Section III: The General Public


  • Special Collections & the Brooklyn College Archives
    The Special Collections/Archives Web Page
    It seems that annually the Special Collections Web page grows by leaps and bounds. Each year our goal is to offer new and exciting information services to researchers around the globe. E-mail inquires about items on the Web page have tripled in the past few months. Staff also reworked the Archives' top page to make it more user-friendly and eliminate potentially confusing library jargon.

    On the main archival page, staff added a new link to the William Alfred Web Page http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ait/Alfred-Archives/ and to our newest section dedicated to book repair and preservation
    http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/speccoll/slava/. Shortly they will add a section on spines and hinges as well as a page from which people can ask our conservator a question and he can post a response.

    Online Finding Aids
    Our original plan was to present finding aids in EAD (Encoded Archival Description). However, this idea has been put on hold because as of yet the major browsers (Netscape; Internet Explorer) still do not support SGML. Instead, we are placing finding aids on the Web in HTML format.

    Six finding aids are up in complete form. For large guides, decisions about navigation issues have proven difficult and time-consuming. We tried many different approaches before settling on tables of links (versus lists). The guide for the Alfred McClung Lee collection is an interesting example and can be found at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/speccoll/htmlfa/94-001/index.html.

    Our 200-plus archival collections are organized into four categories: Brooklyn College Collections, Brooklyniana, Local Legislators/Community Leaders, and Manuscript Collections. Researchers desiring a copy of the guide can e-mail or telephone us. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/speccoll/holdings.html

    The Digitization Project
    This initiative, targeting our photograph collection, is proceeding nicely. Thus far staff have burned seven CD's-worth of images. A high-quality oversized scanner enables us to capture even odd-sized images. Academic IT staff Howard Spivak, Alex Rudshteyn and Nicholas Irons are consulting about the database product needed to organize for these photographs.

    Charged with identifying a PC that would meet the specifications of the digitization project, Library Systems staff showed considerable creativity. Off-the-shelf computers exhibited either compatibility problems or inferior performance. The solution? Build-it-ourselves. Staff constructed two PCs to support the project at less than the cost of an off-the-shelf model.

    Collections of Particular Interest, 2000/2001
    The William Alfred Collection
    In the past year Special Collections Assistant Edythe Rosenblatt has worked almost exclusively on processing the William Alfred Collection. The collection has proven very challenging: not only was there no discernable order to the papers, but 35 boxes had to be sent to Belfour USA in Texas to be treated for mold contamination. Ms. Rosenblatt worked tirelessly piecing together Alfred's life, after his life's work had been dumped unceremoniously in more than 200 cartons: she has created an elegant arrangement and description for this collection. The 60-page finding aid will be published on the Alfred Web site in the coming year; a preliminary collection outline appears there now.

    The new William Alfred Web site, including the database of Alfred friends, can be found at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ait/Alfred-Archives/. Developed by Professor James Castiglione and Mr. Jim Cai, the site includes images, video, and text from the collection, Edythe Rosenblatt's biographical essay on Alfred, and detailed information on the processing itself. The more than 100 boxes of books from Alfred's personal library will be processed when we occupy the new building. Staff have submitted a $15,000 grant proposal to the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities for an oral history about Alfred. This grant would enable us further to document Alfred's life and work through the recollections of close friends and colleagues. Grant notification is anticipated in early February 2002.

    Special Collections staff also designed two postcards using images from the Alfred collection. These were sent to the 275 members of the Friends of William Alfred to announce our acquisition of the collection and the Web site's debut. Thanks go to Professor Marguerite Iskenderian for identifying the person at the Library of Congress who could change William Alfred's authority record for us. (Ms. Rosenblatt noticed that Alfred's birth date appeared incorrectly in catalog records, and Professor Iskenderian guided us through the process of having these record corrected.)

    The advisory group for the William Alfred Collection met for the first time the afternoon of February 26, 2001. The Friends of William Alfred are helping us on several fronts, including obtaining the literary rights associated with Alfred's manuscripts.

  • The Legislators Collection
    This year we put together two lengthy proposals for the papers of Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden and United States SenatorCharles Schumer. We already have collections in this field, notably those of John Rooney and Eugene Keogh. The Brooklyn College Library, with its academic setting and community outreach facilities, provides the best location for the papers of these two distinguished men. The new building will provide unparalleled exhibit facilities, space for scholars, storage, and environmental controls. We await word on the disposition of these two collections.

  • Women's Studies
    The collection of records documenting the evolution of Women's Studies at the Brooklyn College campus still awaits processing. Katherine Kennedy, an intern and part-time employee of Special Collections is working on this project.

  • Other Collections
    An extensive inventory was conducted of the Brooklyn College President's Records, 1930 to 1980. These historically rich holdings are to be transferred to the archives, following President Kimmich's approval.

    Ten cubic feet of the papers of Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore were deposited with us by Mike Armstrong, Director of Public Affairs for Borough President Howard Golden. The papers will shed added light on the borough in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

    In May 2001 alumnus and Harvard Professor of Law Alan Dershowitz made the decision to give us his papers. In early September, a formal proposal was submitted to Professor Dershowitz outlining the processing, arrangement, and description of his papers. We await his response, so that we can begin to review the materials and arrange for their transfer.

    Archivist Anthony Cucchiara has been discussing our interest in the files of The Phoenix newspaper with its custodian Mike Armstrong, Public Affairs Advisor to the Borough President and former owner of the paper.

  • Exhibits
    During 2000-2001 Archival Assistant Marianne LaBatto mounted these attractive and educational exhibits:

    "Boylan Hall Cornerstone Capsule"
    In 1998 while renovating the front steps of Boylan Hall, workmen came across a time capsule that had been placed in the cornerstone of the building. For two years, the box remained a mystery until September 2000 when President Christoph M. Kimmich had it opened and unveiled its contents at the stated meeting of the Faculty. It took College workmen approximately two hours to break the carefully soldered seal of the copper box. Because the box had been airtight, its contents were preserved in almost perfect condition. The cornerstone box opened a window into the past, to Brooklyn College in the 1930s. This exhibit explored the contents of the box starting with the inventory list placed inside it and is a companion to our Cornerstone Virtual Exhibit.

    "Football Programs from the 1950s"
    This colorful exhibit was mounted outside President Kimmich's office on the second floor of Boylan Hall. The items were donated by a Brooklyn College alumnus who was a member of the football team.

    "Brooklyn College During WWII"
    A selection of photographs, letters, and pamphlets documents the years between 1941-1945 at Brooklyn College. The images in this exhibit, mounted outside President Kimmich's office, are all color scans rather than originals, owing to preservation concerns.

  • Other Uses of Our Archival Collections
    In 2001 the Brooklyn College Magazine highlighted Special Collections several times. Articles on William Alfred, the Farm Labor Project, and WWII featured images of artifacts from our holdings and detailed descriptions of certain collections. Following the articles' publication, we received an increase in telephone requests and offers of collections.

    This is a sample of the types of researchers who entered Special Collections in 2001.

    Edith Schwallbadh
    A teacher from Germany, Mrs. Schwallbadh spent the entire summer of 2001 in Special Collections researching German refugees who taught at Brooklyn College.

    Mark Doyle A SUNY psychology professor, Professor Doyle is currently writing a book on Loretta Bender. He will send us a complimentary copy of his book when it is completed.

    The Discovery Channel A documentary film group working for the Discovery Channel requested scans of Bender photographs for a documentary on psychiatric hospitals and children in the first half of the 20th century.