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African-American History Month and the Archives and Rare Books Library
It is February again, a month notable for honoring presidents and for looking forward to spring. February is also a time when we reflect on the heritage of African Americans in the United States and take time to acknowledge that part of our nation’s history. Depending on the media, we also term February as Black History Month, and it had its beginnings in 1926 when “Negro History Week” was created by historian Carter G. Woodson. Woodson’s intent was to celebrate it in February because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had their birthdays in this month, and as he stated, “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile…
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Celebrating William Shakespeare
Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it. Of all the many lines about death that William Shakespeare wrote for his plays, perhaps his words from Macbeth best describe his own departure. Shakespeare was certainly successful during his lifetime for his comedies and dramas, but he left London and the Globe Theatre for Stratford well before he died. His reputation became somewhat obscure after that, though with the publication of the First Folio in 1623 just a few years after his death in a single volume that gathered his known plays, interest in his work revived to the point that there shall never be any abatement in studies…
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Looking East Book Signing Scheduled for June 24
Join the University of Cincinnati Libraries for a public book signing for Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia. The Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods. The event, scheduled for June 24, 7pm, at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Rookwood Pavilion, will include readings by authors Margo Taft Stever and Hong Shen. In 1900, Cincinnatian William Howard Taft successfully completed his tenure as Dean of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Law and began an appointment under President William McKinley as Governor-General of the Philippines. As a federal administrator and diplomat, Taft negotiated amicable trade and cultural interactions between East and West, and in 1905 President Theodore…
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A Note from the Dean: A Busy Year in Review
The 2014-15 academic year has been one of exploration, innovation and collaboration for UC Libraries. The launch of the Strategic Plan has contributed greatly to our success with its ten initiatives along with a wide range of events and activities created and sponsored by library faculty and staff throughout our libraries. The initiatives are all focused on the same goal, to make UC libraries the globally connected intellectual hub of the university. Below is a small sampling of those successes. More information on the ten strategic initiatives is available online. ____________________________ Scholar@UC One of the ten strategic initiatives was to create the next generation digital repository. Named scholar@uc, it successfully…
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‘Preserving the Past for the Future’ Exhibit Showcases Work of Preservation Lab
In January of 2012, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH) and the University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) began a long-term collaboration to provide conservation and preservation treatments in an equally managed, staffed and equipped preservation lab located in UC’s Walter C. Langsam Library. Employees from both PLCH and UCL work on the general circulating and rare/special collections of each institution. The division of labor for all work performed by the Preservation Lab is divided evenly between UCL and PLCH. The exhibit “Preserving the Past for the Future,” currently on display on Langsam Library’s 5th floor lobby, showcases the work done by the Preservation Lab on a selection of…
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Explore UC Libraries’ Digital Collections
UC Libraries is steadily building a diverse archive of digital content with critically received collections covering Neil Armstrong’s life and UC career, the fabled Cincinnati Subway project, the remarkable Albert B. Sabin, unique recorded Elliston poetry readings as far back as 1954, Cincinnati medical oral histories and much more. The strength of the Archives and Rare Books Library in Cincinnati history and genealogy is now reflected in our online archives, which include the Cincinnati Birth and Death Records (1865-1912), the Cincinnati House of Refuge (1850-1902) and the recently added Hamilton County Morgue Records (1887-1930). Please visit the Digital Collections site and re-visit often! The Neil A. Armstrong Commemorative Archive contains…
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A View into Special Collections
By Steve Marine, Associate Dean of Digital Initiatives, Special Collections, Preservation and Grants UC Libraries’ special collections provide scholars, both local and global, access to rare books and other rare materials such as maps, pamphlets and journals, that are found in few other libraries. In addition, UC Libraries’ special collections consist of unique primary source materials such as the personal archives of notable people, photographs and historical artifacts and the official records of the university and many regional institutions. Such collections are sources for new discoveries and catalysts for novel research. UC Libraries’ flagship special collections location is the Archives and Rare Book Library located on the 8th floor of…
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Why UC’s Colors are Red and Black
By Greg Hand. An excerpt from the script of a UC History lecture: http://youtu.be/VBrZrge6KAo An 1881 editorial in the Academica, UC’s early student newspaper, called for colors: “The great majority of American colleges and universities have selected certain colors or combinations of colors, which, for want of an adequate term, we may designate as their ‘colors.’ These colors are of great use in intercollegiate contests in distinguishing the members of different colleges. They also have the effect of creating in the student a feeling of loyalty to his Alma Mater. Each year finds it more difficult to select colors that are not pre-occupied. We, therefore, commend this matter to our…
