What’s the best service project for a bunch of archivists? Sorting and boxing and labelling.

In lieu of our Thursday morning we all headed to the Linn Benton Food Share warehouse to volunteer for a couple of hours, where we bagged and boxed about 600 pounds of filberts (hazelnuts if you want to be fancy).

And then we sorted through about 1000 pounds of donated canned food.

Separating them into soups, protein, fruits, and vegetables, with a good range of foods for each 24# box. I can tell you from dipping my hands into each of these bins that people donate a variety of foods. Green beans and chicken noodle soup are great! But so are canned peas, coconut milk, and lima beans.

For those who are interested, you can learn more about the program at http://communityservices.us/nutrition/detail/category/linn-benton-food-share/.

For more than 30 years, Linn Benton Food Share has been feeding Linn and Benton counties, because we are committed to the idea that no one goes hungry in the two-county area we serve. In order to efficiently move food to those in need, we work closely with local nonprofit groups throughout Linn and Benton counties.

Through this network of local partner agencies—emergency shelters and food pantries, soup kitchens, child and senior care centers, shelter homes, and gleaning groups—we attempt to reach every person in our area who cannot find enough resources to adequately feed themselves or their families. Last year Food Share distributed 5.4 million pounds of food to our 74 member agencies.

There is a monthly open house on the last Thursday of the month from 6:00-8:00PM, so if you want to drop by to help out please do so. They can also host groups (like ours) during the week.

Ellis Hadley (left) William Finley (center) and Herman Bohlman wading across a river on their way to a red-tailed hawks’ nest, circa 1900.

Oregon State University’s Special Collections and Archives Research Center is participating in a LSTA grant project to digitize the papers and photographs of naturalists William F. Finley, Herman T. Bohlman, and Irene Barnhart Finley.  The intern will assist with various aspects of the project:

• enter metadata used to access the digitized manuscript files based on a data dictionary created by the Center for Digital Scholarship and Services in conjunction with Special Collections and Archives Research Center.

• ingest that content into Oregon Digital

• refolder or take other steps to preserve the original materials appropriately

• write a post about the project for the Special Collections & Archives Research Center’s “Speaking of History” blog.

Required Qualifications: Course work or experience with applying metadata to archival collections

Preferred Qualifications: Undergraduate degree in a related field

The intern will work an average of 12 hours a week, or 312 hours total, over a six month period of the project.  Work hours will be scheduled Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. to 5 pm. at OSU’s Valley Library. Will require working on site in Corvallis, Oregon.

Hourly wage: $12.50 per hour.

Apply by January 24, 2017. For application and full position description see: http://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/36212

The OSU Valley Library is proud to announce the fourth year of our sponsored Book Collecting Contest!

Generously sponsored by the Himes & Duniway Society, a group of book collecting enthusiasts in Oregon, this contest is intended:

• to encourage students in the collection and enjoyment of their own personal libraries,
• to aid students in developing an appreciation for the special qualities of printed or illustrated works, and
• to encourage students to read, research, and preserve these works for pleasure and scholarship.

The collection can focus on any subject, and the contest is open to all full-time students.

Prizes:

Three prizes will be awarded to student winners:

1st prize: $1,000
2nd prize: $500
3rd prize: $250

Prizes are generously funded by the Himes & Duniway Society.

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE Friday, March 10, 2017 by 5:00 PM.

How Do I Enter?
The Application Package should include the following:

• The application form;
• The essay, which should be at least two and no more than four pages in 12-point type with lines double-spaced describing how and why the collection was assembled;
• A bibliography of the collection preferably using the MLA Bibliography format with each individual title numbered and annotated. The annotations should reflect the importance of each item to the collection as a whole
• An annotated wish list of up to five other book titles that you would like to add in the future to complete or enhance your existing collection; and
• digital images of at least 5 representative items in the collection, with 10 or more images being preferable.

You can submit your application in one of two ways:

1. Email your application package to Anne Bahde at anne.bahde@oregonstate.edu

2. Drop off your application package to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center, 5th floor of Valley Library.

What’s a “Collection?”
A collection

• Consists of items that a student has come to own following a particular interest, or passion, which may be academic or not
• May consist of all books or a combination of books and other formats. For instance, a collection on a geographical topic may include a map, a collection on a playwright may include a poster or playbill, or a collection about an historical event may include ephemera.
• Consists of not less than 15 items or more than 30 items of which the majorityshould be books, but related materials such as photographs, illustrations, maps, ephemera, CDs, music scores, posters etc. may be included.
• Can be on any topic; subjects can be contemporary or historical and may stress bibliographical features such as bindings, printing processes, type, editions, illustrations, etc. Rare books are not expected. Comic books and graphic novels are acceptable; ephemera alone if of historical interest is acceptable; historical–not current–textbooks may be included.

Examples of Previous Winners (2016)

• Marie Bello, Fisheries and Wildlife: “Drawn to Inquiry: Scientific Illustration and Field Sketching as a Method of Exploring the Natural World
• 2nd prize: Kelsey Cronin, Biology: “Maps, Trails, and Navigation”
• 3rd prize: Victoria Drexel, MFA Program in Creative Writing: “Under My Skin: Collecting Sinatra”

How Do I Win?
Criteria for selection:

• Clearly state the purpose or unified theme of the collection;
• Explain the extent to which the collection represents the stated purpose;
• Evidence of creativity in building the collection;
• Originality, innovation, and uniqueness;
• Quality of the collector’s essay describing the collection

A team of judges from campus and The Himes & Duniway Society will determine the contest winners.

The Fine Print:

Students are limited to one entry. The student must be a full time student and the sole owner of the collection. The winners may be eligible for entry into The National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest supported by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS) of which The Himes & Duniway Society is a member, the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division (the Library of Congress) with major support from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation. http://hq.abaa.org/books/antiquarian/abaapages/contest

If you have questions about book collecting or this contest, contact Anne Bahde at anne.bahde@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-2083.

Flyer for a joint Chomsky-Pauling presentation, Montreal, 1967

As the 1960s moved forward, Linus Pauling’s interest in contributing to an academic circle that resolutely rejected the Vietnam War continued to strengthen. A participant in several past petitions, Pauling co-authored another such document in June 1967, a “Scientists’ Appeal for Vietnam,” signed by a collection of scientific all stars including Nobel laureates Pauling, Lord John Boyd Orr, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Alfred Kastler, André Michel Lwoff, C.F. Powell, Bertrand Russell, R.L.M. Synge, and Albert Szent-Györgyi. Additional signatories included Pauling’s close friend J.D. Bernal, an influential x-ray crystallographer and peace activist; neurologist and president of the Association of Scientific Workers Harry Grundfest; Soviet biochemist Alexander Oparin; and an Indian scientist and activist, S. Hussain Zaheer.

Read the rest of part 6 in the Pauling and the Vietnam War series on the Pauling Blog.

Three new finding aids for SCARC collections were finished last month!

Two are guides for components of the former Gerald W. Williams Collection that have been separated from the core collection and described with a finding aid. The other is for a collection that was previously only minimally described with a preliminary collection-level description and container and now has a full detailed finding aid.

As of November 30, 2016, the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center has 864 finding aids in Archives West.

Gerald W. Williams Family Vacation Slides, 1973-1991 (P 316)

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, 1954

These slides consist of images taken by Williams documenting trips and activities by Williams and his family in Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. The collection includes 703 color slides.

Gerald W. Williams Glass Negatives Collection, circa 1910 (P 326)

Cliffs on Beach, Salmon River Bay, c. 1910

This collection consists of 8 glass negatives of the central Oregon coast assembled and acquired by Williams due to his avocational interest in the history of the Pacific Northwest region. The photographer is not identified.

• All of the items are available online in Oregon Digital.

Elvin A. Duerst Papers, 1929-1999 (MSS Duerst)

The Duerst Papers are comprised of materials relating to Duerst’s education and career as an international agricultural economist. The collection documents his time as a student at Linfield College, Oregon State College, and the University of Illinois and his professional work in agricultural transportation and infrastructure projects, economic development planning, and foreign aid coordination. The collection includes more than 2500 photographs and 116 maps.

Kessler Brewery touted the health benefits of its beers, claiming you’d notice its health benefits in the glow of health on your cheek. Helena Independent, June 29, 1900

The Montana Historical Society Research Center received a $4,500 grant from Humanities Montana to conduct oral history interviews that will capture the history of modern craft brewing and breweries in Montana.

• Read the whole post here http://thebrewstorian.tumblr.com/post/153881187851/montana-historical-society-receives-grant-for-oral

In a separate follow up post is an interview with Anneliese Warhank, director of the project

• Read the whole post here http://thebrewstorian.tumblr.com/post/153913606364/an-interview-with-anneliese-warhank-director-of

This fall term the OMA hosted the students of Professor Daniel López-Cevallos’ ethnic studies course ES 351 “Ethnic Minorities in Oregon” for a session on the collections and histories available for them to use as part of their class projects. At the end of the term, the students returned to the archives to give poster presentations about their research. The students’ topics of study included: the IRCO Asian Family Center, Chinese Disinterment in Oregon, Mexican Immigration in Oregon, the Oregon – and OSU – Japanese Exclusion and Executive Order 9066, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and Chinese Miners in Oregon.

Read the whole post here. 

The Friday before Thanksgiving we hosted historian Peter Kopp for a Collections at the Center talk, which gave him an opportunity to talk about his new book (Hoptopia) and research process, and gave us an excuse to show fabulous archival documents.

All sorts of people were in the audience, from archivists to local hop farmers, brewers and even the famous hopmeister Dr. Alfred Haunold himself.

Read and see more on the Brewstorian Blog!

That time when Peter Kopp gave a talk OSU – and Al Haunold helped him out.

Had a wonderful time hosting Peter Kopp to promote his new book on hop history, Hoptopia. 

“If President Johnson had to kill – shoot, burn to death – ten Vietnamese women and children every morning before breakfast, the war would soon end.” -Linus Pauling, 1967

By early 1965, convinced that the United States government was the primary obstacle to initiating a cease-fire and subsequent negotiations in Vietnam, Linus Pauling increasingly began to go on the offensive against the war.

Read the entire post on the Pauling Blog. 

This is part 5 of 7 on Pauling and the Vietnam War.