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Archives and Rare Books Library received national grant to process historic Cincinnati schools desegregation case records
By Christopher Harter, Julianna Witt and Melissa Cox Norris Last September, The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) awarded the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library a $109,349 grant to support a project to complete archival processing of the records of the Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP related to the 1974 Bronson v. Cincinnati Board of Education, the city’s most significant legal case in the fight for school desegregation. Filed in 1974, the Bronson case was not the first litigation to address segregation and discrimination in the Cincinnati Public Schools, but it was the first to create some accountability for the Cincinnati School Board. Housed in the…
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Social activist with a press
Reprinted from a Sept. 30 LiBlog post by Chris Harter, university archivist and head of the Archives & Rare Books Library “I use letterpress printing, but I use it to disrupt the segregated realms of fine printing and artists’ books.”–excerpt from “My Manifesto” in the new book Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer To read Amos Kennedy’s manifesto is to glimpse into the passion and love that Kennedy holds for letterpress printing and his sincere belief in the power of the printing press. Kennedy is one of the leading practitioners of letterpress printing today, known mainly for his bold stylistic technique that foregrounds powerful messages against a colorful backdrop. He…
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Details of 1929 Ohio murder case in recent media spotlight
By Christopher Harter, University Archivist and Head of the Archives and Rare Books Library “Details of Scandalous Hix-Snook Murder Trial Lives on in UC Library.” This headline appeared atop a May 2024 Cincinnati Enquirer article by crime reporter and podcaster Amber Hunt, which detailed “a small, tattered booklet” preserved at the Archives and Rare Books Library that contained “the transcripts of one of Ohio’s most salacious 20th century trials.” The booklet, entitled “The Murder of Theora Hix. The Uncensored Testimony of Dr. Snook,” details the1929 murder trial of Dr. James Snook of Columbus, Ohio, who was accused of killing Theora Hix, a student at Ohio State University with whom he…
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RESPECT announces first group of awarded mini grants
The UC Libraries RESPECT (Racial Equity Support Programming to Educate the Community Team) announces its first group of awarded mini grants. The committee sought proposals from UC Libraries faculty and staff for programming designed for the University of Cincinnati and its community that explicitly addresses the role that systemic racism plays within society. Four successful mini-grant proposals were awarded $1500 each: RESPECT has as its charge to use library resources to expand programming and resources that provide library users with the tools to understand systemic racism in order to begin dismantling it. The mini-grants program is one way it is working to meet its charge. In addition, the team plans…
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UC Libraries hosts local elementary school students
By Participants Elaine Grigg Dean, Mark Chalmers, Ted Baldwin, Chris Harter, Katie Foran-Mulcahy, Rachel Hoople and Aja Bettencourt-McCarthyn Throughout the Fall 2023 semester, UC Libraries collaborated with College Mentors for Kids to host local elementary school students in library locations across the campus. Students from Oyler School and Evanston Academy visited the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) Library, the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library, and the Archives and Rare Books (ARB) Library along with the Oesper Museum to learn more about UC Libraries collections and the work of librarianship. What is CMFK? College Mentors for Kids (CMFK) is a non-profit organization that works…
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New acquisition is a resource for radical publishing history
By Christopher Harter, University Archivist and Head of the Archives and Rare Books Library “President Cancels Student Debt for 150K Borrowers. – The Hill, February 21, 2024“40 Percent of Student Loan Borrowers Missed Payments in October.” – Politico, December 14, 2023“Is Rising Student Debt Harming the U.S. Economy.” – Council on Foreign Relations, August 22, 2023 Between pandemic relief efforts and election cycles, student debt remains a hot topic in the media and among politicians, pundits, parents and students. And for good reason. As of March 2023, an estimated 44 million U.S. borrowers owed over $1.7 trillion in federal and private student loans. However, a recent acquisition by the Archives…
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DAAP Library exhibit celebrates Renaissance painter Catharina van Hemessen
By Christopher Platts, assistant professor of art history On display from March 8 through April 8 in the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP), the exhibition, Rediscovering Catharina van Hemmessen’s Scourging of Christ: Women Artists, Patrons and Rulers in Renaissance Europe, features paintings, woodcuts, engravings, illuminated manuscripts, and illustrated printed books from the special collections of UC Libraries as well as a local private collection. Catharina van Hemessen was arguably the most important woman artist in Northern Europe during the 16th century, and her paintings are currently the highlights of numerous exhibitions and installations worldwide. Museums everywhere are actively trying to…
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The art of cataloging Japanese design books
Sometimes being a cataloger is somewhat like being a detective. Looking for clues on a book or item, researching its history and provenance, filling in blanks left from librarians or book sellers of the past. Such was the case for Mikaila Corday, library associate and Japanese language cataloger in Content Services, when she was sent volumes from the Archives and Rare Book Library with the request to find out what she could so that they could be properly cataloged. It helps that Mikaila speaks and reads Japanese from her time living in Japan as a child. Her knowledge of Japanese art and culture also served her well as she researched…
