Special Collections Research Center

Three of the collaborators for the new exhibit in the Plastics Pioneers Reading Room on the 6th floor of Bird Library — Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator; Jana Rosinski, Plastics Collection Curatorial Assistant; and Lynn Wilcox, Design Specialist for Syracuse University Press — discuss the process of putting together “Survival Kit: Provisions for ...

By Meg Mason, University Archivist This week, we honor our veterans and their service. Veterans have long been a significant part of Syracuse University history. Most notably, the University Archives holds documentation of the dramatic influx of veterans on campus right after World War II. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI ...

Throughout this week, we have explored many facets of preservation in the archives. From considering the importance of TIME in the deteriorated photographs of Chester Rice from our Clara E. Sipprell Papers and the collected and digitized WSYR recordings of over 50 years of local history, To recognizing the work of the photojournalist, Margaret Bourke-White, and acknowledging the RISK ...

The notion that incredible discoveries, hidden gems, and items thought to be lost to the ages are suddenly discovered in archival repositories is a rather romantic ideal that doesn’t frequently play out in the day-to-day operations of a special collections repository. Audio is one area, however, due in part to the many different and sometimes obsolete ...

You would be forgiven for thinking you were looking at some kind of holy relic if you glanced quickly at the box below from SCRC’s collections. Between the latched leather carrying case, complete with embossed lid, and the crest stamped on the top of the cylinder inside, there is an attributed value given to this ...

Margaret Bourke-White was known for taking risks. An American photojournalist and war correspondent, she shot the cover photograph for Life Magazine‘s first issue in 1936, beginning a professional relationship that continued for several decades of the magazine’s publication and her career. Bourke-White traveled across the United States during the Great Depression and she extensively chronicled ...

In 1967, WSYR issued the following message, an interruption to their scheduled broadcast: “We interrupt this program. The Office of Civil Defense has issued the following message: This is an attack warning. Repeat. This is an attack warning. Attack warning means that an actual attack against this country has been detected and that protective actions should ...

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor We’re posting our wrap up a little early this month, because next week, we will be celebrating American Archives Month with a five-day series on preservation in SCRC’s collections. The series, a collaboration between The Living Record, SCRC’s blog, and Sound Beat, will cover preservation of different audio ...

By Tiffany Miller, Reference Assistant I am co-president of the George Fisk Comfort Society, a graduate student club for art history students at Syracuse, and, before this semester, I was not aware of who I was representing. George Fisk Comfort (1833 – 1910) was a liberal arts scholar and museum founder from Berkshire, New York. He ...

By Sebastian Modrow, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts Verso of the title page with large woodcut and beginning of the Vita of St. Bernard on the opposite page featuring the only illumination of the copy. In early 2019, SCRC acquired a Renaissance edition of the works of Bernard of Clairvaux. Printed in 1508 in Paris by ...