New Year, New Goals, New Dreams - 2016

After my first year of being the University of St. Francis archivist, I hope to make 2016 as productive as last year.

A Brief Recap

Last year we created 18 individual collections relating to the University’s rich history, participated in Chicago Open Archives and showcased the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection, implemented our records management system ArchivesSpace, and continued to fill requests from faculty, students, alumni, and the public.

There are also a few new forms, making contact with the Archives easier. The Appointment Request Form can set up a time to meet with me individually or for a class session. I also created forms for our faculty and student groups to transfer valuable historical  records for permanent storage to the Archives.

New Goals

Over the next few months, my focus will be cataloging the 1,000+ books of the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection. We will start with biographies, which focus on influential people in the musical theater world, including: Fred Astaire, Marilyn Monroe, Bing Crosby, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and many more.

My student worker, Adjo Tameklo, and newest intern, Madison Bowie, will be adding over 500 images to our Sharing Our Past: A Visual History online collection. The work includes using our ContentDM software to write descriptions for each photograph, and searching for corresponding names and dates. Sometimes the names and dates are difficult to come by, so I intend to upload small batches over the coming months.

I will leave you with this inscription from the class of 1936 (which will hopefully be displayed in the future science building!)

Blessing of St. Francis: "May the Lord bless thee and keep thee. May He show His fact to thee and have mercy on thee.
May He turn His countenance to thee and give thee peace. May the Lord bless thee." - Presented by Class of 1936

If you have any questions regarding USF archival collections and/or have a donation, please contact Gloria Hendrickson, Archives Librarian, at ghendrickson@stfrancis.edu or 815-740-3539.

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