Metropolitan Museum of Art archival collections of interest to Museum Studies students

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives is pleased to announce that two recently processed collections are now open for scholarly research:

 Durr Friedley Records, 1906-1918

Durr Friedley was a staff member of the Department of Decorative Arts of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1911 until 1917, serving as an assistant, Assistant Curator and Acting Curator. Records consist primarily of correspondence regarding prospective Museum acquisitions. Items of special interest include letters concerning the Museum’s acquisition of early American colonial furnishings, later displayed in the American Wing.

Finding aid: http://libmma.org/digital_files/archives/Durr_Friedley_records_b1717476.pdf

 William Church Osborn Records, 1904-1953 William Church Osborn was a longtime trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art who also served as the institution’s Vice President, President and Honorary President. Records consist primarily of correspondence regarding all aspects of Museum operations including acquisitions, exhibitions, fundraising, buildings and trustee affairs.

Finding aid: http://libmma.org/digital_files/archives/William_Church_Osborn_records_b1717230.pdf

 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives

The objective of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives is to collect, organize, and preserve in perpetuity the corporate records and official correspondence of the Museum, to make the collection accessible and provide research support, and to further an informed and enduring understanding of the Museum’s history. Archives holdings include Board of Trustees records, legal documents, Museum publications, office files of selected Museum staff, architectural drawings, press clippings, and ephemera. The Archives is accessible to Museum staff and to qualified scholarly researchers at the graduate level and above. Requests for access should be sent via email, and should include a brief summary of the research project, an outline of sources already consulted and a curriculum vitae or resume. Access is granted at the discretion of Archives staff, and certain materials may be restricted.

Website: http://libmma.org/portal/museum-archives/

Email: archives@metmuseum.org<mailto:archives@metmuseum.org>.

Celebrating Women's History in the Archives & Rare Books Library

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The Cover of Woman Triumphant by Rudolph Cronau, published in 1919.

The Cover of Woman Triumphant by Rudolph Cronau, published in 1919.

Since 1980 the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) has designated the month of March as a time to celebrate women’s history. The celebration began in 1980 when President Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. In 1987 Congress extended it to the entire month thanks to successful lobbying efforts by the NWHP.

The 2010 Women’s History Month theme is “Writing Women Back into History.” According to the NWHP, “It often seems that the history of women is written in invisible ink. Even when recognized in their own times, women are frequently left out of the history books.” Continue reading →

Former President Nancy Zimpher's Papers in the University Archives

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The Office of the President recently transferred nineteen boxes of papers from former UC President Nancy Zimpher for inclusion in the University Archives Collection. President Zimpher, UC’s first woman president, served the University from October 2003 to May 2009, when she resigned to become Chancellor of the State University of New York system.

The new collection, accessioned as UA-10-01, mainly consists of the hundreds of speeches that President Zimpher made between 2004 and 2007. She was a popular sought-after speaker, averaging one speech a day to both campus groups and outside organizations. Also included are subject files from her work with The Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and The Brookings Institute, as well as various publications from 2005-2009.

The Archives holds two other collections of President Zimpher’s papers as well:  Collection Number UA-09-24 contains calendars from 2003-2009, and Collection Number UA-06-07 contains office files from 2003-2006. Finding aids for all of the collections can be found on the Archives & Rare Books Library website at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/UACollectionRecords.html.

– Janice Schulz

Sam the Scaramouch - Cincinnati's 19th Century Satirical Tabloid

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sam1a_webFor thirteen months between February 1885 and February 1886, a tabloid publication in Cincinnati published a wide range of articles, cartoons, editorials, and stories that lampooned American life.  No topic or person escaped the sharp wit of Sam the Scaramouch, and for the short time this weekly newspaper was in existence, its editors took on national tariffs, elections from Cincinnati to Washington, the temperance issue, urban sophisticates and country bumpkins, race and ethnicity, and, a growing national obsession with sports.  Grover Cleveland was president.  European colonization of Africa was in full force.  The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York, and Ulysses S. Grant died.  And, in many ways, Sam was like other newspapers around the country in covering these events, carrying local advertisements and notices, and publishing occasional doggerel and short fiction, and reflecting the “new” journalistic Realism. Continue reading →

JAMAevidence Now Available

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Image of the JAMAevidence logo

Now available, JAMAevidence is an online interactive tool designed to help students and clinicians learn the best practice of evidence-based medicine.   This electronic tool provides full-text access to the content in the second edition of The User’s Guides to the Medical Literature and The Rational Clinical Examination.

Bookmark these URLs or go to the Health Sciences Library home page at http://libraries.uc.edu/hsl/ and click on EBM Resources and the letter J at the top of the page.

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

Hamilton County Morgue Records Offer Unique Perspective on Social History

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morgue_scan2As part of the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers, the Archives and Rare Books Library holds Hamilton County Morgue records spanning the years 1887-1930. Despite the rather gloomy first impression that these 21 volumes may give, they offer valuable information for use in social research.

The office of Coroner is one of the oldest in the State of Ohio, dating back to a 1788 ordinance of the Northwest Territory, which provided that the Governor appoint a coroner for each county to serve a term of two years. The purpose of the Coroner in the early days was to preside over inquests held over bodies believed to have been victims of criminal violence. Continue reading →

The Eugene Ruehlmann Papers Show the Dramatic Changes in Cincinnati in the 1960s

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The construction of Riverfront Stadium, June 1969, from the Municipal Reference Library Collection in the Urban Studies Collection. This collection is not processed.The 1960s were a tumultuous time in American history, and the city of Cincinnati was not immune to the changes during this decade. Riots displayed the city’s difficult race relations, the Bengals brought professional football to the city, Riverfront Stadium was built and changed the layout of the riverfront, and the city of Cincinnati grappled with urban renewal. Each of these events is documented in the papers of Eugene Ruehlmann, which are housed in the Archives and Rare Books Library’s Urban Studies Collection. Continue reading →