Tag Archives: Just Interesting

Source, UC Libraries Newsletter Available

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Want to Know the Latest in Library News? Read Source, the UC Libraries newsletter for faculty, students, staff, and friends.

This volume announces the availability of the papers of Theodore M. Berry in the Archives and Rare Books Library. Berry (1905-2000) was the first African American mayor in Cincinnati, served the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential administration in civil rights programs, and was an active attorney for the NAACP. The Berry papers, acquired by the UC Libraries many years ago, were able to be fully processed through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives. The materials are now available for research and teaching. Continue reading →

Does the Magic 8 Ball have a UC connection? Signs Point to Yes.

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By Janice Schulz

At the Archives & Rare Books Library we frequently get requests asking us to verify that a certain individual attended UC or one of its predecessor schools. Recently a call came in asking us to substantiate a claim found on the internet that Abe Bookman, creator of the Magic 8 Ball, was a graduate of the Ohio Mechanics Institute (OMI). Generally this is an easy task – we simply look in alumni directories, yearbooks or commencement brochures for the person – but Abe proved to be a bit more elusive than most. With no attendance dates to go by, we started pouring through all of the resources we have for OMI using his birth date and the Magic 8 Ball’s introduction as guides, but to no avail. After further research, the reason for his elusiveness began to become clearer – at some point around 1936, we believe he Anglicized his surname from Buchmann to Bookman. He seemed to use both names until around 1955, eventually dropping Buchmann and exclusively using Bookman. That research also uncovered some interesting details about his life. Continue reading →

Edythe Klumpp and the "Case of the Century"

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By Janice Schulz

Every city in every era seems to have its “Crime of the Century” and during the 1950s in Cincinnati, that was the 1958 murder of Louise Bergen, a Cincinnati housewife.  The trial of her accused killer, Edythe Klumpp, was held during the summer of 1959. The case was sensational for many reasons – a “love triangle” between Edythe, Louise, and Louise’s husband, Bill Bergen; Edythe’s history of two divorces and other affairs; the participation of Foss Hopkins, Edythe’s defense attorney; the specter of the death penalty for a woman; and the controversial role of Ohio Governor Michael DiSalle in Edythe’s ultimate fate.

Edythe Klumpp Booking

Edythe Klumpp’s booking photographs. From the collection of the UC Archives & Rare Books Library

Louise Bergen’s body was found burned near the public beach at Cowen Lake on the evening of November 1, 1958. The subsequent investigation zeroed in on Bill Bergen’s live-in lover, Edythe Klumpp, who confessed after failing a lie detector test. Edythe claimed that the killing was accidental, that a gun went off during a struggle and hit Louise in the throat. But Hamilton County Prosecutor C. Watson Hover disagreed, charging her with first degree murder and seeking the death penalty.

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Love and Romance

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By Janice Schulz

In honor of St. Valentine’s Day, the Archives & Rare Books Library is highlighting some of our holdings related to love, romance, and marriage.  Like the course of romance itself, our material can run the gamut from wonderful, to bittersweet, to downright tragic.

The March's from Their Wedding Journey

Basil and Isabel March rest in the Boston ticket office before continuing Their Wedding Journey.

Their Wedding Journey, written by William Dean Howells in 1871, chronicles the expedition of newlyweds Basil and Isabel March, a European couple taking their honeymoon in North America. The March’s are beyond the “standard,” age of newlyweds, having had some fits and starts in their relationship before finally tying the knot, and as such, they wish to behave with a bit more maturity than the average honeymooners. Disembarking in Boston (where, on a local note, conversation from the ticket counter leads them to believe that “it is easy enough to buy a ticket in Cincinnati, but it is somewhat harder to arrive there”) their plans take them through New York, to Niagara, Montreal, and finally Quebec. The story is one of a truly contented couple. Upon arriving home, “Their holiday was over to be sure, but their bliss had but begun; they had entered upon that long life of holidays which is happy marriage.” The book is available in the ARB Rare Books collection, cataloged as PS2025 .T58 1871.

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Charles Dickens, the Serial Man

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By Kevin Grace

Edwind Drood CoverPart of Charles Dickens’ immense success as an author in the 19th century was due in no small measure to the changes in book production and readership brought on by the Industrial Revolution.  Steam printing increased book production.  Cheap availability of books, along with the development of libraries and public schooling, led to increased readership.  Coming into his own in writing his novels, Dickens took advantage of a growing demand on the part of readers for fiction.  And, as the consummate marketer of his works, Dickens had his finger on the pulse of all of this.

By 1836, he had compiled his writings that formed Sketches by Boz into a single volume, realizing that he could build his popularity and create a market for his fiction by publishing serial chapters.  The next year, 1837, Dickens became the editor for Bentley’s Miscellany and began issuing chapters of Oliver Twist.  Acutely aware of his reputation and the acclaim given him by the reading public, Dickens made at least four separate arrangements with publishers to serialize his work.  Continue reading →

A Charles Dickens February

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By Kevin Grace

Drawing by CruikshankIn our Dickens scene for today, young Oliver watches the Dodger pickpocket a gentleman at a newsstand, an image drawn by London caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1878).  Cruikshank penned scathing cartoons in which he lampooned the well-heeled set of London as well as the denizens of despair, and it is these drawings which have made his lasting reputation for 19th century English social and political commentary.   Cruikshank also illustrated several books by Dickens and, in fact, toward the end of his life he claimed that it was he who devised the plot of Oliver Twist.  Dickens, as one would expect, viewed these literary matters quite differently and was rather miffed at Cruickshank anyway because the artist gave up a life of mild debauchery to reject the drink and to squelch discussion of his numerous illegitimate offspring with his mistress, Adelaide Attree.  Dickens thought imbibing in moderation was quite all right.  We shan’t say whether it was for alcohol or keeping paramours. Continue reading →

The End of the World? December 17, 1919?

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While perusing the Cincinnati Observatory records, I ran into this time-sensitive letter from Mrytle Riley of the Western Electric Company in Cincinnati, which seems very appropriate for this apocalyptic year.  (If you haven’t heard, according to the Mayans, the world is supposed to end in 2012.  For more information, read an explanation in UC Magazine.)    Mrytle Riley had heard that the world was going to end on December 17, 1919 and contacted the observatory to find out if this was true. Continue reading →

LiBLOG Considered Among the Best in Cincinnati

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How pleased we bloggers at UC Libraries were to learn that our very own LiBLOG, the UC Libraries blog, made Cincinnati Magazine’s “Best of Cincinnati, 2011” list. Below is the entry:

Peek into the Archives – OK, we’re geeks. We love LiBlog, the UC libraries blog. When Kevin Grace shared a postcard from his personal collection showing the original University Building on the eve of its demolition, we were charmed beyond reason. Why? As Kevin writes: “Before demolition, a UC alum with fond memories of his alma mater requested of a friend that some bricks be sent to him. When he received them, Joseph Strauss placed them in a pylon of a bridge he was building. So, there is a little bit of UC’s heart in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.” Go ‘cats, indeed.

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Next LIFE OF THE MIND Lecture Series Scheduled for today, November 29

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The second in the “Life of the Mind” lecture series on the theme of “War” is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29 from 3:30-5pm in the Russell C. Myers Alumni Center. This event will also be live streamed via the libraries web site here. 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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