Special Collections and University Archives received a wonderful gift from Judith Fetterley, a first edition copy of Silver Pitchers: and Independence, a Centennial Love Story by Louisa May Alcott published by Roberts Brothers in Boston, 1876.
Conservator Audrey Sage was able to put a plan into action to provide some repair and restoration to this wonderful book. Part of the original spine was missing and the original text block spine adhesive was failing leaving the text block at risk for damage and deterioration.
The first step was to carefully remove the remaining spine adhesive. This was able to be accessed due to the absence of part of the cover cloth. Once the old adhesive was removed, she was able to apply a layer of new starch paste and a protective piece of 18 gram Kozo Japanese paper. This creates a strong and supportive layer for the textlbock signatures. The next action was to create a paper hollow along the spine.
Sage was then able to carefully lift the original cloth from the cover boards in order to insert a new spine substrate to recreate and reform the cloth covering.
This piece is constructed through the lamination of a layer of linen cloth and a toned piece of Moriki Japanese paper.
This new spine piece was inserted and formed around the book and then what remained of the original spine was adhered to this piece.
Damaged corners were repaired, pages were surface cleaned, interior hinges were mended, and finally the book is ready to be returned to the Special Collections. It is now more secure and easier to use and view with these archival mends in place.
SCUA staff have found that our classes have almost returned to its pre-COVID numbers. Although we are still conducting some online sessions, many professors are choosing to bring their classes to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University (SCUA). The following are a few examples of the classes that have visited SCUA during the first few months of 2023.
ART 285-01: Photography I, Jill Beaton, Instructor
Professor Jill Beaton brought her Art 285-01 class to SCUA to view the extensive historical camera, photographic image, and stereoscope collection. The class was walked through the display by Interim Head, Kathelene Smith, who also gave a presentation regarding the history of photography. The students then adjourned into the Research Room where they did a document analysis of photographs taken by early faculty member, Dr. Anna Gove, who was also an amateur photographer. The photographs ranged from
ART 344: DIGITAL DARKROOM, KELLEY O’BRIEN, INSTRUCTOR
SCUA hosted Kelly O’Brien’s Digital Darkroom class, once again focusing on “What is truth.” One of the most collaborative classes that SCUA teaches, Digital Darkroom combines the efforts of ROI Librarian Maggie Murphy and archivists Carolyn Shankle and Kathelene Smith. While Maggie worked with her group in the library, the remaining students were divided into two groups in the Hodges Reading Room and the Research Room. Hodges was divided into multiple stations which featured rare books related to photography and photographers.
The Research Room displays focused on the question “What is truth?” or how multiple perspectives give a more comprehensive understanding of the truth. Each station highlighted artifacts that encouraged students to find a “truth” – and since they were art students, they were asked to either describe or draw what they found. In some cases, this might be illustrated by the difference between a photograph of a student and a painting of her, what first president and college founder Charles Duncan McIver really look like, what Desegregation really look like on our 1950s campus, or perhaps the student perspectives seen in campus scrapbooks as opposed to the administrative perspectives seen in a university publication. The students left the session with a greater understanding of what can be discovered in Special Collections and University Archives!
HIS 430: Historical Methods for Social Studies Teachers, Lisa Tolbert, Instructor
Dr. Lisa Tolbert brought her HIS 430 class to SCUA for several sessions focusing on the history of UNCG as seen through campus scrapbooks. After a review of campus history given by archivist Kathelene McCarty Smith, students took several days to research primary sources relating to the school during the 1920s and 1930s! A special class research guide was created by special collections specialist, Carolyn Shankle.
WGS 250: An Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, Faye Stewart, Instructor
For this class session, Special Collections Specialist Carolyn Shankle and Accessioning Archivist Suzanne Helms created an overview of zines. The students in Stewart’s class have an upcoming project to create a zine of their own. Helms led a zine-making workshop where she demonstrated two structures for the students to create and explore. She provided materials and hands-on instruction as well as supplies that the student could take with them. Shankle curated a display of zines held in the Rare Books collections, which covered the early years of sci-fi fanzines in the 1940s to zines focused on activism and marginalized groups in the 1950s and 1960s, to music fanzines in the 1970s celebrating the underground punk movement, to those created in the 1980s through 2022.
The five dresses in the Fast Fashion of the 1960s, Paper Dresses exhibit were all designed by faculty in the UNC Greensboro Department of Art for the 1967 Art on Paper gala held at the Weatherspoon Art Museum and are held in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives. The exhibit was designed by SCUA archivist Stacey Krim and UNCG Libraries Diversity Resident Shelbi Webb and is available for viewing on the first floor of the W.C. Jackson library from January 4th until June 1st, 2023.
Hop into History returns!
On February 23, 2023 SCUA archivist Stacey Krim exhibited materials at the Oden Brewing Company from the Elreta Alexander Papers, housed in UNC Greensboro’s Special Collections and University Archives. At the event, Dr. Virginia L. Summey, author of The Life of Elreta Melton Alexander: Activism within the Courts, spoke about Alexander’s life and legacy. Elreta Alexander (1919-1998) was the first African-American woman to: 1) graduate from Columbia University Law School when she received her degree in 1945, 2) practice law in North Carolina (in Greensboro from 1947-1968), and 3) be elected to the bench when she was elected District Court judge for Guilford County in 1968.
Liz Konopka, former UNCG student employee, shares how her experience working at SCUA prepared her for a position as collection manager for a museum
Liz Konopka on the right
As the Collections Manager for the International Women’s Air & Space Museum, every day is new and exciting. I’m currently managing a complete inventory and rehousing project for our collections, funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. We have an estimated 20,000 items in the collection, ranging from a landing gear from Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega to a flight suit belonging to Nicole Malachowski, the first female demonstration pilot for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. On a day-to-day basis, I update and maintain our exhibit cases, give tours, and facilitate researcher visits. I also help with our special programs like Dinner with a Slice of History, where we bring in speakers such as Casey Grant, one of Delta Airlines’ first Black female flight attendants.
Working in SCUA helped me immensely because it gave me a foundation in collections management and the best ways to make items accessible to researchers. I learned how to take full inventory, how to efficiently organize manuscripts, and how to store items for easy access and best preservation. All of these skills are vital to my day-to-day as a Collections Manager, and I would not be here with the experience gained in SCUA.
Photo: One of our summer interns helps me inventory the linens on display in our Katharine Wright exhibit.
Adrienne Johnson, current student at UNCG, writes about her capstone experience in SCUA
My Work With UNCG’s North Carolina Community Cookbook Collection By Adrienne Johnson
In this, my final semester in the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Master of Library and Information Sciences program, I am participating in my Capstone Experience at the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. For this Capstone, I am lucky to be working with UNCG’s collection of North Carolina Community Cookbooks, for which I will be creating a LibGuide, StoryMap, and information table. These projects will appear in the next newsletter.
This book from the collection features the iconic Betty Feezor, a television presenter who brought cooking and interior design suggestions into homes from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The collection began with a donation made by Foy Allen Edelman of over 2000 cookbooks which she gathered from counties all across North Carolina. Edelman’s enthusiasm for community cookbooks encouraged others to donate their North Carolina-related cookbooks, and the variety of civic organizations included really took off.
When I first heard of this collection, the thought of working with over 2000 undigitized books was daunting- with only four hours a week at the UNCG campus, I did not know how I was going to properly represent the wide selection of materials. However, once I realized that approaching the collection with my own plan of what I wanted to find in the books was not realistic, the books began to reveal their history, patterns, similarities and differences. The books spoke, and my pages began to follow.
The intangible cultural heritage found in these surviving cookbooks is unique and precious, not documented anywhere else. From these pages one can observe the changes in available food, cookware, financial constraints, health ideas, immigration, technology and so much more. I continue to learn North Carolina history including Women’s Suffrage, life pre- and post- WWII in different parts of the state, and about day-to-day life in the mountains, piedmont, coastal plains, and tidewater regions. I look forward to everything I still have to learn, and everything I will be able to share upon the completion of this project.
Surry Sonker is a popular dessert from the North Carolina mountains. My LibGuide has a page dedicated to this the Surry Sonker Trail, which identifies the restaurants and bakeries where this delicacy can be found. I was inspired to make my own black and blueberry sonker, shown below:
All of the ingredients for the sonker
Fried okra is a prominent theme in these North Carolina cookbooks. As I work on this project, I have been cooking popular recipes from the cookbooks. Fried okra patties are up next!
sailorBOYpress, 2012, Copy 6 from an edition of 50.
11 x 9″; 28 pages. Letterpress printed with Plantin type. Printed on Barcham Green and other handmade papers. Sewn binding with matching paper covers. In 11.75 x 9″ lidded aluminum box with embossed titles. Signed and dated by artist.
Box imprinted with Brazda’s prisoner number, edition number and SBP (Sailor Boy Press)
Jeff Morin, Colophon: “The White Maiden is the tale of a hunter who wishes for the ancient wines of the cellars at Thurnberg in a moment of great thirst. His wish is granted by the White Maiden but, as a result of drinking his wine, she forever plagues him with a sense of wanting, an inability to take satisfaction in anything. He sees her in everything and everyone. his life is spent in pursuit of her. Historically, the term ‘maiden’ is gender neutral and simply means one whose virginity is intact. Happiness becomes as elusive to Brazda, who finds his maiden and loses him. His life becomes an unending search for his maiden and his world unleashes a curse that attempts to rob him of any pleasure or sense of being quenched.
Rudolph Brazda found his Maiden when working as a roofer and spotting Werner on the street below. “In the last days of the Weimar Republic, they lived openly together in the home of a Jehovah’s Witness. And Werner brought Rudolph wine whenever he wished for it.” After they each felt compelled to enlist in military service, and being in the “wrong places at the wrong times” they were each arrested for violating Paragraph 175, “which made homosexual acts between men a crime. Between 1871 and 1994, some thousands upon thousands would become marked. Werner disappeared to Rudolph after they were tried and sentenced. They lost one another in the process. Werner died on the French front circled by uniformed men.”
“As the fairytale unfolds, Rudolph moves on and, even when he stays put, the city and country names change. He finds a new white maiden in Anton. He returns to the roofing trade. He is rearrested. He is deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp. His name, like the countries and cities around him, is changed. From August of 1942 he is prisoner number 7952.”
After surviving the war and the Buchenwald concentration camp, prisoner number 7952 is given back his name – Joseph Brazda. After liberation, he and another prison survivor, Fernand, felt bound together and moved to Mulhouse and began working again as a roofers. By the 1950’s, Rudolph found his Maiden, Edi, with whom he built a home together and lived for the next several decades.
“There was to be a monument commemorated in Berlin to the homosexual victims of Nazism. He told his story. In Mulhouse, they put up a plaque to remember those homosexuals who were deported. He was remembered at Buchenwald. More plaques were put up. He received gold medals. He was made a knight. His story was unfolding like a fairy tale again. Rudolph Brazda died on August 3, 2011.”
“Sitting in a hospital waiting room, I reached for a Time magazine, only to discover Rudolph Brazda through his obituary. I have chosen to weave the true-life story of Brazda with the German folktale of ‘The White Maiden.’ In a recorded interview, Brazda delivers a frank and rather clipped recounting of the horrific acts swirling around his early life. He makes simple, declarative statements that should boggle the soul and cause us to weep. He was perhaps the last person alive to have worn the pink triangle as a Nazi concentration camp detainee.” – Jeffrey Morin
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison’s first novel, is one of the post-Harlem Renaissance African-American novels that have entered “the Western Canon” as acknowledged classics. Special Collections’ copy is the first edition, complete with dustjacket.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House. 1952.
A Date with a Dish / Freda DeKnight
Written by Freda DeKnight, Ebony‘s food editor, A Date With A Dish is credited with inspiring a generation of cooks, serving as a cultural guide, and shaping Black culinary history. The recipes contained within span from Haiti to Trinidad to California to Mississippi, capturing the diversity within the Black palate and experience.
DeKnight, Freda. A Date with a Dish: A Cook Book of American Negro Recipes. New York : Hermitage Press. 1948.
A Morality Tale for Children: The African Woman
An effective morality tale about race discrimination. “Little Mary” is depicted sitting at the window with her mother, watching “a poor old African woman go by.” Mary comments: “I do not love that woman at all! … Because she is black; I do not like anybody that is black.” Her mother scolds her: “I am sorry to hear you talk so. It is foolish, it is wicked,” and proceeds to invite the woman into their house and introduces her to Mary. Mary is embarrassed by her comments when she learns how kind the woman is, and concludes: “I will not hate black people any more.” Her mother comments: “All men and women are made of one blood … This poor African woman was brought to America when she was young. Now she is old and very poor.” When Mary later gets sick, the African woman stops in and nurses Mary for seven days and nights, until she is well, and Mary vowed: “I will never hate anybody for having dark skin. Poor Patty is a great deal better than I am.” An uncommon early tract on the subject of race relations in America.
The African Woman. Philadelphia : American Sunday-School Unionm No. 146 Chesnut Street. [ca. 1830]
Roots : The Saga of an American Family / Alex Haley
The groundbreaking book which pioneered mainstream interest in African-American genealogy and culture. The landmark television dramatization was watched by over 100 million people and remains a highpoint in the medium’s history. Roots was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 1977 and it remains a key testament to the evolution of the African-American experience. Special Collections’ copy is nicely inscribed in the year of publication.
Haley, Alex. Roots : The Saga of an American Family. Garden City : Doubleday. 1976.
The Penitential Tyrant; or, Slave Trader Reformed: A Pathetic Poem, in Four Cantos … The Second Edition, Enlarged / Thomas Branagan
Early American Illustrated Abolitionist Work Intended for Youth
The stipple engraved frontispiece by Barralet depicts a slave trader fecklessly pleading his case before Lady Liberty who looks onto the slaves landing on the shores of America with despair.
Original published in Philadelphia in two cantos, this edition expanded to four, plus the following sections: Notes to The penitential tyrant — Appendix — Messiah: a sacred eclogue, in imitation of Virgil’s Pollio [by Alexander Pope] — Buying stolen goods synonymous with stealing; or, The immorality of using the produce of slavery demonstrated. Addressed to all Christians of all denominations — A subject for conversation and reflection at the tea-table.
Originally published in England [by William Cowper] — The method of procuring slaves on the coast of Africa … Extracted from authentic documents, and exemplified by engravings — Extract from an essay in verse, entitled, Slavery. By Captain Marjoribanks, belonging to a British regiment which was stationed in the West-Indies.
The section titled The method of procuring slaves on the coast of Africa includes a double-page depiction of the plan of slave ship Brook’s lower deck, a provoking symbol of the abolitionist movement, depicting the horrors of the Middle Passage.
Branagan, Thomas. The Penitential Tyrant, or, Slave Trader Reformed : A Pathetic Poem, in Four Cantos (version 2d ed., enl. …). 2D ed., enl. ed. New-York: Printed and sold by Samuel Wood, no. 362, Pearl-street, 1807.
A Pilgrimage to My Motherland: An Account of a Journey Among the Egbas and Yorubas of Central Africa, In 1859-60 / Robert Campbell
An important account of a mid-19th century African-American-led attempt to procure land to return formerly enslaved African-Americans to Africa.
Born free in Jamaica to a white Scottish father and mixed race mother, Robert Campbell apprenticed at a printing shop and later became a teacher in Spanish Town. He emigrated to New York in 1853, eventually becoming a teacher at the Institute of Colored Youth in Philadelphia. In 1858 he joined Martin Delany on his Niger Valley Exploring Party expedition to Africa on behalf of the National Emigration of Colored Men, and published his own account of the experience. The work includes descriptions of Abeokuta, ethnographic material, and the text of the treaty he and Delany negotiated with the king and chiefs of the Egba for the right to establish settlements.
Both Campbell and Delany’s accounts were published by Thomas Hamilton, who Blockson calls “the first Black publisher of importance in America.” The year following its publication, Campbell purchased a cotton gin and printing press and emigrated to Nigeria with his wife and children, hoping to start a colony for African Americans at Lagos. With attention turned to African American participation in the Civil War, the colony did not come to fruition but represents an important moment in black nationalistic thought.
Campbell, Robert. A Pilgrimage to My Motherland: An Account of a Journey Among the Egbas and Yorubas of Central Africa, In 1859-60. New York: Thomas Hamilton; Philadelphia: By the Author, 1861.
Discourses of the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews / Isaac Abendana
Isaac Abendana, the Hebraist and book collector was born in Spain, brother of the celebrated Jacob Abendana, the distinguished Spanish physician and Haham, was taken at an early age to Hamburg, Germany where he completed rabbinical studies and then Leyden, Holland where he studied medicine. After studying in Leyden he came to England in 1662, and secured an academic post at Trinity College, Cambridge. While in Cambridge, and later on in Oxford, he became a significant supplier of Hebrew books. As part of his trading activities he published the Oxford Almanack, otherwise known as The Jewish Kalendar; containing an account of their fasts and festivals, from 1692 to 1699. This work, Discourses of the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews, gathers and expands upon the essays that appear in the Almanacks. During his time in England, Abendana enjoyed a virtual monopoly in Hebrew studies at Oxford and Cambridge. A fine copy, with the contemporary armorial bookplate of the Moray family of Abercairny.
Abendana, Isaac. Discourses of the Ecclesiastical and Civil Polity of the Jews. : Viz. of Their Courts of Judicature. Laws Concerning Tithes. Institution of Their Priesthood. Their Liturgy. Their Schools. Their Feasts, Fasts, Coins, Weights and Measures. Printed for Samuel Ballard, at the Blue-Ball, in Little-Britain, 1706.
WomanPower : Report No. 136
A scarce publication on the role of women in the workforce during the second world war.
“When Congress declared us a participant in World War One in 1917, women had no vote. Their place in industry was minor. Today, in our first year of World War Two, women not only have a voice in government, but are the labor saviors of the nation’s vital war production program….This development presents new problems to every employer…”
This publication presents a brief history of women in the U.S. workforce and the potential for up to 5 million more entering the workforce by the end of 1943, “Types of Work in Which Women Prove Effective” and those “least Suitable”; “Relative Strength of Women to Men”, dress, job factors and training, “Factory re-Engineering to Accommodate Women Workers”; Supervision of Women in Industry; child care problems, among other topics.
“Music Hath its Charms to Speed Up Women’s Work…An interesting side-light on the capacities of women through musical appeal to their rhythmic senses comes from a 100 per cent woman operated factor, Velvac Inc. … Detroit’s only all-woman factor is engaged in the manufacture of airplane, machine gun, and tank parts. But aside from th prosaic details common to hundreds of plants making similar products, the Velvac factory atmosphere is as feminine as Phil Spitalny’s all-girl orchestra, and almost as musical. … ‘The music keeps the girls from getting bored – and with women, boredom is a worse ‘bogger downer’ than physical fatigue.'”
The George S. May Business Foundation was a non-profit organization devoted to conducting research into problems of business management.
George S. May Business Foundation. WomanPower : Report No. 136. Chicago: George S. May Business Foundation. 1943.
Practical, Warm Hand Knits for Service Men, Make and Mend for Victory; Knit for Victory; Men’s Sweaters at Work and Play
“If your sister Susie’s sewing socks for soldiers, here’s a pack of patterns picked for her perusal: four vintage WW2 guides for thrift and for knitting useful bits of kit, “also practical for air raid or fire warden use”. “
Women’s Barracks / Tereska Torrès
Credited as “the first pulp fiction book published in America to candidly address lesbian relationships”
“This is the story of what happens when scores of young girls live intimately together in a French military barracks. Many of these girls, utterly innocent and inexperienced, met other women who had lived every type of experience. Their problems, their temptations, their fights and failures are those faced by all women who are forced to live together without normal emotional outlets. The girls who chose Tereska Torres, the author, as their confidante poured out to her their most intimate feelings, their secret thoughts. So, this book, with all of its revealment and tenderness, is an important book because it tells a story that had never been truly told–the story of women in war” From the back cover.
Special Collections’ copy is the 1950 first printing of Fawcett’s Gold Medal #132 paperback. The cover art is by Barye Phillips, who was known as the “King of Paperbacks” for his ability to create four cover paintings per week.
Torrès, Tereska. Women’s Barracks. Translated by George Cummings, Fawcett Publications, 1950.
We may consider Leary’s book a spectacular copying, or retelling, of the Wyf of Bath’s tale, in the context of a rollicking account of the author’s exile in Switzerland, between the Cleaver episode and the capture in Afghanistan, with flashbacks to Milbrook and Harvard, related with exuberance and good humor and imagination that puts to shame the lurid stories that have appeared in the newspapers, in the form of a science-fiction adventure novel. (As a model for his story Leary takes not Chaucer’s version but that of Gower the Scot (=Wanderer), whose hero was King Arthur’s nephew Gawaine, a.k.a. Gowan, or cowan, the rogue mason, not a member of any guild, who learned by himself to cut and pile stone. A nice metaphor for the author’s own public career.)
Special Collection’s copy states an edition of 5000 copies, this is copy number 2159. Inscribed by Leary: “S.M.I.L.E. To George, Timothy Leary. N.Y., N.Y. 8 / 76.”
Leary, Timothy. What Does Woman Want. 88 Books, 1976.
The Ladder
First nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States
Special Collections acquired a run of scattered issues covering the years 1957 – 1968 of this groundbreaking periodical. The Ladder was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the US.
In 1956, the Daughters of Bilitis wrote their mission statement, which was printed on the inside of every cover of the magazine until 1970:
Education of the variant…to enable her to understand herself and make her adjustment to society…this to be accomplished by establishing…a library…on the sex deviant theme; by sponsoring public discussions…to be conducted by leading members of the legal psychiatric, religious and other professions; by advocating a mode of behavior and dress acceptable to society.
Education of the public…leading to an eventual breakdown of erroneous taboos and prejudices…
Participation in research projects by duly authorized and responsible psychologists, sociologists, and other such experts directed towards further knowledge of the homosexual.
Investigation of the penal code as it pertain to the homosexual, proposal of changes,…and promotion of these changes through the due process of law in the state legislatures.
The Ladder, June 1957
ONE : The Homosexual Viewpoint
The first nationally distributed homosexual periodical
ONE Magazine was a nationally-distributed publication put out by ONE, Incorported, a homophile organization based in Los Angeles. The magazine was published from 1952 to 1967, surviving threats from the police and federal government to provide news, essays, fiction, and more to gay and lesbians across the United States.
Rare Books added issues from 1957 – 1960 which include articles featuring topics such as homosexuals in the military, same-sex marriage, coming out, and discovering community.
Portion of the collection of ONE
PUNK Magazine
Early music fanizine celebrating the underground punk scene
Punk was founded by cartoonist John Holmstrom, publisher Ged Dunn, and punk enthusiast Legs McNeil in 1975. In addition to celebrating the burgeoning punk scene in New York City, Punk is known for providing an outlet for female and Black writers, artists, and photographers who were often shut out of both the mainstream and underground music publishing opportunities.
Rare Books acquired all 15 issues published between 1976 and 1979, which feature iconic covers of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, and Ramones among others.
Selection of issues on display for WGS 250 : Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
Special Collections
Kathe Kollwitz, March of the Weavers (1893-1897) and The Ploughman (1907)
SCUA recently received the very generous donation of two Kathe Kollwitz etchings from UNCG alumna Betsy Brinson, Ph.D. March of the Weavers (1893-1897) and The Ploughman (1907) are welcome additions to the collection. Born in East Prussia in July 1867, Kathe Schmidt Kollwitz had an early interest in art. She studied in Munich and Berlin, with Max Klinger as a major influence. As her style developed, she moved toward graphic art, producing numerous drawings, etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs. The grief that she experienced because of the loss of her youngest son in World War I, resulted in prevalent themes of mothers and children, poverty, suffering, death, and the stark reality of war. She experienced further tragedy during World War II, when her grandson was killed in action and her life’s work was lost during a bombing attack. She died shortly before the end of the war. Kollwitz is considered one of the last great German Expressionists.
March of the Weavers (1893-1897)
The Ploughman (1907)
Kodak Brownie Holiday Camera
This Brownie “Holiday” Camera was generously donated by Terry Brandsma, the Information Technology Librarian at the University Libraries, UNCG. Made of Bakelite, the small viewfinder camera is was available in the United States and Canada from 1953 to 1962.
Kodak Brownie Holiday Camera
Women Veterans Historical Project
Red Cross Poster
Artist W. Hood created this fundraising poster to support the American Red Cross initiatives to support the armed forces.
Keep Your Red Cross at His Side. Motion Picture Industry 1945. Red Cross War Fund Week. March 15 Thru 21st.
University Archives
UNCG Freshman Beanie
This class beanie, originally owned by Laura Ann Carson (Class of 1964), was recently donated to SCUA, along with a 1964 class jacket. These college-issued beanies were worn by students throughout their freshmen year. In their sophomore year, students were given class jackets, which replaced the beanies. This example is particularly interesting, as it downs not have a specific date, but instead has a “D” and question marks, allowing the same style to be worn in multiple years.
1960s Class Beanie
UNCG National Champion Sweatshirt
Beginning in 1970, the men’s soccer team was one of the earliest intercollegiate teams on campus. In 1982, the team captured its first Division III national championship. This victory was repeated in 1982 and 1983 under coach Mike Berticelli. The team went on to be the first NCAA team to win three consecutive national championships from 1985-1987, this time under coach Michael Parker’s direction. In 2004, the soccer team would earn their first No. 1 national ranking since moving to Division I. This sweatshirt was created to celebrate the 1980s victories.
SCUA recently received the very generous donation of two Kathe Kollwitz etchings from UNCG alumna Betsy Brinson, Ph.D.. March of the Weavers (1893-1897) and The Ploughman (1907) are welcome additions to the collection. Born in East Prussia in July 1867, Kathe Schmidt Kollwitz had an early interest in art. She studied in Munich and Berlin, with Max Klinger as a major influence. As her style developed, she moved toward graphic art, producing numerous drawings, etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs. The grief that she experienced because of the loss of her youngest son in World War I, resulted in prevalent themes of mothers and children, poverty, suffering, death, and the stark reality of war. She experienced further tragedy during World War II, when her grandson was killed in action and her life’s work was lost during a bombing attack. She died shortly before the end of the war. Kollwitz is considered one of the last great German Expressionists.
The students at Woman’s College (the W.C.) were essentially restricted to campus and made their own fun with clubs, pageants, theatrical and musical productions and many other traditions. One of those was the annual “Unmusical.” According to the May 13, 1949 edition of the school newspaper The Carolinian, an Unmusical was a “programmed planned, written, and directed by the senior class for the sole purpose of a “take-off” of the faculty, presented at the last chapel program of the year. The theme for 1949 was “Through the Years.”
Alice C. Boehret (1919-2008), was a U.S. Army Nurse Corps veteran of World War II and came to the W.C. in 1946 using her G.I. Bill educational benefits. She graduated in 1950 with a degree in French and returned to her native city Philadelphia, PA to teach at Albert Einstein Hosptial. received a bachelor’s degree in French in 1950. She returned to Philadelphia to teach at Albert Einstein Hospital. In 1957, Boehret accepted a position at the Woman’s College in the newly formed Department of Nursing; she became chairman of the department in 1960.
In a recent addition to her manuscript collection there is a three-page song sheet, circa 1950, of parody lyrics about the W.C. experience set to popular tunes such as “Old King Cole”, “This is the Army, Mr. Jones”, “Comin’ In on a Wing and a Prayer”, “K-K-K-Katy” and “Pack Up Your Troubles in an Old Kit Bag.” These songs were performed by students for other students and perhaps faculty.
* McIver refers to Charles Duncan McIver, the first president of the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) from 1892-1906. “Normal” was a term for institutions that taught pedagogy (i.e. “how to be a teacher”.)
You can see the entire song sheet and find more catchy tunes at SCUA!
How did a simple ad set a trend for disposable dresses? See 1960’s consumerism bleed into a fad that transformed fashion?
Three paper dresses featured in the exhibit.
For starters, the dress came about in 1965 as a challenge presented to a wife of a Scott Paper employee to create a dress made of the company’s latest product, Dura-Weave. This cellulose fabric used for hospital personnel’s laundry-reduced garments served as the new material for Scott’s promotional campaign: Send Scott $1 and one would receive a throwaway dress along with the throwaway tableware Scott promoted and coupons for other Scott products. Such a disposable nature allowed the masses to keep up with the fast-changing styles of the times. People used scissors and tape to adjust looks and stay trendy – much less hassle than needles and thread.
The fad touched other parts of society: capitalism and art fused together in 1967 with the creation of the “Souper Dress,” Warhol’s Campbell’s soup masterpiece but now printed on a dress for Campbells to sell and advertise. Other companies took advantage of the paper dress’ easy print quality as well. This promotional dress also became a promo in the political sphere as Nixon’s campaign ad in 1968.
The paper dress fad made an appearance on UNC Greensboro’s campus as an exhibit known as the Art on Paper, 1967 show at Weatherspoon Museum. Dillard Paper company’s sponsorship allowed the Weatherspoon Guild to pursue this artistic venture. Featuring fast fashion served as a way to show audiences the state of Art in that time period. The dresses’ painted designs reflected the personalities of the 18 docents who wore the garments.
Accession Number 2005.36, purchased with the Emma Harter Fund, Newfields.
One or two wears then toss made the dress appealing, but eventually manufacturers began combining wood pulp with synthetic fibers, like nylon, to make the dresses last longer. Consumers could get a couple washes out of the dress and even iron it at a cool setting. However, advancements in clothing technology led to cheap fabric that could keep up with daily trends while more wearable than Dura-Weave-like materials. Paper dresses couldn’t compete. Counterculture’s rejection of materialism conflicted with paper dresses’ mass produce-then-throwaway nature as well. By 1968, the fad was thrown out completely.
Paper dresses remain notable mentions in our fashion, consumer, and art world. Isabelle de Borchgrave, the Belgian artist known for designing paper dresses, created a paper gown worn by the Queen of Belgium in 2004. She continued to use paper gowns as a mode of art to tell fashion’s history from gowns worn by the Medicis to mantua dresses of the 18th century. In a 2019 interview with Vogue, Borchgrave remarked about her journey with paper dressmaking: “I was, and still am, surprised every day by what paper can give you. Paper gives you freedom…”
The five dresses in the Fast Fashion of the 1960s, Paper Dresses exhibit were all designed by faculty in the UNC Greensboro Department of Art for the 1967 Art on Paper gala held at the Weatherspoon Art Museum and are held in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives. This exhibit is available for viewing on the first floor of the W.C. Jackson library from January 4th until June 1st, 2023.
Paper dress by artist Gilbert Carpenter. From the Weatherspoon Guild Records.
We recently purchased a copy of François Menon’s The Art of Modern Cookery Displayed (1767) for our Historical Cookbooks in the Woman’s Collection. This copy is the first edition in English of Menon’s encyclopedic cookbook, translated from the original French Les soupers de la cour (1755). Promoting simple recipes and carefully balanced flavors in the new style of haute cuisine, this was the last major French culinary text before the revolution.
François Menon was considered the most influential and prolific of all eighteenth-century cook book authors. Not only did he focus on the nouvelle cuisine of the day with its emphasis on health, but he also explored the science of cooking, wrote books for maîtres’ d’hôtel, and assigned the term “chef” to the head of the kitchen.
This present work covers all courses from entrees to desserts, and is divided into chapters dedicated to different dishes or ingredients, with extensive sections on sauces and broths, meats and fish, pastry, compotes and jams. Remarkedly, Menon selected recipes not only from French tradition but also from Italy, Germany, Ceylon, and Flanders.
The anonymous author of this English translation was Bernard Clermont, who only revealed his identity on the title page of the third edition. In the pages of this work, he described himself as “a foreigner”, stating that he worked as a clerk of the kitchen for some noble English families, including the Earls of Abingdon and Ashburnam. In his translation, Clermont preserved French terms, adding useful explanations “for the mutual Ease and Instruction of Natives and Foreigners”, and added to Menon’s text a few interesting introductory pages listing all the products that could be found in the markets of London in different seasons.
This copy has apposite provenance, with the ink stamp to the front free endpaper of the Educational Department of the Royal Baking Powder Company (founded in 1866, it was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the USA). It also has the fancifully designed bookplate of the American home economist Julia Perrin Hindley, depicting a goose wearing a toque. Hindley worked as a radio personality and wrote a number of homemaking and cookery books under the pseudonym “Julia Lee Wright” from the 1930s to the 1960s. We have some of her cookbooks in our Paul & Janice Hessling Home Economics Pamphlet Collection.
Menon, et al. The Art of Modern Cookery Displayed: Consisting of the Most Approved Methods of Cookery, Pastry, and Confectionary of the Present Time. Translated by B Clermont, Printed for the Translator, 1767.
Following The River Thames
Charles Mackay (1812 – 1889) was a widely respected journalist working for the Illustrated London News and later The Times for whom he covers the American Civil War, interviewing Abraham Lincoln. This work is the first edition of this pleasingly illustrated history of the River Thames, concluding with an account of the frost fairs that would take place when the river had frozen over.
Mackay, Charles. The Thames and Its Tributaries, or, Rambles among the Rivers. London: Richard Bentley, 1840.
A Scandalous Affair Affecting Military Readiness
The circumstances in which Mrs. Clarke (1776? – 1852) met the Duke of York (1763 – 1827) are unclear. However, from about 1803, she “made money out of her affair with the duke (which ended in May 1806) by promising promotion to officers, in return for payment. This matter was raised in the House of Commons by Colonel Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle on January 27, 1809, and referred to a select committee, which heard several witnesses testify that York has at various times tolerated or been involved in the trafficking of offices … there were no grounds for the duke’s prosecution; but his resignation as commander-in-chief on March 18 was the only way to avoid the renewal of the allegations.” (ODNB)
Our copy is the second edition, with the portrait of Mrs. Clarke beautifully hand-colored. This collection of letters and memoirs is the most reliable source of information on Mary Anne Clarke’s scandalous affair with Frederick, Duke of York, and was composed by Clarke’s close friend, Elizabeth Taylor.
Taylor, Elizabeth, et al. Authentic Memoirs of Mrs. Clarke : In Which Is Pourtrayed [Sic] the Secret History and Intrigues of Many Characters in the First Circles of Fashion and High Life, and Containing the Whole of Her Correspondence during the Time She Lived Under the Protection of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, the Gallant Duke’s Love Letters, and Other Interesting Papers Never Before Published. Printed for Thomas Tegg, 1809.
A Tale Inspired by 17th Century Witch Hunts
One of the various novels published by the journalist and novelist Thomas Gaspey (1788 – 1871) in the 1820s, The Witch-Finder narrates a tale of mid-17th-century witch hunting, purporting to be historically accurate, even if a romance.
Gaspey, Thomas. The Witch-Finder; or, the Wisdom of Our Ancestors. A Romance. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. 1824.
Jack The Ripper Newspaper Account
For the course HIS 374: British History Since 1688, Dr. Jill Bender schedules class sessions for her students to view original materials related to The Great Exhibition of 1851 (also known as The Crystal Palace) and also the sensationalism of the Jack the Ripper’s murders in the British and American press. SCUA recently added another newspaper documenting coverage of this infamous murder mystery.
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer, active in the impoverished districts in and around Whitechapel in the East End of London in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporary journalistic accounts, the killer was called the Whitechapel Murderer, Leather Apron, and Jack the Ripper.
Northampton Daily Chronicle, Tuesday, November 13, 1888
This newspaper issue details the murder of Mary Jane Kelly, the final of the five “canonized” murders attributed to Jack the Ripper:
Detail of article, The Latest London Tragedy
As the first image shows, the paper was discolored from acidification. Audrey Sage, Special Collections Conservator, stabilized and housed this newspaper so that students can continue to incorporate it into their class exercises. Sage writes about this process in her article, found at this link.
19th Century Word Games
SCUA hosts several classes which focus on the creation of found poems, “exquisite corpse”, and other creative writing exercises. We recently purchased two word game sets published in the late 19th century.
Anagrams; or Words Alive!
Peter G. Thomson was a Cincinnati publisher of children’s books, games, valentines, and novelties in the 1880s. His products rivaled the popularity of McLoughlin Bros, who bought out the company in 1889. Variations of anagrams and word games proliferated in the late 19th century and many publishers produced their own versions similar to Milton Bradley’s “Game of Words and Sentences,” which Bradley claimed to be the first such word game in the 1870s and published until the early 1890s, when he bemoaned the number of imitations had diminished its allure.
Anagrams; or Words Alive. Peter G. Thomson: Cincinnati, Ohio. ca.1880s.
Hood’s Spelling School and Other Games
Hood’s Sarsaparilla was marketed to purify the blood and cure various disorders, including heart disease, rheumatism, and edema. The product was inspired in part by the success of Ayers’ Sarsaparilla. Hood’s Sarsaparilla contained sarsaparilla root, dandelion, juniper berries, and 18% alcohol among other ingredients.
This pamphlet and tiles were novelty advertising by Hood’s. Tiles could be acquired from the company by mailing in proof of purchase (a trademark from their wrapper), plus 8 cents in stamps. Booklet provides instructions for 10 anagram games, including one requiring special tiles that have complete words or numbers along with the letter, used to answer quiz-type questions and form sentences as part of the final game.
Hood’s Spelling School and Other Games. C.I. Hood & Co.: Lowell, Mass. 1897.
Student in Emilia Phillips’ ENG 221-02 Writing of Poetry class, having composed The Longest Word “antidisestablishmentarianism” using Hood’s tiles:
WOMEN VETERANS HISTORICAL PROJECT
Filomena “Fay” Langone Helme Collection
Helme served in the U.S. WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) and the WAC (Women’s Army Corps) from 1943 to 1945. She was an “Air WAAC/WAC” who was assigned to the Army Air Forces, which was the predecessor to the Air Force. The collection includes military papers, a scrapbook, and a photograph album documenting her time at the Roswell Army Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Detail of ephemera included in the collection
Detail of photograph album
Nina M.H. Photograph Album
This album documents the experience of one woman who trained at the quasi-military First National Service School in Chevy Chase, Maryland during World War I. Established by the Women’s Section of the Navy League, which was the first “national women’s preparedness” organization, the service schools were training camps in which women learned about national defense, citizenship, and American history. At these camps women wore military-styled uniforms and practiced calisthenics, drilling, marching, first aid, and marksmanship.
Detail of photograph in the album
Detail of photograph album
Mildred A. Higgins Collection
Higgins served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II. The collection includes photographs, letters and ephemera documenting her time stationed at the 228th Station Hospital in Sherburne, England.
Overview of materials included in this collection
U.S. Army Service Club Worker Scrapbook
The unidentified woman who created this scrapbook was an employee of the U.S. Army Service Club Program. The scrapbook documents her time at various American clubs in Germany in the late 1950s.
Two-page spread of the photograph album
“The American Red Cross Coffee & Doughnut Award”
This plaque was presented to U.S. Navy Captain Eduguardo Martin Coppola, the Commander at USN Naval Station in Sangley Point, Philippines, circa 1971. The award includes the ode “The American Red Cross is great indeed, Gives coffee and doughnuts to men in need, To our C.O. (commanding officer) who never received his share, This plaque will show that we care.”
The hand-carved plaque
“Overseas Woman“
This publication, published April 1945, was issued by the U.S. Special Information Services. It was aimed at women in the Army Nurse Corps, the Women’s Army Corps, and American Red Cross, who were serving in the ETO (European Theater of Operations.) The stated mission of the magazine was “to be a link to the home-front, a channel of introduction to the people and countries in which we are stationed, [and] a hand of friendship linking together all American women serving here.”
Cover and Table of Contents from Overseas Woman
“I’ll Soon Come Back to You, Sweetheart!”
This “Service Woman’s Fun Book” was published in 1944 and contains cartoons and humor for and about WACS, WAVES, SPARS, and MCWRs. The “sweetheart” referenced in the title appears to be a fashionable hat!
Detail of front and rear covers
Detail of internal pages, depicting humorous cartoons
Selection of Recruiting Brochures
WVHP continues to add examples of recruiting brochures to our collection. We recently purchased two post-WWII publications.
1982 U.S. Army Recruiting Brochure
“How the WAFS Make the Team”
1950 Women in the Air Force recruiting brochure
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Portrait of Julius I. Foust
This portrait of the second president of the university, Julius I. Foust, was transferred from the Foust Building where it hung for many years in the lobby.
In 1902, he became a professor of pedagogy at the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG). After the death of first president and founder, Charles Duncan McIver, in 1906, Foust became acting president of the College. The following year he was made president, serving in that capacity until 1934 when he became president emeritus of the College.
During his long and esteemed career, Foust served as president of the North Carolina Association of City School Superintendents, president of the North Carolina Teachers Assembly, president of the North Carolina Association of Colleges, and a member of the Board of Directors of the A and M College (now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.) He was also the author of a textbook on the geography of North Carolina and co-author of a spelling book.
Foust remains the longest-serving administrative leader in UNCG’s history. In 1960, the “Main Building,” the only remaining structure from the school’s founding year — was renamed in his memory. He died at Lakeland, Florida, February 15, 1946.
