2020 Year in Review
As we reach the end of a decidedly unprecedented and unusual year, let’s look back on some of the topics we researched, discussed, and discovered in SCRC’s collections this year.
A big thank you to all of the staff members (Courtney Asztalos, Brett Barrie, Mike Dermody, Dane Flansburgh, Petrina Jackson, Jim Meade, Meg Mason, Sebastian Modrow, Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, Jim O’Connor, Daniel Sarmiento, David Stokoe, Colleen Theisen, Nicole Westerdahl, Lynn Wilcox) and students (Breeann Austin, Natasha Bishop, Isabel McCullough, Tiffany Miller, Aisha Pierre, Ari Spatola, Nora Ramsey, Jana Rosinski, Jason Wilborn) who wrote posts or contributed to the blog this year!
If you missed any blog posts this year or are looking for some collection-themed holiday reading, browse blog posts by month or topic below linked below!
January
- Happy New Year from SCRC! by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
- Writing over Medieval Texts in Renaissance Europe by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant
- An Act of Moral Courage by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist
February
- Unfaithful: Marriage Reform and Utopian Dreams by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
- Special Collections Research Center History Highlights by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator
- Happy International Women’s Day! – Staff & Student Blog Roundup
Visitors check out highlights of SCRC’s rare materials, including issues of the Black Panther Party newspaper and an assortment of poetry from Broadside and Third World Presses.
March
- Music in the Stacks by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant
- Bringing Art to the People by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator and Jana Rosinski, Curatorial Assistant for Plastics and Historical Artifacts
- The Orange in National Orange Day by Meg Mason, University Archivist
April
- A Century of Syroco by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
- An Artist in Pictures: Photographs of Grace Hartigan by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant
- New Sesquicentennial Digital Exhibition: A Legacy of Leadership by Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, Pan Am 103 Archivist and Assistant University Archivist
May
- Charles Eisenmann’s Circus Photography and the Cartes de visite Collection by Aisha Pierre, Reference Assistant
- New Acquisition: Rare 19th Century Photograph Album Featuring Black Americans by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator
- An Incomplete History of the Inn Complete by Isabel McCullough, Reference Assistant
University Campus, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse University Postcard Collection.
June
- Dragnet! A Musical Controversy by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant
- “Durable and Elegant”: Mary Edwards Walker and Dress Reform by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
- The Perfect Recipe for Conservation by David Stokoe, Conservation Librarian
- Rehousing the American Book Company Illustrations by Sebastian Modrow, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts
July
- Accessibility and Discoverability: Describing Street & Smith Cover Art by Natasha Bishop, Reference Assistant
- Traces of a Movement by Daniel Sarmiento, Director of Administration & SCRC Curatorial Intern for the Plastics Collection
- 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by Petrina Jackson, Director of SCRC
August
- An Unfinished End: Ying Li and the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive by Breeann Austin, Curatorial Instruction Assistant
- “What Then Shall We Say About Croton?”: Attempts to Integrate Syracuse City Schools by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist
- “Lifting as we climb”: Mary Church Terrell and the 19th Amendment by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
September
- Adjusting the Lens by Isabel McCullough, Reference Assistant
- The Push for Accessibility by Syracuse University’s Alpha Phi Omega Chapter by Ari Spatola, University Archives Graduate Assistant
- Selling the Soapbox by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator, and Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
- September Wrap Up & Banned Books Week by Brett Barrie, Assistant Catalog Librarian & Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant
Black leather suitcase with “Margaret Bourke-White, New York” stenciled across the top and a LIFE Magazine luggage tag. Margaret Bourke-White Papers.
October
- Printing the Middle Ages: A Renaissance Edition of Bernard of Clairvaux by Sebastian Modrow, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts
- George Fisk Comfort and the Museums Are Not Neutral Movement: Museum History at SCRC by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant
- October Wrap Up & Halloween/Election Coverage by Nicole Westerdahl, Reference and Access Services Librarian
October Preservation Countdown Series
TIME: Archives Preservation Countdown
RISK: Photographs, Lacquer Disks, and the Margaret Bourke-White Papers
JUDGEMENT: Pope Leo XIII and the Belfer Cylinders Collection
UNKNOWN: Cassette Tapes and the E. Thomas Billard Papers
VALUE: Photographs, Memorabilia, Films and Syracuse University Archives
November
- World War II Veterans at Syracuse University by Meg Mason, University Archivist
- “Survival Kit: Provisions for your Research Journey” Exhibit Interview with Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator; Jana Rosinski, Plastics Collection Curatorial Assistant; and Lynn Wilcox, Design Specialist for Syracuse University Press
- November Wrap Up & Native American Heritage Month by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator
December
- Hail Librarians!: Reflecting on SU Library Service by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant
- “In the Beginning of the Year, and When it Ends:” Memorials to Pan Am Flight 103 by Vanessa St.Oegger-Menn, Pan Am 103 Archivist & Assistant University Archivist
- Tempering Virtue, Prohibiting Vice by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor
Fabric samples featured in an 1867 letter addressed to Mary Edwards Walker. Mary Edwards Walker Papers.
Activism and Social Reform
- Unfaithful: Marriage Reform and Utopian Dreams by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (February)
- Bringing Art to the People by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator and Jana Rosinski, Curatorial Assistant for Plastics and Historical Artifacts (March)
- “Durable and Elegant”: Mary Edwards Walker and Dress Reform by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (June)
- “What Then Shall We Say About Croton?”: Attempts to Integrate Syracuse City Schools by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist (August)
- George Fisk Comfort and the Museums Are Not Neutral Movement: Museum History at SCRC by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant (October)
- Tempering Virtue, Prohibiting Vice by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (December)
Workers on site of Sims Hall construction. Syracuse University Photograph Collection.
Art, Music and Photography
- Bringing Art to the People by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator and Jana Rosinski, Curatorial Assistant for Plastics and Historical Artifacts (March)
- Music in the Stacks by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant (March)
- An Artist in Pictures: Photographs of Grace Hartigan by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant (April)
- Charles Eisenmann’s Circus Photography and the Cartes de visite Collection by Aisha Pierre, Reference Assistant (May)
- New Acquisition: Rare 19th Century Photograph Album Featuring Black Americans by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator (May)
- Dragnet! A Musical Controversy by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant (June)
- Adjusting the Lens by Isabel McCullough, Reference Assistant (September)
- RISK: Photographs, Lacquer Disks, and the Margaret Bourke-White Papers Archives Preservation Countdown (October)
- JUDGEMENT: Pope Leo XIII and the Belfer Cylinders Collection Archives Preservation Countdown (October)
Ying Li’s signature on her farewell letter to Marcel Breuer. Marcel Breuer Papers.
Celebrating BIPOC Voices
- An Act of Moral Courage by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist (January)
- Bringing Art to the People by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator and Jana Rosinski, Curatorial Assistant for Plastics and Historical Artifacts (March)
- New Acquisition: Rare 19th Century Photograph Album Featuring African Americans by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator (May)
- “What Then Shall We Say About Croton?”: Attempts to Integrate Syracuse City Schools by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist (August)
- “Lifting as we climb”: Mary Church Terrell and the 19th Amendment by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (August)
- An Unfinished End: Ying Li and the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive by Breeann Austin, Curatorial Instruction Assistant (August)
- World War II Veterans at Syracuse University by Meg Mason, University Archivist (November)
- November Wrap Up & Native American Heritage Month by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator (November)
Alpha Phi Omega members playing with children at an event in Hendricks Chapel, circa 1950s.
Disability Studies
- Accessibility and Discoverability: Describing Street & Smith Cover Art by Natasha Bishop, Reference Assistant (July)
- 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by Petrina Jackson, Director of SCRC (July)
- The Push for Accessibility by Syracuse University’s Alpha Phi Omega Chapter by Ari Spatola, University Archives Graduate Assistant (September)
A close-up of a Renaissance edition of the works of Bernard of Clairvaux, featuring the only illumination in the copy. Rare books.
Medieval Texts
- Writing over Medieval Texts in Renaissance Europe by Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant (January)
- Printing the Middle Ages: A Renaissance Edition of Bernard of Clairvaux by Sebastian Modrow, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts (October)
The 1909 streetcar advertisement for Velvet Borax Flakes produced by the National Chemical Company located in Syracuse, N.Y. Lyall D. Squair Streetcar Advertisements Collection.
Plastics and Consumer Culture
- A Century of Syroco by Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (April)
- Traces of a Movement by Daniel Sarmiento, Director of Administration & SCRC Curatorial Intern for the Plastics Collection (July)
- Selling the Soapbox by Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator, and Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor (September)
- “Survival Kit: Provisions for your Research Journey” Exhibit Interview with Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator; Jana Rosinski, Plastics Collection Curatorial Assistant; and Lynn Wilcox, Design Specialist for Syracuse University Press (November)
Exhibition case with materials from the University Archives’ exhibit, “150 Years of Tradition at Syracuse University.”
University Archives
- An Act of Moral Courage by Dane Flansburgh, Assistant Archivist (January)
- Special Collections Research Center History Highlights by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator (February)
- The Orange in National Orange Day by Meg Mason, University Archivist (March)
- New Sesquicentennial Digital Exhibition: A Legacy of Leadership by Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, Pan Am 103 Archivist and Assistant University Archivist (April)
- An Incomplete History of the Inn Complete by Isabel McCullough, Reference Assistant (May)
- Adjusting the Lens by Isabel McCullough, Reference Assistant (September)
- The Push for Accessibility by Syracuse University’s Alpha Phi Omega Chapter by Ari Spatola, University Archives Graduate Assistant (September)
- UNKNOWN: Cassette Tapes and the E. Thomas Billard Papers Archives Preservation Countdown (October)
- VALUE: Photographs, Memorabilia, Films and Syracuse University Archives Archives Preservation Countdown (October)
- World War II Veterans at Syracuse University by Meg Mason, University Archivist (November)
- Hail Librarians!: Reflecting on SU Library Service by Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant (December)
- “In the Beginning of the Year, and When it Ends:” Memorials to Pan Am Flight 103 by Vanessa St.Oegger-Menn, Pan Am 103 Archivist & Assistant University Archivist (December)
“Survival Kit: Provisions for your Research Journey” Sky is The Limit banner in the Plastics Pioneers Reading Room.
Working in SCRC
- Special Collections Research Center History Highlights by Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator (February)
- The Perfect Recipe for Conservation by David Stokoe, Conservation Librarian (June)
- Rehousing the American Book Company Illustrations by Sebastian Modrow, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts (June)
- Accessibility and Discoverability: Describing Street & Smith Cover Art by Natasha Bishop, Reference Assistant (July)
- An Unfinished End: Ying Li and the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive by Breeann Austin, Curatorial Instruction Assistant (August)
- “Survival Kit: Provisions for your Research Journey” Exhibit Interview with Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator; Jana Rosinski, Plastics Collection Curatorial Assistant; and Lynn Wilcox, Design Specialist for Syracuse University Press (November)