Special Collections Research Center

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor I work in SCRC’s Public Services department and, by far, the collection that we receive the most questions about is one of our smallest. Less than one linear foot, the Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco) Collection consists of two document boxes and a handful of product catalogs, ...

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor In Syracuse, we hope that the old proverb, “March comes in like a lion, out like a lamb,” will prove true when it comes to winter weather. This year, however, the expression takes on a different meaning. The March SCRC had planned for, complete with events for celebrating ...

By Meg Mason, University Archivist Syracuse University was founded on March 24, 1870, when its Board of Trustees signed the University charter and certificate of incorporation. The day is now known as National Orange Day, so today is a great time to explore how the University adopted the color orange. Orange wasn’t the University’s first color. According to the ...

By Courtney Asztalos, Plastics and Historical Artifacts Curator and Jana Rosinski, Curatorial Assistant for Plastics and Historical Artifacts Visitors check out highlights of SCRC’s rare materials, including issues of the Black Panther Party newspaper and an assortment of poetry from Broadside and Third World Presses. Visitors could listen to recordings of interviews, music and poetry ...

By Nora Ramsey, Reference Assistant As a musician, I look for music wherever I am. I certainly did not expect to find a manuscript by one of the world’s most famous composers in SCRC’s special collections. When I first found the Franz Liszt Manuscript, I was most interested in contextualizing the music with Liszt’s life and ...

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor International Women’s Day is Sunday, March 8th, 2020 this year. To celebrate the upcoming holiday, SCRC staff members and students have contributed materials highlighting groundbreaking and interesting women or aspects of the women’s rights movement from our collections. Take a look at the contributions below! Brisbane Family Papers Dane ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator February has been a very busy month in the Special Collections Research Center. From transcribe-a-thons to Black Arts Movement pop-up events, to very busy classroom spaces, our staff and researchers are on the move this month. Behind-the-scenes, we are grateful that February has an extra day we can use as we ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator Syracuse University Libraries is featuring a new sesquicentennial exhibit of milestones of SU Libraries titled “Let the Reader Emerge! Milestones of the Syracuse University Libraries” on the first floor of Bird Library from February 3 until mid-May. Sebastian Modrow, SCRC’s Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, curated the exhibition. Modrow also ...

By Grace Wagner, Reading Room Access Services Supervisor In the nineteenth century, contradictions ran rampant in the state of New York in regards to the question of marriage. At this time and after, New York’s marriage laws were among the strictest in the country, but the state also became the site of radical reform movements, including the Oneida Community in ...

By Colleen Theisen, Chief Curator The Special Collection Research Center had a fast-paced early December, as we wrapped up the semester of teaching. A highlight for the semester were the visits from our fall Faculty Fellow Dr. Jim Watts’ Ancient Near Eastern Religions and Cultures class. After packing away the cuneiform tablets, we had a quiet ...