New Collections Open!

The USF Library Archives has processed and completed the Finding Aids of six new collections. We are happy to open the following collections for research:

History of the University (10-117)
City History (40-100)
Diocese History (40-105)
English Department (20-120)
Speech & Speech Pathology Department (20-210)
Foreign Language Study (20-135)

See a complete list of our processed collections here.
The USF Library Archives is open Monday-Friday, 9-4am.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

The USF Library Archives will have the following schedule over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend:

Wednesday, Nov. 25 - 8:00am-3:00pm
Thursday, Nov. 26 - Sunday, Nov. 29 - Closed

We will open again Monday, Nov. 30 at 8:00am and return to our regular hours.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Class of 1939 Photo

In 1939, the Great Depression was nearing an end and the U.S. had not yet entered into World War II, making this an era at CSF of lightheartedness and optimism. Seniors from the class of 1939 enjoy the spring weather out on the quad. (l to r) Evelyn (Mintert) Schanzle, M. Ruth (Kerper) Tofanelli, Margaret (Zabrowski) Palinski, Olive (Pommier) Ross, Patrice (McShane) Austgen, Marie (Ribordy) Fogarty, Novita (Moddrel) Crockett, Minola C. (Williams) Sturm, Elizabeth (Assell) Wallers, and Frances (Fencel) Fordyce.

The USF Library Archives was fortunate to have help in identifying the people in this photograph. Mrs. Minola C. (Williams) Sturm (third from the right) celebrated her 70th class reunion this fall and kindly sat down to look through Archives photos from her time at CSF. Her information helped solve the mystery of "who?" in quite a few of our unidentified photos.

Many thanks from the USF Library Archives.

USF History Book

The USF Library Archives submitted a book proposal to Arcadia Publishing in October. This book would be a part of Arcadia's Campus History Series and would visually chronicle the history of USF. We just received word that Arcadia has accepted our proposal! We will begin work soon and hope to have the book published and available by Homecoming 2010.
Go Saints!

Founder's Day Displays

This year, Founder's Day at USF is on September 15. To find out more about the celebration please see my previous post or the USF website.

For my part this year I've created three displays of materials from the USF Library Archives showing the history of the school and celebrating the Sisters who worked so hard to make the school what it is today.

Please take some time to visit the displays around campus. Be sure to look for familiar faces and places as you "Walk the Gospel Road" through history:

The Motherhouse - located in the display cabinets across from the Solutions Office on the 3rd floor down the hall from San Damiano Hall. This display focuses on the Sisters and the early years of their time at USF.

The Library - located in the display case just inside the main doors, across from the Circulation Desk. This display focuses on Sisters and faculty with an emphasis on more recent years.
Tower Hall: Moser Performing Arts Center Gallery - located in the portion of the Moser Gallery on either side of the ramp leading from Tower to the Music Department. This display is a timeline starting in 1925 and ending in 2009.

Coming Soon - Founder's Day

Founder's Day at USF is Tuesday, September 15th. This is the time when we celebrate our founding congregation, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate. They gave so much of their lives to making the school what it is today.

This year's theme is Walking the Gospel Road in Faith and the activities include:
10:30 am - Blessing of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Quad.
11:00 am - Mass in St. Joseph Chapel, Motherhouse.
Noon - Lunch in San Damiano Hall.

That evening at 7:00 pm in San Damiano Hall Sister Margaret Eletta Guider, OSF will be speaking at the Fifth Annual Bishop Imesch Women in the Church Lecture Series. Her talk is titled The Wonders and Woes of Mother Moes: Life Lessons from the Foundress on Being a Woman in the Church and the World.

Mother Alfred Moes

The USF Library Archives will be displaying materials from the Archives that celebrate the Sisters and others who have been important in the history of USF. Please take some time to look at the display when they go up next week in the Library, the Motherhouse and the Moser Performing Arts Gallery.

What's New in the Archives

As the new school year starts, I thought I would share some of the changes that took place over the summer in the USF Library Archives.

1) New Student Workers - Along with Sarah and James returning from last year, the Archives is happy to welcome Samantha. We have many projects and plans for this coming year and look forward to all the wonderful work that the students do.

2) New Online Collection - The LSTA grant project is done and the new collection is now online. Sharing Our Past - A Visual History includes images and materials from 1920 to the present covering faculty, staff, students, classes, buildings, activities, athletics and much more. Be sure to visit the collection here.

3) New Comfy Chairs - We now have three comfy recliner chairs in the Archives Reading Room. As you know, the materials in the Archives have more restricted use than the general collection. In order to provide a more comfortable and inviting area for using the materials and reading the books, we have added these chairs to the room.

New things are always happening in the Archives so check back for more updates. We're excited about what this school year will bring and hope to see many of you in the Library and the Archives.