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

Archives at AutumnFest

On Saturday, November 21, the University Archives & Historical Collections will participate in AutumnFest, the annual tailgating party held by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  The event takes place at the MSU Pavilion for the three and a half hours prior to the Penn State vs. MSU football game.  The actual game time is still TBD, so AutumnFest will be scheduled around that.

The event is for CANR alumni and features a buffet brunch, silent auction, and raffles to raise money for CANR student scholarships, activities, and alumni programming.  The University Archives will be participating in the AutumnFest Passport, so make sure you stop by our booth.  We hope to see you there.

Events this Week

We have a special hours change for this week only.  On Friday, October 30, 2009 the University Archives and Historical Collections will be closed between 11:30AM and 1:30PM.  We will be open to the public between 8:30-11:30AM and 1:30-4:30PM.  Please note that the change is hours is for Friday, October 30 only.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Just a reminder that on Wednesday, October 28 Archivists from the Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections will present at the meeting of the Mid-Michigan Genealogical Society.  The event begins at 7:00PM and is located at the Plymouth Congregational Church.  Archivist Ed Busch and Director Cynthia Ghering will give an overview of the University Archives and Historical Collections, explain how to search for collections online, and discuss some of the genealogical resources that are in the collections.

If you have any questions about the Genealogical Society event  or the change in hours, please contact us at archives@msu.edu.

Archives at the Haunted Aud

This coming weekend the student theatre group MSU S.P.A.M. (Society for Performers and Arts Managers) are hosting “Haunted Aud,” a haunted house fundraiser near the MSU Auditorium on the Fairchild Side.  The event will take place on Saturday, October 24 from 8pm-12am and Sunday, October 25 from 7pm-12am.   The cost of admission is $5 and funds will be used to send senior actors to New York City in the spring for a showcase.  Groups will be escorted through the set every 10-15 minutes.

The archives worked with S.P.A.M. to get them some information about the class rivalry, an often violent clash between the freshman and sophomore classes.   The haunted house will feature some of the class rivalry posters, which have violent and gory images used to incite the opposing class.   Archivist Portia Vescio did a brief interview for S.P.A.M talking about the class rivalry and some early hazing incidents on campus.  Parts of the interview may be featured in Haunted Aud.

Example of a Class Rivalry Poster

Upcoming Genealogy Event

Archivists from the Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections will do a presentation at the October 28, 2009 meeting of the Mid-Michigan Genealogical Society.  Director Cynthia Ghering and Processing Archivist Ed Busch will give an overview of the University Archives & Historical Collections, discuss some of the genealogical collections, and explain how to search the library catalog to find collections.  The event begins at 7:00PM and is located at the Plymouth Congregational Church.

Any questions about the event can be sent to archives@msu.edu.  To get an advance look at descriptions of the genealogical collections, you can view our collection guide to the genealogical collections.

UAHC Leads MSU Digital Curation Planning Project

In collaboration with the Michigan State University Libraries and MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online, UAHC is leading a university-wide digital curation planning project. UAHC director Cynthia Ghering chairs the project, assisted by electronic records archivist/digital preservation analyst Lisa Schmidt and a project team that includes archivists Richard Adler, Deborah Gouin, and Portia Vescio, as well as MSU librarians, IT specialists, and digital content managers.

Anticipated outcomes of the project include a digital curation plan and guidelines to ensure trustworthy preservation, management, and stewardship of the university’s digital assets and intellectual property. The project is supported by MSU’s Office of the Vice Provost of Libraries, Computing, and Technology.

For more information on the MSU Digital Curation Planning Project, visit http://msudcp.archives.msu.edu .

October is American Archives Month

The mission of the Michigan State University Archives & Historical collections is to preserve the history of the University and make it available for researchers.  Founded in the fall of 1969, the University Archives & Historical Collections (UAHC) has materials dating back through all of MSU’s history.  This year American Archives Month coincides with the 40^th anniversary of the Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections.

To celebrate American Archives Month, the MSU University Archives & Historical Collections is holding a trivia contest that is open to MSU faculty, staff and students; MSU alumni; and the greater Lansing community.  The theme of the trivia contest is MSU in 1969, the year of the archives’ creation.  The contest will end at 5:00pm on Friday, October 30.  Three winners will be chosen at random from among the correct entries and will be notified the following week.  This year’s prize is a 2009 Spartan Trivia Champion t-shirt.  Winners will be notified the week after the contest ends.

The questions are available online or as a PDF document.

Good luck and thank you for playing!!