Category Archives: Special Collections

Posts related to special collections held by any UC Libraries.

Social Activist with a Press

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“I use letterpress printing, but I use it to disrupt the segregated realms of fine printing and artists’ books.”
–excerpt from “My Manifesto” in the new book Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer

To read Amos Kennedy’s manifesto is to glimpse into the passion and love that Kennedy holds for letterpress printing and his sincere believe in the power of the printing press. Kennedy is one of the leading practitioners of letterpress printing today, known mainly for his bold stylistic technique that foregrounds powerful messages against a colorful backdrop. He prides himself on being a “disturber of the peace” and a member of the “School of Bad Printing,” both of which point to the strong social activism presented in his work as well as the humor.

Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, Kennedy grew to study mathematics and began a career as a computer programmer, but his love of calligraphy and books led him to eventually leave the corporate world for the life of a printer and designer. He studied book arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but before that a visit to a printing demonstration at Colonial Williamsburg led Kennedy to purchase a Vandercook printing press and four cabinets of type, which he installed in his basement. Thus, a printer was born and, today, Kennedy operates a letterpress shop called Kennedy Prints! in Detroit, Michigan.

Selections from the “Quotations from Rosa Louise Parks” series by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

Kennedy’s work is preserved in numerous libraries, archives, and museums, and the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library is pleased to join that community. ARB recently acquired two sets of Kennedy’s work. The first is the poster series “Quotations from Rosa Louise Parks,” which includes twelve posters that feature quotations from the civil rights activist over various typographic layers. In a 2023 interview, Kennedy described his technique this way:

“When you look at something like the Rosa Parks portfolio, you’ll see that there’s one layer that has dates that are significant to her life. Then there’s another layer that has places that are significant to her life. This continues for about four layers, because one of the things I like to do is envision people having that aha moment—when that poster has been on the wall for a considerable amount of time, and they see it every day, but suddenly, they turn their head a certain way, and they say, “Oh, the word Montgomery’s behind there. I never noticed that before.” And that will draw them in to look and study it more.” (– as printed in Citizen Printer, p. 69)

The second set of Kennedy’s works is comprised of 134 church fans bearing the names of individuals killed will working for civil rights in the United States from 1946 to 1968. The fans are accompanied by a series of standard road maps on which Kennedy has printed the number of individuals murdered in various states. The portfolio takes a simple object with strong ties to the Black church and creates a haunting, repetitive visual narrative. As Kelly Walters has written in Citizen Printer, Kennedy’s “use of the fan asks us to contemplate how the rites of funeral memorialization can serve as a tool for historical remembrance as well.”

Examples of Kennedy’s church fans and road maps.

As part of his manifesto, Kenney states: “Throughout history, the printer has had to choose to either resist or assist in the marginalization of knowledge. I made the choice: I resist.” There is no better summary of the work that Amos Kennedy has produced over the years, and ARB is proud to now help preserve his work as we look to diversify examples of printing and the book arts in our collections. We are working to create an online finding aid for the Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Collection at ARB and hope to add to the collection in the future. Those who are interested in viewing materials from this collection can email ARB at archives@ucmail.uc.edu to schedule a research appointment. To learn more about Kennedy’s life and career, we recommend the excellent documentary Proceed and Be Bold!

Nineteenth Century Eclipse Photographs Featured in New Documentary

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Earlier this year, “eclipse fever” struck the Cincinnati area when a total solar eclipse was visible across portions of North America. The timing of the 2024 celestial event coincided with recent research on a group of photographs documenting an 1869 total solar eclipse housed in the records of the Cincinnati Observatory, which are preserved at the Archives and Rare Books Library.  Those photographs will be featured in the upcoming public television documentary “Capturing Life” (1839-1869), the first episode in the series, The Big Picture: A History of Photography in Greater Cincinnati, produced by Voyageur Media Group, Inc.

Collection of photographs of an 1869 total solar eclipse along with a handwritten letter.
Photographs from an 1869 total solar eclipse and a handwritten letter on their origins are housed within the records of the Cincinnati Observatory at the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library.

Voyageur’s production team conducted research on two subjects at the Archives and Rare Books Library for the series. Project Director, Tom Law, says the ARB staff helped him research documents about Dr. John Locke, a professor of Chemistry at the Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Locke was the first American to display an early form of photography, “photogenic drawings,” at a bookstore in Cincinnati in 1839.

An issue of the magazine, The Philadelphia Photographer open to show images of an 1869 total solar eclipse and and article about the photographs.
The September 1869 issue of The Philadelphia Photographer featured some of the photographs taken during the Cincinnati Observatory’s scientific expedition.

Voyageur will also show twenty-four rare photographs of a total solar eclipse from the Cincinnati Observatory’s scientific expedition to study and photograph the eclipse along its path of totality in the Dakota Territories in 1869. Voyageur learned about the 1869 expedition when visiting an exhibit created by Mandy Askins, Assistant Collections Manager at the Cincinnati Observatory Center.

In the documentary, Askins describes how Cleveland Abbe, Director of the Observatory, led a team of scientists and photographer W.C. Taylor to Fort Dakota (near present-day Sioux Falls, South Dakota), to study and photograph the solar eclipse on its path of totality. Taylor took twenty-four photographs of the event, which were later printed by John Wildman Winder for the Cincinnati Observatory. It is Winder’s photographs that are preserved in the Archives and Rare Books Library at the University of Cincinnati.

“Capturing Life” (1839-1869) closes with examples of how archival photographs are being used today in books, classrooms and exhibits seen throughout the world. Tom Law says, “The documentary is dedicated to the scholars, curators, archivists, and librarians who are preserving the region’s rich photographic heritage for future generations.”  More information about this project, including three, free public screenings in October, is available on Voyageur’s website: https://voyageurmedia.org/

“Capturing Life” (1839-1869) is a collaborative project among dozens of scholars and institutions throughout Greater Cincinnati. Two project scholars have ties to the University of Cincinnati.  Author, professor emeritus, and former head of the Archives and Rare Books Library Kevin Grace is serving as a project advisor. Dr. Theresa Leininger-Miller, a professor in art history in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, is featured in the segment on African America photographer James Presley Ball. Dr. Leininger-Miller is also serving as a project advisor.

Collections Shift at the Archives and Rare Books Library

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The Archives and Rare Books Library (ARB) will soon begin utilizing new space at an offsite storage facility maintained by the University of Cincinnati Libraries. This will free up much needed collections space in Blegen Library for new acquisitions and newly organized materials. Consequently, ARB staff be taking part in a major collections shift during the weeks of September 16th and September 23rd.

During that time, services at ARB may be disrupted. This includes fielding reference questions and communications. We apologize for any inconvenience during this time but look forward to enhancing collection services following the shift!

Dr. Wolfgang Ritschel—Scientist, Professor, Painter and Sculptor

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As the University of Cincinnati Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library welcomes the 2024-25 College of Medicine students and faculty back to the academic calendar, they are greeted by the new installation of MEDSTEPS. The sculpture is the work of renowned artist and scientist Wolfgang Ritschel (1933-2010). It is located on the G-level of the Health Sciences Library.

medsteps sculpture
medsteps sculpture
medsteps sculpture

Dr. Ritschel described MEDSTEPS as:

Stairs may have different purposes and meanings. Essentially, they are a means to reaching different levels, both literally and figuratively speaking. This sculpture uses stairs or, rather steps on a ladder, as a metaphorical form of expression in paying tribute to the development and advancement of medicine from its beginnings at the dawn of time – including Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, and Native American medicine with their symbols as shown in the stained-glass panels – to computerized medicine, along with corresponding “step-by-step” technological progress in diagnosis and therapy. Medicine and the arts were always intertwined, as is suggested by the common expression “medical arts.”  In fact, in 15th-century Europe, physicians, pharmacists and artists all belonged to the same guild, a development which presumably originated with the use of mortar and pestle as a grinding tool for both pharmaceutical substances and pigments.  I like to think of this as part of my personal and artistic statement in sculptures with a medical theme.

medsteps sculpture
medsteps sculpture

The sculpture is composed of stainless steel, gold leaf, stained glass, lead, polymer, paint, wood and measures 91” x 51” x 22”.

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New Health and Business eBook Collection from Taylor & Francis

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UC Clermont students have requested more access to digital resources in their fields of study and the library is here to help! This summer, the Frederick A. Marcotte Library at UC Clermont has established perpetual access to a new collection of Health and Business eBooks through Taylor and Francis. You can follow this link to check out the whole digital collection here.

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

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source

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

In this issue of Source, Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian, writes about Building our Foundation. A photo montage of highlights from 2023/2024 celebrates the past academic year. A booklet housed in the Archives and Rare Books Library recounts “details of scandalous Hix-Snook Murder Trial.” The intricate dynamics of data in today’s digital age, with a special focus on research data produced in the academy, were explored in a spring semester course taught by librarians Amy Koshoffer and Mark Chalmers. A collection from the Winkler Center about the 25th General Hospital is featured, along with a shout out to Health Sciences Library namesake, Donald C. Harrison, who made a recent visit to the library. A library spotlight informs readers on the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

Posted on by
source graphic

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

In this issue of Source, Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian, writes about moving forging a path as we create our strategic plan. Readers can access the Strategic Plan to give a sense of what we accomplished in 2022/2023. Collections play a prominent theme in this issue, including in a new DAAP Library exhibit, Rediscovering Catherina van Hemmessen’s Flagellation of Christ: Women as Artists, Patrons and Rulers in Renaissance Europe, that features prints, books and manuscripts from the collections of UC Libraries and in the acquisitions of Blue Books in the Archives and Rare Books Library. Collaboration is another theme of this issue when we write about Poetry Stacked Beyond the Bookshelves and the efforts of several librarians and staff to present for school children participating in the College Mentors for Kids program. And don’t miss the article about the lost mural in the CEAS Library.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list

Announcing the 2022-2023 UC Libraries Annual Report

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annual report graphic

Beginning Anew

Announcing the 2022-2023 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Report. My tenure as dean and university librarian began in mid-August 2023, a time of great growth at the University of Cincinnati. I’ve spent these past six months learning as much as I can about the Libraries – how our mission to “empower discovery, stimulate learning and inspire the creation of knowledge by connecting students, faculty, researchers and scholars to dynamic data, information and resources” supports the university’s NEXT Lives Here Strategic Directions. Documents such as the Annual Report have been key to my education.

In this Annual Report, we look back at the top News & Events, applaud Staff Accomplishments & Milestones and look at the Libraries By the Numbers and Financially. Under the leadership of interim dean and university librarian Lori Harris, we welcomed a significant number of new librarians and staff members who will provide essential library services and research support and help move the Libraries forward. We acquired, processed, preserved and made available collections used for research. We held events to bring people into the Libraries to interact with our facilities and collections. We created welcoming places – both virtual and in-person – for people to study, research and collaborate. And, we provided our expertise to the students, faculty and researchers who rely on UC Libraries for their academic pursuits.

Looking Forward

While we celebrate the accomplishments of the past academic year, we also continue to move forward and plan for the future. This past fall we began the process of developing an updated strategic plan with goals and initiatives that will continue to advance the mission of the University of Cincinnati. This plan will build upon the successes of UC Libraries and respond to the rapidly changing landscape of higher education, as well as the increasingly diverse needs of our students, faculty and researchers. The strategic plan will be completed this summer and will guide our work for the next three years. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy reading the 2022-2023 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report.

Liz Kiscaden,
Dean and University Librarian

DAAP Library exhibit features medieval illuminated manuscripts and early modern prints from UC collections

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An exhibit on display at the entrance to the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) features 20 items of woodcuts, engravings, etchings and illuminated manuscript leaves and scrolls from the UC Art Collection and DAAP Library Special Collections. Featuring intricately designed prints and lavishly illuminated manuscripts, the exhibit explores late medieval and early modern European art in a global perspective. It focuses on the visual and material traces of social and political connections between Europe and Africa, Asia and the Americas from the 15th to 17th centuries.

The installation was curated by Aaron Cowan, director of the UC Art Collections, Galleries and Museum Studies Program, Elizabeth Meyer, head of the DAAP Library, and Christopher Platts, assistant professor of art history in the School of Art at DAAP.

scrolls

The Preservation Lab’s Jessica Ebert and Catarina Figueirinhas assisted with preparing the exhibit for display by creating housing, matting and mounts for the items, including for this parchment scroll.

The exhibition will be up through December 13, 2023.

Preservation and Exhibition: DAAP Library’s Teaching Collection and upcoming gallery talk on Dec. 5

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Reprinted from the Preservation Lab blog

For the past six months, the Preservation Lab’s Jessica Ebert and Catarina Figueirinhas have been working with the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) on housing their Teaching art collection, including prior acquisition and newly acquired items. This collection consists of different art prints on paper, print plates and manuscript parchment leaves in need of long-term housing. In addition to housing, this collection is used for teaching in a classroom setting and for exhibition.

Most of the collection only requires simple matting systems, but some require more intricate matting systems such as the copper plate along with its print, a project mentioned in a previous blog post entitled How many magnets is too many magnets!?.

As some of the items of this collection were being prepared to go on exhibit, we had the opportunity to create mounts for other items, such as two parchment scrolls that were included in the exhibit. This was a fun project to work on, as it required us to create a support that would secure both scrolls, while providing an elegant solution for display.

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