Category Archives: From Our Collections

Week of Students: Jenny Walters

Today is the first day of a new academic year! Here at the RBMSCL, we’re celebrating this week by taking a closer look at a few of the wonderful student (undergraduate and graduate, Duke and non-Duke) employees who help make this place run. We wouldn’t know what to do without them, and we’d have a lot less fun, too. Thanks, y’all!

Jenny WaltersMy name is Jenny Walters and I am a junior Music major here at Duke.  I have worked in the John W. Hartman Center for Sales,  Advertising, & Marketing History for the past two summers.  This year, in support of the RBMSCL’s upcoming renovation, I got to write up a lot of box lists—basically, inventories of what can be found in each box of an archival collection.  I found a lot of interesting material in these boxes! Some of the funniest things I discovered were job applications for advertisement agencies from the 1950s and 1960s. There were questions such as “Do you have initiative?” and I was surprised to see that many people had answered “no.”  While there is no way that these people would even be considered for a job in this day and age, they were obviously given jobs 50 to 60 years ago.

While I enjoyed discovering everything in all of the boxes, my favorite part of working with the Hartman Center is the advertisements.  I like visually seeing history through the years of advertisements. We even have advertisements from as early as the 1880s!

Two of the most fascinating ads that I worked with this summer were from the 1960s for Seven-Up. The two ads were exactly the same, but one consisted of white people, while the other had black people. The people were in the exact same poses, had the exact same hairstyles, and wore the exact same clothes. Seven-Up wanted to have a broader appeal, but chose to do two ads, reflecting the advertising standards of the day.

Overall, I really enjoy working in the RBMSCL! It’s fun to see all of the different projects people come in to work on and discover something new in the holdings every day.

Post contributed by Jenny Walters, Hartman Center student employee.

Julian Carr and the Magical Occoneechee Farm

Date: Sunday, August 28, 2011
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Big Barn Convention Center at The Shops at Daniel Boone (map and directions)
Contact Information: Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County, 919-732-2201 or info@orangeNChistory.org

Julian Shakespeare Carr
Julian Shakespeare Carr. From the Picture File, M671.

At his summer home in Hillsborough, Trinity College trustee (and donor of much of the land that is now East Campus) Julian Shakespeare Carr built a model farm that became nationally-known for its innovative farming practices.

This latest event in the “Stores and Stories” series, which is sponsored by the Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County, will focus on Carr’s Occoneechee Farm.

The dramatic presentation—which will feature Tom Stevens, Hillsborough’s mayor, as Carr—is based on Carr’s farm journal, part of the RBMSCL’s Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers. Additional stories and photos from the farm in its heyday will also be shared.

History of Medicine Open House

Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Time: 3:00-4:00 PM
Location: Rare Book Room
Contact Information: Rachel Ingold, 919-684-8549 or rachel.ingold(at)duke.edu

This past July, over 20,000 rare books and journals, 4,500 manuscripts, and a variety of instruments and artifacts from the History of Medicine Collections were moved from the Medical Center Library to the RBMSCL. You may have followed the move via “Medical Move Mondays” here on The Devil’s Tale.

On Tuesday, you’ll have your chance to see (some of) the newest items in the RBMSCL’s collections. Join Rachel Ingold, Curator of the History of Medicine Collections, to learn more about the history behind the collections and view some of the unique and spectacular item—ranging from 16th century books that contain hand colored illustrations of amputations to actual amputating saws and more!

Amputating Instruments
No, you can't use these in the Rare Book Room.

Sleep In on Wednesday

This Wednesday, August 17th, the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library will be opening promptly at 10:00 AM.

You know what this means for you, our researchers, right? One extra hour for this:

"Leaning on pillow, baby sleeps on carpeted floor." From William Gedney Photographs and Writings, 1940s-1989.

Doesn’t that baby look comfy?

So take an extra hour’s break on Wednesday. We’ll look forward to seeing your bright, shiny faces and helping you with your bright, shiny research at 10 AM. Of course, please call us at 919-660-5822 or e-mail us at special-collections(at)duke.edu with your questions or concerns.

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.

A Love Supreme

This is the second of a summer series highlighting a few film shorts from the Full Frame Archive, a collection within the Archive of Documentary Arts, with the goal of preserving masters all past winners of Durham’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The Full Frame Archive has grown to 75 films since 2007 and continues to grow; DVD use copies of these films can be viewed in the RBMSCL’s reading room. A complete list with descriptions, as well as titles of award-winners not yet acquired, can be found in the finding aid.

“Virtuosity and improvisation.” That’s what connects Nilesh Patel’s 2001 film short that documents his mother’s hands making samosas with John Coltrane’s jazz masterpiece, its namesake. “I wanted to refer to both of these ideas, which I believe can be ascribed to a mother’s cooking. A mother feeds you before you emerge into the world, and would even go hungry if necessary, just to ensure that her children can eat.”

A ten-minute, black-and-white film, A Love Supreme won the 2002 Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short and is, in my opinion, one of the more consciously artistic films in the Full Frame Archive. The film shows Patel’s mother, whose face is never shown, making the popular deep-fried Indian pastry stuffed with potatoes, peas and spices. Completely wordless, it presents the preparation process in ten stages, each set to its own tempo, images seamlessly edited in time with a musical or ambient soundtrack.

Click the image to view the film on the BBC's website.
Click the image to view the film on BBC's website.

Continue reading A Love Supreme

A Tribute to a Jazz Legend

Frank FosterLast Tuesday, legendary jazz saxophonist, arranger, and composer Frank Foster died at the age of 82. The RBMSCL’s Jazz Archive holds Dr. Foster’s papers, which include handwritten scores of many of his compositions (including “Shiny Stockings,” written for the Count Basie Orchestra) and audio recordings of concerts. Several of our staff members had the good fortune to work closely with both Dr. Foster and his papers, and they have offered their thoughts on his passing and his legacy:

“When the Jazz Archive at Duke was first getting started, we were trying to build Duke’s holdings of manuscript big band arrangements—compositions that otherwise wouldn’t be widely available for study or performance.  Frank Foster was an obvious person to reach out to, as he was one of the most significant composers and arrangers in the entire history of jazz. Through John Brown, I was able to reach out to Dr. Foster, and he generously donated the vast collection of materials that now comprise the Frank Foster Papers.  Manuscript arrangements, audio and moving image recordings, photographs, and a large collection of personal papers—including drafts of his autobiography and other of Dr. Foster’s many prose writings—are now available for study and research. Although jazz has lost a phenomenal musician and a genuinely kind human being, I’m proud to know that the Frank Foster Papers at Duke University will help to ensure that his music and his legacy live on into the future.”

—Jeremy Smith, former Jazz Archivist for the RBMSCL

“My experience with the Frank Foster Papers involved listening to and digitizing cassette and open reel tapes of live concerts, interviews and lessons.  These audio documents paint a picture of a man deeply committed to furthering America’s unique art form through performance, composition, and education.  His legacy will be felt through his teaching of jazz improvisation and arrangement, and will be carried on by those he has touched.”

—Zeke Graves, Perkins Library Research Services Assistant

“The Duke community was enriched by its relationship with Frank Foster.  The collection of his papers in the Jazz Archive will ensure that his presence continues to be felt here in the Triangle and that scholars and students in future generations will be able to study and learn from his work.”

—Naomi Nelson, Director of the RBMSCL

Additional Resources:

Medical Move Mondays: Home, Sweet Home

It’s the fifth and final week of our series on the History of Medicine Collections‘ move from the Medical Center Library on Duke’s medical campus to the RBMSCL on West Campus.

And the move, we are pleased to announce, is complete. Through a true team effort, including staff from the Medical Center Library & Archives, RBMSCL, and Perkins Library, the move happened smoothly. Professional movers handled most of the items from the collections, and transferred them with extreme care from the Medical Center Library to their new location.

History of Medicine Books in Their New Home

With this relocation come expanded hours as RBMSCL has weekend and evening hours. Researchers will find opportunities to discover overlapping collections within RBMSCL as well. There are many collections that complement the History of Medicine’s holdings from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture, the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture, and the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History. Topics such as women’s health, minority health, medical advertising, and innovations in health care are represented in the collections held at RBMSCL.

No appointment is necessary and all are welcome, so please be sure to visit the History of Medicine Collections in its new home.

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

10 Days, 10 New Acquisitions: Day Ten

Today, we’re wrapping up our celebration of the beginning of a new fiscal year with our last feature on one of the notable items that arrived here at the RBMSCL in the past year. Get ready for announcements of many more exciting acquisitions in 2011-2012! We’d like to thank Mark Zupan, the Libraries’ graphic designer, and everyone in the Digital Production Center for their help with the images for these posts.

Le Premier [Second] Volume des Plus Excellents Bastiments de France by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, 1576 and 1579.

A major document of Renaissance Europe, Androuet du Cerceau’s survey of French buildings includes nearly 150 engraved plates.  In two volumes, 36 palaces, castles, and other major buildings are beautifully illustrated by detailed plans and views.  In some cases, the buildings no longer stand or are now vastly different than they appeared in 16th-century France.

For more photos of our new acquisitions (and other materials from the RBMSCL’s collections), check out the “From the RBMSCL’s Collections” set on the Duke University Libraries’ Flickr photostream.

Post contributed by Will Hansen, Assistant Curator of Collections.

Previous posts:

Today is Zine Library Day!

Making Zines at Girls Rock CampAnd we’ve been celebrating by making zines!

Future rock stars at NC Girls Rock Camp made zine pages in a workshops led by Kelly Wooten, Tali Beesley, and Alex Krensky of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture; Erin Hammeke, conservator for Special Collections; and Rosemary Davis of the Duke University Archives. This is the fifth year our librarians have led zine workshops for NC Girls Rock Camp!

A Completed Zine PageYou can celebrate our anniversary and Zine Library Day by downloading the Bingham Center’s fun new mini-zine and making your own!

You’ll find more pictures from this year’s workshops—and past ones, too—at the Bingham Center’s Flickr photostream.

Learn more about Zine Library Day on this wiki.

Post contributed by Kelly Wooten, Research Services and Collection Development Librarian for the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture.