When the University of Cincinnati was created in 1870, it was as a municipal university, and, it was always considered to be a “university of the city.” This philosophy – that the university would draw from the city’s rich, vibrant resources of culture and business, and in turn render service to the city through its students and educational programs – meant that the university’s leaders would be “of the city” as well. Continue reading
Category Archives: ARB Library
Foxe's Martyrs Saved From the Stake
The three volume 1641 edition
In the continuing project to restore key volumes in the Archives & Rare Books Library, UC Libraries’ Preservation Services has completed work on John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Special and Memorable, Happening in the Church – more popularly known as “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” This fundamental work of Christian hagiography, first published in Latin in 1559 at Basel, had its first English printing in 1563. There were many subsequent editions over the next three hundred years. The Archives & Rare Books Library holds both a 1596 edition, and this restored one, the three-volume 1641 printing. Both these editions are widely used by students and faculty in history, art history, English, and religious studies. Continue reading
Action Housing for Greater Cincinnati Records Fully Processed and Available for Research
A building on the corner of 13th and Race Streets, which was rehabbed.
The late 1960s saw a myriad of social reforms as part of the War on Poverty. Cincinnati was not immune to this movement, and among the many efforts to improve the plight of the poor in the city, was an attempt to increase the availability of safe and adequate housing for low-income individuals.
For this purpose, Action Housing for Greater Cincinnati was formed in September of 1968 by the Cincinnati City Council and local business interests. Although the organization only lasted until the early 1970s, Action Housing was responsible for building or rehabilitating approximately 1,700 living units for low income families in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Birth and Death Record Availability
One of the many filing cabinets filled with birth and death records.
Digitization has begun on the City of Cincinnati’s birth and death records prior to 1909. For the next several months, portions of the records will be unavailable for research while they are being digitized. If you wish to view any of the birth and death records, please contact the Archives and Rare Books Library by phone at 513-556-1959 or by email at archives@ucmail.uc.edu to ensure that the records are available. Also, please be aware that replies to research requests may be delayed while certain records are inaccessible. Further information on these records and guidelines for submitting a research request can be found on the Archives and Rare Books Library website. Full web access to the digitized records should be available by Summer 2010.
Reference Service Disruption in Archives and Rare Books Library, 12/1/09 through 12/11/09
Due to renovations in Blegen Library, reference service in the Archives and Rare Books Library may be disrupted from Tuesday December 1 through Friday December 11. Please call 513-556-1959 or email archives@ucmail.uc.edu prior to your visit to make an appointment.
Cazden German-Americana Collection Now Catalogued and Onsite
In 2002, the University of Cincinnati Libraries was bequeathed an outstanding collection of books from the personal library of Robert E. Cazden, professor emeritus of library science at the University of Kentucky and a noted scholar on German-American history and literature. The portion of these materials that pertain to German-American studies – more than 1400 volumes – has now been fully catalogued and added to the German-Americana Collection in the Archives & Rare Books Library at the University of Cincinnati. This acquisition maintains the position of the German-Americana Collection as one of the premier libraries on this subject in the world. Continue reading
UC Libraries Make Cooperative Engineer Available Online
The University of Cincinnati Libraries have digitized Cooperative Engineer, a quarterly publication produced by students and alumni of UC’s College of Engineering from 1921 to 1975.
Accessible via http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/cooperative_engineer/, each scanned issue of Cooperative Engineer can be viewed in its entirety. The issues are also searchable by keyword and by phrase. In addition, viewers of the collection can browse by issue cover.
Frankenstein!
Artwork by Barry Moser from the Pennyroyal Edition of Frankstein
What better time of year to celebrate one of the greatest horror stories in world literature than now? Since its publication in 1818, the tale of the man-made monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus has captivated readers and caused no small stir of debate on the creation of life and the egotism of mankind. In fact, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster has been re-created time and again in film and literature, sometimes as an awful and terrible creature and occasionally as a poor wretch who desperately tries to break free of man’s cruelty. The Archives and Rare Book Library hold some electrifying editions of Mary Shelley’s famous work. Continue reading
Bearcat Bands in the University Archives
Image from the 1958 Band Camp welcome flyer
The Archives and Rare Books Library recently processed a new collection of records documenting activities of the University of Cincinnati Bearcat Bands from 1954 to 1996. The records are part of the University Archives through the UC Band Alumni Association. Operating as a department within the Division of Student Life, UC Bearcat Bands provides students of all majors with opportunities for performing musically while obtaining fine arts credit. The UC Band Alumni Association provides alumni opportunities to stay connected with UC Bearcat Bands and other alumni after graduation. Alumni members can also participate in the Community/Alumni Band. Continue reading
First German Baptist Church Records Finding Aid Now Available
The Constitution of the Synzygus Verein of the First German Baptist Church, which appears to have been adopted prior to 1915.
The records of the First German Baptist Church or Deutsche Baptisten-Kirche of Cincinnati have been fully processed and a finding aid is now available on the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository. The collection holds various records for the church between 1880 and 1991 including church meeting minutes, financial records, and Sunday school attendance sheets. The material in the collection prior to the 1930s is primarily in German.
The records of the First German Baptist Church illustrate a small, but significant religious movement among Cincinnati Germans in the late nineteenth century. The First German Baptist Church was founded in Cincinnati in 1857, with the assistance of the Ninth Street Baptist Church, whose congregation saw the need for a Baptist missionary movement among German immigrants. Continue reading