San José State University concluded a one-year detailed processing grant supported by the NHPRC. This project award of $99,709 enabled SJSU to process the John C. Gordon Photographic Negatives Collection and the Ted Sahl Social Justice and Black Americana collections. These rich visual resources document the history of Santa Clara County from 1900 to the present.
The project staff arranged and described approximately 15,000 glass plate, acetate and nitrate negatives in the John C. Gordon Photographic Negatives Collection. The negatives include a variety of subjects that illustrate everyday life in the Santa Clara County region, and document the changes in area business ventures such as agriculture, banking, aeronautics, and railroads. Specific subjects and images in the collection include canneries and fruit drying yards, storefronts, community events, educational institutions, and religious and fraternal organizations. Local businesses include the Bisceglia Brothers Canning Company, the Bean Spray Pump Company, the Leonard Coates Nursery, the California Packing Corporation, and the Montgomery Hotel. The project work included preservation and digitization of 525 panoramic nitrate negatives that are now available on our digital library at: http://digitalcollections.sjlibrary.org/.
In addition, we arranged and described in detail the Ted Sahl Social Justice and Black Americana Collections, which also included digitization of 135 photographs documenting the LGBT community in San José. These descriptive finding aids will allow for future digitization of the social justice materials, which depict political activism and demonstrations, local farm worker strikes, the homeless, and other disenfranchised groups in the San José area. Specific images in the collection include protests at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and United States Naval bases, anti-nuclear and anti-war demonstration prayer vigils, and Watsonville cannery and farm workers strikes. The materials in the Black Americana collection are comprised of photographs, printed materials, textiles, and three-dimensional objects, including historic postcards, news clippings, sheet music, textiles, and figurines reflecting aspects of the African American experience. The photographic materials include images of celebrities, political rallies, and social events in San José, and will be digitized in the future.
The finding aids are available through OCLC, the Online Archives of California website, and through our library catalog and digital library website. We are pleased to be able to increase access to these historic treasures, and offer new discovery tools for scholars, students, and local researchers.
Danelle Moon
Director/Full Librarian
Daniel Jarvis and Erin M. Louthen, Project Archivists
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
News from SJSU Special Collections & Archives
San Jose State University is wrapping up a two-year basic cataloging grant from the NHPRC to process over 80 collections related to the history of the university and personal and organizational records. This grant project has resulted in new access to our archival holdings through OCLC and through the Online Archives of California. This was truly a group effort between Special Collections Staff and our Technical Services Department. We will surpass the 80 collection goal, and expect to have over 90 catalog records and finding aids on the OAC.
We applied for a second NHPRC grant (detailed processing grant), which was awarded this past month. The grant award of $99,709 will enable SJSU to fully process the John C. Gordon Photographic Collection and the Ted Sahl Photographic Collection. The grant will provide the funding needed to improve access to the collection, and will result in the preservation and digitization of 500 nitrate panorama negatives that depict the agricultural history of Santa Clara County, California. Erin Louthen will return in August to work on this project, and so will Daniel Jarvis--both will be hired as part-time archivists!
The first phase of this grant project (Months 1-6) we developed the workflow documentation necessary to implement training of staff and to manage the project activities. With the workflow and training in place we have successfully sampled and produced 410 box inventories for the Records of the State Normal School Principles and the Presidents of the SJSU (1862-Present) using MPLP. The bulk of this work took place between October 1 and December 1, which represents tremendous output given the initial slow start of the grant implementation.
Additionally, we deselected approximately 54 linear feet of records that do not fit our collection development policies or mission. We also identified specific materials within the discrete record units that will require higher-level description, including records that document athletic and civil rights protest during the Civil Rights Era, and photographs and records documenting World War I and II.
As of July 7, 2009, we have sampled the entire collection of university archives, representing approximately 1,350 file boxes, 1,576 linear feet. Since January of 2009, we have made tremendous progress in the sampling the collections, processing the collections, cataloging and encoding the finding aids for publication on the Online Archives California (OAC).
List of collections processed, encoded, and published on the OAC (20):
The Benjamin F. Gilbert Research Papers
Byrne (John) Collection, 1886-1987
California and San José State University Master Plan for Higher Education Records
California State University Board of Trustees Records
Favela (Ricardo) Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection
Freimark, Robert Collection
San José State College Academic Deans' Council Records
San Jose State University Academic Senate Records
San José State University Continuing Education Program Records
San José State University Home Economics Department Records
San José State University Library Records
San José State University Public Relations and Publications Records
San Jose State College Presidential Office Administrative Records
San Jose State Normal School Principals and Early Presidents Records
San Jose State Normal School Teaching Tools Collection
San Jose State University Commencement & Honors Convocations Records
San Jose State University Dean of Academic Planning Records
San Jose State University Student Organization Records
San Jose State University Summer Session Records
Treadwell, David K. Genealogical Collection
SJSU Special Collections staff have been working hard to create basic finding aids for our collections. Since January of 2009, we have produced 16 new inventories, which you can view on the OAC. This production rate represents the the work of several student assistants, the work of the project archivist, Erin Louthen, and staff assistance from Mike Condon.
You can visit the OAC to see the full collection list, but here are the latest additions:
Benjamin F. Gilbert Research Papers
John Byrne Collection
California State University Master Plan for Higher Education Records
California State University Board of Trustee Records
David K. Treadwell Genealogical Collection
Ricardo Favela Royal Chicano Air Force Poster Collection
SJSU Continuing Education Program Records
SJSU University Library Records
SJSU Public Relations and Publication Records
SJSU College Presidential Office Administration Records
SJSU State Normal School Principals and Early Presidents Records
SJSU Commencement & Honors Convocation Records
SJSU Dean of Academic Planning Records
SJSU Student Organization Records
SJSU Summer Session Records
We have just added a new RSS feed for new updates on new books and archival collections. Here is the link to the feed and for the best display you should open in firefox.
Send your comments and suggestions to Danelle Moon at Danelle.Moon@sjsu.edu or by phone at 408/808-2061
http://mill1.sjlibrary.org/feeds/speccoll.xml
Since the summer the SJSU Special Collections staff has been very busy working on the NHPRC grant. Erin Louthen is working as our new project archivist, and she has been doing a great job! We have appraised over 300 file boxes of materials documenting the Office of the President, which span over 50 years. We anticipate on having at least 10 new catalog records and finding aids up on the OAC by the end of January. Erin is working closely with Mike Condon (part-time staff member) and six SLIS grad students to complete this work.
We have two important programs for the Spring First Wednesday. The first program on March 4, 2009, will celebrate Women's History Month with a panel discussion and exhibit on the history Women and Social Movements in San Jose. Patricia Hill SJSU Professor of History and a Women's History scholar will be one of our keynote speakers for this event. The second event scheduled for April 1, 2009 will feature CSU Stanislaus History Professor Nancy Taniguchi and CSU Stanislaus graduate student Teri Lunt. Their panel "Manipulating the Unwanted: Labor, War, and Public Policy," will explore " the "push-pull" factors that caused individuals to choose to migrate. In the cases discussed here, there are also push-pull factors, but of a completely different nature. Rather than describing individual choice, the factors here are controlled by the visible hand of American interests. The U.S. government is involved in both; in the first, unsuccessfully; in the second, with lasting ramifications."
Stay tuned for new updates on our RSS Feed for new books and finding aids.
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.