Special Collections & Archives at Wesleyan University

Charles Francis Rice, Class of 1872, kept a diary as an undergraduate at Wesleyan.  We can gain a good understanding of Rice’s actions and values by reading his entries.  He faithfully records the high points of his day to give us a picture of his life on campus and at home in the early 1870s. But details are infrequent. When Charles offers some details, they are enticing, “Mase and I hunted for bed bugs.  We found 26 in my bed and 6 in his.”

Rice entry

His lack of detail sometimes raises questions.  Rice writes “Received two demerits from Dr. Johnny this afternoon unjustly I think.”  Dr. Johnny seems to be John Johnston, Fisk Professor of Natural Science. But why did Professor Johnston issue any demerits?  Why did Rice find the action unjust?

His intellectual life is well represented. He outlines his studies and readings in most entries, “Studied Greek with chum in the morning and read some in the reading room.”  He notes the literary society meetings he attends with their debate and oration topics, sometimes assessing his peers’ performances in his diary.

His spiritual life is in evidence with his attendance at church and prayer gatherings.  “Went to class prayer meeting.” “It was a very good sermon I guess but I was sleepy.” It is worth noting that his father was a minister and Rice followed his father’s footsteps.

Nineteenth century campus social life is neatly documented in his diaries. Rice mentions some of the evening recreation with his friends: Authors, Patriot Heros, What Is It?, Charades, and Japanese Backgammon.  Evening munchies were satisfied with popcorn and roasted walnuts “popcorn and walnut burn”.  He mentions some of the campus mainstays: “The Olla Podrida arrived today.” “Argus came today containing Ed’s poem on Darwinism.” (Want to locate Ed’s poem? Access the Argus Archives online.)

Rice entry

Four Rice siblings attended Wesleyan: William North (Class of 1865), Charles Francis (Class of 1872), Edward Hyde (Class of 1870), and Caroline Laura (Class of 1879).  His older brother, William, also kept a diary for his four years at Wesleyan.  William’s diaries, and his other papers, give a rich view of Wesleyan and Middletown from Rice’s perspective as a student and as a faculty member. (See the finding aid at: Rice, William North Papers, 1861-1955 (bulk 1861-1928).)

SC&A acquired Charles Francis Rice’s diaries in early May.  You can read them yourself. Ask to see Collection number 2012-14. SC&A is open Monday-Friday, 1:00-5:00.

Rice entry

Tags: Diaries

SC&A is on a roll.  We have another collection ready for your use: Cased Images Collection, 1849-1860.  What are cased images? Those are the nineteenth century photographs presented in protective, often decorative, enclosures.

Daguerreotype

The cases were often small—about 3.25” by 3.75”—and could be larger. This collection includes daguerreotypes and an ambrotype.

Not everyone is familiar with nineteenth century photograph formats.  But maybe you have seen those old, reflective images. If not, Wikipedia offers you some description and James Reilly’s classic Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints (1986) is a better resource. There’s also Beaumont Hall’s classic The Daguerreotype in America (1961).

The collection of 19 cases includes composite daguerreotypes of Wesleyan’s Classes of 1849 through 1854.  (Composite daguerreotypes are a larger daguerreotype taken from a grouping of individual daguerreotypes.) There are also portrait images of Wesleyan alumni.  As interesting as the images are, the cases are sometimes even more intriguing.

Cased images

The Cased Images Collection, the Reed and Creeger Collection of Human Likenesses (Nineteenth Century Photos), and the Class Albums Collection (Class Albums) give  you access to approximately 2,000 nineteenth century photographs in Special Collections & Archives.

Cased image, showing the closure

Tags: Ambrotypes, Daguerreotypes, Photographs

SC&A likes to give you a heads up when there’s a collection that’s ready for use.

We have a good one for you—a collection of 19^th century photographs. The Joseph W. Reed and George Creeger Collection of Human Likenesses, 1840-1900, is just about ready for you to use. English Department faculty members Joe Reed and George Creeger collected 19^th century photographs—carte-de-visites and other card albumen prints, tintypes, cased daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. Professors Reed and Creeger targeted photographs of people, usually portrait photographs, “human likenesses.”

In and of itself the collection is interesting: does anyone not like old photographs? They give us a window to a past we

Reed and Creeger Collection sampling

haven’t lived: toddlers, boys and girls, wearing dresses; men with obviously waxed moustaches; women in high collar dresses. We begin to weave a story around what we see: a young couple with the woman seated and the man standing with his hand on her shoulder; another couple, not as young, each holding a book and the man in an Anglican collar.

The collection will prove useful as a study collection.  You can examine a daguerreotype and ambrotype side-by-side and finally see the difference between the two hard-to-distinguish formats. You can look at the evolution of photography from the daguerreotype start to highly commercial carte-de-visite. Thanks to Professors Reed and Creeger’s careful collecting, there are even the parts of cased images for examination: brass mats and frames, case covers, and daguerreotype plates.

There will be a finding aid to the Joseph W. Reed and George Creeger Collection of Human Likenesses, 1840-1900 added to our website at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/library/schome/collection-overview/findingaids.html.

Next week we’ll tell you about a related collection that’s almost ready for your use, the Cased Images Collection.

Reed and Creeger Collection sampling

Reed and Creeger Collection sampling

Tags: Ambrotypess, Carte-de-visite, Daguerreotypes, Photographs

With continuing interest in the “first experiment in coeducation” at Wesleyan, it seems timely to point out some of the resources available.  Wait, didn’t you know Wesleyan was coed for forty years between 1872 and 1912? You may want to look into this yourself.

Special Collections & Archives, and Olin Library at large, have some of the best resources to answer questions about the reasons coeducation was undertaken at the all-male school and reasons it was not continued—and what the experience was.

Where to start? You may want to get an overview of the topic by looking at Louise W. Knight’s 1972 Honors Thesis: The “Quails”: The History of Wesleyan University’s First Period of Coeducation, 1872-1912. The thesis is available in SC&A and via WesScholar http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/ − type “Knight Quails” in the search box and you’re good to go.

George Steele Class of 1850 resolution for the trustees

Coeducation at Wesleyan Collection, 1867-1910 (collection no. 1000-88) is a small and intriguing collection. There are particular items of interest such as alumnus George Steele’s hand written resolution (1871): “there is nothing in the Charter or By-Laws which preclude the admission of ladies from the privilege of the Wesleyan University.” Tracing the arch of the story, the 1899 report of the Wesleyan Young Alumni Association of New York seeks an ending to coeducation pointing out that it’s not just them, the older alumni, too, “…have no prejudice against co-education in principle … but not at Wesleyan.”  The collection includes photographs, newspaper clippings, reports, resolutions, printed petitions, and other documents.

The administrative portion of the story is found in the Board of Trustee minutes, Faculty minutes, President’s annual reports, and the Wesleyan Bulletin, all available in SC&A.  Some of these are conveniently copied into the already mentioned Coeducation at Wesleyan Collection.

The student side of the story may be found in the Olla Podrida and Argus—at least the side of those students writing for these publications!  While the Olla Pod is not online, some of the Argus is and is located at: https://news.arcasearch.com/usctwsl/ or found through the online catalog: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/ (search with the title “Wesleyan Argus”).  Of course, physical copies of both titles, and the Bulletin, are available in SC&A as well as in Olin’s stacks.

Coeducation and the disagreements about the role for women at Wesleyan

National press, December 13, 1907

caught press attention locally and nationally.  The Penny Press and Middletown Tribune as well as The Sun, New York Press, The Republican, and other papers carried articles.  Some of these titles are available online (use the library’s “Journal Locator” search box), others via microfilm; many articles are clipped and found also in the Coeducation collection noted above.

In addition to the official and published sources, anyone wanting to understand the first period of coeducation will also want to read what participating individuals had to say.  SC&A has the William North Rice Papers (collection no. 1000-28) which include his letters and diaries. Rice was a Wesleyan alumnus and long-time faculty member at Wesleyan. The subject of many of the diary entries and letters is Wesleyan University, including information about campus groups, coeducation, trustee matters, and campus politics.

Lucy Knight gives the alumnae and alumni who had been present for Wesleyan’s coeducation “experiment” voice to their remembrances of their own experiences in her 1972 thesis (above).  There’s also the Alumni Council Recollections Collection(1000-84) which contains anecdotes written by Wesleyan alumni from the classes of 1859 to 1936 and include an alum’s observations of the arrival of women on campus in 1872.

"Quails"

What was the result of the “first experiment in co-education” at Wesleyan?  Come in and come to your own conclusions –

SC&A is open Monday through Friday, 1:00-5:00.

Tags: Coeducation "experiment", Quails, Wesleyan women students

To our student workers, without whom the library could not function:

You never know how much of an impact you may make on us!  Special Collections & Archives recently received a gift of a 1577 English legal book, presented to Wesleyan University “in honor of Kent Olson, Wesleyan Class of 1977, whose intelligence, energy and creativity, enhanced by his wit and humor, made him a most outstanding library student worker.  The value of student workers to Olin library service cannot be overestimated.” What a dedication!

Working in the library made an impact on Kent Olson too, as he went on to become a librarian himself, and is now the Head of Reference, Research and Instruction at the Arthur J. Morris Law Library at the University of Virginia.  The anonymous donor followed his career, and aptly chose a rare book on English law of the 16th century to honor the student who became a law librarian.

The book in question is Ferdinando Pulton’s An abstract of all the penall statutes which be generall in force and vse: wherein is contayned the effect of those statutes which doe threaten to the offendours therof the losse of life, member, lands, goods or other punishment or forfeiture whatsoeuer: whereunto is also added in theire apte titles, the effect of such other statutes wherin there is any thing materiall and most necessary for eche subiect to know. Moreouer the aucthoritie and duetie of all justices of peace, shirifes, coroners, eschetors, maiors, baylifes, customers, comptroulers of custome, stewardes of leetes and liberties, aulnegers and purueiours and what things by the letter of seuerall statutes in force may, ought, or are compellable to doe.  By Fardinando Pulton of Lincolne Inne, Gentelman.  The book was published by Richard Tottel, in London, in 1577.

What a title!  And with 16th-century spelling, to boot.  The contents, arranged alphabetically in sections like an encyclopedia, discuss all manner of topics, including the obvious things like murder, bail, fines, and felonies, but also many tradespeople of the time, such as weavers, mariners, butchers, soldiers, shoemakers, sheep herders, and many more.  Small marginal phrases help the reader find the right section.  There are even sections on swans, hats and caps, women, the crown of the queen, coverlets, fasting days, partridges, monasteries, poor people, armor, counterfeit letters…

The physical book itself is fascinating too.  Its binding, contemporary with the text inside, has a rolled tooled design on the leather of the cover.  On the inside of the cover, you can see the wooden boards over which the leather is stretched, and the leather thongs used to connect the text block to the boards.  As was common practice in bookbinding at the time, scrap paper with manuscript writing on it was used for the fly-leaves (those pages in the front before the title page, and in the back after the text has ended).  The binding originally had two clasps to hold the book closed.  Only one half of one of the clasps is still left, though.

The gift of this book to Special Collections & Archives in honor of Kent Olson’s time at Olin as one of our student workers goes to show how important you all can be to us!  Thank you!

Note:  The same edition of the work is available online in a digitized format, through the library’s subscription to EEBO: Early English Books Online. (See this library record for access to the e-version.)  But looking at a digitized image is nothing like looking at the real thing!

Tags: 16th century, law books, student workers

Price Lee & Co. maps

With such strong interest in Special Collections & Archives’ local history resources this semester, we wanted to offer the larger community with information that we provided three classes.  In recent posts we covered some of the frequently used resources such as general histories, theses and student papers, maps and directories, print and manuscript holdings. Of course, Wesleyan history is a part of Middletown’s history—but we limited our focus to town rather than gown. (“Gown” will take more than a handful of posts.) While this is the last planned post on the topic, it is by no measure the final word!  Check it out for yourself, try searching the online catalog for materials with these subjects:

Collections in Special Collections & Archives

Community development—Connecticut—Middletown

Middletown (Conn.)—Commerce

Middletown (Conn.)—History

Middletown (Conn.)—Politics and government

Middletown (Conn.)—Social conditions

Middletown (Conn.)—Emigration and Immigration

Keep in mind that Special Collections & Archives is not the only site to find solid Middletown history information.  To be thorough with your search, you will also want to learn more about the holdings at:

Middlesex County Historical Society in Middletown http://www.middlesexhistory.org/index.htm

They are “[d]edicated to preserving the history of Middlesex County” and their holdings include “many items from Middletown’s rich manufacturing past, such as suspenders made at the Russell Manufacturing Company.”

The Russell Library’s Middletown Room http://www.russelllibrary.org/reference/history.html

The local public library also keeps a focus to local history, “The mission of the Middletown Room is to identify, collect, organize, preserve, and provide public access to the materials that document the economic, natural, political, and social history of Middletown, and with lesser emphasis, the northern towns of Middlesex County.” Their resources include “Microfilm archives include Mellili church records, discontinued Middletown Newspapers and Middletown/Penny Press, passenger lists, etc.”

City of Middletown. Public records are maintained by the City of Middletown, available onsite, online, and elsewhere.  Property records from 1969 are available online through a by-subscription portal https://connecticut-townclerks-records.com or at the Department of Planning, Conservation, and Development. (It’s a good idea to call ahead.) Vital records (birth, death, marriage) are maintained by the Health Department.  Census information is available also through the Department of Planning, Conservation, and Development: http://www.middletownplanning.com/Census.html. Community development, planning, and zoning are addressed by this department as well.

A little further afield, the Connecticut Historical Society and the State Archives abound with Middletown history information:  http://www.chs.org/, http://www.cslib.org/archives/.

In this closing blog, we wanted to point to a few staff favorites that are not previously identified in the Middletown on My Mind series.

I’ve found Suzy Taraba’s regular column in the alumni magazine a good source for those intertwining topics of town and gown.  Check out a sampling at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/magazine/magazine/mag_archives/.

William Cooney thesis

Cooney, William Walter. Middletown, Connecticut: A Sociological and Economic Survey.  Thesis (M.A.) Wesleyan University, 1935.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Wesleyan (Thesis) M1934 C77  This is an oldie but a goodie.  Who will survey Middletown from sociological and economic perspectives from 1935?

Lombardo, Joseph. Green Street: The Americanization of a Sicilian Village. Thesis (MALS) Wesleyan University, 1999. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Wesleyan M1999 L86

Missionary Lyceum Records, 1834-1871, 2 linear feet, promoted a missionary zeal among its members by way of debates, addresses, collection of artifacts and literature from foreign missions, and the exchange of correspondence with various missionaries.  The Lyceum took an innovative step in 1848 by according honorary membership to a woman−Adelaide Fitzgerald of Middletown. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-95

Nasta, Jesse. ‘Their own guardians and protectors’: African-Americans in Middletown, CT. Thesis (B.A., Honors, History) Wesleyan University, 2007. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Wesleyan (Thesis) 2007 N269

Perlstein, Daniel, “The House that Isaac [Warner] Built,” 1981 in Student Papers About Middletown Collection. (Box 4, folder 12). Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-133

William North Rice Papers, 1861-1955, 4.5 linear feet, includes personal diaries and account books kept by William North Rice during his time as a Wesleyan University student, and correspondence from family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow alumni from throughout his life. The subject of many of the diary entries and letters is Wesleyan University, and these writings contain information about a breadth of topics including social life.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-123

Vaine scrapbook

Marianne Vaine Scrapbooks, 1920-1960. Ms. Vaine was a longtime Middletown resident and Wesleyan employee.  The scrapbooks include concert and play programs, travel souvenirs, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, and other materials that help document the life of a Middletown woman from the 1920s to the 1960s. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 2006-21

Sangree, Walter. Mel Hyblaeum: A Study of the People of Middletown of Sicilian Extraction with Special Emphasis on the Changes in Their Values Resulting from Assimilation into the Middletown Community. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown (Thesis) M1952 S22

Have you used some of the local history collections in SC&A? Which ones were useful to you?

Middletown directories, 1914-1925

Vertical file

Tags: Local history, Middletown

Main Street, Middletown, 1876

The past few blog posts have identified some of the Middletown history resources available in Special Collections & Archives—general histories, theses and student papers, maps and directories.  What about resources for social or intellectual history?  Beyond the resources identified in prior Middletown on My Mind posts, there are a very large number of resources useful for gaining background.  Some of the frequently used ones are:

Black Women’s League of Middletown.  Black Perspectives on Middletown: A Collection of Writings about the Black Experience in Middletown, Connecticut.  [Middletown, Conn.: s.n.], 1976.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown B62 B52

Centennial Address by David D. Field; With Historical Sketches of Cromwell, Portland, Chatham, Middle-Haddam, Middletown, and its Parishes.  Middletown, Conn.: W.B. Casey, 1853.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown F45 C46

Cunningham, Janice, et al. Experiment in Community: An African American Neighborhood, Middletown, Connecticut, 1847-1930.  Hartford, Conn.: Connecticut Historical Commission, 2002.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown M629 E86 2002

Hall, Peter Dobkin.  Middletown: Streets, Commerce, and People, 1650-1981.  Middletown]: Wesleyan University, 1981. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Wesleyan Wses no. 8 Call Number: F104.M6 H22 1981

Middletown Tercentenary, 1650-1950. Middletown, Conn.: Scanlon Bros., 1950.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown M629t 1950 Call Number: F104.M6 M54

Newspapers are one resource to locate social history information (among other topics!)  Special Collections & Archives has a number of eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers.  However, for preservation reasons, we advise researchers to turn to the microfilm and online versions. The Wesleyan community may use the “Journal Locator” to gain online access to some of these titles.  (Use the library’s search box at the “Journal” tab on the front page.) Following are some of the Middletown titles, with their call numbers, available on microfilm (located in Olin’s basement level, in the west wing.).

•             Middlesex Gazette, 1785-1825                     AN 2 A2           also online
•             Middlesex Gazette, 1790-1831                     AN 2 M52       additional years also online
•             Constitution, 1842-1884                                 AN 2 C657      additional years also online
•             Middletown News, 1851-1854                      AN M535
•             (News & Advertiser)
•             Sentinel & Witness, 1868-1884                      AN 2 S457      earlier years online
•             Middletown Tribune, 1883-1906                 AN 2 M538
•             Middletown Sun, 1908-1914                          AN 2 M538
•             Middletown Press, 1919+                                AN 2 M536

Did you know that 18^th century Middletown published many books and pamphlets?  This was before publishing centers moved to New York and Boston.  To find Middletown-placed publications you’ll want to look at some of these resources.

Hull, Harvey R.  “Early Printing in Middletown” in Wesleyan Library Notes (Number 8, Winter 1972-73, p.1-10).  Call Number: Z881 .W46 Also available in Special Collections, uncataloged.

Hull, Harvey R.  Middletown Imprints 1785-1850.  Unpublished manuscript, Middletown, 1968.  Call Number:  Special Collections Reference Middletown, uncatalogued.

Swaim, Elizabeth A.  “Middletown Imprints at Wesleyan” in Wesleyan Library Notes (Number 8, Winter 1972-73, p.11-16).  Call Number: Z881 .W46 Also available in Special Collections, uncataloged.

Additional source material for social and intellectual history is found in some of Special Collections manuscript holdings.  Frequently requested ones are:

Conversational Club Records, 1862-present.  The Conversational Club was formed in 1862 by the faculty of Wesleyan University to discuss topics of interest along with other Middletown residents. Meetings typically included dinner, a paper delivered by a club member, followed by discussion. Topics included world events, scientific and literary topics, philosophy, and anything else of general interest. The Club is still active and is celebrating its 150^th anniversary this year.  Finding aid located at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/co1000-30.html  Call number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-30.

History of Middletown Manuscripts Collection, 1668-1937.  The majority of this collection is 18th- and 19th-century documents from the Middletown, Connecticut area, with some documents from the 17th- and 20th-centuries.  Finding aid located at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/mi1000-171.html Call number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-171

Middletown Scientific Association Records

Middletown Scientific Association Records, 1871-1976.  The association was founded in 1871 by Wesleyan University faculty and residents of Middletown. Its purpose was to encourage scientific investigation and curiosity among members.  Finding aid located at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/mi1000-160.xml Call number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-160

Monday Club Records, 1892-1995.  The Monday Club was founded in 1892 for the wives of faculty, resident trustees, administrative officers, and other community members. It was intended as an inclusive gathering. Members sought social and intellectual enjoyment through activities such as reading of members and guests papers, teas, musical programs, annual theme parties, and original skits. A topic was chosen each year as the intellectual theme for weekly programs during the academic year. Finding aid located at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/mo1000-136.htmlCall number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 1000-136.

MIddletown Bank, May 1918, IOU.

…nor a library closure due to noxious fumes will keep Special Collections & Archives from the preparations for the New England Archivists workshops on Friday (23rd) and meeting on Saturday (24th).

Preparing for the New England Archivists

Who were those masked women?

Our apologies to the students, staff, faculty, and other researchers who planned to use SC&A holdings on Thursday.  We hope to be open our regular hours tomorrow (1:00-5:00).

In the meantime, we carried on our preparations to host NEA on Friday and Saturday.  Curious about the activities? There’s information on NEA’s site at www.newenglandarchivists.org.

Special Collections & Archives has good local history holdings and these are being heavily used by Wesleyan students this semester.  Current Middletown streets and structures show much of the town’s architectural history—but what about features that are no longer there or obscured by recent growth? Where was the Beman Triangle located? When did the course of Church Street change and why?   This blog post looks at some of the resources to investigate Middletown’s built environment−locations, streets, and structures.

Middletown directories

Beers, F.W. County Atlas of Middlesex, Connecticut: From Actual Surveys. New York: F.W. Beers & Co., 1874. Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown Oversize + B41 C6  Beers’ Atlas has the mapping you anticipate in an atlas.  This one also notes property lines and ownership as well as the structures.

Commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families. Chicago: Beers, 1903.   Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown C73 M5     The Record delivers the promised biographical sketches focusing on men.  A sketch usually includes ancestry and offspring with the career and public service highlights of the individual.  Read carefully and you’ll also find historical narrative of local businesses, schools, churches, and civic organizations.

Greater Middletown Preservation Trust.  Middletown, Connecticut: A Survey of Historical and Architectural Resources. Middletown, Conn.: The Trust, 1979.  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Reference G78 M5     A brief history of Middletown opens this resource for notable and historic buildings.  It provides street level descriptions (“Generally rural, early to mid-19^thc. residences”) as well as specific description, location, changing ownership and use of structures into the late 1970s.

Middletown directories 1898-1907

Middletown city directory (various titles), 1868-1927 (Spec Coll), 1928-1980 (stacks);  Call Number: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Middletown F 104.M6 A18  Call Number: F 104.M6 A18      The directory provides more than an alphabetical entry of names and addresses.  Here, you may find the head of household’s employment or trade (“chauffeur”).  You will also find associations, clubs, churches, and other organizations listed in the directory. The street directory, or reverse directory, is handy to reconstruct a neighborhood.  Both the listings and advertisements offer some insight to Middletown’s local economy.

Price Lee & Co. maps

You will also want to know about the Price, Lee & Co. Middletown maps located in Special Collections.  The maps were originally part of the directories noted above but were removed for preservation reasons in the 1970s−most of these maps are printed on tissue-like paper, are fragile, and easily torn.  These date between 1888 and 1927.  Additional uncataloged maps, from other sources, date from 1825 to 2003.

1938 Hurricane damage (Middletown-Disasters-Storms-1938 Hurricane)

Middletown streets of past years may be seen in the Vertical File Photographs Collection.  Most of the photographs date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  You’ll want to ask the reference archivist for assistance on this one—some of the headings are, let’s say, non-standard “Middletown-Disasters-Storms-1938 Hurricane” and “Middletown-Streets-High Street” for example.

Another resource for Middletown photographic images will be available in coming months. Middletown Press photographs from about 1920 to 1985, 23 boxes (!), are being organized and listed to make them useable.  Additionally, also being listed and described, are the Press research files (33 boxes!).

Class albums

Finally is a rather unexpected resource for Middletown photographs: Class Albums.  The Class Albums are a precursor to the yearbook.  Students purchased a selection of photographs by local or New York photographers to include in their class albums: classmates, faculty, campus and local scenes.  There is a typewritten list for many of the albums but it will still take some hit-or-miss searching to locate the class albums with Middletown scenes. Albums from the 1880s seem to have the highest yield. (Special Collections & Archives has a description project underway to make the class album contents searchable with a description of their contents.)

Tags: Local history resources, Middletown

With Wesleyan classes, and others, using the Middletown-based resources in Special Collections & Archives, we’re using the opportunity to summarize some of most the frequently used resources.  This blog takes a look at some of the student-prepared resources.

Student theses

Many recent student theses (Bachelors and Masters) and dissertations have been added to WesScholar by the authors.  Most of the theses here date from 2007 forward and an occasional thesis dates as far back as 1972 have been added to WesScholar—this will continue to change as WesScholar grows.  To locate the theses online, go to WesScholar at http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etds/ and use the search box in the upper right corner of your screen or simply browse the honors theses by title.

The library catalog identifies all theses and dissertations.  You can make your search more specific by using Caleb’s “advanced search” option (http://ctwweb.wesleyan.edu:7003/vwebv/searchAdvanced).  Try using your keywords (such as Middletown, history, thesis) in the keyword boxes and limiting the location to Special Collections & Archives.  This will pull up information about Wesleyan students’ theses beyond what WesScholar carries. Theses with call numbers starting “Special Collections” may be requested and used in the department.  Theses in WesScholar are linked to the catalog record; look for the “View in WesScholar” link below the title.

There’s another rich resource for student papers: The Student Papers About Middletown Collection.  The collection features graduate and undergraduate papers about the history of Middletown, Connecticut and the surrounding area written since 1976. Topics include politics, labor, commerce, ethnic and racial groups, women’s history, leisure—and much more.  A finding aid (that is, descriptive information about the collection) is located at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/FAs/mi1000-133.html and is also available in Special Collections.  A taste of the titles found in the collection include: “The Starr Family of Middletown, Ct.: A Study in Social Mobility and Social Experience,” “Voluntary Associations and the Y.M.C.A. in Middletown, 1885-1911,” and “Blacks in Middletown Around the 1790s: A Summary of Information Obtained Primarily from Land Records.”

A sampling of student papers about Middletown

Tags: Local history resources, Middletown