SJSU Special Collections & Archives

The San José State University Special Collections & Archives (SJSU), Martin Luther King Jr. Library has been awarded a Basic Processing grant of $151,704 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to make accessible all the permanent archival collections. The grant will support a full-time archivist to survey, catalog and encode the collection inventories of 80 manuscript and university record collections. The finding aids will be published on the On-line Archives of California. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/

We anticipate on hiring an project archivist in the next motnh, and hope to have the project underway by the end of August 2008. This grant will help us move forward in making our collections more accessible and will result in new discovery tools! We will post updates on the progress of this grant project once we get underway!

The Spring semester has flown by! Over 130 Undergraduate and graduate students were introduced to primary source research methods, and had the opportunity to explore the variety of formats and sources maintained in Special Collections. History 100w students learned about the resources documenting Japanese Internment and student life at San Jose State during Vietnam. History 200 students explored the possibilities documenting nationalism at the local and regional level, while English, Art, and Geology undergraduates learned about the rich collection of artists books, fine press, and other rare book collections.

Our outreach activities included sponsorship of the First Thursday lecture "A Soldier and a Collegian Remember their Nineteenth Century California Homeland, by SJSU Professor, Gregorio Mora-Torres, and the Wavelength Documentary Preview Screening on second wave feminism, produced by Jennifer Lee and Jennifer Myronuk.

For the summer we have two interesting exhibits from our artist books and war poster collection. The artist book collection exhibit draws upon the department's rich and varied printed book collection. It explores the significance of the advent of printing and its impact on the development of western civilization. This exhibit presents selections from a collection of approximately 1,447 World War I and II posters collected by Professor Charles Burdick. The posters provide a graphic portrayal of propaganda used to educate the public and enlist support for the war.

SJSU Special Collections has had a busy Fall Semester and is well into the Spring Semester of 2008. We have presented primary source instruction focused on graduate courses in research methods and for public history. We will be working with the 100W students in March and April, and will offer orientations to rare, fine press, and artists books for SJSU art and literature students, as well as for the local community colleges.

Of note, we are sponsoring a fabulous exhibit of pop-up books donated by SJSU Alumna, Jeanne Rose. We will have an opening reception on February 28, 2008, 5-7 PM. Jeanne began collection pop-up books as young mother, but developed a life-long fascination with this book-art form. The exhibit will be on display until the end of April.

In addition, we just added the Florene Stewart Poyadue Papers inventory to the OAC. These papers consist of administrative files, publicity and outreach material, photographs, and audiovisual material created by Poyadue and Parents Helping Parents (PHP) during her tenure with the organization. Poyadue's work with PHP transformed the organization from a small local support group to a national and international prototype for parent resource networks. Items in this collection document her contributions to PHP, and highlight how her vision and work impacted the lives of so many. Under Poyadue, PHP became a United Way agency in 1985, and was recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1990 as the model for parent to parent resource centers across the nation.

We are currently working on processing the collection of the Alpha Phi Alpha Alumni Records, and we have a group of students working on transcribing the oral histories of Historian, Glenna Matthews, among other print and digital collection projects.

SJSU Special Collections & Archives has had a very busy and productive semester. We have added significant content to the OAC including inventories to the following collections: Rod Diridon Papers, Janet Gray Hayes Papers, Susan Hammer Papers, James P. Walsh, League of Women Voters, San Jose/Santa Clara County Chp. Records, Willard E. Schmidt Papers, and the YWCA of Silicon Valley Records.

We are currently working on the Florene Poyadue Papers, Mayor Ron Gonzales Papers, and the Fred Hirsch Civil Rights Collection, in between digital projects, reference/research assistance and instruction.

Our Primary Source Instruction Program has brought in five graduate classes and the History 100W students (approximately 100 students for the semester!) If you would like to schedule a class for the spring, follow the link to the contact information on the right!

There are a number of discovery tools available in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, but the most important tool for conducting California based research is through the Online Archives of California (OAC). [See the link to the right of this message] This resource allows researchers to conduct key word searching to locate archival collections in the state, and one of the nice features is the ability to search by contributing institution. If you search under SJSU you will locate 16 inventories representing a variety of collections documenting the history of the local community, politics, the university, the arts, and literature.

Soon we will add new inventories for:
James P. Walsh papers
Alfred E. Alquist Papers
League of Women Voters San Jose/Santa Clara Records
Willard Schmidt Papers

Contact Information:

Danelle Moon
408/808-2061
danelle.moon@sjsu.edu
Special Collections Hours
M, T, Th 11-6
W 11-8
F 11-5
Sat 1-5


The beginning of the school term is always an exciting time for students, parents, and faculty, but it is also a time when student anxiety is quite high, especially for new students. Navigating the campus and learning how to access the library can be very scary for some, and darn right intimidating for others. Whether you are a freshman, transfer student, or graduate student, the library should be your comfort zone. Here in the King Library, the University librarians are happy to help you as you learn to navigate the campus and library.

Here in Special Collections we are frequently the last consulted and the most feared, mostly due to the requirements we need to enforce to secure and maintain our unique and rare collections. It is my goal that students, and especially history and secondary education students will find the collections and department staff a refuge for research and for developing the skills needed to be successful in your programs and in your future endeavors as educators. What this means in plain language is that we are interested in supporting your needs for accessing primary source materials, and will provide hands-on discovery experiences through a variety of courses, and by providing access to our collection holdings.

One thing I hope you will learn from your research experiences here at SJSU is that first and foremost the librarians are here to help you succeed. Second and equally important, I can offer specific counseling on accessing primary sources here on campus and beyond, and I encourage you to contact me directly. My name is Danelle Moon, and I am the Director of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives, and I have expertise as an archivist and U.S. historian and would be glad to schedule individual and group counseling sessions. I also have lots experience teaching a variety of U.S History courses, including courses in the SJSU History Department. My research is focused on California and the West, and U.S. Women’s History, but my current research is focused on Women and Politics since the passage of the 19th Amendment, with a specific focus on feminists and peace activists during the Post-World War I era.

You can contact me through the SJSU Special Collection Website [link is to the right of this message], or just give me a ring at 408/808-2061.

In your exploration of this blog you will find that the design is focused on presenting various resource tools and information that will help you in developing primary source literacy, using both print and visual resources, and using specific history databases. Periodically I will post archival topics that will help you gain a deeper understanding using primary sources in your own research, but will also illustrate the craft of historians, and provide visual representations as part of this process.
Welcome to SJSU and I hope to hear

The purpose of this blog is to is to help students develop strong research and analytical skills using primary resources in original and digital formats. It is the goal of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives to support the teaching and learning goals of students, faculty, and the broader scholarly community. The archives can serve as the laboratory to study original and digital materials and is a gateway to life learning. The “discovery method” is a primary feature of historical methods, which is based on the premise that students need guidance in locating, accessing, and analyzing primary sources. The resources listed on this blog are local in identity, however, the principles expressed are universal.