UASC would like to invite library staff to caption–or at least enjoy–this picture of the original Cabbage Patch Kids, found among slides from the Art and Art History department.

Happy Friday!!

A long overdue post from the Archives and Special Collections! The following link will take you to a list of some of the most recent collections to be processed by our Unit. Note that this list is not comprehensive, but is meant to give a taste of some of the materials we are currently collecting. Our hope is that this list will prove useful for anyone fielding reference questions within the library system, as it will give some fresh ideas on what primary resources are available.

What’s that, UASC? 

UASC is excited to welcome Lisa Carpenter to our ranks. Illustrated left is a companion on her monitor. Also roughly her expression upon viewing our rows and rows and rows of boxes ;). We look forward to tackling many projects with you, Lisa. 

Amy Putnam has stepped forward as our office’s Work Green representative, and we were thrilled to receive the below certificate.

Also new at UASC:

• For those who haven’t already, definitely take the time to check out the display of Inuit art from the Norman Zepp and Judith Varga collection, now on in the Link Gallery of the Murray library
• Also, for anyone interested, a mini exhibit of random items from the Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity is still on display in the UASC reading room.

We have had a busy few months at the University Archives and Special Collections. While a dearth of file folders brought processing work to a brief but grinding halt, we focused on putting up some targeted displays, and catching up on odd projects.

The first new display to go up, making use of the new display cabinets was an exhibition showcasing a portion of the treasures our donors have shared with us over the past few years. These donations serve to enhance research at the university, as well as preserve local histories. Also, many are just plain interesting to look at! (Musk Ox horns or Victorian Trade Cards, anyone?).

That display has since been replaced with the Ground and Third floor exhibition on Women in Physics at the University of Saskatchewan, which is currently ongoing. This was an interesting exhibit to put together. Aside from dominant names such as Sylvia Fedoruk, finding materials relating to the early study of physics by women at the U of S required a lot of detective work and digging.

Female Physicist Facts:

• Luise Herzberg, the first woman to be given any sort of a staff position in physics at the U of S is also thought to have been one of the last Jewish people to receive a PhD in 1933 Germany.
• The first female graduate with a B. Sc in Physics at the U of S was Margaret Marshall, in 1938.
• The first female M.Sc in Physics at the U of S was Norma Morgenroth, 1946. She acted as head of the Physics club from 1942-1943.

The Link Gallery has also seen a display rotation, with Amy Chillog’s exhibition on Robert Newton Hurley going up this month. Hurley is known for his colourful landscapes depicting the beauty of the prairies, and while the collection does feature a few wonderful examples of these, this exhibit focuses on the lesser known works. Here you will find his pen and pencil sketches of landscapes, people, flora and fauna; colourful abstract pieces, which he called “Hurleyniks”; as well as photos and other biographical memorabilia. As a fun addition, Amy has set up the ipad with an interactive art program — an opportunity to share your own landscapes and art! Highly suggest you check it out.

In sadder news, this month we will be seeing Beth Richert leave our ranks to pursue new opportunities and adventures across the water — in Scotland! She has been a valuable member of our team, endlessly patient with our quirks and foibles, and tirelessly working on projects that would have been impossible to even begin without her help. She will be greatly missed.

Keep an eye on our facebook and twitter pages for ongoing updates from Olympics past!

Probably the biggest development at the University Archives and Special Collections over the past month was the installation of Cheryl Avery’s fabulous display on memory, portrait, and biography display on memory, portrait, and biography. She was assisted in her work by Beth Richert, who described and displayed materials on loan from the Museum of Antiquities.

A new mini display also went up in honour of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Awareness week (May 2- 6) . The display is titled “Dawning Awareness” and concentrates on the evolving ways in which mental health has been perceived from the Victorian era to present day. The ground floor cases by the Starbucks feature a timeline of materials, while the upstairs cases in room 301 concentrate on mental health as it has been handled in Saskatchewan, and studied at the University.

The Queer as Film series continues at the Public Library, with posters from Neil Richards’ collection available for viewing. Yesterday, Neil brought some material about lesbian novelist Jane Rule, to accompany the film “Fiction & Other Truths.”

Other things:

• Last month we saw a number of researchers come in to view materials relating to The Man of the Trees, Richard St. Barbe Baker. One of these came all the way from Sheffield (UK) to view materials in the St. Barbe Baker fonds.
• Dee Gibson’s installation “Nesting” at the Public Library will be available for viewing until May 26th.

January was largely about preparing for a number of events we have upcoming as a part of our annual Saskatchewan Archives Week celebrations. On Sunday, Feb. 7, the team will be sitting a table at the Heritage Festival at the Western Development Museum from 12:00 to 5:00 pm. I will give you folks a little sneak peak of the “game” we’re handing out here:

Find Six Differences :

There will also be a Reader’s event at 7:00, Feb. 11th at the Roxy, where local celebrities will be reading excerpts from archival materials. Admission is free, so this is a great way to get out and engage with history, for anyone so inclined!

Ongoing also through February will be a series of films by Norman Christie on the First World War, taking place at the Broadway Theatre. For more information, go here.

On February 1st we saw the end of the Great War exhibition in the Link, and have been helping with the installation of a new display on educational textbooks (this one looks interesting, folks!). With the end of the Great War exhibit, we had the opportunity to draw for a life-sized copy of Edmund Oliver’s trench map, which went to Liv Marken of Student Learning Services.

Also:

• Check out Amy Chillog’s 12 Days of Archives for 2015!
• You have WHAT in your Special Collections?
• Appraisals approaching!

We saw no proper post for August, so I’ve created a new month called AuguSeptember — which actually better reflects how busy things have been at the University Archives and Special Collections.

This month has seen Jessica Generoux begin work at UASC. While busily finding her stride, she has also provided vital feedback on our Finding Aids. She is hoping to build a mini-report that will help guide us in the reformatting of Finding Aids, and ultimately in making them accessible online and (fingers crossed) through the library catalog. She has been involved in the Great War project as discussions for the upcoming WWI Link display take flight, and has also been brainstorming some ideas for a short video on our collections. Really enjoying working with you thus far, Jessica!

Jessica also had a hand in putting up the Year of Queer display in the cases near the Starbucks on the ground floor of Murray. This is the second year in a row we have featured this exhibit, which showcases some of the newest additions to the Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity. UASC devoted the entire month of September to celebrating sexual and gender diversity at the U of S, offering a tour of the Richards holdings on Oct. 1 as part of the USSU Pride Centre’s Queerapalooza festivities, and earlier in the month hosting a talk on 1920’s lesbian author Radclyffe Hall. 

The display on Radclyffe Hall’s book The Well of Loneliness is still up in the UASC reading room (Murray 301). The September 10th event was a success, with over forty people in attendance. At least two bow-ties reflecting Hall’s signature style were also present.

Between UASC and the Department of English, food was provided, including two 1928 recipes (crumb cake and chocolate-vanilla frigidaire refrigerator cookies) prepared in honour of the book’s year of publication. The talk itself was fascinating, with (the also very stylish) Shawna Lipton and the U of S’s own Ann Martin keeping the audience enthralled with a discussion of The Well and the role it played in the development of lesbian pulp fiction. We were also entertained by two of Radclyffe’s poems put to song and sung to piano.

In other news, we have been playing a game of musical jobs and musical desks, with Laurie moving into Dee’s position as supervisor while Dee is on artistic leave (congratulations, Laurie! One month already!), and Amy moving into Laurie’s  position, and Dee’s old desk (congratulations Amy!). As part of their new positions, both Amy and Laurie have been taking over more of the social media work, and have been doing a wonderful job!  I was able to capture a picture of Amy at her new desk:

In the meantime, Patrick has moved to a new soon-to-be sit/stand station in the back of our “T” Stacks, and I have toddled over into Patrick’s space. LOOK AT MY NEW DESK EVERYONE!

Laurie will be moving to my former space once the sit/stand stations arrive, and Mystery Phase 3 will be sitting in Laurie’s old space.

Whew!