Category: Special Collections & University Archives

Discovering the North-West Passage: The Four-Year Arctic Odyssey of H.M.S Investigator and the McClure Expedition by Glenn M. Stein

Artist Talk: Glenn M. Stein, 3.28.2018

Author, historian, and political cartoonist Glenn M. Stein will be speaking Wednesday, March 28th, 2018 at 1:30 pm in the John C. Hitt Library, Room 223. Stein will talk about researching, writing, and publishing his book, Discovering the North-West Passage: The Four-Year Arctic Odyssey of H.M.S Investigator and the McClure Expedition. A maritime and polar historian, Stein is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, life member of the American Polar Society, and a member of the Orders of Medals Research Society. Stein’s work has been recognized by numerous national and international organizations and his writings are included in the collections of the Library of Congress and the UCF Libraries.

Sponsored by Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries.

"Reflections of Facts" by Hannah Carter and "F___My Life" by Aaron Stefan, winners of the 2017 UCF Student Book Arts Competition

Exhibit: UCF Student Book Arts Competition

The UCF Libraries’ Special Collections & University Archives is pleased to announce the 12th Annual Book Arts Competition Exhibit. For twelve years, the University of Central Florida Libraries have been supporting the artistic works of undergraduate and graduate students in book arts. We continue to celebrate this unique art practice with the annual Student Book Arts Competition. Students submit their original hand bound artist books for the opportunity to receive a purchase award to be included in Special Collections & University Archives’ permanent Book Arts & Typography Collection.

A panel of judges select an artist book based on creativity, craftsmanship, content, and design. This year’s judges were David Benjamin, Head of UCF Special Collections & University Archives, and Benjamin Rinehart, Associate Professor of Printmaking and Artist Books at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

This year’s competition had some of the most unique books submitted, which challenged the selection process. Two artist books were awarded the top accolades by the judges, Reflections of Facts by Hannah Carter and F___My Life by Aaron Stefan. Both books pushed the boundaries of what artist books can achieve. Two distinct works, Reflections of Facts is about a personal loss and how we attempt to understand fact and F___My Life illustrates how economic and social shifts today have changed the perceived American life from a classic board game. Congratulations to both students!

This exhibit will run through the month of February 2018, which features all entries submitted during the 2017 academic calendar as well as past winners in the exhibit area on the 5th floor of the John C. Hitt Library.

"Walt Disney, Impresario of Consumption" exhibit in Special Collections & University Archives

Exhibit: Walt Disney, Impresario of Consumption

Walt Disney revolutionized the film and art markets, and in the 1930s, he took on the consumer market with the development of the all-encompassing marketing program. Every Disney film, beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, has included a complete marketing campaign, and the successful marketing of Disney characters has brought beloved characters into our everyday lives.

The latest exhibit in Special Collections & University Archives, “Walt Disney, Impresario of Consumption,” looks at Disney’s marketing strategy from the 1930s to today using publications, artifacts, and ephemeral materials produced by and about the Walt Disney Company. The exhibit was curated by UCF students in Dr. Keri Watson’s “The Art of Disney” class (ARH 3888).

The Special Collections & University Archives’ exhibit space is located on the fifth floor of the John C. Hitt Library. The exhibit will be up through January 6, 2018.

Handwritten postcard by Susan B. Anthony sent to her sister Mary S. Anthony, circa 1883

It’s #AskAnArchivist Day!

October is American Archives Month! And today, October 4th, is #AskAnArchivist day. However, you can ask the archivists at UCF any questions any day so this year we decided to ask our interns, who may be archivists in the future, and employees about archives in general.

So first, what is an archive?

                “An archive can best be defined as a collection of significant items that are preserved for the purpose of research. There are many types of archives that have special subjects attached to them, but most are general in what is stored within them: publications, documents, ephemera, and even art. The history behind the items can help a researcher get to an understanding and answer questions that would otherwise linger as unanswered.” –Steven Trelstad, History graduate intern

                “An archive can be a physical place such as a large and insulated room in a library, museum or government building that houses its collections in boxes placed on shelves. An archive can also be an online entity where the collections are stored digitally.” – Bryan McDonough, History undergraduate intern

What’s your favorite thing about working in an archive?

                “I love how archives bring the past, present and future together.” – Kryslynn Collazo, History undergraduate intern

                “What I enjoy most about working in an archive is the ability to physically handle primary sources of information.” – Bryan McDonough, History undergraduate intern

(more…)

Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969) sitting at a table in the gardens of the Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Viet Nam, 1957.

Special Collections & University Archives’ materials in “The Vietnam War” Documentary

Archival materials from Special Collections & University Archives were featured in the first episode of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s documentary The Vietnam War. This episode, titled “Déjà vu (1858-1961),” looks at events in Vietnam leading up to the Vietnam War. The filmmakers used several photographs from the “Archimedes L.A. Patti Research Papers, 1922-1993.” From the Patti collection’s finding aid:

This collection contains the research materials collected by Archimedes L. A. Patti for use in his historical writings. Known for his military career, his work in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and his relationship with Ho Chi Minh, Patti was recognized later in life as a respected researcher and historian on Indochina affairs. Notes, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, maps, books and scrapbooks are held in this collection. Of important note are photographs given to Patti by Ho Chi Minh in 1945.

 

The collection includes photographs given to Archimedes Patti by Ho Chi Minh, then Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, documenting famine condition in Vietnam in 1945. Additionally, Patti wrote Why Viet Nam?: Prelude to America’s Albatross, published by the University of California Press in 1980.

Edit on 12/13/2017: We were happy to hear that The Vietnam War won the AFI Special Award. Learn more here.

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