From Our Collections, Students and Interns, Technical Stuff, University Archives

Get a Group (Number)!

What is one way to become an expert in all things Duke? Go through all of its records!

Ashley Brown, the University Archives' King Intern, reviews Duke organizational charts.
Ashley Brown, the University Archives’ King Intern, reviews Duke organizational charts.

OK, claiming to be an expert in all things Duke may be a little ambitious, but I was able to learn a lot as the William E. King intern at the Duke University Archives. My name is Ashley and this summer I was tasked with creating a records group system for the University Archives.

A record group is “a collection of records that share the same provenance and are of a convenient size for administration.”  To simplify this definition from the Society of American Archivists, a record group numbering system is one way for archivists to show how records originate within one entity such as Duke University. Each record group can be broken down into a subgroup, which corresponds to an organizational subdivision; and then the individual record makes up the smallest unit known as a series.  Each record, subgroup, and series is given a number and the combination of those three numbers gives each record its unique identifier.  Sound complicated? Here’s an example:

Let’s take this record: Dept. of Zoology records, 1905-1997.

First, each college within the University is assigned its own record group and each department within each college is assigned its own subgroup.  So, my first step for this record is to determine which college the Department of Zoology resides in.  After a little research, I discover that Zoology no longer exists as a formal department but has been combined with Botany inside the Biology Department at Trinity College of Arts and Science.   Therefore, this record would fall under the Trinity College record group, which happens to be record group 25, and the Biology subgroup (.11).

So, the record group identifier for this record would be: 25.11.001.  The first number tells you the record group; the second number tells you the subgroup; and the third number is the individual series number.

Now let’s take the Botany records: Dept. of Botany records, 1932-1978 and assign it a number.  It, too, is in Trinity College under Biology. So it would also begin 25.11 but its series number would be different to distinguish it as a separate collection.  Its number is 25.11.002.

It is important to note that each record group will include the records of its current organizational structure and any forms of that organization or department’s predecessors.  For example, prior to the 1960s, the Provost position was titled “Vice President of Education.”  Any records pertaining to the Vice President of Education or individuals who held that title will fall under the Office of the Provost Records Group (RG 5).

There are over 1,000 record collections at University Archives that span over 174 years.  Each record collection needed be assigned a record number based on its provenance or origin of creation. This was no easy feat.  So I spent my summer researching Duke history, examining organizational charts that go back over sixty years, and reading the finding aids of each collection.  In doing so, I was introduced to an impressive array of presidents, faculty, staff, alumni, student groups, and others who have transformed Duke into the innovative institution that it is today. I also now have 32 record groups that help tell the story of Duke and its evolution through its records.

Over the next several weeks, I will be working alongside other University Archives and Rubenstein Technical Services staff to unveil the new numbering system.  Stay tuned for my blog post, part two to hear about how we implement this project!

Post contributed by Ashley Brown, William E. King intern at the Duke University Archives.

From Our Collections, History of Medicine, Just for Fun, Rare Books, Renovation

Feeling hot, hot, hot

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Happy Friday! Preparing for our upcoming renovation continues at the Rubenstein. This book’s title made us giggle, especially considering the high temperatures we’ve been facing lately in Durham. If you’d like to learn more about Spontaneous Combustion: A Literary Curiosity, you can check out the catalog record. It is a 1937 medical publication discussing cases of spontaneous combustion in literature.

For more photos of our favorite renovation discoveries, visit the Rubenstein’s Flickr page.

From Our Collections, Just for Fun

John Wetmore Hinsdale, Heartthrob

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Every generation has its heartthrobs.  Think Justin Bieber, Robert Pattinson, Tristan Wilds, and Chris Hemsworth. History junkies realize that handsome dudes are nothing new, as demonstrated by the tumblr site My Daguerreotype Boyfriend.

Those of us in the Rubenstein find our own John Wetmore Hinsdale pretty irresistible. In 1861 he left The University of North Carolina to enlist in the Confederate Army and served with distinction under Generals Holmes, Pettigrew, Pender and Price before being elected colonel of the Third Regiment Junior Reserves.

Daguerreotype of John Wetmore Hinsdale
John Wetmore Hinsdale, Hunk. Click to enlarge!

He went on to attend Columbia University Law School, pursue a successful legal career, and serve as president of the North Carolina Bar Association. John Wetmore Hinsdale was clearly more than just a pretty face.

My thanks to Walter Hilderman, for bringing this photo to my attention.  Mr. Hilderman is in the final stages of his Lieutenant General Theophilus Hunter Holmes, C.S.A., forthcoming from McFarland Publishers in late 2013.

This photograph is from the Hinsdale Family Papers.  We’re submitting it to My Daguerreotype Boyfriend, and we hope to see it there soon!

Post contributed by Elizabeth Dunn, Research Services Librarian.

From Our Collections, Human Rights Archive, New at the Rubenstein Library, News and Features

Duke Acquires Papers of Rabbi Heschel, Influential Religious Leader

The Rubenstein Library at Duke University will acquire the papers of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a scholar, writer and theologian who is widely recognized as one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20thcentury, the school announced Monday.

Photographs and other items from the Abraham Joshua Heschel Papers.

Heschel was a highly visible and charismatic leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. He co-founded Clergy Concerned About Vietnam and served as a Jewish liaison with the Vatican during the Second Vatican Council, also known as Vatican II.

The collection, which has never before been available to scholars, consists of manuscripts, correspondence, publications, documents and photographs spanning five decades and at least four languages. Included among the papers are notes and drafts for nearly all of Heschel’s published works, as well as intimate and extensive correspondence with some of the leading religious figures of his time, including Martin Buber, Thomas Merton, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Reinhold Niebuhr. The papers also contain extensive documentation on Heschel’s life-long commitment to social justice, including planning documents, correspondence with organizers, speeches and even hate mail.

The archive will open for research after conservation review and archival processing are complete.

For more information, visit the full press release!

From Our Collections, Just for Fun, Renovation, Technical Stuff

Dispatches from the Newspaper Project

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One of our many renovation-related tasks involves re-foldering and re-boxing our fragile newspapers. The Rubenstein Library has thousands of American newspapers, dating from the Revolutionary War through the early twentieth century. Here is one of the highlights, from The Daily Express of Petersburg, Virginia, 1858 Dec.:

Part 1 of An Interesting Divorce Case: Beautiful Wife Prays to be Separated from Ugly Husband.
Part 2 of An Interesting Divorce Case features laundry, father-in-law insults, attempted poisoning, corn-and-beans throwing, dirty carpets, and Niagara Falls dunking.

Post contributed by Carrie Mills, Holdings Management Assistant in the Rubenstein Library’s Technical Services Dept.

From Our Collections, Just for Fun

Duke’s Olympic Coaching Legacy

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If you have a TV, you’ve probably been tuned in to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In the first week of action, Duke coaches Mike Krzyzewski (basketball) and Drew Johansen (diving) led Team USA to impressive victories on the court and two medals in the pool.

George Lyon, professional trapshooter.

But did you know that Duke’s tradition of Olympic coaching excellence dates back at least 100 years? George Leonidas Lyon, a Durham native and grandson of Washington Duke, coached the U.S. Trapshooting team to both team and individual gold medals in the Games of the V Olympiad held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. Lyon was a three-time trapshooting world champion and turned professional in 1910 under the sponsorship of the Remington Arms Company. Because of his professional status, Lyon could not compete in the 1912 Olympic Games, but he coached the U.S. Trapshooting team to victory by a considerable margin over Great Britain and Germany.

Judges at the Stockholm Olympics, 1912.
George Lyon coaching a pupil in shooting.

In addition to his celebrated shooting career, Lyon was an influential figure in the Durham business community, which earned him the nickname “Chief Bull Durham.”  He reportedly owned the first automobile in Durham. Despite his business acumen, Lyon continued shooting professionally until he contracted tuberculosis in 1916 at age 35 and died after a short convalescence in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Upon his death, Sporting Life, a prominent Philadelphia newspaper, recognized Lyon as “one of the greatest trap shooters that ever stepped to the firing line.”  A special trapshooting cartridge, the George Lyon Load, was named after him and in 1976 Lyon was inducted into the Trapshooting Hall of Fame in Vandalia, Ohio.

The Rubenstein Library’s George Leonidas Lyon Papers document Lyon’s career as a professional marksman, along with his relationship to the Duke family and Durham.

Post contributed by Noah Huffman, Archivist for Metadata and Encoding in the Technical Services Dept.

Renovation, RL Photos, University Archives

Construction Begins on the Temporary Rubenstein Library

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Over the past few months, Perkins staff has been shifting books out of the 3rd floor of the library to make room for the Rubenstein Library to have a home away from home during the renovation. We will be opening our reading room on the 3rd floor of Perkins on January 7, 2013. This month, construction begins in earnest. When we go check on the space, we even have to bring hard hats and safety glasses — this is kind of a thrill for some of us! (Okay, maybe just me.)

The 3rd floor of Perkins, now a construction zone for the Rubenstein swing space.

Our temporary home will house our reading room as well as work spaces for our Research Services, Collection Development, and University Archives staff.  We will also to be able to keep a portion of our collections onsite during the renovation.

The future temporary home of the Rubenstein Library Reading Room.
Library bookshelves have been re-arranged to safely hold our large folios.

As our regular readers know, moving out of our current space is no easy task.  In addition to prepping the collections for the move, we also have to execute a safe and secure move in a short period of time with minimal impact on our researchers. We know we cannot do this without the help of professional movers, so we have been talking with and reviewing bids from various moving companies.

Back in 1969 when the library addition we now know as Perkins Library opened, the books were moved by fraternity brothers around campus. Some days I wish our move would be that simple. Although, after looking at the picture below of the 1969 move (from the Duke University Archives), I’m happy we will have the professionals involved.

Moving Day for Perkins Library books, 1969.

For more photographs of the Rubenstein renovation, visit the Library’s Flickr page.

Post contributed by Molly Bragg, Collections Move Coordinator in the Technical Services Dept.

From Our Collections, Technical Stuff

Box-tastic!

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Here’s a puzzle for you: How does one best store and deliver architectural drawings ranging anywhere from 6 feet tall to 12 feet long? In these new custom boxes of course!

Mary Samouelian in her new forest of boxes for the Doris Duke architectural drawings.

The wide variety of architectural drawings in the Doris Duke Collection do not always fit into standard sized map cabinets, so they either have to be wrapped around tubes or rolled up within tubes. However, using tubes does not always offer the protection needed to store these fragile drawings — nor are they always the best way to deliver them to patrons for research.

Architectural drawings from the Doris Duke Collection, wrapped around tubes in storage.

The solution? Architectural boxes that give both rigidity and stability to protect the drawings, meanwhile making it easier to deliver to the reading room.

The new boxes will hold our extra-large architectural drawings and protect them from damage.

For more information about some of the Doris Duke architectural drawings, visit the Inventory of the Duke Farms Residence finding aid.

Post contributed by Mary Samouelian, Doris Duke Collection Archivist.

Jazz Archive, Technical Stuff

Welcome Craig Breaden!

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Craig Breaden, Jazz Loft Project Archivist

We are pleased to welcome the Rubenstein’s newest staff member, Craig Breaden, who started this month as the Jazz Loft Project Archivist in the Technical Services Department. Originally from Texas, Craig has both a master’s in history from Utah State and an MLIS from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He comes to Duke from the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia, where he worked as a Media Assets Archivist and then as Head of the Media and Oral History unit. As the Jazz Loft Project Archivist, he’ll be putting those experiences to good use when working with the oral histories, recordings, and other materials in the Project’s archive. Learn more about the Jazz Loft Project here.

When he’s not at work, Craig says his favorite thing to do is to spend time with his family (he and his wife have 2 boys, ages 6 and 4). His hobbies include listening to, writing, and playing music, “with varying levels of proficiency,” he adds. He especially enjoys the guitar and the banjo. He also brews his own beer.

As soon as his family is settled, all Rubenstein happy hours will be held at Craig’s house, where he will serenade us with banjo music and serve us home-brewed beer. Welcome, Craig!

 

Franklin Research Center, From Our Collections, History of Medicine, Manuscripts, New at the Rubenstein Library, Rare Books

New Acquisitions Week, Day Five: Exploring Africa

We’re celebrating the beginning of a new fiscal year with a week’s worth of new acquisitions from the first half of 2012.  Two newly acquired selections have been featured in a post every day this week.  All of these amazing resources are available for today’s scholars, and for future generations of researchers in the Rubenstein Library!

  • Livio Sanuto, Geografia: This work, published in 1588 in Venice, is the first edition of the first printed atlas of Africa.  It contains twelve double-page engraved maps showing the continent; for its date, the maps are surprisingly detailed and accurate, correcting many of the earlier errors in French and German maps.  Nevertheless, Sanuto also kept many preconceived European notions about Africa, and introduced new errors in the text of the atlas, making the work a fascinating case study of European views of Africa in the sixteenth century.  The work is foundational for the study of European depictions of Africa, and will be a cornerstone for African collections in the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African-American History and Culture.
Map of southern Africa, from Livio Sanuto, Geografia (1588).
  • Ezekiel Skinner Papers: Ezekiel Skinner (1777-1855) was a missionary and physician who worked in Monrovia, Liberia for the American Colonization Society during the 1830s. Although almost 60 years old, Skinner believed it was his duty to continue the work of his son, Benjamin Rush Skinner (named for the famous physician Benjamin Rush, under whom Ezekiel had studied), who had died in Liberia a few years before. The papers contain correspondence and other documents written by Dr. Skinner during his time in Liberia, including a description of a “slave factory” and other details of the slave trade, and discussion of medical treatment of Liberian colonists, including treatment of a fellow doctor, the African-American Charles Webb.  The Skinner papers enrich the collections of both the John Hope Franklin Research Center and the History of Medicine Collections.

Previous posts:

Dispatches from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University