On the back of today’s Throwback Thursday photograph is written “High School. Hop-scotch- a popular challenge [indecipherable word].”
University Photographs, box 793.
No date for this photograph. When do you think it was taken?
Have a hankering for air-conditioning and old photographs? Drop by our reading room and dive into our University Photographs! We’re open Monday-Friday from 9 to 5.
Hello again! This is the third entry in the blog series about visiting special collections and archives from the perspective of someone who is pretty new.
Today I will be talking about how to find student records at the archives. Often we have visitors who are interested in finding out information about their relatives who went to school at Iowa State sometime in the past. Or, perhaps you’re interested in information about one of Iowa State’s more famous alumni. We have quite a few resources with information about students (naturally). I will highlight just a few of the most fruitful areas of information.
A great source of information on students is the yearbook, The Bomb. All of the yearbooks have been digitized, and they are also available in the reading room. The Bomb covers every year from 1894-1994. Often, in the back of the yearbook every senior will be listed along with the activities they participated in while at Iowa State. Looking up information on the clubs a particular person participated in may also offer some clues and interesting information.
Page 451, 1957 Bomb
A second helpful resource is the school directories. In the reading room, we have directories from 1901 to 2010. The directories list the majors, year in school, on campus address, and hometown. If you know the general time period that someone may have gone to school here, you can use the directories to pin down more exact dates.
A third resource are our alumni files. The alumni files can be rich sources of information, depending on the graduate. It’s also important to note that not every graduate will have an alumni file and there are some student files for individuals who attended but never graduated. The only way to find out if a student has a file is to have a member of SCUA staff take a look at the boxes in the closed stacks and check, which we are more than happy to do for you. If you want to know in advance whether you might find information on someone, you can always send us an email to archives@iastate.edu. Some of the alumni files have just an article or two while others are much larger.
Members of the class of 1895, University photo box
There are a few alumni who have collections of their own. For example, we have collections for George Washington Carver and Carrie Chapman Catt. However, there are also collections for some lesser known graduates. You can browse the alumni and former student finding aids to see if we have a collection for the person you are interested in learning about.
These are all places to start your research on former students. You can always stop by the reading room or email us to see if we have any more suggestions for you!
1954 Bomb “The Library–home to many for countless hours”
This week and next the library is open 24/7 to provide a space for students to prepare for semester finals. Apparently spending “countless hours” at the library is nothing new to ISU students!
Good luck with finals, everyone!
The first day of school is Monday, August 21. We are so excited! The students pictured below seem a little less enthused about being in class. Perhaps the absence of smiles was merely a convention of their time and not a reflection on how they felt about class. This article in Time provides possible reasons why people didn’t smile in earlier photographs.
Domestic Economy Sewing Class. Short Course. 1910 Iowa State College (University Photographs, box 981).
Want to see more photographs that document the history of Iowa State University? Drop by our reading room. We’re open 9-5, Monday through Friday.
It is not often that I get to see the results of my Special Collections instruction sessions in such a tangible way. Back in February, I worked with April Katz’s Intaglio class, who came in to view and take photos of examples of intaglio prints from a variety of our rare books to incorporate into their own studio projects. In April I had the pleasure of attending the class’s final critique and seeing the fruits of their labor.
All of the prints were inspiring and beautiful to see. I am highlighting here a few in which I could clearly decipher where the inspiration came from in our collections.
Here, for example, is the work of Jen Wichers, who took as inspiration images from a book on French fashion from the 1780s (Cornu, Paul, et. al. Galerie des Modes et Costumes Francais. Paris: É. Lévy, 1912?. Call number: GT865 G132).
Anna Wagner was inspired by images of tools from Diderot’s French Enlightenment Encyclopédie (Diderot, Denis. Encyclopédie. Paris: Briasson, etc, 1751-65. Call number: AE25 En185) in these prints of hammers with entwined flowers.
One of our botanical books inspired this work by Alexandria Collins, which shows the interplay of the natural and the man-made. (Hooker, William Jackson. Flora boreali-americana. London: H.G. Bohn, 1840. Call number: QK201 .H764f)
Here is a final set of photos of the work of Jordan Jorgensen, who was also inspired by Diderot. I like the interplay of the hand tool (scissors) and the larger machine (spinning wheel) and the faceless woman running it.
Thank you to April Katz’s ARTIS 357/557, Intaglio & Monotype class for allowing me to attend your final critique and show off your work on our blog. You did great work!
Iowa State University has a ton of traditions. New traditions get developed and old ones fade away. Today’s post is about White Breakfasts, a now defunct tradition. Please note, the caption for the image below states that the White Breakfast was first observed in Lyon Hall in 1915. Our Reference Specialist, Becky notes below that this ceremony was first observed in 1918. The 1918 observance is documented in Julian C. Schilletter‘s The First 100 Years of Residential Housing at Iowa State University. Dr. Schilletter held many positions at Iowa State and was the Director of Residence Halls from 1946-1967.
From “News of Iowa” December 1955 issue (LH1. N39 Archives).
White Breakfasts were observed in the women’s residence halls from 1918 through the early 1960s. Originated by a Lyon Hall housemother, they were held the last Sunday before the holiday break in December. The residents dressed in white and carried lighted candles. A caroling procession started on the top floor of each dormitory and proceeded to the dining rooms, where a special breakfast menu was served.
On Monday and Wednesday afternoon this week, HIS 481X was busy in 405 Parks working on the layouts for their exhibit cases. Staff from the Conservation Lab created mounts and reproduced original materials, selected for the exhibit, so that students could play around with the layout design for the exhibit cases.
The exhibit opens on January 18. Stay tuned for more updates!
Drop by and see our current exhibits! We’re open Monday-Friday from 9-5.
Today Professor Lisa Ossian, from Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), brought her Western Civilization & U.S. History classes to learn about primary source research in Special Collections & University Archives. Some of the students headed into our reading room or the library’s Media Center afterwards to start their research for their assignment.
Contact us for more information on our instruction program.
This week continues International Week 2016 brought to you by International Student Council. International Week kicked off last Thursday with International Dance Night and ends this Thursday with International Night. See full schedule posted on their Facebook page.
Our International Week file in the archives begins in 2002 (from RS 22/3/0/1). However, in the same record group (RS 22/3/0/1) we have a file for the International Student Council that has documents from International Week ’87.
Insert from Iowa State Daily on International Week ’95 (RS 22/3/0/1, box 2)
Drop by and learn about the history of International Student Council and International Week. We’re open Monday-Friday, 9-5.
You can also check out our previous blog during International Week 2010 featuring our records for the Cosmopolitan Club.
Tomorrow, from 1-4 pm in room 405 Parks Library, Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) will have selected treasures on display. We will have artifacts, rare books, films, student publications from the 1960s, and other wonderful items from our collections.
Please drop by. All are welcome!
For the preservation of our treasures, please leave food & drink outside.
