American University Library is pleased to announce its newest digital collection – The Photographic Materials and Other Art Work of Herbert E. Striner

Herbert E. Striner is an economist and the former Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University.  He got his first camera when he was waiting to return home from the China-Burma-India Theater at the end of World War II.  Dr. Striner took his camera with him on his personal and professional travels depicting the people he met and the places he visited.  Dr. Striner switched to digital photography in 1999.    His collection consists of over 9,000 black & white negatives, color slides, and color negatives depicting a wide variety of subjects in the United States and abroad from the 1940s to 1998 including Washington, DC landmarks such as the National Cathedral and C&O Canal.  Some of the earliest photographs in this collection document life on a troop ship.   Digitization and cataloging of this collection is ongoing.  Please visit the site at  http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/collect/striner/striner.shtml

Jeremy J. Stone Papers (1956-2006)

Jeremy J. Stone served as President of the Federation of American Scientists from 1970 until 2000 when he founded a small non-profit, Catalytic Diplomacy. After earning his PhD in Mathematics from Stanford in 1960, Stone began working on issues of war and peace with an emphasis on arms control. Stone calls himself a “public interest activist.” His advocacy efforts covered a variety of topics including scientific exchange, the nuclear arms race, human rights, ethnic violence and civil conflict, and U.S. international relations. His papers include articles, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and reports compiled for his two memoirs, “Every Man Should Try”: Adventures of a Public Interest Activist (1999) and Catalytic Diplomacy: Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran (2009).

Political Study Club of the District of Columbia (1937-1957)

This collection consists of the annual breakfast programs and yearbooks from the Political Study Club of Washington, DC collected by member, Constance C. Truesdell. The Political Study Club was formed in 1899 as a suffrage club “to study and discuss politics and kindred subjects and endeavor to right the wrongs of women in the District of Columbia.” After the adoption of the 19th amendment, the Study Club changed its mission to the “study of the United States Government and its home and foreign relations.” Membership was capped at 400 members but was not limited to residents of Washington, D.C. The yearbooks include the annual membership roster including officers and committees, the list of speakers and topics for that year, and the club’s history, constitution & by-laws, and song.

While developing the plans for American University, Bishop John Fletcher Hurst discovered that George Washington was an early supporter of a national university in the nation’s capital.

In a letter to the Governor of Virginia, Robert Brooke, dated March 16, 1795, Washington proposed designating his shares in the Potomack (Canal) Company for an early initiative to create a national university in the “federal city.”  Washington’s support for this project stemmed from his concerns about the state of graduate education in the United States.  He was worried that “the youth of the United States [are] migrating to foreign countries for the higher branches of erudition” and “that a serious danger is encountered in sending abroad among other political systems those who have not well learned the value of their own.”

Hurst purchased this letter in the 1890s and carried it with him on his early fundraising trips.  Hurst felt his plan for a graduate institution which would be open to “both young men and women alike” matched George Washington’s goals for a national university.  Upon his death, Hurst’s Library was sold at auction but W.L. Davidson, Secretary of the University, purchased the letter with his own money.   Davidson was eventually reimbursed through donations.  This letter and its connection to American University’s past are treasured by the campus community.

Visitors are welcome to stop by Archives and Special Collections to read the letter.

AU’s founder, Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, was an avid collector. In addition to a large library, he amassed a small autograph collection. The books, correspondence, and documents in this collection highlight Hurst’s interest in astronomy, Italy, mathematics, nature, and religion. It includes letters written by Michael Faraday (1851), Lamarck (1822), and Alexander von Humboldt as well as letters relating to the unification of Italy three of which were written by Giuseppe Garibaldi. Of note are several 19^th century papal bulls, 16^th century astronomical text entitled Liber Ioannis de Sacro Busto De sphaera / / addita est præfatio in eundem librum Philippi Mel. ad Simonem Grineum, and a 1581 decree of King Philip II of Spain.

What can you learn about someone by studying the books they read?

Joseph M.M. Gray, a Methodist minister, served as Chancellor of American University from 1934-1940. At his inauguration in 1934, American University launched its School of Public Affairs. American University Library is in the process of cataloging some books from Gray’s personal library. The books are all inscribed and dated. The inscriptions include Gray’s location so you can follow his travels. One of the books is marked “On S.S. Lapland.” Other locations include Detroit, Michigan, Gray Rocks, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Kansas City, Missouri, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Gray Rocks was the name of his family’s summer home. Many of the books are slightly annotated. The multiple inscriptions in the back document that Gray read John Brown’s Body by Stephen Vincent Benet several times between 1928 and 1934. His annotations range from comments “It was Grant who said…” to criticism “This would be better in alternating rhyme.” The collection reveals his interest in poetry, Shakespeare, and Greek drama. Though we do not have his entire library, this collection does provide us with insight into Joseph M.M. Gray as an individual.

Effective Thursday  May 7, 2009 – The Archives Reading Room will be open for individual quiet study Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.  It will be available for meetings and events on a first-come, first-served basis Monday through Thursday from 5:00pm to 9:00 pm (May 11 – August 6).  Individuals interested in reserving the Archives Reading Room should contact Tiffany Hairston at (202) 885-3233 or Elizabeth LaRocca at (202) 885-3847.

Since the Archives Reading Room has opened for individual quiet study, we have gotten numerous questions about the rationale for the food and drink restrictions.

The two primary reasons why food and drink are not permitted in the Archives Reading Room are as follows:

• Wherever food and drink are consumed, there is increased likelihood for crumbs, spills and food waste which can attract pests and thus poses risks for our archival and manuscript collections that are stored in the room next door.
• Researchers use the tables in the reading room to consult rare materials.  It is not feasible to clean the tables after each use so we must institute procedures to avoid spills.

Our policy is similar to those at other local universities including the University of Maryland. 

I encourage anyone with questions about this policy to contact the Archives for further information.

When there are no researchers in the reading room, students may use the tables reserved for researcher use.  If necessary, students may be asked to relocate to another table if and when a researcher wants to consult a collection.

The Archives Reading Room, located on the third floor of the AU Library, primarily exists to support scholarly research in the AU Archives and Special Collections. As part of the ongoing renovations and improvements in the library building funded by the university and library supporters, the Archives Reading Room has been refurbished with new tables, chairs, and electrical outlets. This significant upgrade in equipment allows for a major change in Reading Room usage.

Effective April 6, 2009, the Archives Reading Room will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for individual quiet study. One or more tables will be designated for use of Archives staff and researchers, and open tables will be available to the community. Consumption of food and drinks is not permitted in the Archives Reading Room. The policy will be enforced, and any evidence of food consumption in the space may result in the reduction of hours.

Stay tuned to the American University Archives and Special Collections blog for news about collections, events, and the Archives Reading Room.