there’s still so much more work and education that needs to be done. So far 2015 has brought increased awareness to transgender visibility (though #KeishaJenkins has become the 18th transgender woman of color killed in the United States this year). The Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing nationwide marriage equality earlier this year. For the second time ever (EVER!) the White House held a briefing on challenges facing bisexual people.

Research shows that incorporating LGBT history into our curriculum and conversations contributes to a safer environment for LGBTQ+ students.

There are a number of events you can attend this month right here at FSU to show your support!

Now go learn some history!

October is LGBT History Month

October is LGBT History Month which gives us all the opportunity to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community and its history around the Tallahassee and right here at Florida State University. LGBT History Month began in 1994 when Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher who believed that a month should be dedicated to teaching the history of the gay and lesbian community. He organized teachers and community leaders where they picked the month of October because public schools were in session and existing traditions (such as National Coming Out Day on October 11th) already occurred during October.

Gay & Lesbian History Month was recognized and endorsed by a number of national organizations including: GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, National Education Association and others. By 2006 the Equality Forum took over the responsibility for providing content, promotion, and resources for LGBT History Month.

FSU Special Collections is currently processing the records of FSU’s Pride Student Union. The collection is part of FSU Special Collections Heritage Protocol & University Archives. This collection shows the rich history of members of the LGBTQ+ community in Tallahassee and at FSU fighting for their civil rights as members of this community and as students fighting to be recognized as a student organization by the Student Government Association.

This year has been an effective year for positive change though there’s still so much more work and education that needs to be done. So far 2015 has brought increased awareness to transgender visibility (though #KeishaJenkins has become the 18th transgender woman of color killed in the United States this year). The Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing nationwide marriage equality earlier this year. For the second time ever (EVER!) the White House held a briefing on challenges facing bisexual people.

Research shows that incorporating LGBT history into our curriculum and conversations contributes to a safer environment for LGBTQ+ students.

There are a number of events you can attend this month right here at FSU to show your support!

Now go learn some history!

Wedded to the Worm

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p4-to-bro-Wellington-env

An old letter is like a present.  Its handwriting is the wrapping paper: before you can see or know the present, you have to unwrap it.  The present may be lousy, something you’ll quickly forget.  Or it might be something you keep, something you take with you, maybe even something that changes your life.  But you’ll never know until you unwrap it.

Sometimes a present is for sharing, like the one-pound chocolate bar in your colleague’s desk drawer.  I recently unwrapped such a present –a letter full of delicious nuggets — and want to share it with you because it has lingered in my mind ever since I first read it.

Tyler-WS-fr-autobio-ca1840The letter is from William Seymour Tyler, Class of 1830, to his brother Wellington Hart Tyler, Class of 1831.  The letter is dated January 30, 1837, when both men were in their mid-twenties.  Wellington (apparently nicknamed “Edward”) was principal at an academy in Manlius, New York, while William was at Amherst College teaching Latin and Greek and heading into his glory days as the man whose tardiness inspired the founding of the Philopogonian Society. We often think of Edward Hitchcock, professor and president, as the emblem of early Amherst College, but Tyler was here just as long and served just as devotedly. His “History of Amherst College” continues to be a very valuable, reliable resource, and he was the author of other, more modest works, including the nicely named “Why Sit Ye Here Idle?”

file_BV2375

William Tyler’s letter to Wellington hits on a number of topics, including abolition in Massachusetts; the difficulty of finding money for Amherst College; the state of religious feeling at the College, and (my favorite part) about a certain family in Hadley.  To look at it page by page:

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p1-to-bro-Wellington“Dear Brother,

            Above is a new lithograph of Buildings & Grounds, which are already familiar & welcome to your mind. The principle diff. between this & the former view consists in the new & elegant house of Esq, Boltwood & the terrace in front, which will soon be finished according to Esq. Wilder’s  plan. In the Printer, you will recognize the name of a member of our senior class.”

[Transcriber’s note: the Boltwood house is off to the left, where Converse is now.  “Esq. Wilder” is trustee Samson Vryling Stoddard Wilder.  The “printer” is Henry G. Van Lennep, Class of 1837, born in Turkey and a missionary and avid amateur artist there for 30 years]. 

 “1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p2-to-bro-WellingtonWhile on the subject of the college, I will inform you that the application of the Trustees for an appropriation of $50,000 is now pending before the legislature. The joint Committee of the two houses have reported unanimously in favor of the grant. We have not much hope of getting the bill through the house. Better for a literary man to run the gauntlet between as many Indians, than to fall into the hands of the 200 or 250 avowed & trained Radicals in the Mass House of Representatives. The Radicals are opposed in toto to incorporated Institutions. The Demagogues must court the favor of the people by voting for a distribution of the surplus revenue among the towns, though a majority of them doubtless are fully convinced that it will only embroil the people without benefitting them. And when the surplus is thus thrown away, the Legislature will hardly venture or feel disposed to tax the people for an appropriation to Amherst College. Still the prospect is much more favorable than at any former application.”

[By the time of this letter, Amherst had its hard-won charter but was about to enter a period of financial difficulties and was seeking additional funding from the state.] 

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p3-to-bro-Wellington

“There have been during the past term & vacation four or five hopeful conversions among students, chiefly the freshman class. Rather more feeling, I think, now than last term.

The junior class received a valuable accession in a young man by the name of Smith from Yale College. He has more talents & is a more elegant scholar than Maynard. If he exerts himself, he will carry off the palm. You are probably impatient about the colloquia. When I wrote you last term, I had not explored the archives. On examination, I could not find either of the colloquies I wished or any other I ever heard on the stage. I found three or four, which I have not examined. If they are of any value, or will answer, I shall get a couple of them copied for you. Possibly more may be discovered, as the Archives have been thrown into confusion by the President’s moving. If not, might you not venture to write [Haven?] at the Asylum in New York, requesting him to send you a copy of his Colloquy, offering of course to remunerate him?”

[Tyler writes above about the state of religious feeling at Amherst, especially in relation to the revivals that swept through the area.  He refers as well to Class of 1838 members Charles Fuller Smith and Horace Maynard, both of whom had important careers in politics and the law.  Note too that by this time President Heman Humphrey had moved from the “first president’s house” (in the block where Mayo-Smith is now) to the house we still use as the president’s house today.  It’s also interesting that Tyler is already thinking in terms of “archives” — good man, that Tyler.  By “colloquia,” Tyler probably refers to records of religious debates or discussions.]

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p4-to-bro-Wellington“The two Sisters ha! It seems I have kept you on tiptoe a month to know who they are. One of them is more likely to be wedded to the worm, than to me. She is probably near her end. She is a bright jewel. But the younger sister is brighter, sweeter still. She is perfectly enchanting tout ensemble form, features, mind, heart. Edward, if you can’t love Miss Nancy Brown of Hadley—nay, if you can help loving her on acquaintance, you are not my brother– ”

[More on this part below…]

[Letter addressed in this space to “Mr. W. H. Tyler, Manlius, Onondaga Co, N.Y.]

B&G-Baptist-Ch-1870s-stereograph-half-Bx-30-F20

Baptist Church, now Human Resources offices.

We’ve had an anti-slavery fraternite [sic] meeting in the [Baptist Church] lately. In firing Cannon to disturb the Lecturer one Evening, a young man had his hand blown entirely off. That gun was a loud Lecture. Write soon. Yours, Wm. Tyler

This brief part of the letter is important for its depiction of the uncertain state of abolitionist sentiment at the time, both among students and faculty at the College and among the townspeople.  The speaker on this occasion was Rev. Nathaniel Colver, who preached against slavery for many decades and who by this time was probably inured to whatever insults the opposing side would hurl (or fire) at him.

H-Gaz-2-1-1837-p3-re-Colver-lecture-cannon-Colver-Nathaniel-fr-Memoir-Hathi-Trust

Tyler seems to have been sympathetic to the cause, probably agreeing with the author of an op-ed in the Hampshire Gazette that describes the event:

H-Gaz-2-15-1837-p3-by-X-1H-Gaz-2-15-1837-p3-by-X-2

My favorite part of Tyler’s letter, though, is where he writes about the Brown family and uses that spectacular expression, “wedded to the worm.” Did he coin that expression? Surely not, but I have yet to find it anywhere else except in a few articles and one poem (appended at end of post), all dated after Tyler’s letter. Tyler’s comments about the Browns piqued my curiosity, and if you suffer as I do from even a minor case of obsessive compulsion, you will not rest (so to speak) until you know who Nancy Brown is.  But what are the chances?  “Nancy Brown” sounds like a pretty common name.  And she probably married and changed it, so good luck to me.

To my surprise, the family turned up quickly.  And then I found a section confirming the identification in Tyler’s “History,” published more than 35 years after his letter to brother Wellington.  Tyler’s remembrance of the “beautiful and lovely family” and the “accomplished daughters” is downright sentimental, so you can tell the family meant a lot to him:

Tyler-history-311-2-re-Browns-1Tyler-history-311-2-re-Browns-2

One by one the Browns died of tuberculosis: one each in 1837 and 1838, four in 1839, and one each in 1840 and 1842. Their home and worldly belongings were sold bit by bit too.

H-Gaz-3-4-1840-re-house

And the horrid cherry on top??  The beds and bedding went up for sale.

H-Gaz-6-5-1839-re-furnishings

Who wants first dibs on the beds from a family of consumptives? You call it? Be my guest.

Cristobal_Rojas_37a-viawikipedia

“La Miseria,” by Cristobal Rojas. Public domain image; accessed through Wikipedia.

If I had all the time in the world to search for answers, and maybe some magical powers too (because the evidence otherwise surely didn’t survive), I’d like to know what unsuspecting soul bought these beds and what became of the people who slept in them. But just how infectious would the beds be? Some sources I checked said that the tubercules wouldn’t survive on objects for long. A few others hedged their bets: “[Mycobacterium tuberculosis] can withstand weak disinfectants and survive in a dry state for weeks.” Certainly, this sale happened before people began to understand the nature of contagion.

Mycobacterium_tuberculosis

“Scanning electron micrograph of M. tuberculosis.” Credit: Janice Carr Content Providers(s): CDC/ Dr. Ray Butler; Janice Carr – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL), #8438. Accessed through Wikipedia.

I went to find the Browns in nearby Hadley.  And there they were, all lined up.  I was glad to find them – glad to see them — and it felt like they were glad of company, some of them a little tipsy in excitement.  But it was also sad to see this evidence of a family wiped out in half a dozen years.

Visiting the

The “meek members of the Resurrection” in Old Hadley Cemetery.  Left to right, Edward (age 2.5); Sarah (age 22); son John (age 15); Rev. John (age 53); Mrs. Sarah Brown (age 43); Lucy Ann (age 22); Emilie (age 20), and Nancy (age 23).

So when Tyler referred to the Brown daughter about to be wedded to the worm, he most likely meant Lucy Ann, who died on February 2, only a few days after Tyler wrote his letter:Lucy_Ann_Brown_1815-1837

Unfortunately, and as you can see from the caption in the group photograph above, the perfectly enchanting Miss Nancy Brown also succumbed to the disease.

Nancy_Brown_ca1819-1842

After most of her family had died, Nancy left her sad home in Hadley to live with relatives in Vermont.  She made provisions so that when she too died, her body would be returned to Hadley to lie with her family.

Nancy Brown died on April 30, 1842. Requiescant in pace.

Nancy Brown died on April 30, 1842.

Nancy’s obituary mentions one last daughter. It took a while to find her, but I finally learned that little Helen A. Brown, born in 1834, went to live with a colleague of her father’s, Rev. Joseph Day Condit.  Helen too eventually died of tuberculosis in 1855 at the age of 21.  This last daughter of Rev. John Brown lies with her adopted family in South Hadley, Mass.

William Tyler must’ve known Nancy Brown was doomed because he didn’t marry her when he could’ve. Instead, he married the bonny Amelia Whiting, who lived to be 85 and with whom he had five children.

Tyler-Amelia-Whiting-fr-dag-c1848

William S. Tyler’s letter has a lot of useful information about early Amherst College, but the unfortunate Browns of Hadley continue to rattle around in my thoughts and to visit me in quiet times.

*************************************************

“Oh Where are the Spirits,” from the “New York Mirror,” September 23, 1837.

Wedded to the Worm

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p4-to-bro-Wellington-env

An old letter is like a present.  Its handwriting is the wrapping paper: before you can see or know the present, you have to unwrap it.  The present may be lousy, something you’ll quickly forget.  Or it might be something you keep, something you take with you, maybe even something that changes your life.  But you’ll never know until you unwrap it.

Sometimes a present is for sharing, like the one-pound chocolate bar in your colleague’s desk drawer.  I recently unwrapped such a letter –a letter full of delicious nuggets — and want to share it with you because it has lingered in my mind ever since I first read it.

Tyler-WS-fr-autobio-ca1840The letter is from William Seymour Tyler, Class of 1830, to his brother Wellington Hart Tyler, Class of 1831.  The letter is dated January 30, 1837, when both men were in their mid-twenties.  Wellington (apparently nicknamed “Edward”) was principal at an academy in Manlius, New York, while William was at Amherst College teaching Latin and Greek and heading into his glory days as the man whose tardiness inspired the founding of the Philopogonian Society. We often think of Edward Hitchcock, professor and president, as the emblem of early Amherst College, but Tyler was here just as long and served just as devotedly. His “History of Amherst College” continues to be a very valuable, reliable resource, and he was the author of other, more modest works, including the nicely named “Why Sit Ye Here Idle?”

file_BV2375

William Tyler’s letter to Wellington hits on a number of topics, including abolition in Massachusetts; the difficulty of finding money for Amherst College; the state of religious feeling at the College, and (my favorite part) about a certain family in Hadley.  To look at it page by page:

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p1-to-bro-Wellington“Dear Brother,

            Above is a new lithograph of Buildings & Grounds, which are already familiar & welcome to your mind. The principle diff. between this & the former view consists in the new & elegant house of Esq, Boltwood & the terrace in front, which will soon be finished according to Esq. Wilder’s  plan. In the Printer, you will recognize the name of a member of our senior class.”

[Transcriber’s note: the Boltwood house is off to the left, where Converse is now.  “Esq. Wilder” is trustee Samson Vryling Stoddard Wilder.  The “printer” is Henry G. Van Lennep, Class of 1837, born in Turkey and a missionary and avid amateur artist there for 30 years]. 

 “1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p2-to-bro-WellingtonWhile on the subject of the college, I will inform you that the application of the Trustees for an appropriation of $50,000 is now pending before the legislature. The joint Committee of the two houses have reported unanimously in favor of the grant. We have not much hope of getting the bill through the house. Better for a literary man to run the gauntlet between as many Indians, than to fall into the hands of the 200 or 250 avowed & trained Radicals in the Mass House of Representatives. The Radicals are opposed in toto to incorporated Institutions. The Demagogues must court the favor of the people by voting for a distribution of the surplus revenue among the towns, though a majority of them doubtless are fully convinced that it will only embroil the people without benefitting them. And when the surplus is thus thrown away, the Legislature will hardly venture or feel disposed to tax the people for an appropriation to Amherst College. Still the prospect is much more favorable than at any former application.”

[By the time of this letter, Amherst had its hard-won charter but was about to enter a period of financial difficulties and was seeking additional funding from the state.] 

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p3-to-bro-Wellington

“There have been during the past term & vacation four or five hopeful conversions among students, chiefly the freshman class. Rather more feeling, I think, now than last term.

The junior class received a valuable accession in a young man by the name of Smith from Yale College. He has more talents & is a more elegant scholar than Maynard. If he exerts himself, he will carry off the palm. You are probably impatient about the colloquia. When I wrote you last term, I had not explored the archives. On examination, I could not find either of the colloquies I wished or any other I ever heard on the stage. I found three or four, which I have not examined. If they are of any value, or will answer, I shall get a couple of them copied for you. Possibly more may be discovered, as the Archives have been thrown into confusion by the President’s moving. If not, might you not venture to write [Haven?] at the Asylum in New York, requesting him to send you a copy of his Colloquy, offering of course to remunerate him?”

[Tyler writes above about the state of religious feeling at Amherst, especially in relation to the revivals that swept through the area.  He refers as well to Class of 1838 members Charles Fuller Smith and Horace Maynard, both of whom had important careers in politics and the law.  Note too that by this time President Heman Humphrey had moved from the “first president’s house” (in the block where Mayo-Smith is now) to the house we still use as the president’s house today.  It’s also interesting that Tyler is already thinking in terms of “archives” — good man, that Tyler.  By “colloquia,” Tyler probably refers to records of religious debates or discussions.]

1830-Tyler-Wm-1837-Jan-30-p4-to-bro-Wellington“The two Sisters ha! It seems I have kept you on tiptoe a month to know who they are. One of them is more likely to be wedded to the worm, than to me. She is probably near her end. She is a bright jewel. But the younger sister is brighter, sweeter still. She is perfectly enchanting tout ensemble form, features, mind, heart. Edward, if you can’t love Miss Nancy Brown of Hadley—nay, if you can help loving her on acquaintance, you are not my brother– ”

[More on this part below…]

[Letter addressed in this space to “Mr. W. H. Tyler, Manlius, Onondaga Co, N.Y.]

B&G-Baptist-Ch-1870s-stereograph-half-Bx-30-F20

Baptist Church, now Human Resources offices.

We’ve had an anti-slavery fraternite [sic] meeting in the [Baptist Church] lately. In firing Cannon to disturb the Lecturer one Evening, a young man had his hand blown entirely off. That gun was a loud Lecture. Write soon. Yours, Wm. Tyler

This brief part of the letter is important for its depiction of the uncertain state of abolitionist sentiment at the time, both among students and faculty at the College and among the townspeople.  The speaker on this occasion was Rev. Nathaniel Colver, who preached against slavery for many decades and who by this time was probably inured to whatever insults the opposing side would hurl (or fire) at him.

H-Gaz-2-1-1837-p3-re-Colver-lecture-cannon-Colver-Nathaniel-fr-Memoir-Hathi-Trust

Tyler seems to have been sympathetic to the cause, probably agreeing with the author of an op-ed in the Hampshire Gazette that describes the event:

H-Gaz-2-15-1837-p3-by-X-1H-Gaz-2-15-1837-p3-by-X-2

My favorite part of Tyler’s letter, though, is where he writes about the Brown family and uses that spectacular expression, “wedded to the worm.” Did he coin that expression? Surely not, but I have yet to find it anywhere else except in a few articles and one poem (appended at end of post), all dated after Tyler’s letter. Tyler’s comments about the Browns piqued my curiosity, and if you suffer as I do from even a minor case of obsessive compulsion, you will not rest (so to speak) until you know who Nancy Brown is.  But what are the chances?  “Nancy Brown” sounds like a pretty common name.  And she probably married and changed it, so good luck to me.

To my surprise, the family turned up quickly.  And then I found a section confirming the identification in Tyler’s “History,” published more than 35 years after his letter to brother Wellington.  Tyler’s remembrance of the “beautiful and lovely family” and the “accomplished daughters” is downright sentimental, so you can tell the family meant a lot to him:

Tyler-history-311-2-re-Browns-1Tyler-history-311-2-re-Browns-2

One by one the Browns died of tuberculosis: one each in 1837 and 1838, four in 1839, and one each in 1840 and 1842. Their home and worldly belongings were sold bit by bit too.

H-Gaz-3-4-1840-re-house

And the horrid cherry on top??  The beds and bedding went up for sale.

H-Gaz-6-5-1839-re-furnishings

Who wants first dibs on the beds from a family of consumptives? You call it? Be my guest.

Cristobal_Rojas_37a-viawikipedia

“La Miseria,” by Cristobal Rojas. Public domain image; accessed through Wikipedia.

If I had all the time in the world to search for answers, and maybe some magical powers too (because the evidence otherwise surely didn’t survive), I’d like to know what unsuspecting soul bought these beds and what became of the people who slept in them. But just how infectious would the beds be? Some sources I checked said that the tubercules wouldn’t survive on objects for long. A few others hedged their bets: “[Mycobacterium tuberculosis] can withstand weak disinfectants and survive in a dry state for weeks.” Certainly, this sale happened before people began to understand the nature of contagion.

Mycobacterium_tuberculosis

“Scanning electron micrograph of M. tuberculosis.” Credit: Janice Carr Content Providers(s): CDC/ Dr. Ray Butler; Janice Carr – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Image Library (PHIL), #8438. Accessed through Wikipedia.

I went to find the Browns in nearby Hadley.  And there they were, all lined up.  I was glad to find them – glad to see them — and it felt like they were glad of company, some of them a little tipsy in excitement.  But it was also sad to see this evidence of a family wiped out in half a dozen years.

Visiting the

The “meek members of the Resurrection” in Old Hadley Cemetery.  Left to right, Edward (age 2.5); Sarah (age 22); son John (age 15); Rev. John (age 53); Mrs. Sarah Brown (age 43); Lucy Ann (age 22); Emilie (age 20), and Nancy (age 23).

So when Tyler referred to the Brown daughter about to be wedded to the worm, he most likely meant Lucy Ann:Lucy_Ann_Brown_1815-1837

Unfortunately, and as you can see from the caption in the group photograph above, the perfectly enchanting Miss Nancy Brown also succumbed to the disease.

Nancy_Brown_ca1819-1842

After most of her family had died, Nancy left her sad home in Hadley to live with relatives in Vermont.  She made provisions so that when she too died, her body would be returned to Hadley to lie with her family.

Nancy Brown died on April 30, 1842. Requiescant in pace.

Nancy Brown died on April 30, 1842.

Nancy’s obituary mentions one last daughter. It took a while to find her, but I finally learned that little Helen A. Brown, born in 1834, went to live with a colleague of her father’s, Rev. Joseph Day Condit.  Helen too eventually died of tuberculosis in 1855 at the age of 21.  This last daughter of Rev. John Brown lies with her adopted family in South Hadley, Mass.

William Tyler must’ve known Nancy Brown was doomed because he didn’t marry her when he could’ve. Instead, he married the bonny Amelia Whiting, who lived to be 85 and with whom he had five children.

Tyler-Amelia-Whiting-fr-dag-c1848

William S. Tyler’s letter has a lot of useful information about early Amherst College, but the unfortunate Browns of Hadley continue to rattle around in my thoughts and to visit me in quiet times.

*************************************************

“Oh Where are the Spirits,” from the “New York Mirror,” September 23, 1837.

Seahawks After Dark: The Evolution of Midnite Madness

A new exhibit about Midnite Madness at the University of North Carolina Wilmington is now on display in the library during operating hours. Check out "Seahawks After Dark" in an exhibit case adjacent to University Archives, Randall Library Room 2008, in between Honors College and University Archives.

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Visitors from the Alliance of Artists Communities

Yesterday we had a great visit from a group of artists, arts professionals, and directors of artists’ residencies, all of whom are participating in the 2015 Alliance of Artists Communities conference.

Visitors got a tour of the library’s grand architecture and secret corners, interacted with Special Collections materials and historic magazines, went on a scavenger hunt through the nonfiction stacks, and used reproductions of collections materials to make magnets and buttons.

Here you can see some folks using an adhesive magnetic sheet and color photocopies to make refrigerator magnets:

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And here you can see our button-maker in action:

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We’re so excited to bring more artists, designers, and creative professionals in to the library to interact with our collections and use them in new ways!

Your Daily Subway Report From 1967

There’s something uniquely charming about this traffic report from 1967.  Maybe it’s the announcer’s accent (something all but lost in today’s New York) or perhaps it’s just the comfort in knowing that subway delays have always been a part of city life. The highlight, however, may be the sounds we hardly ever hear today: phones ringing off the hook and a cacophony of reporters’ voices in that busy New York City newsroom.

During the 1960s, much of WNYC news broadcast tapes were either recorded over or bulk erased for reuse. This traffic clip recently and unexpectedly surfaced at the end of another WNYC taped show from 1967 called Around New York.

Through the Eyes of a Collection

American Archives Month is when archivists often take the time to tell the public what it is we do all day and why they should care. However, we’ve never much talked about how it must be for the collections themselves. Here’s a collection-level view of what an archivist does when new materials arrive.

When I arrived in the Special Collections & Archives Division at Florida State University, I was a real mess. Parts in cardboard boxes, others in plastic bags; I heard the folks who brought me in say more than once that it was hard to tell which end was which. Since then I’ve discovered that it isn’t always the same with other new arrivals.

Some show up completely tidy and ready to help people find the answers to their most pressing questions. Not so with me. I started life out in the College of Communications at Florida State University in 1972 in the office of a young professor named Thomas Hoffer. I wasn’t much at first, but as the years kept piling up, as is the tendency with things, I grew. Exams, course syllabi, professional correspondence and some non-important bits like old blank warehouse club membership applications were just a few of the things that came to represent me after the thirty years I was with Professor Hoffer. Being quite substantial at this point and with the Professor retiring, I needed a place to go. After getting boxed, and bagged up, I was taken to a storage facility not far from the university.

Many archival collections arrive in need of physical processing to ensure preservation.
Many archival collections arrive in need of physical processing to ensure preservation.

Settling into my new home wasn’t too bad once I got over being constantly lifted up and put down again, though I must say it was a little warmer than I was used to. After a few years had passed, it was decided that I would be donated to the Special Collections & Archives at Florida State University and I became acquainted with some folks that called themselves archivists. That’s when things got interesting. At first they made some initial visits to my storage space to go through my contents, making notes and doing a lot of talking about how much of me there was.

After several of these visits, instead of bringing note pads and pencils with them, the archivists showed up with hand trucks, push carts and a van which they used to bring me back to the university. It was a little confusing at first and I’d wondered if there had been a mistake, but eventually, piece by piece I was moved from my storage room back to campus. To be specific, I was moved to an archives.

My skepticism started to fade when the archivists and student workers began to remove my essential parts from the musky boxes and plastic bags, and started putting me into fresh new folders and boxes that, by the looks of them, were made specifically for archives. According to the folks who were shifting me around, these new folders and boxes would help in keeping me around for a good while longer. As all of this was going on, all of the non-important bits that I mentioned earlier, like the blank forms and random accumulations such as a bit of reptile skin were removed and disposed of. After about a year and half of this celebrity treatment, my “physical processing,” as the archivists called it, was finished and I found myself in a new home on the shelves of the Claude Pepper Library.

Fully processed, the Thomas Hoffer Papers are ready to aid patrons in their quest for knowledge.
Fully processed, the Thomas Hoffer Papers are ready to aid patrons in their quest for knowledge.

Since then an electronic finding aid, which as I have gathered, is like a road map for my makeup and contents, has been put online by the good archivists and can be found on the FSU Special Collections & Archives homepage (the internet wasn’t around when I got my start, but I highly recommend it!). The finding aid helps researchers like yourself find what you’d need quickly and easily like Dr. Hoffer’s work with his film indexing project or classes he taught on documentary film making. I hope you’ve enjoyed my story and will come visit the Florida State University Libraries Division of Special Collections & Archives to see what our collections are made of. Whether it’s for a project or personal enrichment, I guarantee you’ll find something interesting to learn about and enjoy.

Through the Eyes of a Collection

American Archives Month is when archivists often take the time to tell the public what it is we do all day and why they should care. However, we’ve never much talked about how it must be for the collections themselves. Here’s a collection-level view of what an archivist does when new materials arrive.

When I arrived in the Special Collections & Archives Division at Florida State University, I was a real mess. Parts in cardboard boxes, others in plastic bags; I heard the folks who brought me in say more than once that it was hard to tell which end was which. Since then I’ve discovered that it isn’t always the same with other new arrivals.

Some show up completely tidy and ready to help people find the answers to their most pressing questions. Not so with me. I started life out in the College of Communications at Florida State University in 1972 in the office of a young professor named Thomas Hoffer. I wasn’t much at first, but as the years kept piling up, as is the tendency with things, I grew. Exams, course syllabi, professional correspondence and some non-important bits like old blank warehouse club membership applications were just a few of the things that came to represent me after the thirty years I was with Professor Hoffer. Being quite substantial at this point and with the Professor retiring, I needed a place to go. After getting boxed, and bagged up, I was taken to a storage facility not far from the university.

Many archival collections arrive in need of physical processing to ensure preservation.
Many archival collections arrive in need of physical processing to ensure preservation.

Settling into my new home wasn’t too bad once I got over being constantly lifted up and put down again, though I must say it was a little warmer than I was used to. After a few years had passed, it was decided that I would be donated to the Special Collections & Archives at Florida State University and I became acquainted with some folks that called themselves archivists. That’s when things got interesting. At first they made some initial visits to my storage space to go through my contents, making notes and doing a lot of talking about how much of me there was.

After several of these visits, instead of bringing note pads and pencils with them, the archivists showed up with hand trucks, push carts and a van which they used to bring me back to the university. It was a little confusing at first and I’d wondered if there had been a mistake, but eventually, piece by piece I was moved from my storage room back to campus. To be specific, I was moved to an archives.

My skepticism started to fade when the archivists and student workers began to remove my essential parts from the musky boxes and plastic bags, and started putting me into fresh new folders and boxes that, by the looks of them, were made specifically for archives. According to the folks who were shifting me around, these new folders and boxes would help in keeping me around for a good while longer. As all of this was going on, all of the non-important bits that I mentioned earlier, like the blank forms and random accumulations such as a bit of reptile skin were removed and disposed of. After about a year and half of this celebrity treatment, my “physical processing,” as the archivists called it, was finished and I found myself in a new home on the shelves of the Claude Pepper Library.

Fully processed, the Thomas Hoffer Papers are ready to aid patrons in their quest for knowledge.
Fully processed, the Thomas Hoffer Papers are ready to aid patrons in their quest for knowledge.

Since then an electronic finding aid, which as I have gathered, is like a road map for my makeup and contents, has been put online by the good archivists and can be found on the FSU Special Collections & Archives homepage (the internet wasn’t around when I got my start, but I highly recommend it!). The finding aid helps researchers like yourself find what you’d need quickly and easily like Dr. Hoffer’s work with his film indexing project or classes he taught on documentary film making. I hope you’ve enjoyed my story and will come visit the Florida State University Libraries Division of Special Collections & Archives to see what our collections are made of. Whether it’s for a project or personal enrichment, I guarantee you’ll find something interesting to learn about and enjoy.

Updike Prize 2016

This is just a quick note to help you plan your calendar for the upcoming year, especially if you’re someone who plans way ahead. We just crowned our first Updike Prize winner this past February (congrats, Sandra!), and it was a great event, with a terrific lecture by Tobias Frere-Jones. But one thing we learned in the process is that February in New England is a month best left to hunkering down with warm beverages and hoping for spring.

That’s why we’re moving the Updike celebration to October from now on. Not this October, though: October 2016 will be our next date. That also means that students working on their typefaces have a bit of extra time to do their work. The new deadline is now September 16th.

And there’s one more change: We’re now doubling the size of first prize to $500! So get to work and plan your visits to use the collection. (As a reminder, we have open hours, no appointment needed, on Tuesdays from 10-1pm and Wednesdays from 3-7pm.)

And now, for no particular reason, here’s a picture of some folks from an 1886 German type specimen book:

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Godey’s Lady’s Book: An Unexpected Find While Shelf Reading

Shelf-reading is tedious to say the least. With a packet of papers and a clipboard in hand, I look at every book on every shelf in every section just to check that everything is in its place.

One day, I started on a new section in the Rare Book Room. Usually, I find few problems in the order of the books, but this day, the first shelf held the most problems. Discreetly placed between ancient volumes, Godey’s Lady’s Book peaked out at me. I carefully flipped through the pages and discovered drawings from the mid and late 1800s of women in full skirts with pouty faces and scores of music. What is this? In that moment, I knew that I just had to answer that question for myself.

Godey’s Lady’s Book is a nation-wide woman’s magazine created by Louis A. Godey in 1930. The first magazine was published in Philadelphia and ran until 1878. Louis A. Godey got the idea for the magazine from gift books, which were popular at the time and marketed towards women. Lavishly decorated, gift books are defined as 19th century books that were bought for the sole purpose of giving as a keepsake. Gift books consisted of essays, short fictions and poetry. Godey’s Lady’s Books mirrored the gift book. Inside, women could find short stories, music scores, poetry, essays, and pictures that were created by prominent writers and artists of the time.

Godey’s Lady’s Book

One of the most interesting things that I discovered about Godey’s Lady’s Book is its editor: Sarah Josepha Hale. Sarah Josepha Hale, author of “Mary had a little lamb,” was the United States’ first woman editor. She began her career as creator and editor of Ladies’ Magazine, the first magazine “published especially for women.” Acting within the boundaries of the time, Hale advocated for the education of women and fought within her own editorials for the acceptance of women as the mental equals to men (Burt, 54-55). Hale became editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book after Godey bought Hale’s own publication, Ladies’ Magazine, from her financers. With that, Hale became editor of the Lady’s Book in 1837. After Sarah Josepha Hale became editor, sales of Lady’s Book jumped from 10,000 to 40,000 and then again to 150,000 by 1860. With the popularity of Godey’s Lady’s Book growing, Hale used her influence to further several causes for women. In the spring of 1840, Hale used an issue of the Book as a call to action for The Monument Fair. The fair itself was created to showcase women’s intelligence, skill and power through their work. Hale also influenced the creation of the home sewing machine (Burt, 125-126). Using her editorials and her position as the editor of Lady’s Book, Sarah Josepha Hale influenced women’s worlds within the boundaries of the time.

Quote from Hale

I must admit, I was worried about Godey’s Lady’s Book at first. I thought: Well, here’s another misogynistic book from the nineteenth century. Great. But I was wrong. Sure, there are aspects of the book that most women today would find somewhat annoying, such as the emphasis on homemaking. But the book itself offers so much more! Hale, like other women of the time, not only acknowledged the boundaries that restricted her, but also, worked within and against those very boundaries to advance women’s rights.

Source:
Burt, Olive. First Woman Editor: Sarah J. Hale. New York: Julian Messner, Inc. 1960. Print.

 –Cat Clark, Class of 2016