Category Archives: ARB Library

Posts related to the archives and rare books category

Join UC Libraries October 17 at Books by the Banks

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books by the banks logoOn Saturday, October 17, the 9th annual Books by the Banks: Cincinnati USA Book Festival will take place downtown at Duke Energy Convention Center from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Once again, UC Libraries is an organizing partner of the literary event that allows readers to meet and greet favorite authors.

The day-long festival will feature over 100 regional and national authors, book signings, author panels and activities for the entire family to enjoy. The popular “Writing and Getting Published” series returns this year with panel discussions covering hot topics for writers and workshops to help hone the craft of writing. All events are free and open to the public. Continue reading →

You’re Probably More Like a Groundling Than You Think

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By:  Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Globe TheatreI’m pretty sure that during a quiz my freshman year of high school I couldn’t remember the term for the people who stood in the pit of the Globe Theatre to save my life. I sat in my honors English course feeling very stupid, and eventually turning in my quiz knowing I had failed to comprehend even the simplest term surrounding Shakespeare.

Now I’m aware, as I’m sure you are as well, that those smelly folks who couldn’t afford more than a penny to see a show were called groundlings. A penny may seem like nothing to us now, but back then it was the equivalent to 10% of one day’s wage (Globe Theatre Groundlings, n.d.). The majority of groundlings were London apprentices who were shirking their trades to see a show. This led to disgruntled employers as well as some rowdy activity in the crowds, due to the age of most groundlings. The players were not entirely happy either. As Shakespeare’s Hamlet speaks of the groundlings in Act 3, Scene 2:

“O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise.”

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More Shakespeare! 11 Recipes Sure to Surprise Your Friends

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By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Are you a college student looking for something to serve at your party this weekend? Are you a young professional looking to impress? Are you married and have no idea what to make for that couple you hate but you’re obligated to invite to your house every now and then? Keep reading.

For you, and only you, I have found a book of Shakespearean recipes in our collection of ephemera from UC’s 1916 celebration. I’m almost positive none of your guests have ever tried any of these before!

A few parting words:

  • Always try recipes once before making for others
  • Feel free to let the people at ARB be the guinea pigs you make sample your first attempts!

Good luck! Make sure to take pictures of your creations and share your experience with us on Facebook.

Recipe Book Cover Continue reading →

What’s For Lunch?

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Could you imagine being on campus today and not having a place to go for lunch or even more shocking – not being a short walk from a Starbucks?   From burgers to burritos to caramel Frappuccinos, there are plenty of options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a quick coffee break on or near UC’s West (Main) campus. With all of us so used to so many food options, we were stumped when the University’s Architect’s office asked us “Where was the university’s first dining hall and when did it open?”

We do not always have the answers in our heads, but we can always come up places to start looking. The Cincinnatian (UC’s yearbook) is a great place to start especially for questions that have anything to do with UC’s students. What makes this resource even better is that UC’s yearbooks have been digitized and are freely available online through the Libraries’ website: http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/cincinnatian/ Lucky for us, the 1914 Cincinnatian provided the clue that we needed. An announcement in this yearbook stated, “Varsity’s New Lunch-Room, opened February 9th 1914.” The article also included a menu with interesting options like pineapple and lettuce salad with egg dressing and cold ham and a pickle. The most expensive item on the menu was only 12 cents. Continue reading →

Memories of Shakespeare and the Lyric Theatre

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By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern

Ad for Shakespeare seriesLook what we found! CCM students of days gone by customarily made a scrapbook of their experiences while they were in school. The scrapbook of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (one half of what has become UC’s College-Conservatory of Music) student Virginia Inez Day recently came into our hands just in time for us to start our Shakespeare celebration! For those of you who have been in the cheap seats, 2016 is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and we are commemorating it with a year of promoting our Shakespeare holdings in the Archives & Rare Books Library and documenting the history of Shakespeare productions in Cincinnati. Continue reading →

In Memoriam: Edgar Slotkin, Ardent Friend of the Archives & Rare Books Library

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Edgar SlotkinOn June 21st, the Archives & Rare Books Library lost a friend. Edgar Slotkin, professor emeritus of English, died at the age of 72. Edgar was a remarkable folklorist and Celtic scholar, but most of all he was a man generous of his time and knowledge. At his retirement in 2011, he donated his local folklore collection to us and it became the Southwest Ohio Folklore Archive. Additionally, several years ago Edgar worked with Jerry Newman, our Associate Dean for Collections at the time, to acquire and catalog two wonderful rare book collections of Irish and Welsh literature. Of the former, much of it is from the early 20th c. Celtic Revival period in Ireland and represents a physically fragile gathering of books that might otherwise have been lost. Edgar Slotkin was a kind and learned man, and someone who is greatly missed.

Looking East Book Signing Scheduled for June 24

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Looking EastJoin UC Libraries for a public book signing for Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia. The Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods.

The event, scheduled for June 24, 7pm, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Rookwood Pavilion, will include readings by authors Margo Taft Stever and Hong Shen.

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48 Years in the Making

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This post was originally published on the UC Magazine website.

UC Graduate Samuel Ochiel Obura is greeting on campus by Richard Harknett, head of UC's political science department, 48 years after Mr. Obura finished his degree requirements. photos/Joseph Fuqua II.

UC Graduate Samuel Ochiel Obura is greeted on campus by Richard Harknett, head of UC’s political science department, 48 years after Mr. Obura finished his degree requirements. photo/Joseph Fuqua II.

UC graduate waited nearly a half century to walk in his commencement and finally receive his lost thesis.

By:  John Bach

Samuel Obura

Samuel Obura Stands during the ceremony when recognized by UC President Santa Ono. photo/Joseph Fuqua II

Samuel Ochiel Obura’s journey to today’s commencement ceremony at the University of Cincinnati took him nearly 8,000 miles and 48 years.

A native of Kenya, Obura finished his master’s degree requirements in political science at UC in 1967. But due to an upheaval at the African Students Association, which helped sponsor his education, he had to cut short his pursuit of a doctorate degree to leave campus and return to Africa or risk losing his return ticket to his wife and children in east Africa.

Obura, then 34, had already spent several years away from his young family back home to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Canada followed by his master’s at UC.

Though he would go on to a long and successful career as a government official in Kenya, Obura left Cincinnati in such a rush that he never even took his trunk full of books, or —even more disheartening — the  dissertation he had written on the “Constitutional Development in Kenya.” His thesis had been sent away for binding when he departed, so he was forced to leave it behind and would spend the next half century longing for the important document.

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The Very Personal Side of a World Famous UC Archaeologist

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By:  Dawn Fuller
Photos Courtesy of UC Classics
Reposted from UC Magazine

Carl Blegen with UC Archaeologist Marion Rawson in the Land Rover at Pylos, July 1961

Carl Blegen with UC Archaeologist Marion Rawson in the Land Rover at Pylos, July 1961

Researchers mine through a ‘treasure trove’ of resources in Cincinnati and Greece to reveal the character, patriotism and unconventional lifestyle of famed American archaeologist Carl William Blegen.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, the discoveries of archaeologist Carl William Blegen made headlines around the world as well as here in the Queen City, where he was on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati. But the personal side of Blegen, publicly revealed for the first time, is the stuff that could be splashed across the celebrity tabloids.
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