Holiday Hours 2009

The end of the year is quickly approaching and as we near the holiday season there will be a few closures to the reading room hours of the University Archives & Historical Collections.  Holiday hours will be as follows:

Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 21-22, 2009            8:30-12, 1-4:30

Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009                          By appointment only

Thursday-Sunday, Dec. 24-27, 2009           Closed

Monday- Tuesday, Dec. 28-29, 2009           8:30-12, 1-4:30

Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009                         By appointment only

Thursday-Sunday Dec. 31- Jan 3, 2010       Closed

For persons wishing to make appointments, please contact the University Archives at 517-355-2330 or email archives@msu.edu.

Thank you for all your support this year!  We look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year.

UAHC Contributes to CUNY Calendar Project

This year, the University Archives & Historical Collections at Michigan State University was among more than 100 public colleges and universities in all 50 states that contributed to the 2010 City University of New York’s (CUNY) calendar, website and curriculum project by sharing historic images and milestones from their own past.

Entitled, “Investing in Futures: Public Higher Education in America,” the 2010 calendar project is the sixth such collaboration bringing together CUNY, the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives and The New York Times Knowledge Network, with support provided by founding sponsors JPMorgan Chase and TIAA-CREF.

Visit the Investing In Futures calendar/curricula website:
http://www.cuny.edu/publichighered

“We are particularly enthused about this year’s calendar which underscores our country’s historic commitment to advanced learning and the importance of a strong system of public colleges and universities to America’s social and economic well-being,” said Craig Dunn, The New York Times’ Education Partnerships Manager. “Its launch reinforces President Obama’s recent announcement of the American Graduation Initiative and funding for community colleges.”

The University Archives & Historical Collections contributed two photographs to this year’s calendar: one appears on page 8 of the Milestones section (students holding a giant slide rule) and in June, 2010 the month of Campus Life, (female students waiting in line to make a telephone call). The University Archives & Historical Collections are located on the Michigan State University campus in 101 Conrad Hall.

The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, which produced the calendar, is housed at CUNY’s LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York. The launch of the 2010 CUNY calendar, website and curriculum was celebrated at a reception on November 11 at The New York Times Conference Center. Dr. Muriel A. Howard, the president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, and a double CUNY alumna who earned her A.A. at the New York City College of Technology and her B.A. at the College of Staten Island, praised the calendar project in her remarks.

Busiest Month on Record

When you think of archives, what is it that comes to mind?  A quiet place with dusty, old books that only gets visitors because people wander in lost off the street?  If that is what you think, you clearly were not one of the over 200 visitors to the MSU Archives & Historical Collections in the month of November.  That number makes November our busiest month on record and December is starting out just as busy.  As the semester draws to a close and students hurriedly work on their papers, the archives has been a filled to the brim, and then some, with researchers working on projects.   Our staff have compiled some suggestions to help researchers get the most out of their experience using an archive.

• Students don’t like getting up early.  I’m sure this bit of wisdom is not shocking to anyone who has been on a college campus before.  In terms of helping your visit to the archives, it means that mornings are typically pretty quiet.  There are lots of places to sit and you aren’t competing with 20 other people for one of our chairs.  We open at 8:30am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  Start early in the morning!
• Have a topic in mind before you come in.  Our staff like to help people find resources, but we don’t like suggesting topics to people.  We don’t know your likes and dislikes.  We do know our collections, so if you come in with even a broad topic that helps us more than just asking, “What have you got?”  We do try to put information on the Internet so people can get suggestions before they arrive.  You can search the library catalog for collections in the archives.  (Hint: limit your location to just the University Archives & Historical Collections and try different keywords.)  You can also try browsing our collection guides.
• Call ahead.  This is by no means required, but if you call (517-355-2330) or email (archives@msu.edu) ahead of time to let us know when you will be visiting and what you want to see, we can have it waiting for you when you arrive.  This saves a little bit of waiting for staff to bring collections to you and lets you spend all of your time doing research.  However, if you can’t make it when you said you would, please call and let us know, otherwise, we’ll reshelve your material and you will have t wait for us to pull it again.

Thanks for all your patience!  We hope to see you soon.

Warren Family Visit Archives

Many historical collections in the University Archives & Historical Collections come from the Chamberlain Memorial Museum, which sent its holdings to Michigan State University in 1952.  Descendants of Edward K. Warren, the museum’s founder visited the Michigan State University campus on November 19.  The family toured the Special Collections Library and MSU Museum and went to a program at Cowles House, but ended their day in the University Archives reading the correspondence of their great-grandfather, Edward K. Warren, and great-great grandfather, Reverend Waters Warren.  They also viewed family photo albums from trips to the Middle East.

Archives Director Cynthia Ghering shows descendents of the E.K. Warren his correspondence

While sitting quietly in University Archives looking over family papers, Gus Whalen listened as his cousin, Bob, read from their great-grandfather’s journal.   E. K. wrote about newly married couples in the community, messages for upcoming speeches, and his dreams.  To share this kind of personal information about someone generations past was remarkable experience for all family members.  Gus said he was overwhelmed and exceedingly grateful for everything.

The Warren Family come from Three Oaks, Berrien County, Michigan.  The collection of family papers consists primarily of correspondence, diaries, religious materials, and legal documents.  Other materials in the collection consist of information  about the World’s Sunday School Conventions which were attended by Edward K. Warren.

Edward K. Warren founded the Chamberlain Memorial Museum in 1916 in Three Oaks, Michigan.  The museum is named for his father-in-law, Henry Chamberlain.  The museum was originally housed in Chamberlain’s home, but continued to grow due to the efforts of the E.K. Warren Foundation following Warren’s untimely death in 1919.  The contents of the museum were transferred to Michigan State University in 1952 by Fred P. Warren, President of the Board of Trustees for the E.K. Warren Foundation.  The trustees felt moving the collections to Michigan State would allow greater access to them by a greater number of people.

An online exhibit about the Warren Featherbone Company was prepared by intern Leslie Beckman.

For more information about the Warren Family papers, please contact the University Archives at archives@msu.edu.

Special November Hours

Researcher questions have been coming in fast and furious at the University Archives & Historical Collections this month.  We understand that the semester is coming to a close and that students have rapidly approaching deadlines.  The staff at the archives want to help out our researchers as much as possible.  To give students a little more time to gather their information, the archives will open for additional hours on Wednesday mornings in November.

The updated schedule for the rest of November is below:

Tuesday, Nov. 17:  8:30-12, 1-4

Wednesday, Nov. 18 – Friday, Nov. 20:  8:30-12, 1-4:30

Monday, Nov. 23:  8:30-12, 1-4:30

Tuesday, Nov. 24:  8:30-12, 1-4

Wednesday, Nov. 25:  8:30-12, 1-4:30

Thursday, Nov. 26 – Friday, Nov. 27:  Closed

Monday, Nov. 30:  8:30-12, 1-4:30

 

 

Trivia Champion T-shirts Revealed

Christina Cottrell and Khalid Ibrahim from Clinical And Translational Sciences model the Trivia Champion t-shirts.

Answers to Archives Month Trivia Questions

Over 50 people participated in this year’s contest and five people answered all ten questions correctly.  The winners will receive a Trivia Champion t-shirt.  The staff at the University Archives & Historical Collections would like to thank everyone for playing and we hope that you will all participate in our contest again next year.

The following questions were asked during the American Archives Month 2009 Trivia Contest.  The correct answers are listed below.

1.  Dr. Alfred Day Hershey became the first MSU alumnus to win what prestigious award?

A.  Nobel Prize

2.  Which MSU president retired in 1969?  (Hint:  He became president in 1941 and there is a statue of him on campus.)

C.  John Hannah

3.  Walter Adams, President of MSU from 1969-1970, wrote which book, published in 1971, about his experiences with student protests?

C.  The Test

4.  Which college was established in 1969 by public act of the Michigan Legislature?

D.  College of Osteopathic Medicine

5.  In 1969 a controversial All-University Colloquy was held on campus.  What was the topic?

C.  Sexuality

6.  Who was the first African-American Board of Trustee member?  He was elected in 1969.

A.  Blanche Martin

7.  What traditional event marked its last regular occurrence in spring 1969?

B.  The Water Carnival

8.  Which of these performers entertained at MSU in 1969?

D.  All of the above  (Neil Diamond, Bill Cosby, Bob Seger)

9.  In 1969 which MSU sports team, led by coach Grady Peninger, won their 5th straight Big Ten Title (and would go on to win a total of 7 straight)?

B.  Wrestling

10.  Which of the following is NOT true about the Vietnam Moratorium held on October 15, 1969?

A.  Students were penalized for missing class