The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project

Polio is a devastating disease that is currently found in four countries in the world – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. However, this wasn’t always the case. Throughout the 20th century, polio was a disease that caused much anxiety and fear among parents all over the world. This disease was most likely to affect young children and caused paralysis, which could lead to death.

Dr. Sabin in his military uniform

During the mid-20th century, several researchers were trying to find a way to prevent more children from being affected by polio. One of the front runners, Albert B. Sabin, developed the oral polio vaccine for this purpose. Much of the research for this vaccine was done here in Cincinnati, and one of the first trials for the oral polio vaccine in the United States was held in Hamilton County. Continue reading

Want to Know the Latest in Library News?

Read Source, the UC Libraries newsletter for faculty, students, staff, and friends.

This volume celebrates the 10th anniversary of our newsletter. To mark this important milestone, the cover has been redesigned to bring more attention to the cover image. And what a perfect image to highlight this issue than that of our grand, new sculpture found in Langsam Library – Triceracopter.

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T. M Berry Project: Alpha Phi Alpha

By: Laura Laugle

It (finally!) stopped raining long enough for me to transport some photos from here in the Blegen Library across campus to the Langsam Library to Preservation Services. My favorite among the photos needing repair work are some wonderful panoramic photos from the 1930s of both the Cincinnati chapter and annual conventions of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s first intercollegiate fraternity for African American men. These photos are quite large, around 30-46 inches long and are beautifully done group shots of the members in their spiffiest attire. While those materials are currently undergoing restoration, I would still like to share with you a number of other items I’ve found relating to AΦA. Continue reading

T. M. Berry Project: Keeping Busy

By Laura Laugle

I don’t know about you, but when I think of retirement I think of time spent relaxing with cool drinks in a warm climate (at least, I think that’d be the ideal for many of us.) Apparently, Theodore M. Berry didn’t think so. If what I’ve lately found in the collection which he donated to the University of Cincinnati is any indication, I think I can safely say that Berry’s retirement, though most assuredly rewarding, was no walk in the park – not even when he took the neighbor’s dog out for a walk.

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Next Life of the Mind Lecture Scheduled for May 10

The second in the Life of the Mind lecture series on the theme “technology” is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10 at 3:30-5pm in the Russell C. Myers Alumni Center. Free and open to the UC community and public, Life of the Mind features interdisciplinary conversations with UC faculty around a one-word theme. Each quarter, there are two Life of the Mind sessions with three “thought provocateurs” contributing to each session. Each scholar provides a 15-minute talk followed by audience Q&A.

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New University Archives Exhibit Highlights Fraternity and Sorority Life

By: Janice Schulz

In a continuing effort to showcase student life at the University of Cincinnati, the Archives and Rare Books Library has created an exhibit documenting the history of fraternities and sororities from 1882 to today. Going Greek: Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Cincinnati offers a historical view into the development of the Greek system at UC and its growth (and growing pains) as it became a social vehicle at the University and then settled into the comfortable position it enjoys today.

Started in 1882 with the establishment of the Sigma Chi fraternity, the Greek system grew steadily in the following decades to become the primary social force at UC in the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s. Political and social unrest in the 1960s forced the Greeks to redefine themselves and their values, creating a system more like what we know now. Continue reading