Library & Information Technology Services » College Archives http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis Middlebury College Fri, 21 Nov 2014 21:00:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1 We were greatly shocked with the news… http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/11/07/we-were-greatly-shocked-with-the-news/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/11/07/we-were-greatly-shocked-with-the-news/#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2014 19:13:19 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/?p=300 During a recent visit to the archives by Professor Ellie Gebarowski-Shafer’s Religion 130 class, The Christian Tradition, students plowed through 214 years of Middlebury College missionary history with College Archivist Danielle Rougeau. Amid the pages of 19th century cursive was this diary entry by Mary Martin, wife of a missionary to China and grandmother of Mabel Martin (later Mary Buttolph), Class of 1911. (Mary Martin is pictured below, circa 1865.)

Mary Martin


After the death of her husband and a young son in China, Mary returned to Vermont by way of San Francisco. After 69 days at sea, she writes her last diary entry on May 21, 1965:

We were greatly shocked with the news we heard on our arrival this morning of the assassination of president Lincoln but very glad to learn that the war is over and that slavery is abolished.

Postscript: Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865. News traveled slowly in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Her mention of this news falls smack in the middle of the page below. To learn more about Middlebury missionaries, Mary Martin, or to cut your teeth on some 19th century cursive, visit Special Collections.

Martin.1965

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Don’t forget to write your mother, circa 1932 http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/09/19/dont-forget-to-write-your-mother-circa-1932/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/09/19/dont-forget-to-write-your-mother-circa-1932/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:15:53 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/?p=268 Our own Professor of Psychology at Middlebury College Barbara Hofer writes about the modern day iConnected Parent, constantly in contact with their College-bound kids through cell phones and Skype…well, the archives recently exposed something of a connected parent, but from over 80 years ago.

Here’s a letter from October 18, 1932. The mother of Charles Edward Stevenson, Jr., Class of 1936, writes to the Director of Admissions (scroll down for the full transcription):


Stevenson 1936

Stevenson 1936b

Dear Sir

I am writing you to find out if Charlie Stevenson is alright and if he is I want to know why he does not write his mother it will be to [sic] weeks Friday since I had any word from him I sent him his laundry and a little pocket money post office money order I am trailing that now to see if he cashed it. I know that boys are dilatory about writing sometimes but I never knew Charley Stevenson to do that before that is why I am worried about him if I do not get a letter from you I am going up there to find out what is going on.

Please answer write away

Very truly yours

Mrs C.E. Stevenson

 

One day later, Mrs. Stevenson received a typescript reply (again, transcribed below to help with the faded ink):

ResponseStevenson

Dear Mrs. Stevenson,

Your letter of October 18th is at hand and I have seen your son this morning and sent you the following telegram: “Your son is well and says has written you today”. I trust that you received the wire promptly so that you have not had to worry longer as to your son’s welfare. He seemed to be in perfect health when I saw him this morning but said that he had been very busy for the last few days. As you know, the fraternity rushing has been going on for the last two weeks and the boys have little spare time, as a rule, during that period. I presume that your son had not realized how long a time has elapsed since he wrote you, but you will doubtless receive his letter right away, if it  has not already reached you.

Very truly yours,

E.J. Wiley

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Buttons! http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/09/15/buttons/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/09/15/buttons/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2014 15:03:52 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/?p=262 Have you seen a classmate/professor/stranger on campus sporting a 1 inch souvenir pin with a historic Middlebury face emblazoned upon it?

Learn about those famous faces here, and visit Special Collections & Archives to nab your own button while we still have them.

ButtonMakers Pattern Template

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Summer Language Schools, looking back http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/08/05/summer-language-schools-looking-back/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/2014/08/05/summer-language-schools-looking-back/#comments Wed, 06 Aug 2014 02:56:05 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/specialcollections/?p=174 Explore our newest online archive: Middlebury Language Schools. This collection includes archives from Middlebury’s Summer Language Schools, which began in 1915. When completed, the collection will include all the annual bulletins from 1915 through 2007, a history of the Language Schools up to 1975, annual reports, photographs, and scrapbooks.

Language School bulletin, 1949

Language School bulletin, 1949

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Photos from the Archives showing the area around Twilight Hall http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2014/02/04/photos-from-the-archives-showing-the-area-around-twilight-hall/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2014/02/04/photos-from-the-archives-showing-the-area-around-twilight-hall/#comments Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:57:52 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/?p=33400 President Harry Truman once said “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.”  Because the site around Twilight Hall and the Middlebury Municipal Building has recently been a topic of community conversation, we thought people might be interested in these photos from the Middlebury College Archives.   For more information on the history of the site and adjacent buildings, see pages 11 and 12 of A Walking History of Middlebury.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and see more detail.

View of Academy Park from Old Chapel.  Notice the building site of the Academy (now Twilight Hall) that replaced the previous wooden structure.

View of Middlebury from Old Chapel in 1867. Notice the building site of the Academy (now Twilight Hall) that replaced the previous wooden structure.

Academy Building in 1893, seen from the east end of the park between College and South Main St.

Academy Building in 1893, seen from the east end of the park between College St. and Main St.

Graded School in 1900 seen from College St. just west of Weybridge St.

Graded School in 1900 seen from College St. just east of Weybridge St.

The Academy Building in 1900 seen from the corner of South Main St. and Cross St.

The Graded School in 1900 seen from the corner of Main St. and Cross St.

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Civil War letters from the Middlebury College Archives featured on VPR. http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/11/22/civil-war-letters-from-the-middlebury-college-archives-featured-on-vpr/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/11/22/civil-war-letters-from-the-middlebury-college-archives-featured-on-vpr/#comments Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:37:40 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/?p=52 Last week Jane Lindholm from Vermont Public Radio visited the Middlebury College Archives to find out more about a recent gift of Civil War letters. To listen to the story and see more images, visit the VPR web site here!

C-120-1868-03_01

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Reading Rowland Out Loud http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/10/18/reading-rowland-out-loud/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/10/18/reading-rowland-out-loud/#comments Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:35:13 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/?p=34 Continue reading ]]> UncleLishasShop

Recently, while digitizing some song recordings from the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection, we discovered an undocumented recording of a man reading from Rowland E. Robinson’s book Uncle Lisha’s Shop: Life in a Corner of Yankeeland.  We recognized it as a Robinson story because of the characters mentioned, so we searched the online version of one of his most popular books for the word “voter”, which seemed unlikely to be a common word in the story, and we found that the text being read starts on pg. 13, seven lines from the bottom of the page.   We recommend that you read along in the book while listening to the recording. Click here for the online text and listen to the recording by clicking the icon below.

The reader takes on the accent of two of Robinson’s classic characters, a “Yankee” and a “Cunuck”, aka French Canadian.   Robinson wrote most of his fiction in the 1890s and it was very popular, particularly in Vermont, right up through the 1930s and 40s when Flanders was collecting her ballad recordings.  Unfortunately we don’t know who the reader is or when the recording was made.  The ballad recording that precedes it on the tape was originally on a disc, which means it was recorded between 1939 and 1950, but the story on the tape seems to be covered over by the ballad recording, and how that happened is a bit of a mystery yet to be solved, and we can’t be certain the singer of the ballad is the same person reading the story.  We may eventually discover a more complete version of the reading.

For more about the Flanders Collection and to hear some of the recordings visit this site.

The home of Rowland E. Robinson is a museum open to the public in nearby Ferrisburgh. www.Rokeby.org

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Seeking 1948 film “Sno’ Time for Learning” http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/10/14/seeking-1948-film-sno-time-for-learning/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/2013/10/14/seeking-1948-film-sno-time-for-learning/#comments Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:46:01 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/speccollec/?p=27 Continue reading ]]> The Middlebury College Archives is searching for a movie about the College filmed in 1948.  It features scenes shot at the Snow Bowl in the winter and the main campus in the spring.  We’ve placed a request with Paramount Picture, which originally produced it, and we’re waiting to hear back from them.  But we also thought it was possible that somebody associated with the College might have a copy somewhere.  If you know where a copy can be found, please let us know.  SpecialCollections@middlebury.edu   802-443-3028.

Article in the Nov. 4th issue of The Campus about the release of Sno' Time for Learning

Article in the Nov. 4, 1948 issue of The Campus about the release of Sno’ Time for Learning

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Two New Civil War Collections Won for Special Collections http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2011/12/06/two-new-civil-war-collections-won-for-special-collections/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2011/12/06/two-new-civil-war-collections-won-for-special-collections/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:30:32 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/?p=27451
Erastus Hibbard Phelps Collection

The winning bid on the Archive of Civil War paymaster Erastus Hibbard Phelps, Middlebury Class of 1861, was made at auction by Andy Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & Archives. The archive was one among nearly 350 lots of American History, including Civil War, materials offered by Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati, OH, last Friday morning, December 2. The Phelps Archive comprises 334 letters, 4 diaries (3 from Civil War years), 2 bound volumes including a photo album containing portraits of graduates of the Middlebury Class of 1861, many of which are inscribed to Phelps. The archive also includes two photos of Phelps previous to his years at Middlebury, his paymaster sidearm (a Colt 1851 Navy 36 caliber pistol), what is believed to be his sheepskin winter jacket worn on duty, and a leather documents trunk carried during his service.

Andy also made the winning bid on another Civil War archive, 54 Letters of 2nd Lieut. Ephraim L. Hackett, Wisconsin 1st Light Artillery. Born in Maine in 1837, Ephraim L. Hackett was living in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in August 1861, when he enlisted as a Sergeant in the 1st Independent Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery. Small in number and mobile, the Battery recruited barely over 100 men before being sent into the field in Kentucky that Fall, then went on to fight up and down the Mississippi Valley until the end of the war.

These two important Civil War collections significantly enhance Middlebury’s already impressive Civil War era archival holdings including the Aldace Walker (Middlebury Class of 1862) Letters, the Calvin Parker Letters, the Civil War Archive of Professor Kit Wilson, and nearly 100 Civil War era letters from individual writers.

The purchase of the Phelps and Hackett archives was made possible through the generous partial funding from the Friends of the Davis Family Library, the Middlebury College Museum of Art, the Julian W. Abernethy Fund, and the Davis Family Library.

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Special Collections spotlight http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2010/10/26/special-collections-spotlight/ http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/2010/10/26/special-collections-spotlight/#comments Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:12:45 +0000 http://sites.middlebury.edu/lis/?p=24306 Watch this for a lovely feature by the Addison Independent on Middlebury College Special Collections and Andy Wentink’s journey to his current place as Curator!

Also of local/Middlebury College interest: the music on the video is by Middlebury alumna Anaïs Mitchell from her recent “folk-opera”, Hadestown.

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