Tour of BYU's Special Collections

Introduction
If I had to sum up Brigham Young University's (BYU's) L. Tom Perry Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, UT, in a few words I'd say they were "impressive," "secure," "surprising," and "epically immense." "Well-funded" also springs to mind because even in today's tight economic climate, BYU's Special Collections are funded completely through donations and endowments.

My photos could never do justice to the hugeness of the place because it would be like trying to show someone the Grand Canyon in a snapshot. "At last measure, we had 9,000 manuscript collections, 300,000 books, and 750,000 photographs," says Maggie Gallup Kopp, Rare Books Curator. The collections also include prints of feature films, audio recordings, and objects. Most of them are processed or are being processed and cataloged.

In 1999, the Special Collections were moved into their current home on the first floor of the Lee Library. Along with what seems like miles of compact storage space, BYU boasts five vaults. Yes, five. The ones I saw dwarf some of the archives I've visited.

To care for all those collections, BYU employs 13 full-time curators and manuscript processors, and two adjunct curators. The school also has a strong culture of employing student workers. Special Collections has more than 30 students who process, manage collections, and staff the reference desk.

Speaking of reference desk work, BYU estimates that the Special Collections see 80 patrons per week, who range from undergraduate and graduate students to faculty, genealogists, and outside researchers.

About the Collections
Although my visit focused on two specific areas of BYU's collections (rare books and arts and communications), I did manage a peek at the stacks in the cathedral-sized manuscripts area (below).

From BYU Special Collections

The collections focus on seven key areas:

* Utah, Mormonism, and the West (print and manuscript)
* Music
* Arts and Communications (including film archives and film music archives)
* University History
* Photographs
* Literature (Mormon literary manuscripts, and print collections in 19th and early 20th century British and American literature)
* World History (print history, Renaissance/Reformation, history of science, Folklore Archives, and a small collection of Japanese print and manuscript items).

As would be expected of a large university, "much of the collecting focus is to serve undergraduate and graduate student research in these areas," says Maggie. A list of specific collections is available at http://lib.byu.edu/sites/sc/special-collections-home/collections/.

Three-quarters of a million photographs require a great deal of processing. In fact, BYU has a room in the Special Collections just for the student photo processing staff (a small section of the room is shown below).

From BYU Special Collections

One of the five vaults is dedicated to photos and films. It is lit by a special yellow light to keep light exposure to the collections to a minimum. The photo below shows a print of the original "King Kong" kept in the yellowy vault.

From BYU Special Collections

Rare Books
Because I had the good fortune of being hosted by Maggie Gallup Kopp, the Rare Book Curator, I spent some time among her favorite collection, the Victorian Collection.

From BYU Special Collections

"It is a wonderful assortment of literature by major and minor authors and other books which document Victorian society, culture, thought, and 19th century life in general," explains Maggie. She and her predecessors have collected beautifully bound novels (below),

From BYU Special Collections

periodicals (below),

From BYU Special Collections

and a sizable collection of penny dreadfuls, among others.

In its efforts to document the history of the book as well as the history of science, BYU has collected a remarkable astronomy collection. One example is The Rudolphine Tables shown below.

From BYU Special Collections

On her "show and tell" cart in one of the vaults, Maggie showed me a French Bible from 1468. You can see its beautiful illumination and binding close-up below.

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

Another "art of the book" technique Maggie showed me was fore-edge painting. The Book of Common Prayer from 1823 demonstrates how skillful book painters can be. (below) On one edge, the painter has depicted Washington, D.C., while on the reverse is an image of St. Louis.

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

Maggie also showed me some beautiful tooled leather bindings that epitomize book art (below).

From BYU Special Collections

Another form of book art can be found in the prints within the rare books. For instance, BYU holds an 1888 copy of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, which has original prints inserted in the pages (below).

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

Utah is a wonderful place to go if you are interested in book arts. Between the University of Utah's artists' book collections and book arts program and BYU's remarkable rare books, a researcher could spend years there.

Arts and Communications Archives
Most people probably wouldn't think of BYU when naming the top important film archives outside of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But they would be very surprised to see the substantial holdings at the school. For instance, the Special Collections are home to Cecil B. DeMille's papers, Argosy Pictures Corporation archives (Mighty Joe Young, among others), Merian C. Coopers' papers (King Kong and Little Women, among others), and Jimmy Stewart's papers, to name a few. Also impressive are the film music archives. But more to come on that topic.

One of the most charismatic people I have met during these tours has got to be Jim D'Arc, Curator of the BYU Motion Picture Archive. He shared some Jimmy Stewart stories and showed us some real treasures in the collections. In the short video below, Jim talks about Max Steiner's handwritten score for the Gone With The Wind soundtrack and its value to researchers. Following it are two photos of the score Jim is holding.

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

Earlier, when I mentioned that BYU also holds a variety of objects, I was thinking of one in particular -- Max Steiner's Oscar for Best Scoring Achievement. In the short video below, Jim tells us why this particular award is rare and important. Below the short video is a photo of the award (with a regrettable image of me taking the snapshot in the reflection of the frame).

From BYU Special Collections

Finally, Jim gave me a real treat by showing me Steiner's original score for the King Kong opening credits. In the photos below, you can see the composer's notes to the orchestrator "King Kong Zooms Up."

From BYU Special Collections

From BYU Special Collections

As is the case with all of the tours I have taken, seeing a small portion of the collections just made me want to see more. In the case of BYU's Special Collections, I wish I could have seen some of the Mormon manuscripts in their vast collection. I'll just have to save that for another Utah trip.

Contact Information
Interested users and donors should contact

Russ Taylor, russ_taylor@byu.edu or
Maggie Gallup Kopp, maggie_gallup@byu.edu
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
1130 HBLL
Provo, UT 84602
801-422-3514
http://lib.byu.edu/sites/sc/

Plainfield Public Library Local History Project Updates: Blueprints

From Plainfield Public Library

Arguably one of the best things about the Plainfield Public Library's local history holdings is the diversity of its collections. For example, my new long-term project is to create an updated descriptive inventory of the library's very large collection (15,000 sets of drawings) of blueprints (known as the Detwiller Blueprint Collection). While most of the information I'll be collecting (such as the permit number, the date of inspection, etc.) already exists, among other bits, I will be adding important condition information and the dimensions. The library periodically exhibits less-fragile blueprints and architectural drawings, so having the condition report is especially helpful.

Note: To see close-ups of these images, double click on the image. When the Picasa page appears, click on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner. Use the slider in the lower right corner to increase the magnification on the close-up, and grab the image (click and hold while moving the mouse) to shift the viewing space.

On the blueprint below, the right edge is torn and a bit fragile. However, the content of the image is still very interesting and legible. The amount of detail makes it a good candidate for exhibits, however it will be handled very gently.

From Plainfield Public Library

Plainfield is home to many historic houses and buildings. These blueprints are an excellent resource for their owners and prospective owners because they can see the original plans, any additions made, and intentions of the architects. They also provide fine examples of architectural drawing and styles, while illustrating how people lived during earlier times.

Case in point, here's a detailed first floor plan with a grand entry hall as well as a butler's pantry drawn in 1888. It was drawn in pencil with ink and colored marker on paper.

From Plainfield Public Library

Below is another example of a doctor's home office, complete with examining room and laboratory.

From Plainfield Public Library

The blueprint below is a spectacular example of how an architect's ideas may not necessarily translate into the actual build of the house. However, I love the detail down to the copper finials and the leaded glass. It is my understanding that the original building still stands in the historic neighborhood of Sleepy Hollow, although I'd have to drive by to see exactly how much detail of the original remains.

From Plainfield Public Library

Not only do the blueprints and line drawings span a wide time frame (from the mid-to-late 1800s to the early-mid 1900s), they also are on a variety of materials. Some are your typical cyanotype blue prints, like the one above, while others were done in ink on waxed fabric (see below).

From Plainfield Public Library

And, some were drawn in pencil on paper (see below).

From Plainfield Public Library

Most of the blueprints are available for viewing online, and the search tool is easy to use. Just bear in mind that while most have been digitized, there are a few that have not. Either way, the librarians in the Local History Room are happy to help.

Tour of Special Collections at Weber State University's Stewart Library

Introduction
Recently, I visited Utah where I had the great fortune of touring some of the largest and most interesting collections I've seen yet. It required a bit of driving in some cases, but it was more than worth the trip to meet the very friendly and knowledgeable archivists and curators who work with these materials. The next few tours on this blog will feature special collections and archives from that Utah trip.

Background on the Area and the School
Weber State University (WSU) sits in the foothills of the gorgeous Wasatch Mountains about 40 minutes north of Salt Lake City, in Weber County in a town called Ogden. Weber County and the Weber River, which flows throughout the Wasatch and Unita Mountains and drains into the Great Salt Lake, are named for fur trapper John Henry Weber.

Ogden, like many of the towns and cities in Utah, was settled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Individual LDS congregations are called "wards." When there are more than three wards in a geographical area, they are grouped into "stakes." In the early 1850s, when Weber County was being settled, the Mormon church designated the area as "Weber Stake of Zion." Later, when the school was founded in 1889, it was named Weber Stake Academy and served the local area with religious and secular education.

During the early 20th century, the school became Weber College, and in 1933, the LDS transferred ownership to the state of Utah. Weber College became a 4-year university in 1964, and finally, in 1991 was renamed Weber State University. (Sources for the preceding paragraphs: WSU in-depth History page) and MormonWiki.com.)

From Weber State University Special Collections

About the Archivist
It is my pleasure to introduce Sarah Langsdon, the Associate Curator of Special Collections at WSU. She has been at WSU for 12 years and previously served in the archives at Utah State University (another school I'll showcase in an upcoming tour). Like many of the archivists and curators I've spoken with, Sarah started as a student worker in the archives and found that she had a "knack" for the profession. "It allowed me to use my love of history and preserve the local history of Ogden and the surrounding areas," she says. Her masters in History as well as on the job training, conferences, and workshops keep Sarah sharp and in touch with the field.

Sarah's favorite collections at WSU are the Rich Diaries and the diaries in the Dee Family Collection. She explains, "I like them because they give such a glimpse into Ogden’s history from 1900 to the 1960s. These women were all prominent members of Ogden’s society and attended the major events in the city. They also give insight into the goings-on in their husbands' chosen professions." For a detailed look into the Rich Diaries, see WSU's digital collection here.

Below is a photo of Sarah holding one of Emily Almira Cozzens Rich's diaries from 1926.

From Weber State University Special Collections

"I also love the mug shots we have of three prostitutes arrested in the 1940s in Ogden. These help illustrate the seedy side of Ogden’s history," she says.

About the Collections
WSU Special Collections, established in 1971, collects materials that document Ogden, Weber, and Davis Counties specifically, and Northern Utah generally. Three full-time staff, one student worker, and one hourly worker care for the 45,000 books and 2,000 linear feet of records. This summer, Sarah will be receiving a donation of an additional 1,100 linear feet from the Utah Construction Company archives. Utah Construction, its predecessors, and successors (prior to merging with GE) comprise the lion's share of the holdings and is the collection that has had the greatest impact upon the patrons. "The Utah Construction Company collection has opened us to international research and users. With the vast construction and mining projects the company completed from 1900-1976, we have had requests from Australia, Peru, Canada, and all over the United States," says Sarah. Utah Construction is probably best known for building the Hoover Dam, and the collection documents the building of the dam in a few different ways. Visually speaking, some of the more interesting items in the collection include is the scrapbooks from the 1930s. They can be viewed online here.

The portion of the collection shown below will be moved to a much larger space that will accommodate the new donation as well. Sarah had processed the collection, which arrived in 1999 and opened to research in 2001. Having dealt with less-than-ideal conditions in my own work, I sympathized with her when she told me how it arrived. "The archivist didn't pack the records, the movers did," she says. In some cases, that meant the records were "dumped" into boxes.

From Weber State University Special Collections

To see Sarah's register (think finding aid) on the collection, click this link for the PDF.

Along with Utah Construction, WSU's most popular collections are Ogden Prisoners of War (POWs), WWI collections, and photos of historic homes and businesses. Some of the most fascinating materials came from the Ogden Defense Depot. The materials that weren't sent to the National Archives were sent to WSU.

When they cleaned out the Ogden Defense Depot, they found the WWII Italian and German POW photos. Hundreds of them. A portion has been digitized, and the images illustrate the conditions in the camps in amazing detail. Even more telling are the oral histories taken of the POWs' wives. Below is a snippet of the project's description found in each oral history's opening pages:

The Ogden Defense Depot, designated as a POW camp on October 11, 1942, was one of the first ten camps in the country. An estimated 5,000 Italian prisoners and approximately 4,000 German prisoners were sent to the facility. The prisoners worked in local warehouses, farms, and orchards. After Italy surrendered in 1943, Italian Service Units were created which allowed the Italians greater freedom than the Germans, including visits to downtown Ogden. The camp closed during the summer of 1946 after the 10,000 prisoners were shipped home.

This project contains interviews from people who had interaction with the Italian and German POWs, including the community of Weber County and POW widows. They discuss the daily lives of the prisoners which includes conditions at the camp, work related issues, and the feelings of the community surrounding the POW camp.

I highly recommend visiting the World Wars and Weber County web pages. The digitized materials are nothing short of fascinating. For example, there are WWI service cards for each person from Weber County who served.

Within the collections is Ted Littlefield's WWI diary (shown below). WSU also has his correspondence during that period. Ted was the father of Ed Littlefield, a driving force as principal officer at Utah Construction and later on the board of GE, after the merger.

From Weber State University Special Collections

Sarah and I talked a little about the importance of diaries to special collections (see the short video below).



Although diaries are in the form of books (in most cases), we think of them as manuscripts because they are unpublished materials. In the case of rare books (or scarce books), these are published volumes that are difficult for collectors to find (especially in a given geographical area). That rough definition spans a wide array of materials over a long time period. For instance, WSU holds a Bible from 1578 (shown below).

From Weber State University Special Collections

The school also holds a first edition Book of Mormon (shown below).

From Weber State University Special Collections

Which is rarer? It's going to depend on who you ask. But, the first edition Book of Mormon is considered to be very rare because there was a rash of thefts of the book in the 1990s. Consequently, WSU keeps theirs (and that early printed Bible) in a safe (below) within a vault.

From Weber State University Special Collections

The WSU Special Collections also include a variety of other items including objects and textiles such as the lace (immediately below) and the linen embroidered handkerchiefs (below) donated by the prominent Becraft family of Ogden.

From Weber State University Special Collections

From Weber State University Special Collections

WSU also holds maps and beautiful architectural drawings like the ones below from the Ogden Iron Works from the 1930s. The second photo is a drawing of the water meter cap they designed. The school received a donation of three map cases worth of the Iron Works' drawings.

From Weber State University Special Collections

From Weber State University Special Collections

Although I've touched on a just a handful of WSU's holdings, there are a few other gems that deserve some attention. Sarah says, "I think our most underutilized collections are our those of the different women’s clubs in Ogden. These women were savers and documented their histories through scrapbooks, minute books, and correspondence. They also helped shape the history of Ogden through their charitable activities. Other important ones are our personal or family history collections. Sometimes the history of a local person can really highlight bigger concepts by showing how events affected one person or family."

Exhibits
Also of importance are WSU's special collections exhibits. Running now until August 1 is the “Say Little, Do Much: St. Benedict’s School of Nursing 1947-1968” exhibit. According to Sarah, "the exhibit documents through photographs and oral history quotes, the history of the nursing school and its alumni."

Additionally, WSU Special Collections is preparing a 40th anniversary event to occur in October. It will include exhibits highlighting 40 years of collecting along with a lecture on Ogden’s historic 25th Street.

Sarah and her colleagues at WSU have digitized an impressive amount of their collections so that users will have increased access to those materials. I hope that you will visit the links I have included above to learn more about their holdings, and be inspired to see WSU's Special Collections in Ogden in person.

Contact Information
Interested users and donors should contact

Sarah Langsdon
Associate Curator of Special Collections
Stewart Library
Weber State University
2901 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-2901
801-626-6540
slangsdon@weber.edu
http://library.weber.edu/asc/speccoll/default.cfm

Tour of Rider University's Special Collections and University Archives

From Rider Special Collections

About the Archivist
Meet Bob Congleton, a fellow Rutgers library school alum and the Rider University Archivist. (He's also a graduate of Rider, class of 1978.) After earning an MA in History, he enrolled in a doctorate program in philosophy, when he was hired as periodicals coordinator at Rutgers' Kilmer Library. A year later, he transferred to the library school and earned his MLS. His next move was to Temple University, where he headed the serials unit and eventually led the binding/preservation unit. When he moved to Rider 13 years later, he joined the faculty as professor/librarian in charge of serials.

"When the archivist retired, I assumed responsibility for all the Special Collections. I have attended archival workshops, conferences, and other training to enhance my knowledge. My history background is the foundation for my enthusiasm. Preserving primary sources is an important way to maintain a connection to our past and help us understand our development as a society and as individuals," says Bob.

In addition to curating the Historic Business Machines Collection (think of it as a small museum), he's leading an effort to digitize several of Rider's collections and increase access to its items with a more enhanced public database. Because the school changed hands and names so many times during its early existence (1865-1920), and because, at that time, Rider supplied over half the business teachers for New Jersey, that time period is of specific importance to Bob. "I think our material preserves this heritage. I am constantly looking for more material on this era to add to our collection," he says.

Bob's favorite items in Rider's collections are from the 19th century. "I am researching the first 20 years of Rider’s history from 1865-1886 as the Trenton Business College. So many websites have incorrect information on Rider’s founding and early development, and overlook important people involved with the school’s evolution. Even the University’s own website has errors in the biographies of its presidents. I think it is very important to correct these errors, though it may be an impossible task," says Bob.

"I also enjoy the Historic Business Machine Collection. On vacations, my wife often has to pull me away from typewriters and other office equipment displayed in historic homes/homesteads we visit. She tells me that the owners or trustees of the places are not about to donate the material to my museum. Though, on occasion we have been able to enhance the information these sites have about their own collections," says Bob.

In the three very short videos below, you can see his enthusiasm for these machines that have paved the way for today's keyboards and computers.

First, here's Bob in the Historic Business Machine museum showing me the 1874 Sholes and Glidden typewriter, which is among the highlights of their collection of antique business machines.



Below he demonstrates the antique understrike Remington 6 typewriter.



In the final video, Bob shows me a wall of newer business machines and talks to me about backward compatibility and what he has in the collection.



An important note -- if you or people you know have old typewriters or computers that you wish to donate, please contact Bob. He would be very happy to talk with you about what the museum has and what it needs. Mind you, Rider will not appraise your typewriter or other business machine.

Additionally, close-up photos of the collection's business machines and typewriters are available to view at my Picasa site as well as within the Rider University Moore Library online catalog.

About the Special Collections and Archives
In the top photo of this post, Bob stands in the University Archives or Riderana, which includes (among other very interesting items) diplomas from every incarnation of the school during its lifetime. The diploma below is from 1888, and the close-up shows Andrew Jackson Rider's signature.

From Rider Special Collections

From Rider Special Collections

Although the early schools were in Trenton (see the diploma above), Rider moved to its current location in Lawrenceville in the early 1960s. The Archives were started in the 1950s, but received increasingly less attention, until in the 1980s, "so much of the collection had been moved to a closet. My predecessor, Lyn Livingston, worked with Walt Brower, a retired administrator, to gain a room for the archives so the material could be moved from the closet. Lyn spent years organizing the items, a project I continued," says Bob.

From Rider Special Collections

One of the largest collections at Rider, and arguably one of the largest of its kind in the country, is the Louis A. Leslie shorthand collection (a portion of it is shown above). Because Rider was a business school, it initially taught students the Pitman method. Later, when Rider was known as the Rider-Moore and Stewart School, Franklin B. Moore changed the teaching to the Gregg shorthand method. Leslie had served as chief editor of Gregg Publishing, "a leading shorthand material publisher, as well as a leading authority on shorthand systems," according to Rider.

In 1983, Leslie donated his more than 5,000-item collection to Rider, where they have begun to digitizing its contents. The collection contains samples of every type of shorthand dating back to the 17th century. Although the school stopped teaching shorthand 20 years ago, the collection is still important to researchers of shorthand education and of successful and unsuccessful methods of stenography.

Within the approximately 33,000 items in Rider's Special Collections and Riderana are its most popular collections: historic business machines, yearbooks, student newspapers, and images of college buildings. Bob's three student workers are in the process of digitizing the Rider News from 1926 to the present, as well as digitizing the student yearbooks from 1923 to the present. Look for them online soon.

Exhibits
While I visited Rider's Moore Library, I noticed two very interesting exhibits in the lobby.

From Rider Special Collections

The first (shown above and immediately below) is the very nifty independent study project of Melissa Kowalczyk, a History Department student who graduated in 2010. She used some of the typewriters in the collection to show the models used by various authors to write their books. Examples include Margaret Mitchell, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and George Orwell, among others. Above, Rachel Carlson and Ernest Hemingway typed on the Royal Quiet Deluxe. Below, George Orwell and Margaret Mitchell used the Remington Portable no. 3.

From Rider Special Collections

The other exhibit was created by Bob (see below). He explains, "it shows the evolution of how typewriter keys strike the paper and includes typewriters showing the different methods such as understriking, overstriking, the letter ball and more. The display also shows examples of different key layouts such as QUERTY and Dvorkic." The photo shows (left to right) the following typewriters: a Hammond Multiplex, a photo of the 1874 Sholes and Glidden, a Blickensderfer no. 5, a photo of an Oliver no. 9, and an Underwood Universal.

From Rider Special Collections

Whether you have a penchant for antique business machines, wish to know everything known about shorthand, or are looking into Rider's past for genealogical reasons, the Special Collections and Archives at the school are well worth the visit.

Contact Information

Interested visitors and donors should contact

Robert Congleton, Archivist, rcongleton@rider.edu or 609-896-5248
or Julia Telonitis, Archives Specialist, jtelonitis@rider.edu 609-896-7094
Moore Library Special Collections
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
http://www.rider.edu/academics/libraries/moore-library-4