CEAS Library displays Cincinnati Industrial Exposition tokens from 1870-1874 

ceas displayThe Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI), founded in 1828, is one of the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s (CEAS) source institutions and provided vital technical education during the early development of Cincinnati. In 1870, OMI partnered with the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce to present the first “Grand Industrial Exposition.” These showcases attracted exhibitors nationwide representing industrial developments and artistic achievements of the day. 

Commemorative tokens from the expositions were adorned with visual reminders of the events. Many of the tokens feature the buildings that housed the exposition, such as the Saengerfest Hall, a structure that sat at the intersection of Elm and 14th streets. Other common symbols found on tokens represent the industrial exposition subjects: agriculture, science, art, and learning. 

A sampling of these tokens are currently on display in the CEAS Library.

The Illustrated Human. Register for an up-close-and-personal look of Vesalius’s groundbreaking 16th-century anatomy book

fabricaThe Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions invites you, as part of its Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius lecture and exhibit series, to register for an up-close-personal look at Vesalius’s 1543 and 1555 editions of De humani corporis fabrica (“On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books”). “Fabrica” was the most extensive and accurate description of the human body of its time. Most likely drawn by Vesalius colleague Jan Stephan a Calcar and Italian artist Titian, “Fabrica” is widely known for its illustrations, where skeletons and bodies with exposed muscular structures pose in scenic, pastoral settings.

Renowned Vesalius Scholar, Dr. Stephen Joffe will be at the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions to remove the books from their cases and to share his thoughts and answer questions while leafing through their beautifully illustrated pages.

We invite you to attend at least one of these rare and intimate encounters with a book that changed not only the history of medicine and anatomy, but also how we as humans see our own bodies.

Dates: Tuesdays, Nov. 23, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14

Time: 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Place: Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library/Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions

Please call or e-mail to make your reservation: (513)558-5120 or chhp@uc.edu

A full schedule of the Illustrated Human lectures, event location and registration details, as well as information about the accompanying exhibits, is included on the Vesalius web page.

UC Libraries closed Thursday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.

veterans day graphicUC Libraries will be closed Thursday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day.

Regular library hours will resume Friday, Nov. 12.

To learn more about veterans at UC, check out this online exhibit from the Archives and Rare Books Library entitled “School & Country: Military Life at the University of Cincinnati.”

The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius second lecture scheduled for Nov. 16

vesalius illustrationsThe Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati Libraries and the College of Medicine are hosting a series of lectures and exhibits exploring the Renaissance anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius (December 1514 – June 1564). Vesalius revolutionized the study and practice of medicine with his careful descriptions and anatomical studies of the human body published in “De humani corporis fabrica libri septem” (“On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books”).

Join us for the second lecture in the six-part series – “Making the Fabrica: The Illustrations, Printing, Binding & Publication.” Award-winning cultural historian Dániel Margócsy, PhD, University of Cambridge, will describe the creation of the “Fabrica.” Dr. Margócsy will be joined by Gabrielle Fox, a Cincinnati book binding and preservation expert, who will discuss the bindings of the first and second editions that will be on public display in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library.

The lecture, free and open to the public, will be held Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, 231 Albert Sabin Way. In-person activities will be provided under CDC guidelines or local COVID-19 restrictions, with the well-being of all guests remaining the top priority. View UC’s current COVID-19 updates.  For those not wishing to attend in person, the lectures will be live streamed via Zoom.

Register to attend the lecture.

Accompanying the lectures, the Winkler Center will display a series of rotating exhibits corresponding to the lectures:

  • November 16: The “Fabrica”
  • December 14: The Impact of the “Fabrica” and Dissemination of Vesalius’s Ideas
  • January 18: The Third Edition
  • February 15: The “Fabrica’s” Organ Systems
  • March 15: Teaching Anatomy through the Ages

More information is available on the Vesalius website.

The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius is sponsored by Stephen and Sandra Joffe.

The World of Color – New Langsam Library exhibit showcases the work of Isay Balinkin

An exhibit on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library showcases the work of University of Cincinnati professor Isay Balinkin, a pioneer in the field of color studies. From being an impassioned teacher, awarded the prestigious Godlove Award for his lifelong contributions to color in art, science and industry, Balinkin’s impact was far reaching. His colorful book collection is available for use and study in the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library, while his personal communication, lab notes and various other belongings are available for research in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

graphic of isay balinkin

Continue reading

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report, 2019-2020: A Year Like No Other

annual progress report graphicWhat a year it’s been.

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Progress Report, this year completely online, covers July 2019 through June 2020, an academic year that started off normally, but in the spring would be disrupted in ways never thought possible because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fall semester was business as usual with students, faculty, researchers and staff accessing our facilities and resources for research and study, or simply to grab a cup of coffee between classes. Librarians and staff provided instruction on how to find the best research materials, offered reference assistance, collected and made our collections available and collaborated with faculty and researchers to translate information and data into knowledge. The usual activities in the library would come to a sudden halt spring semester.

This year’s report reviews how we responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it also celebrates our numerous accomplishments, highlights new special collections and library exhibits, spotlights the achievements of our faculty and staff and provides usage stats and financial information.

As the semester and 2020 come to a close, we wish you warm wishes for the holiday season. May the new year bring you health, harmony and joy.

Votes for Women exhibit chronicles the U.S. Women’s Suffrage Movement

votes for women graphicTo mark the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment, the University of Cincinnati Libraries presented Votes for Women, an exhibit that was on display on the 5th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library beginning March 1. The exhibit is now available for viewing online – Votes for Women.

The exhibit chronicles the timeline of the women’s suffrage fight starting in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. It includes milestones, setbacks and contentions along the way, including after the Civil War when the movement found itself divided over the issue of voting rights for Black men, thus resulting in a split in the group fighting for women’s suffrage. After a national vote was defeated in 1886, the suffragists changed their strategy from attempting to get a national amendment passed to instead gaining women’s voting rights state-by-state in hopes that a national amendment would follow. The timeline concludes with the passing of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920. While ultimately successful, the American Women’s Suffrage Movement was not without its detractors nor did it include all women. Both of these issues are addressed in the exhibit.

Votes for Women was curated by Sally Moffitt, reference librarian and selector, and Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communication. It was designed by Emily Young, UC Libraries communication design co-op student. For more information on women’s suffrage a bliography of books, articles and online resources from UC Libraries is available.

 

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

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

In this issue of Source, Dean Xuemao Wang remarks on the national and global protests sparked off by the May 25th murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and how libraries must join the fight against systemic racism.

Read about how when UC Libraries closed its physical locations in mid-March in response to COVID-19, student supervisors transitioned quickly not just their own work online, but that of their library student workers. In addition, this issue highlights work to provide library services and resources online to UC faculty and staff during a crisis.

While working remotely, consider suggestions of resource and tools from Maggie Patel, business and data analytics librarian. Download Libraries backgrounds for your next Zoom meeting or spend time with the labor collections in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

Elizabeth Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press, announces the launch of Platforms and Pathways in Social Innovation as part of the Press’s dynamic, open access publishing platform.

While the University of Cincinnati Libraries remains open and available online to provide users with access to library resources and services, the Click & Collect retrieval and pickup service allows UC users to request print library materials in the Library Catalog for pickup at designated library locations.

Lastly, in this issue of Source, we remind UC faculty and staff to submit their 2019 creative and scholarly works for including in the re-imagined Life of the Mind.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

Standing in solidarity against systemic racism

The University of Cincinnati Libraries supports our colleagues from the American Library Association and the Association of Research Libraries in their statements and actions against racism and violence perpetrated against black men and women and all people of color. We agree with President Neville Pinto’s message “that the time to act is now.” As libraries, we provide access to resources and information professionals so that citizens can educate themselves on how to contribute to meaningful change and combat systemic racism.

stamped from the beginningBelow is a short list of UC Libraries resources. While some do require UC affiliation, there are others that are open access. It contains a mix of current and historical perspectives as this is not a new issue our country is confronting, but the time to listen and to learn is now. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but a starting point for education and conversation.  

Videos

Current exhibit on display in the Walter C. Langsam Library

women of the movement graphic

The Urban Studies Collection of the Archives and Rare Books Library holds information on two of the women featured in the exhibit, Louise Shropshire, originator of the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome,” and Marian Spencer, local Civil Rights icon, as well as Theodore “Ted” Berry, the first African American mayor of Cincinnati.

The University of Cincinnati Press

  • Issues in Race and Society, biannual journal distinguishes itself as an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and global examination of the increasingly racial and racialized world that connects us all.

Life of the Mind lecture re-imagined to include celebration of UC scholarship

Call for submissions from UC faculty and staff of 2019 creative and scholarly works by June 30.

publicationsThe University of Cincinnati Libraries is collaborating with the Faculty Senate, the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost and the Faculty Enrichment Center to bring back the popular Authors, Editors & Composers event and exhibit last held in 2013 and incorporate it into the Life of the Mind lecture series.

The re-imagined Life of the Mind will create one event that will celebrate the achievements of UC’s artists, authors, editors and composers together with a presentation by a distinguished faculty member and panel discussion to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on an emergent theme.

Still named Life of the Mind, the event is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, in the Faculty Enrichment Center. An exhibit of faculty and staff submitted works and compositions will be on display at the event and then moved the following day for public display in the Walter C. Langsam Library’s fourth and fifth floor lobbies. The organizers are prepared to move the event and exhibit fully online if circumstances dictate the necessity to do so.

life of the mind logoTo include 2019 creative and scholarly works, UC faculty and staff are invited to submit via an online form by June 30. Include only those works performed or published between January 2019 and December 2019. Submissions are limited to three per category per artist, author, editor or composer. Categories may include: books, book chapters, journal articles, editing, artwork, photography, plays, musical scores, CDs or DVDs.

It is from the submitted works that the Life of the Mind Steering Committee will select the featured faculty speaker to give the Life of the Mind lecture.

The mission of Life of the Mind remains to celebrate UC research, scholarship and creative output and to foster the free and open exchange of ideas and discourse.

Questions? Contact Melissa Cox Norris, (513)556-1558 or melissa.norris@uc.edu.