The holidays in Cincinnati bring many traditions to mind. You can go see the Duke Energy train display at the Cincinnati Museum Center (formerly the CG&E train display and previously located downtown), and you surely do not want to miss the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. One tradition in particular, though, is celebrating a big anniversary. 2014 marks the 40th year for Cincinnati Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker. For many Cincinnatians, a trip to see The Nutcracker at Music Hall is their first experience with the ballet, and for others it might be their only experience.
Category Archives: ARB Library
CHRC Collections at ARB Recall Cincinnati’s Own Civil Unrest
By: Nate McGee, CHRC Intern and UC PhD candidate
A thank you card from a student at Aiken High School following a CHRC outreach visit to the school.
Amid a renewed discussion regarding the relationship between minority urban residents and local police, it’s important to think about how our own community dealt with similar issues in the not too distant past. The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC) Collection currently being processed in the Archives and Rare Books Library shows the myriad ways the city and various organizations affiliated with city hall attempted to deal with issues not unlike those currently experienced in Ferguson, Missouri, Staten Island, New York, and in the national news discussion.
ARB's "50 Minute Talk" in January
Fresh back from the holidays, the 50 Minute Talk series in the Archives & Rare Books Library will kick off 2015 with a presentation by Eira Tansey on Lois Lowry’s classic dystopian novel, The Giver on Thursday January 8. Later in the month, UC professor Bob Miller will talk about the World War II years at the University of Cincinnati. Please join us for these informal noon get-togethers. Bring your lunch, invite a friend, and enjoy some good conversation and opinions.
Emma Lucy Braun: Pioneer Plant Ecologist
By: Iman Said, ARB Intern, 2014-2015
The University of Cincinnati has had many incredible individuals pass through its doors. There have been outstanding athletes, such as Oscar Robertson and Ron Bonham, and incredible researchers such as Albert Sabin. One such researcher was E. Lucy Braun, who created a research program in vascular plant floristics focusing on deciduous forests.
E. Lucy Braun was born in Cincinnati in 1889. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1914 with a Ph.D in botany and went on to found the Wildflower Preservation Society of North America in 1917. The Society is still well and thriving today and hosts several different events including an annual Hardy Souls’ Hike at Mt. Airy Forest and lectures on various fungal infections and wild orchids. That same year, she began teaching botany at her alma mater, growing through the University to become a professor of plant ecology in 1946. In addition, she became the first female president of the Ohio Academy of Science. Continue reading
Check Out the Latest Issue of Source, UC Libraries Newsletter
Read the online newsletter to learn more about the development of UC’s digital repository, why UC’s colors are red and black, and more news from UC Libraries.
This latest issue of Source includes updates on the Libraries’ Strategic Plan, with an overview of digital humanities and news on the development of UC’s digital repository, which makes accessible, enables re-use, stores, organizes and preserves the full range of the institution’s intellectual output, including scholarly, historical and research materials. Also featured are stories about providing access to the Libraries special collections, a new exhibit highlighting the top illustrated children’s books, and the librarians, staff and students of UC Libraries giving thanks.
Source online is available on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source online via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.
An Early View of the Stands
By: Janice Schulz, Former ARB Library staff member
The University of Cincinnati is in the midst of a major renovation of Nippert Stadium that will turn it into a state-of-the-art athletic complex, but at one time our gridiron heroes played on what were simply a field and a chain of stands. According to the 1904 Cincinnatian the “much-needed and long-looked for” athletic field was completed in that academic year. The field was later named after UC alum, medical school faculty member, and UC director Archibald I. Carson. As a medical school student (Class of ’89) Carson organized the first UC football team. The stands were first erected in 1912 at a cost of $50,000 and then added to in 1920 and again in 1924, when the stadium was dedicated in memory of Jimmy Nippert. In 1935 the Works Progress Administration sponsored a $135,000 project to add the press box. Shank Pavilion was added in 1954 and a major renovation came in 1991 at a cost of $13,500,000.
Growth of Student Government
By: Iman Said, ARB Intern, 2014-2015
Just about every college campus, and now almost every high school, has some form of a student government. It’s a coalition of students who put on events, work on projects, and speak to administrators and members of the community on issues related to the students.
Today, the UC Undergraduate Student Government is made up of a Senate, a Cabinet, Boards, and College Tribunals. This makes for an organization that is involved in just about every aspect of student life. Elections are held every year, usually in February, and candidates select a President and Vice President, as well as eight At-Large Senators. After those positions have been chosen, Cabinet positions are filled using an application process. Any student can apply to a cabinet position, no matter their age or year in school. Each of the Tribunals then holds their own internal elections to select their executive board and their representative to Senate. Continue reading
The Universality of Sherlock Holmes
By: Iman Said, ARB Intern 2014-2015
This week, we’ll take a quick break from historical photos and talk about the impact that literature can have on society.
Last March, I had the opportunity to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a seminar here at UC. Edinburgh is the very first city to be established as an UNESCO City of Literature. Incredible authors began their careers in Edinburgh, from Sir Walter Scott to J.K. Rowling. Simply walking the streets of Newtown was enough to see the impact that literature has had on the culture of the city.
For me, the most significant author to start in Edinburgh is the incredible Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose legendary consulting detective is a household name all over the world. Sherlock Holmes and his faithful compatriot, Dr. John Watson, got their start in two novels, A Study in Scarlet and Sign of the Four. Neither of the novels had very much success, so Doyle decided to change tactics and began to write a series of short stories that ran every month in The Strand Magazine. The first story, “A Scandal in Bohemia” was published in July 1891 and was an instant success, guaranteeing the success of Doyle and the success of the magazine. Today, the stories have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into tens of television programs, radio shows, and movies. Statues of the great detective can be found in Edinburgh, the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as in Japan and Switzerland. Continue reading
Why UC’s Colors are Red & Black
By: Greg Hand
An 1881 editorial in the Academica, UC’s early student newspaper, called for colors: “The great majority of American colleges and universities have selected certain colors or combinations of colors, which, for want of an adequate term, we may designate as their ‘colors.’ These colors are of great use in intercollegiate contests in distinguishing the members of different colleges. They also have the effect of creating in the student a feeling of loyalty to his Alma Mater. Each year finds it more difficult to select colors that are not pre-occupied. We, therefore, commend this matter to our students in the hope that they will at once take measures looking to the selection of colors for the University of Cincinnati.”
Early UC tobacco card, courtesy of Kevin Grace
Although students wrote in suggesting either green alone or “black, sprinkled with a little white,” there was no immediate action on this request. A few years later, on April 10, 1885, the the University of Cincinnati baseball team took the field against Hughes High School sporting white suits with blue stockings, belts and caps. Later that year, new baseball uniforms appeared in blue and brown. Although the university dithered about selecting official colors, each class took great pains to select a unique color. The annual for 1885, for example, records the senior class adopting green and yellow, while the juniors claimed “maiden’s blush.” The sophomores that year adopted violet. Continue reading
Fall 2014 Records Quarterly Now Available
By: Eira Tansey
The Fall 2014 UC Records Management newsletter shares information on wrangling email, program developments, information on upcoming workshops in November and December, and program news.
Click here for the latest issue and if you have any questions about UC records, just contact Eira Tansey in the Archives & Rare Books Library at 556-1958 or at eira.tansey@uc.edu.
For more information on the Archives & Rare Books Library and its holdings, please contact us by phone at 513-556-1959, by email at archives@ucmail.uc.edu, or on the web at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/arb.html.