Archives Artwork in the New Dorm

Strips of Hornet newspapers
make up this wallpaper

Hello Archives Friends! You may have seen the university's recent Facebook posts about the opening of Tubman Laws Hall or the flikr images from move-in day. If you have, you've seen a beautiful, modern, comfortable space for students to live, study, play, and relax.  Did you know, however, that the university archives made significant contributions to the interior decor?

For a year and a half, I worked to provide a design contractor with archival materials. The archival images, historic slogans, vintage hornet, and Hornet student newspapers were transformed into unique interior decor features.

The most obvious feature is a mural of significant university figures and buildings. For the students walking by, the mural looks like an awesome collage of hand-drawn figures.  To me, and maybe my astute patrons, however, I can pinpoint specific photographs that helped to create this work of art. Additional features include wallpaper in the mailroom which is made from strips of Hornet newspapers, framed black and white images on the walls, a historic campus map framing the bricks and cornerstones from Tubman and Laws, and the vintage Hornet mascot that graces the wall behind the front desk in the entry way.

I never got to see the mock-up art before its final installation, but I'm glad.  It was far nicer to be surprised by the final product.  In the end, this is yet another way that the archives is making its presence felt on campus and contributing to the university.

Do you see this barn and tractor in the collage below? 

Collection Spotlight: DSC Sports Photographs, 1945-1965

Hello friends! I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer.  Classes resumed this week, and August is quickly passing. It’s been a while since I featured a collection so I thought I’d shine the spotlight on the Delaware State College Sports Photograph collection, an acquisition from January 2017.

This collection is comprised of black and white sports photographs from the era of Bennie J. “Catfish” George.  Mr. George was an athletic coach and physical education teacher at Delaware State College starting in the 1950’s and continuing well into the 1960’s. Mr. George held a bachelors degree from DSC (1947), and during his time as a student he was captain of both the football and basketball teams.  Due to his quick, "slippery" moves on the football field, he ultimately earned the Catfish moniker.  Two years after graduation, Mr. George's athletic performance earned him an appointment as the assistant football and basketball coach, and head baseball coach.  Over his men's basketball coaching career, he attained a record of 360 wins and 125 defeats with only two losing seasons in a 30-year period. Mr. George was named coach of the year for baseball (1954), football (1956), and basketball (1966) in the CIAA conference.

Given the significance and formidablity of Bennie George's career, it was therefore thrilling to receive a collection of men’s basketball, baseball, football, and fencing photographs dated between 1945 and 1965. This accession additionally fills the sizable gap in the Office of Public Relations photographs which are largely from 1960 and later.

As always, I invite you to visit the archives to view this and other collections. Give me a call at 302-857-6130 to set up an appointment. I hope to see you soon! 

Welcome back students!

It's a big week from Delaware State University! The faculty and staff are looking forward to welcoming the incoming freshman starting tomorrow and the upperclassman later this weekend.  Campus will be buzzing as students either make new friends or get reacquainted with their classmates.

Over the next few days they will be settling into their residence halls, and some of them will have the pleasure of being the first-ever residents of our newest hall (word around town is that it will be called Tubman-Laws, but we'll found out during a dedication ceremony later this semester). 

For those of you will be embarking on a shopping excursion with your roomate or suitemates, I thought you would enjoy some inspiration from these archival photographs.

1) Chic Curtains: These circa 1990s Medgar Evers residents must have had some help from their moms or girlfriends. Either way, I'm diggin' the matching bedspreads and curtains.

2) Statement furniture: When confronted with bland white walls and standardized furniture, nothing brightens up a college dorm like a comfortable chair. It makes those long study nights a little more bearable. Houseplants are also a must. 

3) Pictures of Home: No room would be complete without a picture of mom. It's nice to have a reminder of those who love you and who are supporting you in your journey. Don't forget to say thank you.

3)Homey Bedspreads: Okay so this one isn't actually a dorm room. It's the home economics practice house, but all the same, it's something to aspire to.  A bedspread is one of the most personal statements a student can make. Don't forget to make it in the morning.

From the staff of the William C. Jason Library, I wish you the best of luck this semester!  Don't forget that we are always here to support your research and to help you become a better scholar. See you soon! 

Delaware State College/University Yearbooks now being Digitized

Visit the digitized University Archives at: https://desu.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.12090/348

 I am excited to announce that the DSU archives has launched a new tool for sharing digitized content and making it just a little bit easier for long-distance patrons to access archival collections.  DSpace is a digital repository or what could be described as a virtual representation of the physical archives. Although it will take some time, the most prominent collections of the DSU archives will be digitized and made available online. 

Last month I conducted a survey of 50 constituents to learn how you, the users, might use the repository and to determine what content would be most valuable.  The overwhelming majority (90% of participants) specified that yearbooks would be the most useful collection.  As a result, I made the digitization of the yearbooks a top priority.  To date, the 1985-2007 yearbooks have been digitized and uploaded to the repository.  More are on the way! You can view them here.

Thank you to all who participated in the survey.  Please know that your input is valued and I will do my best to meet your requests.  If you didn't participate in the survey but would like to comment or offer suggestions you can do so in the comments below or email me at rscherry@desu.edu. Any feedback is welcome. 

Lastly, the archives has several gaps in the yearbook collection.  I would love to hear from you if you possess or have any information about the Statesman yearbooks listed below.  Even if you are not willing to be parted with your yearbook, would you consider loaning it so that may be digitized?

• any Statesman made prior to 1960 except for 1947
• 1962 Statesman
• 1963 Statesman
• 1964 Statesman
• 1965 Statesman
• 1977 Statesman
• 1978 Statesman
• 1984 Statesman

***3/18/2019 UPDATE: All of the yearbooks have now been digitized.  https://desu.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.12090/348

Archival Photos in MLKSC

Guess what!  Archival photographs are now on permanent display in the pool hall in the  Martin Luther King Student Center.  

A few months ago the Director of Wellness, Recreation and Campus Events asked me to collaborate with her on the installation of historic photographs in the MLKSC. We wanted the students to have an opportunity to see and appreciate the legacy that they are a part of.  Showing them student faces from the very beginning (c. 1915) until the recent past seemed like the best way forward. Plus, I'll admit the hair styles from back in the day have entertainment value.

The images included show sorority and fraternities, athletic events, student organizations, former Miss Delaware State College contestants, and student life in general. Next time you're in the Martin Luther King Student Center take a look!

DSU Documentary released

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the documentary has been removed from YouTube. However,  you can still catch the film on PBS (Channel 12 and 512 Philadelphia). It will air as follows:

February 16th, 5 p.m.

February 18th, 2:30 p.m.

February 19th, 5 p.m.

ORIGINAL POST:

I have exciting news for the Hornet community! Over a year ago, the Delaware Humanities Forum commissioned a documentary to be produced by my good friends at 302 Stories Inc. The project was initially spawned in recognition of the university's 125th anniversary and serves to examine the struggles and growth of this university during that time.

The film heavily features archival photographs that were taken from the university archives.  I am so proud of the work that has been done by my predecessors, my fellows, and myself that made this project possible.  Without having exhaustive collection descriptions for photographic materials, I would not have been able to facilitate this project with the ease that I did.  Thank you to all who played a vital role in the development of this repository!

Having seen the final product, I hope you will agree with me that the archival holdings featured are a credit to this university and were displayed in a beautiful, and compelling manner.  Many congratulations and thanks to Jeanne and Mike at 302 Stories for telling our story.

NEH Feature

Hello Everybody!

Happy Spring! It's been some time since I last gave you an update regarding the progress of the archives. The year 2017 started out fairly quiet because the grant projects were concluded, and the archives is settled pretty well into the new exhibit and storage space. In fact, I felt a little like one of the many critters hibernating for winter.  I stayed close to the collections and spent most of my efforts processing in my office.

But I'm on the move again and will soon have many more activities to report! For now, I thought I'd pass along a link to a National Endowment for the Humanities feature. Today the NEH published the following article about the photograph preservation project started under the first generation of archivists, Emily and Cale, and completed last spring by Dan and myself.

I take significant pride in the work that was done on this project.  I think there is yet some way to go before the project can be declared totally done and the finding aids finished. Nevertheless, the processed photographic collections have proven to be invaluable to the campus community and the public.

Thank you to the NEH for featuring the University Archives!

https://www.neh.gov/divisions/preservation/featured-project/50-states-preservation-delaware-state-university-in-dover-delaware

Happy Birthday DSU!

Happy 125^th Birthday Delaware State University! Here’s to wishing you many happy returns!

 Today, May 15, 2016,  we salute the 125 years of service DSU has dedicated to positively impacting the community, state, nation, world, and Mars! …Okay so we haven’t actually reached our neighboring planet yet, but the Optical Science program is doing its best. Thank you to the administrators, faculty, staff and more than 20,000 graduates who shaped this university.

Campus Couples

Written by Dan DelViscio

As you may have noticed Valentine’s Day is coming up soon and that got me thinking about the holiday here at DSU. So I started going through our photograph collections and found some really fun images of affection here on campus. 

One of our favorites is this image of a couple walking hand in hand through the snow. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the people are in this picture for obvious reasons, but it was printed in the DSU yearbook the Statesman, in 1968.

Here is another photograph of a couple on campus. This one was printed in the DSU newspaper the Hornet, in 1968. It was featured in the Campus Scenes section. 

Rejoice and I have argued about whats going on in this picture. I think its former President Dr. Luna I. Mishoe and his wife renewing their vows with Reverend R. W. Coleman. What do you guys think?

What are your plans for the holiday? Going to a concert? Maybe having a nice dinner? Clue us in on your holiday plans and take pictures. You never know if they’ll end up in an archive. Archivists love pictures.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Written by Dan DelViscio

The notion of memorializing a day to exemplify King was first proposed by labor unions, but it took 15 years before a federal holiday was created. Following the death of Dr. King, two politicians, John Conyers and Edward Brooke, proposed a bill in Congress to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979, but it wasn't until 1983 that President Ronald Reagan officially signed the holiday into law.

Delaware State University will be celebrating its 30^th annual Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 18th.  Even before Martin Luther King Jr. day was a national holiday, DSU held annual celebrations to honor one of the greatest civil rights activists in history. Thirty years ago, this historically black university  recognized that Dr. King had helped to create a brighter future for its students. 


In commemoration of this special day I thought I would riffle through the archives  and show you some of the past celebrations here at DSU. On the top right Theressa Webster as Miss DSC and Senator Herman Holloway both visit the child development lab on campus in 1978. The photograph to the right shows students posing with signs for a 1985 celebration. Finally, the  photograph below depicts Delaware State College's Gospel Choir performing in 1980.

I hope you enjoy the weekend and at the same time reflect on the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Reference:
Ross, Shmuel, and David Johnson. "The History of Martin Luther King Day." Infoplease. Accessed January 14, 2016. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkhistory1.html.

Winterthur Trip

Written by Daniel DelViscio

Update from our last post:

This past week on November 4^th we at the Delaware State University Archives took a wonderful tour of the conservation facilities at the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. We were given a look behind the scenes at the book and library department, science analytics lab, and the paper conservation department.  

Do you remember this photograph to the right? If not, see our last post. I asked a conservator on the tour how they might go about reconditioning a photograph with rust damage. First, consideration is given to the historical value of the item. As archivists we have to consider if it is worth the time and money to restore something in your collection. Conservators have similar thought processes. They take into account how much conservation is necessary because sometimes the methods they use are detrimental to the object. With this photograph of David Warner the first step is to identify the photograph’s chemical composition. The conservator would have to decide, based on that information, what type of bleach is suitable to remove the rust stain.  The process of bleaching a photograph is like using chemotherapy to destroy cancer. A conservator can only use this method to a point before he/she has done more harm than good.

Each department at Winterthur specializes in a certain object group. We were shown labs for furniture, painting, textile conservation, and more.  Learning about the processes and techniques conservators use was fascinating, and if I wasn’t so awful at chemistry I’d love to learn how to do it myself. If you are thinking of taking a tour of Winterthur I highly recommend it. I’m told the Yuletide tours around Christmas are especially cool with nighttime events like the Yuletide Jazz and Wine and live musical performances. 

Preservation vs Conservation

Written by Daniel DelViscio

People often use the terms “preservation and “conservation” interchangeably to convey the same meaning.  If you look up these terms in a dictionary you will probably see that one is provided as a synonym of the other. They both fundamentally mean the act of preventing decay.  In the museum and archives community, however, preservation and conservation are two very different processes.

The Smithsonian Institute defines preservation as, “the systematic application of principles that prolong the life of all collections materials—analog and digital”.² Monitoring the conditions in which records are kept in is one of the ways in which archivists can preserve records before they need to be repaired by professional conservators. Conservation, on the other hand, primarily focuses on fixing individual materials that have been damaged over time, by natural disaster, or by accident. And while conservation often focuses on a single item, preservation takes into account the conditions of the entire archive by controlling things like temperature, humidity, and way in which the records are housed. Finally, conservation is typically much more expensive. 

In preservation, first and foremost is the proper handling of archival materials - such as wearing gloves when handling photographs. The second most important practice for archival preservation is the control of the climate within the archives. According to the National Archives to preserve documents and photographic materials conditions need to be maintained at around 65⁰ between 35% and 45% relative humidity.¹ This slows the aging process and keeps mold from forming. No one likes mold.

However, sometimes archivists are confronted by items that warrant restoration. Some institutions like larger universities and museums have internal conservation departments, but most archivists have to outsource to institutions that have the proper laboratories, tools, and trained conservators.

On March 19, 2015 a preservation assessment was conducted by Jessica Keister from the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, PA. In the assessment, she highlighted this photograph of David Warner. Looking at the photograph we can see why it’s been flagged, and Keister explains that the photograph has been damaged by prolonged red iron staining from a tintype which was housed with the portrait. A photograph like this is an example of an item in need of conservation and not preservation.

But where do you go to get your materials put back together? For institutions in the north-eastern United States, the answer is the conservation department at the Winterthur Museum here in Delaware. Winterthur was established by Henry Algernon du Pont in the early 20^th century to be both a home and a museum and today it houses one of the most prestigious institutions for conservation learning in the country.³ And on November 4th we at the Delaware State University Archives will take a special tour of Winterthur. But you’ll have to read about that in the next blog post.

            1. A. Ernest, Conrad. "Realistic  Environment." National Archives and Records Administration. March 1, 1999. Accessed October 15, 2015. https://www.archives.gov/preservation/environmental-control/realistic-preservation-environment.html.

2. "Preservation." Smithsonian Institution Archives. Accessed October 14, 2015. http://siarchives.si.edu/services/preservation#1.

3. "Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library." Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. Accessed October 14, 2015. http://www.winterthur.org/?p=515&src=headerfooter.