New & Noteworthy

Collection Processed: Bernard Johnson papers (MS-P053)

Submitted by sseltzer on Wed, 05/14/2014 - 11:28
The following post was written by Special Collections and Archives intern Judy Chou, a library student at San Jose State University (SJSU)’s Master of Library and Information Science graduate program. She is graduating this month with her MLIS! Best of luck in your future endeavors, Judy! Through SJSU’s internship program, I have had the opportunity to intern at UCI Special Collections and Archives. For the past five months, I became intimately acquainted with the life of Bernard Johnson, a director, choreographer, performer, costume designer, and teacher.

UCI Commencement Programs!

Submitted by christik on Wed, 04/23/2014 - 16:47
We're almost at the halfway through the final quarter of the academic year! To get into the spirit of finishing off the 2013-14 academic year, here's a look at some freshly digitized commencement programs! From the first years of UCI history!

John Wesley Powell's birthday today, March 24, 1834

Submitted by smacleod on Mon, 03/24/2014 - 14:52
John Wesley Powell was born on March 24, 1834 near Palmyra, New York. In 1869, Powell led a party of ten men down the Green-Colorado river, becoming the first white men to explore the Grand Canyon. That and additional explorations of the area were described in Powell's report published in 1875 as "Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and It's Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution." That report is in the Regional History collections in the Special Collections and Archives Department.

Looking Back at McCulloch's Instant University

Submitted by dalewis on Wed, 03/12/2014 - 15:12
Today's blog post is written by one of our student assistants, Deborah Lewis. [insert scan of book and pic of Sam] Earlier this year, I was assigned the task of transcribing a couple of Sam McCulloch’s interviews. While I worked on this task, I found myself much to my surprise entertained by Sam’s humor and rapport with those whom he interviewed. Sam McCulloch was the founding Dean of Humanities and Professor of History. For two dozen years, he was considered UC Irvine’s unofficial historian before gaining the title officially in 1988.

First Edition of Twelve Years A Slave, the Book

Submitted by smacleod on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 20:22
Congratulations to everyone associated with the film 12 Years A Slave. This outstanding film is based on the book by Solomon Northup, which was first published in 1853 -- the year that Northup became a free man. The book was written in three months, and was published by Derby and Miller of Auburn, New York. Northup's book sold over 30,000 copies in the first three years. The full and descriptive account of his experiences as a slave was used by numerous historians researching and writing about slavery.

Collections at Work: Irene Saltern Salinger papers (MS-P059)

Submitted by sseltzer on Wed, 02/26/2014 - 11:54
Archival collections are put to use in a variety of intellectual and creative ways, and we're on a mission to share them with you! Last Friday, a few of us Special Collections and Archives mavens made the trek across the fifth floor patio to the Caroline A. Laudati Conference Room to hear UCI Professor Emerita of History Lynn Mally give a talk on American fashion. The event was part of the Library Workshop Series hosted by the UCI Libraries, which features a number of events throughout the year.

New Acquisition: Bruce W. Sumner collection on the California Constitution Revision Commission (MS-R172)

Submitted by sseltzer on Mon, 02/03/2014 - 12:56

A new collection documenting the California Constitution Revision Commission, the organization charged with editing the lengthy California State Constitution from 1964-1974, was recently deposited at the UCI Libraries.  The collection comes to Special Collections and Archives from the Orange County Public Law Library (OCPLL), where Judge Bruce W. Sumner, a member of the Orange County Superior Court and commission chairman, donated the materials in 1983.

Detective novelist Kenneth Millar (aka Ross Macdonald) born this day in 1915

Submitted by smacleod on Fri, 12/13/2013 - 17:30
The Kenneth Millar Papers (MS-L001) are located in Special Collections and Archives. This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Kenneth Millar. It includes manuscripts for novels, poems, short stories, and other works; manuscripts of political and environmental writings; reviews; screenplays; a typescript of Millar's doctoral dissertation; correspondence; family photographs; and other personal material.