Accessing the archives during COVID-19

Hey Friends! I hope you're all safe and well.  The William C. Jason Library is open to the campus community on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The University Archives, specifically, is open on Monday and Wednesday.  As always, I am eager to assist you in whatever capacity I can, however, I must beg your patience and make you aware of some protocol:

• If you are a university community member, and need to access archival collections I ask that you email me (rscherry@desu.edu) well in advance to schedule a visit. This is necessary to ensure that the appropriate health and safety arrangements have been undertaken.  
• If you are an alumni or member of the public, please email me to determine how I can best assist you.  In most cases, I will conduct research on your behalf and provide a limited number of digitized records pertinent to your request. 
• Please be aware that myself and my fellow librarians are working remotely on the days when the building is not open.  Toward that end, we are not reachable by office phone. Email is the best method of communication (rscherry@desu.edu). 

While COVID-19 may seem like a significant barrier to accessing the archives, it can also be a benefit.  For example, I recently had a request for records of the 1968 student unrest.  In meeting the patron's needs, I was actually able to upload the 1968 unrest collection to our digital repository (https://desu.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.12090/345).  So while I share your frustrations, I am also pleased to be able to increase our digitized collections.  I hope that you will enjoy exploring the new records. 

Collection Spotlight: Eula Maloy Oliver collection

This month we are showing off another tiny, but fascinating, collection at the Delaware State University Archives.  Like the Viola Young Scrivens collection highlighted last month, The Eula Maloy Oliver collection is small in stature, but it is representative of an era in DSU history that is not well documented.  

Beginning in the late 1950s Eula Maloy Oliver attended the DuPont High School, more commonly referred to as the laboratory school on the campus of Delaware State College.  After completion of the high school division, Eula continued her DSC education at the collegiate level.  She attained a bachelors degree in education in 1962. While in attendance, Eula was very active socially and became a member of the then-newly established Delta Lambda chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.  Eula also married one of her classmates, William A. Oliver.

The Eula Maloy Oliver collection is a treasure trove of black and white photographs depicting 1950s Delaware State College.  The subject matter ranges from campus scenery to athletics, to student organizations and more. The individuals most commonly shown are Mr. and Mrs. Oliver and their mutual friends. The images found here are just two examples: Above - two female students promenade on the campus circle, a popular spot for croquet games and relaxation, and a hangout for the children of faculty members. Below - Students typically enjoyed dancing and card games in "the canteen" located in the basement of Conrad Hall.  The canteen was one of the few social locations on campus where male and female students could enjoy time together. Dorm visitations at this time were very strict.

Other contents in this collection include a 1952 Dupont High School yearbook, a 1962 DSC yearbook, and a letter written by Eula to Dr. Claibourne Smill dated November 9, 2005 in which she addresses concerns for the further expansion of the campus and maintaining a diverse student population.

Through her DSC degree, Mrs. Eula Oliver was employed as an elementary school teacher for 35 years. She was an influential individual in Delaware Education and served on a great number of local, state, and national committees. Perhaps most significantly, she worked to formulate the Delaware State Assessment Standards in the areas of math, science and social studies. 

Mrs. Oliver had two sisters who additionally attended Delaware State College, Mrs. Mary Scott and Mrs. Bertha Turner. Please note that Mrs. Scott also has an archival collection of photographic scrapbooks available for public viewing.  

Collection Spotlight: Viola Young Scrivens collection

Today I am spotlighting a collection that could easily be undervalued and overlooked in the Delaware State University archives. The Viola Young Scrivens collection is tiny at a mere 0.25 linear feet, but it holds contents for an era of DSU documentary history that is not well represented by other photographs and records. 

In 1933 Viola Scrivens was a high school student at the laboratory high school on the campus of the State College for Colored Students.  Although she had a long association with the college, she did not pursue a collegiate education.  Beginning in the 1940's, Viola did, however, serve as a cook for  Delaware State College, and she seems to have been an active alumna and member of the campus community. Her collection therefore contains event programs for student theater productions, concerts, building dedications, and Founder's Day events dated between 1931 and 1983. 

Alumni play a valuable role at Delaware State University and are sincerely appreciated by administrators and students alike.  Alumni, as always, are welcome to donate any documentary evidence of their collegiate experiences to the archives.  The students who conduct research at the archives are always eager to learn how their experiences differ from their predecessors, and they value the life lessons that are often by only be conveyed through the archival collections curated by alumni. 

A full description of the collection is available as a finding aid on the DSU archive's LibGuide: https://desu.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=34904850

A 1931 program for a twelfth grade play. 

Viola Young Scrivens' card of admission for the SCCS
laboratory school. Click to enlarge the image.

Course Catalogs now online

The DSU archives' online repository is continuing to grow!

This month marks the completion of yet another collection in DSpace. All of the course catalogs housed in the University Archives, 95 in total, have been digitized and made publicly available. It is hoped that the online catalogs will be a resource for alumni and university departments alike who need to access historic degree requirements and course descriptions.  Additionally, the digitization of the course catalogs is a helpful step as the university prepares for the Middle States re-accreditation process.

Besides the obvious purpose of outlining educational requirements, the course catalogs also reveal a picture of the university as it once was.  The catalogs, dated between 1893 and the current academic year, are a wealth of historic information about faculty employment, calendars, campus infrastructure growth, academic and student life regulations (rules that seem comical today), student clubs and social activities, athletics, and support services. In my opinion, the catalogs have long been undervalued, and it is my hope that the new, digitized format of the catalogs will make them more accessible and better appreciated. Take a look for yourself here: https://desu.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.12090/399.

This month marks the end of the first year in the digitization effort.  All in all, there are now 131 volumes of yearbooks and catalogs available. It has been a transformative year  as reference questions involving these materials are being answered with greater speed and in many cases, patrons are discovering independence in pursuing their interests.

But wait! There's more! Be on the lookout for digitized Board of Trustee minutes to start appearing soon. 

Partnering with the Delaware Historical Society to examine Unequal Justice in DE

Happy New Year! This week we are welcoming our students back and settling into new classes and routines. As I look forward to another exciting semester, I would like to announce an ongoing partnership between the Delaware Historical Society, University of Delaware and of course Delaware State University.  We are embarking on a journey to shed light on unequal justice and other disparities experienced by the African American community in historic Delaware.

We are actively seeking to define our project in terms of era and scope, but our purpose is to tell the story of lynchings, riots, and other racially charged events perpetrated against African American Delawareans. A small piece of the project will focus on educational disparity and segregation in the schools. While DSU has faculty and staff from numerous professional disciplines participating in the project, the examination of education will be my primary contribution.

Alumni, if you would like to contribute to the project or have a story you would like to share with us, please reach out to me at rscherry@desu.edu.  Alternatively, you can contact the Delaware Historical Society through Stephanie Lampkin at slampkin@dehistory.org.

The following is the official press release from the Delaware Historical Society:

Partnership Formed to Research Unequal Justice in Delaware

Wilmington, DE– A project to unearth the forgotten and unknown instances of unequal justice in the First State is underway through the Delaware Historical Society’s Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and the Delaware Social Justice Remembrance Coalition.

The project, “Unequal Justice in Delaware – Rewriting the Narrative,” will explore the history of racial violence, remembrance, and social justice throughout Delaware’s history and across all three counties.  The project will merge rigorous academic research from various higher education departments with grassroots community engagement and activism. 

“The University of Delaware is extremely excited to be a partner in this important project,” said James Jones, Director of the University’s Center for the Study of Diversity, which is coordinating UD’s participation.  “The talent, dedication and expertise of our community is a natural and important source of support for this valuable effort to better understand Delaware’s racial history and to raise awareness and implement reforms to guide us toward a more just society for all Delawareans.”

Support for the project at UD, said Jones, will include the Provost, and broad engagement from faculty, students and staff in the Morris Library, Africana Studies, History Department, Department of Sociology, Office of Community Engagement, School of Education, and the School for Public Policy and Administration.

The stories revealed through research and public engagement events will be brought to light through oral and digital histories, as well as curriculum development.  The project will also explore how research and public engagement can inform policy.  It is inspired by Bryan Stevenson’s groundbreaking work with the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL.

Wide participation is also planned at Delaware State University (DSU), said Dr. Akwasi Osei, Associate Dean of the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences and Director of the Global Societies.  “This joint effort on Delaware History will bring together faculty, staff, students, and others to contribute to the further edification of all of Delaware and the nation,” said Dr. Osei.  “It will go to show that despite our current ‘tribalism,’ we have always been in this together, and will continue to be.”

Dr. Osei said the project will help tell the American story. “That magic moment, well over two hundred years ago, when we declared the basic humanity of all is perhaps the greatest moment in that history,” he said. “That we have to ‘rewrite’ the narrative of the actual unfolding of that story is indicative of how rocky the journey has been.”

The partnership also includes the Delaware Social Justice Remembrance Coalition. “The Delaware Social Justice Coalition (DSJC) is thrilled to be a part of this collaborative that will continue the work of illuminating and memorializing past incidents of racial terror in the state of Delaware,” said Amy Shepherd, an officer of DSJC.  “We appreciate our state's willingness to understand how such incidents have impacted life as we know it today and we look forward to Delaware's propulsion toward becoming a leader in changing the narrative around race and poverty, as Bryan Stevenson urges.”

A website for the project is currently under development, which will be essential for the progress of the historical initiative and dissemination of the narratives it yields.

For questions about the project, contact Stephanie Lampkin, Director of the Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage, at slampkin@dehistory.org.

Annual Christmas Letter 2019

Dear Friends,

It's that time of year again!  I hope that 2019 was a happy, healthy, and productive year for each of you. Can you believe that we are rounding the corner on a new decade?

As I reflect on this past year, the first thing that comes to mind was the tremendous loss that the university experienced in the passing of former president, Dr. William DeLauder.  I am sure that this holiday season will be difficult for his family, and I wish them to know that they are in my thoughts. I was honored to have met Dr. DeLauder several years ago, and I am eternally grateful for his  donation to the archives.  Included in his donation were some Board of Trustee minutes that are highly valued.

The second thing that comes to mind is the outstanding progress that has been made in the digital realm. Amazingly, 113 volumes of yearbooks and course catalogs have been digitized in 2019 and we're not done yet! In the next few days before the holiday you can expect to see several more catalogs hit the web.

The number of reference interactions in 2019 was up by 23% from last year! This is a significant increase, and I am so delighted to have met so many new faces.  Our constituents continue to be representative of a diverse population. This year's patrons included individuals from Dartmouth College, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Delaware Historical Society, University of Colorado, University of Maryland, New Jersey State Library, Phoenicia Public Library, and of course all of my favorite alumni, administrators, and students. It is my pleasure to serve you.

What will next year hold for the archives? For starters, it will be a new year under a new president. When we return to campus on January 6th we will welcome Dr. Tony Allen as our fearless leader. Second, I am looking forward to using my organizational skills on behalf of the university for a very exciting and vital committee assignment. Third, I hope to continue to expand the digitized collections by moving on to the Board of Trustee minutes. Whatever happens in 2020 I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and desire all the best for you in the new year.

Cheers,
Joy

New Athletics Exhibit Open

In keeping with tradition, the archives kicked off the new school year with by installing a new gallery exhibit.

The focus of this year's display is Delaware State University's vibrant athletics history. It features athletics artifacts and photographs spanning from as early as 1950 through the current day.  Archival photographs represent our oldest history while more recent history is represented through signed jerseys, game balls, and other paraphernalia on loan from the athletic advising department. The room is additionally festooned with historic pennants from the Prettyman family collection.

I invite you to come view the exhibit. The gallery is open during library hours of operation from 8:00 am until 12:00 am Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on Friday, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Saturday, and 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Sunday. See you soon!

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!