Category Archives: RL Photos

Do Your Research, From Our Collections, Jazz Archive, News and Features, RL Photos, University Archives

Kenny Dennard, University Archives Researcher

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Former Duke men’s basketball team captain Kenny Dennard came to visit the Duke University Archives today. We gave him a refresher on his Duke basketball career (1977/78-1980/81), with the help of the Sports Information Office’s Basketball Records.

Kenny Dennard Reads the 1981 Chanticleer, 2012
Photo by Angela Mace.

Here’s Kenny reading the 1981 Chanticleer. Check out Kenny’s reflections on his time at Duke (brought to you courtesy of the digitized edition of the 1981 volume).

Lynn Eaton and Kenny Dennard, 2012
Photo by Angela Mace.

Here’s Kenny and Lynn Eaton, the Hartman Center’s research services archivist. She’s 5′ 6″, by way of comparison.

Thanks for visiting, Kenny, and come back soon!

(By the way, Kenny is a fan of the Duke University Archives on Facebook. Are you? We have only 29 hours left in our Facebook competition with the UNC Archives!)

Events, News and Features, RL Photos

Snapshots from Game Night

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Our Game Night to celebrate the opening of the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games was great fun!  Thanks to all who took a break from studying and the hectic holiday season to attend on Tuesday. Here are a few photos from a memorable night.

Students enjoy examining a sample of the thousands of games in the RPG collection.
L to R: Rubenstein Director Naomi Nelson talks with collection donors Terry and Edwin Murray.
Materials in the collection related to Dungeons and Dragons, the original role-playing game.
Kids of all ages enjoy a game of "Castle Panic."

Thanks to Nelda Webb for these photos.  For more on the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games and Game Night, check out our earlier post, the “Top 5 Role-Playing Games You Haven’t Heard Of” (via Duke Today), and this article by Neil Offen in the Durham Herald-Sun.  And check out this excellent bonus photo from Game Night, by Beth Doyle!

From Our Collections, History of Medicine, RL Photos

Decorating the RBMSCL

Along with print items, manuscripts, and artifacts, the History of Medicine Collections include works of art. On Friday, thanks to Peter Geoffrion, three pieces of artwork were hung in the RBMSCL.

In the RBMSCL’s reading room, we now have a portrait of Hans Horst Meyer, a German physician and pioneer in anesthesia. The portrait was a gift from his grandson, Professor J. Horst Meyer, Fritz London Professor Emeritus of Physics here at Duke University.

In the Trent Room (part of the Mary Duke Biddle Rare Book Room), a portrait of Valentine Mott and a framed ivory skeleton sculpture, or Memento Mori, were hung.

The Memento Mori piece is one of the most exquisite items in the History of Medicine Collections. A gift of Mrs. Mary D. B. T. Semans from the collection of her late husband, Dr. Josiah Charles Trent, this sculpture is carved from a single piece of ivory. Reminiscent of the illustrations from the famed Vesalius anatomical work, De Fabrica (1543), Memento Mori displays a variety of material goods splayed at the feet of the skeleton. Looking at this, one is reminded, that in the end, we’re all mere mortals.

Post contributed by Rachel Ingold, Curator for the History of Medicine Collections.

Just for Fun, RL Photos

A Well-Traveled Padlock

The Returned Padlock and its Envelope

Here at the RBMSCL, we ask our researchers to put everything they won’t need for their research in lockers, and we present them with their very own padlock to use during their visit. (Other special collections libraries do this, too, as it helps to keep our unique materials safe and secure.)

Occasionally, a padlock doesn’t make it back to us at the end of a research visit—and we have extras, so we don’t fret. But a very kind and conscientious patron discovered one of our padlocks at the bottom of her bag upon her return to the United Kingdom and sent it all the way back to us here in Durham. Thanks, lovely patron, and come visit us again soon!

Thanks to Josh Larkin-Rowley, Research Services Assistant, and Rachel Ingold, Curator for the History of Medicine Collections, for suggesting this post and to Beth Doyle, Head of Conservation Services and editor of Preservation Underground, for taking the photograph!

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, Manuscripts, News and Features, Rare Books, RL Photos

Big Book, Little Book

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Big Book, Little Book

Wandering through the stacks earlier this week, we found ourselves a bit goggle-eyed upon discovering this enormous volume of newspaper clippings from the George Tinkham Papers. For comparison, we’ve placed it next to The Bible in Miniature, or, A Concise History of the Old and New Testaments, an 1805 volume from our miniature books collection.

P.S. These aren’t the biggest or littlest books in our collections.

P.P.S. Surprisingly, the big book is not as heavy as it might seem.

News and Features, RL Photos, University Archives

University Archives Field Trip

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And you thought only children get to go on field trips?

Today, the staff of the Duke University Archives paid a visit to Maplewood Cemetery and the graves of the people whose papers we work with every day. We started with a visit to the Dukes.

Visiting the Duke Family Mausoleum

It’s very sunny on the steps of the Duke Mausoleum at 9:30 AM! From left to right are Molly Bragg, our outgoing Drill Intern; Mary Samouelian, Doris Duke Collection Archivist; Kim Sims, Technical Services Archivist; and Seth Shaw, Electronic Records Archivist. (I’m taking the photo!)

We also visited President Robert L. Flowers, Trustees James Southgate and Julian S. Carr, Chancellor (and Dean of the School of Law) A. Kenneth Pye, Coach Wilbur Card, and Professors Fritz London, William Cranford, Charles Ellwood, and Aleksandar Sedmak Vesić.

Molly and the Teer Family Mausoleum

Here’s Molly at the Teer Family’s mausoleum. During her internship, Molly studied Duke University’s construction, becoming well-acquainted with Nello Teer. She wrote this article about him for Duke Magazine.

Archive of Documentary Arts, Events, Films, RL Photos

Filmmaker and Projectionist

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Filmmaker David Gatten threads 16mm prints of his films for a screening in the Rare Book Room this past Thursday.

These photos were taken by guest Michael Graziano, and we thank him for letting us share them here. (For more information about the event and the films shown, visit this earlier blog post.)

You’ll find more photos from the screening at the “RBMSCL Events” set on the RBMSCL’s Flickr photostream!