Nineteenth Century Photographs: Cased Images Collection

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. 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 … Read more

Nineteenth Century Photos

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 19th 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 … Read more

“First experiment in coeducation”

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 … Read more

V. Middletown on My Mind …

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 … Read more

IV. Middletown on My Mind …

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 … Read more

III. Middletown on My Mind …

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 … Read more

II. Middletown on My Mind …

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. Many recent student theses (Bachelors and Masters) and dissertations have been added to WesScholar by the authors.  … Read more

Questions and answers: What is Special Collections and Archives all about?

What most people imagine when they hear “special collections”           What special collections is about … The focus of work in Special Collections and Archives is about service–reference service to the students and others who use the holdings.  The Wednesday before spring break we extended our service hours knowing that two classes … Read more

Middletown on My Mind

Middletown is on a lot of students’ minds too—Considering the Campus (ARST 441), Exploring Middletown’s History (HIST 171) and Middletown Materials (ANTH 227) are looking at Middletown from different perspectives.  Special Collections & Archives staff have shown these classes some resources that will be helpful to their work.  We’d like to use the next few … Read more