T. M. Berry Project: Proportional Representation in Cincinnati

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By Laura Laugle

A large part of Theodore M. Berry’s work in obtaining equality for African Americans in Ohio and especially in Cincinnati centered on the electoral process. The “Berry Backers” frequently ran “Get out the Vote” type events throughout the 1940s and 1950s, using the lure of bowling tournaments and visiting speakers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to encourage blacks to work with the systems in place and become involved in the political process. It should then come as no surprise that Berry spent many years fighting for what he believed to be the fairest system of voting – proportional representation.

Bowling Team

The “Berry Backers” bowling team at one of their many events

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A Life in Music and Education: The Eleanor M. Allen Papers

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By Lauren Fink

The Archives and Rare Books Library recently processed a collection containing artifacts of and relating to Eleanor Moore Allen.

Eleanor Allen, originally from Linneas, Missouri, was a student at the Cincinnati College of Music in the 1930s.  She was also a staff singer at WLW Radio in Cincinnati and a record producer at the Victor Record Division of RCA in New York City. In the 1950s, Allen returned to the College-Conservatory of Music, working as an administrator, Dean of Women, and Director of the Preparatory Department. She was a member of the Alumni Board of Governors and the Mu Phi Epsilon Professional Music Sorority. After retirement from CCM in 1980, Allen worked as an assistant to David McLain, Cincinnati Ballet’s artistic director, for four years.  She died in 2003 at the age of 93. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: An Update on the Tuskegee Airmen Court Martial of 1945

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By Laura Laugle

I recently came across a transcription of a deposition which Theodore M. Berry gave after being subpoenaed for the school desegregation case Bronson v. Board of Education of Cincinnati. During that deposition and much to Berry’s annoyance at what he called the “terrific waste” of everyone’s time and money, lawyers from all sides of the case had Berry go into great detail about many aspects of his life. He told of his time at the Stowe School, he told of his work as a young lawyer and he told of the Tuskegee Airman case.

General Daniel “Chappie” James, photo courtesy of the United States Air Force Museum

“There were occasions in the early days during the period of Thurgood Marshall, when he was the special counsel, this goes back before the war, when I have been consulted, but never was a counsel of record in any case, except a very celebrated court-martial, in which I served as chief counsel in representation of a group of Negro officers who were being court-martialed because they protested against the segregated officers’ quarters. I was chief counsel, Lieutenant William T. Coleman, who more recently was Secretary of Transportation, was military counsel associated with me, and one of the defendants who were acquitted became one of the first black Air Force generals, General Chappie Jones (James), he was one of the officers. He later acknowledged had he not been acquitted at that court-martial, he might not have become a general.” Continue reading →

Another Alma Mater Moment

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By Kevin Grace

Following up on the 1935 postcard of the last days of UC’s original building in last week’s ARB blogs, here are a couple more ephemeral treasures.  In this age of various tobacco prohibitions in our culture, we’re a bit surprised when we chance upon the reminders of commonplace tobacco use from a century ago.  For most of its history, the UC community treated smoking as just another part of campus life.  In our not-so-distant past there were “butt huts” scattered around campus where smokers could stand sheltered from the rain and snow, but certainly not from the cold and gloom. Continue reading →

The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project: Connecting Collections

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Letter from Dr. Walters to Dr. Sabin, March 6, 1960

Among some of Dr. Sabin’s general files is a letter exchange between him and Dr. Raymond Walters, who was President of the University of Cincinnati from 1932 until 1955. These two short letters, dated March 1960, discuss an upcoming engagement where Dr. Sabin was speaking. These letters piqued my interest because the Archives and Rare Books Library on the University of Cincinnati campus has President Emeritus Walters’s manuscript collection (UA-73-20). I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of Dr. Walters’s diaries to get an outside perspective on Dr. Sabin. Continue reading →

HSL Website Switching to HTML

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On Wednesday August 17th at 9 am,  the Health Sciences Library website is switching from using Cold Fusion to HTML.

What does this switch mean?

It means that the URL extensions for HSL web pages will switch from .cfm to .html.   For example:

http://libraries.uc.edu/hsl/reference/elec/Etext.cfm

will switch to

http://libraries.uc.edu/hsl/reference/elec/Etext.html

It also means that if you have bookmarked any HSL internal web pages, you will need to update your bookmarks.

There may be a brief period during the transition when HSL web pages are unavailable.  Once the page redirection is in place, access should return to normal. We will be checking behind the scenes for access issues throughout the day and the rest of the week.

If you have any questions or discover an access issue, please contact Edith Starbuck at 513-558-1433 or edith.starbuck@uc.edu.

The Ohio Electronic Records Committee

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By Janice Schulz

The Ohio Electronic Records Committee (OhioERC) is a statewide group of records managers, archivists, legal professionals, and information technology professionals devoted to providing guidance for the management of electronic records in Ohio’s state agencies. There are currently twenty members, including representatives from state, county, and local government and Ohio’s public universities. University of Cincinnati Records Manager Janice Schulz has served on the OhioERC since 2006 and was elected as Secretary in 2008. Continue reading →

University Architect Records

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By Janice Schulz

The Archives & Rare Books Library has numerous collections from the Office of the University Architect with records of capital construction, renovation, and special projects dating from 1944 to 2003. The University Architect oversees all aspects of UC’s physical space, and manages the divisions of Planning+Design+Construction, Renovations, Special Projects, Real Estate, Sustainability, Environmental Graphics, and Space Management. The records in our collections document dealings with architects, construction companies, utilities, regulators, and internal planning committees. Included are copies of contracts, proposals, correspondence, meeting minutes, working designs, plans, specifications and drawings, photographs, test and inspection reports, and status reports. Continue reading →

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols Now Available

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The Cold Spring Harbor Protocols journal is now available at http://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/

A definitive source of research methods in cell, developmental and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, computational biology, immunology, neuroscience and imaging, each monthly issue provides new and well-established techniques.

Access Cold Spring Harbor Protocols via the eJournals page, the Library Catalog or bookmark it at http://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/ today.

If you’re accessing Cold Spring Harbor Protocols from off campus, remember to log into the proxy server or the VPN first.  If you have Windows 7, log into the VPN via your computer’s Start button.

LearningExpress Library: Job and Career Accelerator

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By Lauren Wahman
Job & Career Accelerator Logo

Are you searching for a job?  Or, are you just getting started on figuring out which career might be right for you?  The UC Libraries have a resource that will help you do all of that and more plus you can use it anywhere that you have Internet access!    The Job & Career Accelerator is now available through LearningExpress Library (a UC Libraries database) and it’s FREE for UC students.  You can find information on over 1,000 different occupations, access skills tests, search over 5 million job postings, create professional resumes and cover letters, and get tips and advice.  Plus, it keeps your job search information organized in one place!

Questions? Ask a friendly RWC Librarian

Visit: 117 Muntz Hall
Call: 745-5710
Web: www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/rwc
Email: rwclibrary@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu