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

Founder's Day 2017 and the Time Capsule

Hello Everybody!

Our celebration of the 125th year continues with the annual Founder's Day ceremony.  Join us on February 9th at 11:00 am as we gather in the theater of the Education and Humanities to remember the day the university first opened to students on February 2, 1892.

This year we will be preparing a new time capsule for burial at the conclusion of the 125th year. Guests will have the opportunity to view and touch the historically significant contents of the capsule as well as hear presentations by esteemed educators and administrators.

This event is free and open to the public! I hope to see you there!

Starting an Oral History Program

Dr. Reba Hollingsworth '49

In summer 2016, the DSU archives was invited by a group of stellar alumni to join the DSU Legacy Committee whose purpose is to disseminate the stories of university history through a variety of platforms - the university website, exhibits, alumni events, and more. I'm so grateful that the committee counts it their primary objective to increase the outreach of the archives and encourage alumni to donate their personal records.

I'm pleased to announce that the legacy committee and I have initiated an oral history program! We are on a mission to film some of our most respected and senior alumni in order to capture their memories and personal experiences at the State College for Colored Students, Delaware State College, and of course Delaware State University.

To date, we have filmed interviews with three individuals who graduated from SCCS in the 1940's. All three, Dr. Cora Selby '40, Mrs. Courtney Stevenson '44, and Dr. Reba Hollingsworth '49, are remarkable women who are so very generous, kindhearted, well-spoken and intelligent.

In sharing their stories, these women were able to look back on rich, full lives with pride and recall so many achievements.  What I appreciated the most was that their accomplishments had nothing to do with fame, glory, or riches.  Instead, they were proud of life lessons learned from hard work - how to use a household dryer instead of sending clothes to the dry cleaner, and being charitable with time and money even when you may not have much yourself.

If you'd like to gain some of this wisdom, hear funny stories, and learn about DSU history, come to the archives to view the oral histories.  This is an ongoing project so we've got a long list of interviews still ahead. Do you or someone you know have stories to share about Delaware State University? Let us know!

 Written by Joy Scherry

Annual Christmas Letter to the Patrons

Whew! I survived 2016.  I’m sure this is a sentiment that many of us share.  It has been a year full of challenges as our country faced a crossroads, as we each aged another year, and as we perhaps faced good life altering decisions.  Yet here we stand at the close of the year and celebrate our accomplishments and potentials.

For me, there came a day in 2016 when I woke up and realized that I was fully immersed in the professional world.  I negotiated and dictated legal matters.  I became a representative of DSU in matters involving external agencies.  My colleagues became my friends.  I formulated ideas that I wanted to contribute in order to move my community forward in a positive, productive manner.  I developed a voice and hoped that it was heard.  Somewhere along the lines, I passed a point where I stopped having to operate independently and found myself part of a team - A big shout out to the alumni who advocate and support me 100%!

Looking back at the year, so much has been achieved! 

• Today I sit in a physically different office then I did twelve months ago thanks to the Office of Planning and Construction.   
• I have a beautiful exhibit installed in a new archives gallery thanks to the Delaware Public Archives. 
• My collections have increased in size following the #GOTPAPER initiative of the Office of Enterprise Risk Management.  
•  There are four wayside signs permanently installed on campus through an IMLS grant and the camaraderie of the archival fellow, intern, and student volunteer.   
• Last, but not at all least, I started an oral history program because of a partnership with the DSU Legacy Committee, a group of loyal alumni who seek to preserve university history. 

My challenges yielded my successes.  I will cherish the moment I received a call from the staff of Vice President Biden’s office because they needed research help.  I will always remember the feeling I had when I stumbled into an abandoned records room in the most unlikely of places.  I will savor the advice I received and feeling of being welcome in the home of a 90 year old alumna who graciously allowed me to conduct an oral history. 

There are many aspects of the future that are obscure and difficult to guess.  There have been significant changes for the staff at the William C. Jason Library and departmental restructuring is still ahead as we move into 2017. By the same token, those who are in the highest offices of this university are setting goals to advance the archives into further prominence within the community.  Whatever comes next in 2017, I will serve to the best of my ability. Continue to join me here, in this blog, as the archives progresses through 2017. 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and health and happiness in the new year, 

Joy

Archives Video Feature by DSU students

Thanks to Jabari Jefferson, Justine Marshall, and Tayzah Peeples for making this awesome promotional video for the archives!

Now Open!

On November 29, 2016 the Delaware State University Archives hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome the campus community and other archives supporters into the beautiful, new archives suite. 

The delays, the hassle, and the negotiations surrounding the construction period were well worth the struggle!  At the end of it all I feel that I have secured a positive future for the Delaware State University Archives.  No longer will it be hid in a converted second floor conference room, but in a dedicated space that can be seen the moment library patrons walk in the front door.

I am thrilled by all of the students who have come into the new space.  In the two days since the ceremony, I have watched again and again as the students call the elevator outside the archives door before their curiosity gets the best of them, and they are suddenly drawn into the gallery. I hear excited exclamations through the wall as I work in the storage space on the opposite side, and it makes me smile.  I am so glad that I have been able to build all of it for them. I hope that I have provided the students with another dimension to their education, and that they may come to understand those who have preceded them and who now support their scholarships, their athletics, and advocate for the diversity of opportunities afforded to them.

It is also for the alumni of whom I speak that I have striven to make the history of DSU more accessible. They deserve to know that the State College for Colored Students and the Delaware State College that they remember has not been forgotten.  There is still someone who appreciates their history and contributions not only to the university but to our nation. I hope that they too will enjoy the gallery and the trip a walk down memory lane it inspires.


In case you missed all the fun, take a look at our pictures here!

Written by Joy Scherry

Archives Grand Opening on November 29th at 11:00!

You are cordially invited to the grand opening of the DSU archives and exhibit gallery! We are celebrating the completion of the archives construction and the first-ever archives exhibit.  President Williams and myself will offer remarks followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony and refreshments. 

Come see the exhibit  which features a visual timeline of university history (thanks to the Delaware Public Archives who generously donated the wall panels) and rare items from the university archive. This will be an opportunity to view the Board of Trustee minutes from the very first meeting in 1891, vintage clothing, the matriculation book from the early 1900s, 1930s trophies and so much more!

I hope to see on November 29th, 2016 at 11:00 in the university archives, located on the first floor of the William C. Jason Library.

Exhibit Materials Available in Braille

 How cool is this?! Several months ago, while the DSU history walking tour project was still in the planning stages, I and a colleague were working to review the exhibit's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  In the course of the meeting, the idea of publishing the exhibit text in braille was proposed, and I immediately loved it! After all, the business of libraries is about providing access to information for everybody.

Today it is my very great pleasure to announce that braille copies of the DSU history walking tour have been made available at the William C. Jason Library circulation desk and within the archives!

New Permanent Exhibit Installed!

I am beyond thrilled to announce that after a year in the making, the DSU Archives has installed a permanent, outdoor exhibit on the university's Dover campus.

The exhibit was designed as a walking tour of the campus in order to allow campus visitors to catch a glimpse into the university's 125 years of service. Four trail-side signs are now located outside of Loockerman Hall, the DuPont School (now the health center), the Science Center, and the William. C. Jason Library.  The signs include narrative texts and historic photographs from the collections of the university archives in order to inform visitors. 

I invite you stroll our campus and contemplate the unique history of this university.  Consider our buildings not for their function, but as artifacts and eyewitnesses to the past.  These brick and mortar structures have beheld the evolution of modern society and the arrival of the digital age – from Revolutionary America to the advent of the internet. Please pay us a visit soon!

I have several people to thank: First, this project would not have been possible without the assistance of Derek Street who gave his time freely to design these beautiful signs. At the time of the drafting period last spring, Derek was a graphics design sophomore who had just transferred to Delaware State University.  He was extremely patient throughout the process and was willing to sit with me hours at a time in order to make sure that we put forth our best work. I think the end result proves that he knows his stuff! Thank you, Derek! I'm serious. I couldn't have done it without you.

I also thank the archives intern and fellow, Jasmine Smith and Daniel DelViscio, who also worked tirelessly to help me research, draft text, and select photographs for the signs.  You should both be proud, and I hope you will have the opportunity to come see the final result.

Lastly, I have much appreciation for the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the funding that allowed the curation of this exhibit. [MH-00-13-0013-13]

Residential Life

This week the biggest topic of conversation among DSU employees is the return of the students.  Mostly we are excited to start another year and get the projects we spent the summer planning underway.  Some of us (custodial staff, *cough, cough), have been complaining about the arrival of students because it has been a mad dash to clean and prepare the residential halls.  Whatever the case, we’ve all worked hard to prepare and now we’re looking forward to welcoming them.

Classes will not start until August 29 so there is yet time for the students to enjoy the last vestiges of summer.  Many will convene on campus beginning next week to settle into their residential halls and shop for all the essential school supplies and room décor.  

For many of the students, the best part of college is living in the halls.  Speaking from personal experience, all of my best memories of college happened in my dorm.  Somehow even the unpleasant experiences make for good laughs now – like that time a guy waited for an unsuspecting person, me, to start a load of laundry and walk away before jamming his clothes in with mine.  And then there’s the pranks we pulled. I used to lob snowballs at my friends through their open windows (because we all know that radiators inevitably blast heat. It's a given in college dorms). But don't get any ideas. There are rules against throwing snowballs on the DSU campus. 

Residents of Tubman Hall, 1971

Dear Students, I wish you the best of luck this year and hope that you will make plenty of memories! Revel in your college years because they pass too quickly!  Enjoy the social atmosphere of  the residential halls, but also work hard, eat right, and don't forget to visit the library! Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year. 

Conwell Hall c. 1970-1980

A resident of Medgar Evers Hall