University of St. Francis Library Archives

An exciting event is happening next month in the USF Archives as a part of Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting . Over twenty local archives, research centers, and cultural institutions in the Chicago area will offer special events open to members of the public on October 8-10, 2015. Chicago Open Archives: Collecting and Connecting is an opportunity to discover unique historical materials and engage with archivists, librarians, and museum curators. I will present one of the Archive’s special collections, the Barbara A. Cooke Musical Theater Collection on Saturday October 10 th .  Barbara Cooke is an alumna of USF whose career in musical theater has spanned over 30 years. She spent time on stage in both Chicago and New York City, all the while collecting sheet music, books and other items related to musical theater. Visitors will have the chance to view rare materials and hear how the Archives acquired the collection. The collection includes sheet music, comp...

Fireman tending to the controlled burn of library bookshelf fire. Last month I attended the  Illinois Fire Service Institute Burn Simulation and Recovery Workshop . Sponsored by the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), the event aimed to teach archivists and librarians how to cope with fires in cultural heritage institutions and schools. The first half of the workshop was in-class presentations.  The two speakers were: Eddie Bain , Investigator/Public Information Officer with the Savoy Fire Department, and Jennifer Hain Teper , Head of Preservation Services at University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Bain, with over 40 years of firefighting experience, presented on fire prevention in today’s modern environment. Teper introduced us to fire disaster planning, which focused on assessing the damage, planning for recovery, and salvage operations. Aftermath of  five minute fire on library materials The second half of the ...

America: A Catholic Review of the Week Vol. 13 No. 13 (1915) Now and again it’s fun to look back on history and wonder what the hot topics of the day were. For the first installment of This Week in History we’ll be focusing on the week of July 10 th , 1915; specifically, what was mentioned in volume 13, number 13 of America: A Catholic Review of the Week .  As a weekly Catholic journal of opinion, topics included: social justice, liturgy, music, world news, editorial reviews, education, sociology, and much more. The USF Archives holds the first forty-five volumes of this journal, which has been continuously published since 1909. As you might imagine, the issue focused on the circumstances and events of World War I. In news bulletin style, the issue highlights the movements of German troops in France as they make their way to Verdun. It reads: “The Crown Prince according to reports is in command, and large bodies of troops are said to be gathering for an new assau...

This week the Brown Library Archives received an exciting new addition from one of our alums. Beverly (Bajt) Kopman, a 1966 graduate from St. Joseph College of Nursing (SJCN), donated her St. Joseph Hospital nurse cape and cap. Both pieces are in excellent condition and are welcomed  additions  to the St. Joseph College of Nursing collection.  Cape donated by alumna Beverly Kopman The cape is wool with a dark navy and red color scheme. Along the collar is “STJH”  in gold stitched letters, which stands for St. Joseph Hospital. Inside the left-hand flap are Mrs. Kopman’s initials “B.A.B” in white and black stitching.  The white cap was awarded during a “capping ceremony,” which occurred before students began their hospital training. Nurse's cap donated by alumna Beverly Kopman Detail shots of gold lettering on cape's collar and inside flap The cape was used by nursing students beginning in the 1920s, when the SJCN was first establi...

Hello again. This week an exciting addition to the Brown Library Archive Online Collections went live! Online collections, you say? Tell me more, you say? Absolutely! Front page of the Interlude  Vol.13 No.11; April 27, 1941 The University of St. Francis Archive currently has eight online collections on various topics related to the institution. The newest is The Interlude Student Newspaper Collection . It contains digital images of the first student newspaper for the College of St. Francis. The first issue was published December 25, 1925 and ran continuously until 1969. The Interlude offers a unique perspective of life in a Franciscan organization during the first half of the 20th century. At the time, CSF was an all-girls school in a growing suburban community. The paper focused on student driven activities, including: social gatherings, clubs, sports, and community outreach. Graduating class photographs, curriculum changes, and marriage announcements were also ...

This past month the USF Archives was very productive in tackling some backlogged collections. Jojo, the Archives’ student worker, and I processed two collections: the Caritas Collection and the Drama and Theater Department Records . Processing is the act of organizing and arranging materials physically, while creating descriptive guides which provide context to the materials. Student worker Jojo processed the Drama and Theater Department Records.  This being her first attempt at processing I encouraged her to take her time to research the department and its history at the University.  Left: Drama and Theater Department materials before processing. Right: Completed processing job complete with new acid-free folders and proper housing. She discovered the department began while the school was Assisi Junior College, and continued through the College of St. Francis years. Department Head Sister M. LaVerne and Dean of Students Sister M. Eulogia distinguished the depar...

Over Spring Break I took the opportunity to freshen up the Reading Room by adding two  NEW  displays for the second half of the spring semester. In the larger flat display case are artifacts and photographs celebrating the 90 th  anniversary of the  Interlude,  USF’s first student publication. It began in 1925 when the school was Assisi Junior College and continued as the school newspaper until 1969. Article topics included: social activities, curriculum and staff changes, musical events, graduations, and wedding announcements. Each issue also advertised local Joliet businesses. After the merger-demerger of CSF and Lewis College (1970-1973), a new publication was created and we know it as the  Encounter ,   today.  The display includes a photograph of students working on the  Interlude  in 1956, as well as, a red cap from the Theta Chi Sigma sorority (ca. 1953). The sorority was a prominent group on campus and feat...