Dangerous Assignments, the newsletter for the Committee to Protect Journalists. From the Laurie S. Wiseberg and Harry Scoble Human Rights Internet Collection at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

On October 5, 2009, the fourth Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights will be presented to The Committee to Protect Journalists. The ceremony will take place on the plaza of the Dodd Research Center at 11 AM.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) works to promote press freedom worldwide. CPJ takes action when journalists are censored, jailed, kidnapped, or killed for their efforts to tell the truth. In their defense of journalists, CPJ protects the right of all people to have access to diverse and independent sources of information. CPJ has been a leading voice in the global press freedom movement since its founding in 1981.

CPJ’s staff of experienced journalists and human rights researchers investigates press freedom abuses in more than 120 countries, from authoritarian regimes like Cuba and Burma to fragmented states like Iraq and Somalia. They respond to attacks against the press through five regional programs: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2008, CPJ carried out research and advocacy missions in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Burma, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Mozambique, and South Africa. CPJ runs an International Program Network with five consultants based around the world: in Mexico City, São Paolo, Cairo, Johannesburg, and Bangkok. IPN staffers conduct on-the-spot investigations into serious abuses, organize emergency missions, and provide direct support to journalists who have suffered violence and incarceration.

The fourth biennial Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights will be awarded to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) at a ceremony on UConn’s Storrs campus Monday, October 5.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981 that promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.

The ceremony will take place at 11:00am on the plaza of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. Joel Simon, the executive director of CPJ, will accept the award on behalf of the organization. Featured speakers will also include Senator Christopher J. Dodd; Mariane Pearl, wife of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl; and UConn President Michael Hogan.

For more information, please see the Dodd Prize website

Anita Riggio, “Smack Dab in the Middle”(© Putnam, 2002). Used with permission.

A Celebration of Anita Riggio is the inaugural exhibit in the new Roger L. Crossgrove Exhibit Series, honoring Emeritus Professor of Art Roger Crossgrove. Roger has been a highly visible and active participant in Connecticut’s arts community for many years, a long-standing member of the Libraries’ Exhibitions Committee and a generous donor to the UConn Libraries. The series will focus on exhibits that feature the work of his former students and current colleagues.

The exhibit will be in the Dodd Center’s gallery from Oct. 19 through Dec. 18, 2009.  Anita Riggio is the author of a number of children’s books and the illustrator of many more for other authors. In addition to working as an illustrator for the Hartford Courant, Riggio has served as a courtroom artist for WVIT, a teacher at the American School for the Deaf, and is currently on the faculty of Lesley University’s graduate Creative Writing Program. She recently adapted her 1994 work, Beware the Brindlebeast, for the National Theatre of the Deaf ’s Little Theatre of the Deaf 2007-2008 tour.  For more information about her, please see www.anitariggio.com.

We were honored to have Senator Ted Kennedy join us for the first Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice & Human Rights in 2003. As the nation comes together to mourn the passing of Senator Kennedy through the sharing of our collective experiences, we would like to share ours with you.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Timothy Hanan, Senator Ted Kennedy

Senator Ted Kennedy, UConn Chief of Police Robert Hudd

Senator Kennedy acknowledging his introduction by Senator Dodd

“The Ultimate Sacrifice” Memorial

The UConn Archives has been a part of the efforts to honor UConn alumni who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. “The Ultimate Sacrifice” Memorial was dedicated on November 10, 2008 at a moving ceremony on the Great Lawn, where faculty, staff, alumni and families of our veterans gathered to reflect on the lives lost.

As part of the project, University Archivist Betsy Pittman works with the Alumni Association to document the “Roll of Honor”, a comprehensive listing members of the UConn community who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. For more information on the honor roll, contact Betsy Pittman at betsy.pittman@uconn.edu

Claudia Rueda, Lesley University

On June 18, 2009, Claudia Rueda will present the results of her research in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection. Ms. Rueda is the second recipient of a Billie M. Levy Travel/Research Grant for 2009 and will give a presentation entitled “How Picturebooks work: the dynamics between visual and verbal narratives in modern picturebooks.”  A native of Colombia, Ms. Rueda is the author and illustrator of nine picture books and has illustrated five others. After attending law school and art school in Colombia, she moved to the U.S. in 1997 to study illustration at the University of California at Berkeley.  Ms. Rueda has won multiple awards for her work and is currently in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University. Ms. Rueda will talk about the development of the dynamics between words and images in traditional picture books and how the interaction in modern works can generate new meanings and interpretations to involve the reader’s imagination.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of D Day, the Allied Invasion of Normandy and we will use the opportunity to talk about the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at UConn.  Based out of the School of Engineering, the U.S. Army’s ASTP program was implemented in early 1944 due to the impending invasion. The goal of the program was to increase the number of army trained engineers across the country. More than 1,500 soldiers were stationed at UConn. The Kodachrome exhibit on display has several images of the training these soldiers received while on campus.

Marching soilders, 1944

According to Carl Brandt, the post World War II era was a great time for UConn’s football program.  Many of these “mature males” played teams that seemed to be made up of “kids” just out of High School.  The score below is an indication of one such game.  Mr. Brandt recalls another score of something like 105 to 0, but doesn’t have an official photo of it.

And it was a time when women played football, as you can see in this rare color photograph from the collection.

Ladies football, circa 1948

"Farm Femmes" (Women's Land Army Participants) in the creamery, 1942

The University of Connecticut’s history is rooted in the traditions of agriculture.  This was still a prevalent field in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  In our latest tribute to alumni weekend this June 5th & 6th, we are sharing two of the many wonderful photos taken by Jerauld Manter that show how enjoyable a glass of fresh milk can truly be.  

Milford Labor Camp, 1942

The second of our two exhibits focuses on the history of UConn through Kodachrome Film.  The innovation of Kodachrome in 1935 gave photographers the ability to capture the world around us in living color. 

Archery, 1951

It is likely that Jerauld Manter, faculty member and unofficial college photographer, took the color photographs in this exhibit in and around the University of Connecticut between 1939 and 1959. The prints on display were made from his original Kodachrome 35mm color slides and reflect the remarkable stability of this film over time.

Marching band, 1942

Manter’s photogarphs capture a period of significant growth in UConn’s history, beginning with its establishment as the multi-campus University of Connecticut in 1939. The next two decades saw the development of the Hartford, Stamford, Torrington and Waterbury regional campuses and the Schools of Law, Nursing and Social Work. The student body expanded by 300% after World War II, growing from 1,265 in 1939 to 9,761 in 1959.

As we promised, we will continue to highlight some of the great images on display in the Dodd Center from the Carl Brandt Collection.

Aviation Club Members, circa 1947

Carl Brandt joined the Aviation Club as photographer and took numerous photos for use in the school newspaper.  His pilots were usually World War ll vets who had flown bomber or fighter aircraft over Germany.

“Several of us would rent aircraft early on a Sunday mornings — and then fly for about half an hour to another airport that had a restaurant.  After a good breakfast, we would fly back to the original airport. ”

Next weekend is UConn’s Alumni Weekend and we are celebrating with two very special exhibits that we will highlight all next week right here on our blog.

Athletic Event, circa 1948

Photographs from university activities and events are a significant portion of our collections, as is true with many archives in higher education institutions.  They are incredibly important in documenting life on campus.  But all too often the images are a result of staff photographers employed to take official pictures.  We often see a different idea of what was important when students are taking the images.  

The exhibit “Something Important Happened Today: Student Photography on Campus” is a special exhibit for us, as it is from the photograph collection of Carl Brandt, Class of 1949. While on campus in the late 1940s — a period of remarkable change on the Storrs campus — Brandt took thousands of photographs and this exhibit presents a selection of Dr. Brandt’s images, complemented by his memories.

A View of South Campus, circa 1947