One of the most fascinating aspects of working in an archives is what you discover while looking for something else.  And I’m always looking for something!  As University Archivist and Curator of a wide variety of collections, I am frequently poking around in boxes and folders in our (secure and climate-controlled!) stacks in search of the odd document, image, report, study, letter or bit of ephemera needed to answer a question, illustrate a point or present to a class.   On a recent hunt for something interesting and unique to post for the January “Item of the Month” I thought to combine the desire to highlight a recent acquisition and resulting inventory with the upcoming 150th anniversary of the American Civil War (hostilities began April 12, 1861).  Recalling a series of notecards labeled “Connecticut Civil War soldiers” in the recently inventoried Albert Van Dusen papers, I thought how perfect this would be.  A newly accessible collection and primary materials brought to light in time for this significant anniversary!

As you can see from the images below, our conscientious copying of Dr. Van Dusen’s box labels  was not useful in my search for Civil War materials but I did discover a new resource to share with those interested in Connecticut’s involvement in the American Revolution.   A wonderfully unique and delightful discovery–but not what I was looking for.  And so it goes.   Keep this in mind if you’re interested in commemorating the 236th anniversary of the beginning of the War for American War of Independence on April 19, 2011!

     Betsy Pittman, University Archivist

Ensign Nathan Haynes Whiting, 9th Connecticut Continental Line, 1777-1781

Private Stockman Sweat, 2nd Light Dragoons, 6th Troop, 1777-1783

The Samuel and Ann Charters Archives of Blues and Vernacular African American Musical Culture was established at the University of Connecticut in 2000. The archives, housed at Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, comprise the collection of scholar and producer Samuel Charters, one of the pioneering collectors of jazz, blues and folk music. The Archives sound recording holdings include 1500 discs, 900 cassettes, 300 tape reels and 2000 compact discs. To explore the archives, watch this interview with Samuel Charters and browse the guide to the archives. 

Kristin Eshelman, Curator of Multimedia Collections

Sometime in December 1971, Homer Babbidge, President of the University of Connecticut, spoke to the Monday Evening Club on the subject of stone walls, Robert Frost and the meaning of “Good fences make good neighbors.”  One of the more charismatic individuals associated with the University, Dr. Babbidge used the imagery of practical New England tidiness and poetry to illuminate broad interpretations of international borders, hint at the intellectual foundations  of education and extoll the virtues of physical labor–in nine and a half short pages!

This talk, and many other speeches, presentations, reports and studies, is available in the Babbidge papers in the University Archives housed in the Dodd Research Center.

"How to build a stone wall," Homer D. Babbidge, Jr., December 1971

 A PDF version of the complete talk is available here and a partial description of the materials to be found in the Babbidge papers can be accessed via the finding aid for the collection (http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/findaids/President/MSS19690004.html). 

A more recent, artistic interpretation of the classic New England stone wall can be found in professor Olu Oguibe’s recent installation at Real Art Ways in Hartford (scheduled through March 2011).

Connections between past and present are frequently discovered in the archives.  Please consider this an open invitation to come in and find out more about the history of UConn in the University Archives in the New Year!

     Betsy Pittman, University Archivist

Tuesday, November 11, 1941.  Armistice Day.  I met my classes as usual.  At 8 o’clock I met my elementary economics classes, discussing economic problems of natural resources.  At 9 o’clock I met the consumption class giving back their recent hour examinations, and finishing the work on housing. I also made a bare start on a discussion of savings.

 Bill Mattson reached Willimantic at 11.11 by train from  Boston, and Edith met him there.  Ernest Russell drove down from Hadley and arrived at my office just before noon, as I got back from my 11 o’clock class.  We drove home, and met Mattson.  The two men stayed for dinner, supper, and over night.  As usual, Edith put on a wonderful display of culinary art and of old-fashioned hospitality.

 Thus begins the journal entry for this day in 1941 by UConn faculty member and later Provost, Albert Waugh.  A tireless and meticulous diarist, Waugh recorded his daily activities both mundane and extraordinary throughout his life, allowing researchers to see first hand what was happening in Storrs, Connecticut, from the time of his hire in 1941 through his retirement in 1973.  

The Waugh daily journals have been available for research as part of the Waugh papers since their donation in 1985.  An invaluable resource for several University histories, the journals were originally considered for digitization in the late 1990s when the University Libraries received its first IMLS grant for what is now known as Connecticut History Online (http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm-cho/index.html).  The sheer volume of the journals made this impossible and the CHO project went on to digitize predominantly images (approximately 14,000 at last count) over the course of the next several years.  Technological advances in more recent years, however, has made the option of electronic access to the materials viable.  In the last year, Archives & Special Collections, with the permission of the Waugh family, has digitized the entire 30 plus span of journals.  In the next several months, researchers will be able to access PDF (portable document format) copies of the journal entries directly from the finding aid, completing one of A&SC’s largest digitization efforts.   

There was also a happy side effect to this lengthy project, in addition to meeting the Waugh family and hearing their stories first hand.  Collaboration with the Waugh family on this project resulted in the discovery of additional journals!  Subsequent donation of these new discoveries has expanded the dates of Waugh journals from 1941-1973 to cover the period from the 1920s through the early 1980s. 

As soon as we go live, it will be announced here so stay tuned!

     Betsy Pittman, University Archivist

It’s the top of the eighth inning. The Yankees lead the Giants 3-0 in the second game of the 1922 World Series, and students at Connecticut Agricultural College listen to the game on radio on the lawn in front of the Mechanic Arts Building.

It was the first time that the entire World Series was on radio, and this second game would end in a 3-3 tie after a controversial call “on account of darkness” in the tenth inning.

Radio was relatively new for the campus – WABL, the first student radio station at CAC, began broadcasting that fall from studios in the Mechanic Arts Building. The station’s equipment was probably the source of the hook up to a speaker that was placed outside the front door of the building.

Students kept track of the game with a box score on a blackboard placed in front of the building

The winner of the “subway” series was the Yankees. They beat the Giants in five games.

Students of Connecticut Agricultural College listen to Game 2 of the 1922 World Series on October 5, 1922. Freshmen can be identified by their beanies, and just to the left of the photo center is a lone co-ed joining the boys for the afternoon of baseball. The Mechanic Arts Building on North Eagleville Road is now the Islamic Center on the main campus in Storrs.