Oh Paoletta!

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Mark Palkovic, Head of the CCM Library, with the bust of Pietro Floridia

Mark Palkovic, Head of the CCM Library, with the bust of Pietro Floridia

It’s a total bust!  Really.  A bronze sculpture of composer Pietro Floridia has been donated to the University of Cincinnati and has found a home in the Gorno Memorial Music Library in the Blegen Library Building.  The setting is entirely appropriate because back in 2004, the UC Libraries were about to add the 3,000,000th volume to its collections, with the desire that this addition be suitably rare and unusual, and, reflect the University’s historical ties to the City of Cincinnati.  Dean Victoria A. Montavon marked this noteworthy event by designating the purchase of a collection of music, costume drawings, and documents of the opera, Paoletta, composed by Floridia as the official “Three Millionth.”  The materials joined the collections in the UC Libraries’ Archives & Rare Books Library. Continue reading →

College of Business Publications and Photographs

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The Archives & Rare Books Library recently processed a collection of publications and photographs from the College of Business. Publications cover the years 2006-2008 and include postcards, brochures, advertisements, announcements, news releases, and other miscellaneous pieces. Photographs cover the years 1997-2001 and concentrate on Graduate/MBA activities such as graduation, international trips, and celebrations. The two-box collection has been accessioned as UA-10-07. A finding aid is available on the Archives & Rare Books Library website at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/documents/UA-10-07CollegeofBusiness.pdf and on OhioLink’s Finding Aid Repository at http://rave.ohiolink.edu/archives/ead/OhCiUAR0209.   Continue reading →

ARB Intern Project Near Completion

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The Archives & Rare Books Library’s 2009-2010 intern is headed toward the completion of her special project.  Lilia Walsh, a University of Cincinnati Honors student, has been working for the past nine months on compiling an annotated bibliography and web exhibit of ARB’s rare books on William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Morris (1834-1896) was an artist, designer, writer, and socialist in England, and a giant presence in the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts & Crafts art worlds, particularly with his emphasis on a resurgence in craftsmanship.  Continue reading →

Former UC Prez Nancy Zimpher Joins ARB Staff

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Nancy Zimpher and Kathleen ForsteIn April, the Archives & Rare Books Library staff was bolstered by the addition of former University of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher.  Zimpher served as UC’s chief executive from 2003 to 2009 and was referred to ARB by the campus office of the president in University Pavilion.  Dr. Zimpher is currently welcoming students and researchers as they enter the archives reference area, so we encourage everyone to stop by and say hello.  She has been accessioned as UA-10-06 and will be a permanent member of the University Archives.  In this accompanying image, Dr. Zimpher has her picture taken with student worker Kathleen Forste.

– Kevin Grace

McMicken Will Notice Found in Cincinnati German Newspaper

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Charles McMicken

Charles McMicken

This past Tuesday when Professor Richard Schade was examining early Cincinnati German newspapers in the Archives & Rare Books Library, he came across an interesting item: a notice about Charles McMicken’s will in the April 1858 issue of Protestantische Zeitblatter. Considered the founder of the University of Cincinnati, McMicken died of pneumonia on March 30, 1858. His will stipulated a bequest to the City of Cincinnati to found a university, and after several fits and starts, UC was officially established in 1870.  Continue reading →

An Unexpected View of Blegen Library

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Two years ago when CCM Librarian Mark Palkovic worked with a UC architecture seminar on historic preservation on projects that created designs for an academic music library, there was an unexpected bonus for the University Archives.  The students’ projects centered on using the abandoned University YMCA building at the south end of campus to imagine its adaptive reuse as a library and performance space. Continue reading →

Libraries Awarded NEH Grant to Digitize the Correspondence and Photographs of Albert B. Sabin

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Albert SabinThe University of Cincinnati Libraries have received a $314,258 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to digitize the correspondence and photographs of Albert B. Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine and distinguished service professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Research Foundation from 1939-1969.

The primary source documents to be digitized include 35,000 letters totaling 50,000 pages of correspondence between Sabin and political, cultural, social, and scientific leaders around the world. Also included will be 1,000 photographs documenting the events and activities worldwide that were part of Sabin’s crusade to eradicate polio.

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Former Interim President Monica Rimai's Speeches and Appearances

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The Archives & Rare Books Library has completed processing one box of speeches and appearance records of former Interim President Monica Rimai. Rimai joined the University in 2005 and had served as Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance since 2006. The Board of Trustees named her Interim President in March 2009 after Nancy Zimpher resigned to become Chancellor of the State University of New York system. Rimai served as Interim President from June 1, 2009 until November 1, 2009, when President Gregory H. Williams began his tenure. Rimai resigned her position as Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance in the fall of 2009 to become Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer of the State University of New York system. Continue reading →

New German American Online Exhibit on the ARB Web Page

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The Archives & Rare Books Library has added a new exhibit to its German Americana Collection and Urban Studies Collection web pages.  Gemutlikeit, Schnitzelbank, and Kitsch: German American Caricature in Vintage Postcards explores the creation and perpetuation of German American ethnic stereotypes through cartoon images found on popular postcards in the 20th century.  More than fifty cards illustrating a public view of a major ethnic group are included in the exhibit. Continue reading →

UC Libraries Put 16th-Century Spanish Antiphoner Online

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Spanish AntiphonerThe University of Cincinnati Libraries have made available via the Digital Projects Web site the Spanish Antiphoner, a 16th-century Gregorian chant choir book handwritten on vellum pages approximately 16 by 24 inches in diameter with neumatic notation and illuminated capitals.  Pages 65 through 72 of the choir book are missing, but 242 pages remain intact. 

Available online at http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/spanishantiphoner/index.asp, the Spanish Antiphoner can be viewed in its entirety as both PDF (download Adobe Acrobat Reader) files or by using Book Reader software. When viewing the Spanish Antiphoner through the Digital Projects database option, viewers can view thumbnails and large versions of the images, and then can rotate, zoom in and out, magnify particular areas, download, and print the images.

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