New Collections Available for Research!

The collections below represent new collections or collections with newly updated finding aids --

-Anne Dummett Papers (RBM 9466)  - Ann Dummett (1930-2012) was a British campaigner for racial justice and an expert on immigration and nationality law. This collection consists of research notes; drafts of books and articles; documents from organizations dealing with issues of race, immigration, and nationality; copies of British government acts related to these topics; correspondence; periodicals; and books.

-Michael Dummett Papers (RBM 9526) - Michael Dummett was an advocate for racial justice, and worked extensively on issues of immigration. This collection includes materials related to the 1956 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott and race and immigration in the United Kingdom.

-Robert P. Casey Papers (HCLA 1467) - Robert Patrick Casey, Sr. (1932-2000) served as 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from January 1987 to January 1995, previously having served as Pennsylvania State Senator (1963-1968) and Auditor General (1969-1977). The Robert P. Casey papers document Governor Casey's administration through issue papers, daily schedules, budget proposals, speeches, newspaper clippings, press releases, artifacts, and audio-visual materials.

-Pennsylvania State University, Graduate School Records (PSUA 402) - The first graduate students at the Farmer's High School earned their degrees in 1863; the Graduate School was established in 1922. This collection of records from the Graduate School documents the School's students, faculty, and personnel.

-HUB-Robeson Galleries Records (PSUA-457) - This collection documents the history of exhibitions at the HUB Robeson Galleries through extensive artist files and contracts, correspondence, publicity and gallery management materials, as well as scrapbooks.

-Swigart-Shedd family collection on Pennsylvania iron furnaces (HCLA 6093)- This collection concerning iron furnaces primarily in the Juniata River valley of Pennsylvania. Materials include labeled photographs, National Register of Historic Places site inventory forms, papers, articles, and research files. The materials were compiled by Nancy Shedd, her father John Swigart, and her grandfather W. Emmert Swigart.

Archive Adventures: Celebrate!

October is my favorite month for a variety of reasons: the crisp air and vibrant costumes of the trees, the way the sun slants across the Valley just before dusk, and Halloween. Add this to a certain celebration across America this month and it's a bit like opening my Christmas gift a couple months early!

From basic "What is an archive?" lessons to in-depth lectures on records managements, we take this time to say it loud and proud to the public..."Archivists make it last longer!" It's all about making the artifacts and records we hold more visible, more accessible, and safeguarded for future generations. And we're not just talking to the public about it! The celebration is also dedicated to collaboration between archives, sharing information to help each other provide better services and practices. Though it's already the end of the month, archives are always around so it's basically a year-long thing!

This year, Pennsylvania is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, making it the focus for our state's Archives Month.  Though it was in its infancy at the beginning of the war, Penn State has a great collection of Civil War papers from around the state. The James C. Stevenson papers provide unparalleled documentation in the form of diaries kept during his four years of service. He talks about everything from his fellow soldiers' experiences to life after the war. And if you are a photo hound, you'll get plenty of pictures of his regiment, the (PA 100th Volunteer Infantry) Roundheads!

We also have Asa Martin's (founder of the Pennsylvania Historical Society) collection, which includes letters from the time of the Civil War, land records, and documents from the early-mid 19th century. You'll have to come in to find more on the Civil War and explore the archives a bit. It's scary (good)  how much you can find!

From all of us in Special Collections (dressed up as our Records Management mascot REMSBY), Happy Halloween!

A Conversation with Owen William of the Folger Shakespeare Library

Monday, October 7, 2013

4:00 p.m. Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library

Owen Williams, the Folger Institute’s Assistant Director for Scholarly Programs, will talk about the research and educational opportunities at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. He will focus on participation in Institute seminars, conferences, and workshops. He will also be happy to discuss fellowships and other funding opportunities, the Folger collections, and Folger-based digital resources and digital humanities initiatives.   

Penn State is a member of the Folger Institute’s Consortium, a group of forty-four universities here and abroad that plans an annual slate of advanced scholarly programs. Our membership gives Penn State faculty and graduate students priority in admission and eligibility for grants-in-aid to fund travel and lodging. These programs regularly include a variety of topical seminars, conferences, workshops, and symposia in addition to paleography training, dissertation seminars, and M.A.-level research methods courses. Recent offerings have included a three-week institute on “Early Modern Digital Agendas” supported by the NEH Office of Digital Humanities, a workshop on teaching the History of the Book, and a faculty weekend seminar on orality and literacy. 

This spring, upcoming programs include a two-day faculty seminar on “Rogues, Gypsies, and Outsiders: The Marginal People of Early Modern England” (directed by David Cressy); a one-day symposium on “Borders and Boundaries in Early Modern Jewish History”; “Shakespeare and the Problem of Biography,” a major conference sponsored by an NEH Collaborative Research grant; and a month-long Mellon Summer Institute on English Paleography.  

Like the Folger collection itself, the reach of the Folger programming is broad, and offerings include transatlantic and global topics as well as British literature and history. They engage scholars in a variety of fields, including European history, Asian studies, library sciences, continental literatures, theater history, and early American studies. 

The Folger also sponsors short-term and long-term research fellowships, which several Penn State faculty members have enjoyed. 

This talk is sponsored by the University Libraries, The Committee for Early Modern Studies, and the Material Text Workshop. For more information, please contact Marcy North mln14@psu.edu