Contents: (Volume 17, number 1 -- Spring 2001)
- Interview : Music Librarian Pamela Bristah
- April 5: Wellesley by design by Katherine Hall Page '69
- From the Co-Chairs by Ruth R. Rogers, Special Collections Librarian, and June M. Stobaugh '66
- Calendar
- Class of '41 enriches Special Collections by Ruth R. Rogers, Special Collections Librarian
- Ferry, Pinsky Pack Jewett for Wellesley's 125th by Heather Ure Dunagan '95
- Echoes of the Past: voices and view: the last 75 years
- Scholar discovers historic tract
- Priority 1: educating students
- "Two thumbs up" for new major by BethAnn Zambella, Research and Instruction Librarian, Group Manager
- May 2: Spectacular One-Day Note Card Sale
- Library research gets wired by Eileen Hardy, Collections Manager
Interview: Music Librarian Pamela Bristah
"Wellesley's Music Library holds a strong historical collection unusual in depth and breadth for a college. That's what drew me here." We're touring the Wellesley College Music Library with Pamela Bristah, its new librarian. The library, founded in 1904 in Billings Hall (now Schneider Center), moved with the Music Department to Jewett in 1958. It was renovated in 1992 to provide more space for the collection and for a listening lab separate from listening carrels. Library holdings include a rich diversity of books, periodicals, scores, parts, sound recordings, video, and software. An important focus is music composed by women, including New England composers Amy Beach, Nancy Van de Vate, and Wellesley faculty member Arlene Zallman.
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"The role of music in society is a recent, growing area of study, one linking the Music Library to the wider College curriculum," Bristah continues. "Students can learn about a culture through its music or understand music better through the context in which it was made. The book and DVD for Ken Burns's 'Jazz,' for example, which examines 20th-century American culture and racism through the history of jazz, are resources both for jazz history and American Studies courses."
Among the Music Library's treasures is the manuscript of the Katherine K. Davis '14 Christmas classic, "The Little Drummer Boy." Davis bequeathed its rights, as well as the copyright to all her compositions, to Wellesley, specifying that royalties fund scholarships for the College's music students. "In 1988, Ross Wood, then Music Librarian, bid successfully for the Davis manuscript at Sotheby's," Bristah says. "Music alumna Dorothy Stock Freeman generously underwrote the $10,000 cost. Professor of Music emeritus Owen Jander said of it, 'There is nothing in the Music Library's collection of rare materials that will mean more to the community than this charming little Christmas carol."
"There's much to mine in the Music Library's collection," Bristah points out, "both for the Wellesley community at large and for our core users, music students and faculty." In addition to promoting its holdings, Bristah plans to update the music lab with more computers to allow musicians to compose and notate by playing on an electronic keyboard.
Graduate summa cum laude of Westminster Choir College, with a Master's in Library Science from Columbia, Bristah is a self-described "library rat. From the time I could read, I brought home a shopping bag full of books. I was lucky. I knew from an early age that I wanted to combine working with music materials with working with musicians." An alto who has performed with The New York Philharmonic and at the Spoleto Festival as a member of the Westminster Choir, this transplanted New Yorker has happily exchanged apartment living for a house in Wellesley. "But it was a bit of a shock to find the local bagel shop closes at 5:00 p.m.!"
The Friends welcome Pamela Bristah !
April 5: Wellesley by Design
Katherine Hall Page '69
Recalling student days, few alumnae fail to speak of Wellesley's sheer beauty. Our academic year moved from glorious fall colors to a burst of rhododendron blooms, all against the background of richly varied architectural styles. Yet 400 years ago, Native American settlements occupied the lands surrounding Lake Waban; 200 years later, small farms dotted this landscape. On April 5, from 5-6:00 p.m., Peter Fergusson, James E O'Gorman, and John Rhodes will take us on an illustrated Journey from Wellesley before Wellesley to the present campus, highlighting selections from their new book honoring the College's 125th anniversary, The Landscape & Architecture of Wellesley College. Friends of Art, Friends of Horticulture, and Friends of the Library cosponsor this event.
Dedicated "To the students-past, present, and future-of Wellesley College," the scholarly, handsome volume contains 11 chapters, each written by one of the authors to reflect a research interest. Vintage photographs and drawings accompany Cervin Robinson's exceptional photos of Wellesley today.
"Every Wellesley alumna knows that her education was greatly enriched by the special beauty of the campus."
Diana Chapman Walsh '66, PresidentThe book is notable for familiar - and unfamiliar - names. We all know the Durants, but how many of us recognize the name Bullard? In one of those turns of fate so beloved by fiction writers, the Bullards' bankruptcy allowed the Durants to purchase Bullard farm and land. Bullard's pond became Lake Waban, named by Henry Durant in honor of the 200th anniversary of John Eliot's translation of the Bible into Algonquin. Waban means "wind" in Algonquin, and generations of Wellesley crews can attest to the aptness of Durant's choice.
Basking in the sunlight of Wellesley's campus are, from left,
coauthors Peter J. Fergusson, James F O'Gorman, and John Rhodes.Peter J. Fergusson holds the Theodora L. and Stanley H. Feldberg Chair in Art. A faculty member since 1966, he has served three terms as Chair of Wellesley's Art Department and specializes in medieval art and architecture as well as landscape and garden architecture. His B.A. is from Michigan State, and M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard. Coming to Wellesley in 1975, James E O'Gorman is the first Grace Slack McNeil Professor of the History of American Art, teaching courses in United States painting, sculpture, and architecture, and two seminars in American art and architecture. He received his B.Arch. from Washington University, M.Arch. from University of Illinois, and Ph.D. from Harvard.
"I will give Wellesley the beautiful;
others will give her the useful."
Henry Fowle DurantSince 1982, John Rhodes has been Senior Lecturer in the art and writing departments, teaching sections of the introductory art history survey and required first-year writing course, as well as courses in the history of landscape design, theories of ornament, and art historical methodology. He received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Harvard.
The April 5 program will begin with refreshments from 4:30-5:00 p.m. In the corridor outside Jewett Auditorium. Copies of The Landscape & Architecture of Wellesley College will be on sale. A book signing from 6-6:30 p.m. follows the program. The event is open to the public, but seating is limited.
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To
enhance your enjoyment, check http://www.wellesley.edu/Library/Friends/friends-april5.html
for a suggested reading list and links to other web sites with relevant
material.
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Steering
Committee members, seated from left: MacDonald, Poorvu, Broder,
Stobaugh, Holman, Thompson, Rogers; standing from left:Wickwire,
Pasley, Aydelott, Barnhill,Watson,Jedrey, Turner, Rempis, lsaacs,Volpe,
Flynn, Dunagan, Harper. Not pictured: Fenster, Hunt, Marsh, Page,
and Preyer.
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From the Co-Chairs
Ruth R. Rogers, Special Collections Librarian, and June Milton Stobaugh '66
Whether you live in Los Angeles or Tel Aviv, you may soon be able to participate in Friends' programs through our latest initiative, WebLinks, the Friends' web site. In addition to reading lists suggested by speakers and links to other web sites relevant to program topics, we hope to offer on-line chats with authors as a program follow-up.
The Friends also plan to present occasional programs in cities outside Boston. If your local Club is interested in cosponsoring a Friends of the Library program, contact June Stobaugh at stobaug@attglobal.net.
During reunion 2001, Friends of the Library will sponsor two one-hour Library tours and an annual Friends' meeting. During Commencement 2001, Friends will hold a reception for graduating seniors who worked in the Library and for their families.
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Finally, we want to introduce Donna Volpe Strouse
and Emily See '03, who, as part of their jobs, handle Friends'
day-to-day administrative work. Administrative assistant, Office for the Vice President of Information Technology and College Librarian, Volpe Strouse joined Clapp Library in May 2000; she holds a Ph.D. in psychology and wears many hats in addition to overseeing Friends' activities. A Californian, See works 15 hours/week at the Library and is our resident Excel expert. We hope she'll be with us through her senior year - she's a gem ! |
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Calendar |
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January 15-April 30, 2001 EAT! A New Exhibition in Special Collections Celebrating Food and Those Who Prepare It 4th Floor, Clapp Library Prepared by Special Collections Assistant Marilyn Hatch |
May 2 Spring 2001 Coffee hour, 9:45 a.m. Call (781) 455-8171
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Friends of the Library and Washington D.C. Wellesley Club Invite You to Contemporary Artists' Books: Art or Book? A
Talk by Ruth R. Rogers, Special Collections Librarian Ruth Rogers will discuss the origins and diversity of contemporary artists' books, showing examples from Wellesley's Collections. Often challenging the traditional definition of "book," artists' books can be limited-edition collaborations among author, artist, and designer, or unique objects entirely conceived by the artist/author. Artists' books are an interactive presentation of text, color, image, and format, each feature defining and enhancing the artists' message. Reservations
required; space limited to 30. |
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Class of '41 Enriches Special Collections
Members of Wellesley's Class of 1941 voted last year to award their class gift to Special Collections. Class members earmarked funds to support acquisitions in the humanities and in the history of science and medicine. Clapp is often in competition with other academic and research libraries for the same rare books, making it critical to place orders quickly. Since prices of rare books are neither predictable nor consistent, this gift provides flexibility to purchase relevant rare books as soon as they come on the market. Class treasurer Anne TenBrook presented the generous $15,000 check.
Not only will this gift add to Special Collections' existing subject strengths; it will allow purchase of rare books and documents in new areas to support the curriculum. Among books already purchased is a 17th-century astronomy text, Institutio Astronomica, by Pierre Gassendi. A contemporary of Galileo, the author was not convinced the sun was the center of the solar system. His work represents the transition to our modern heliocentric view. Other valuable materials purchased with this new gift include an early volume of architectural engravings on perspective by Dutch artist Vredeman de Vries, an original 1833 autographed letter by George Sand to her publisher, and a collection of contemporary artists' books on the theme of the millennium.
Members of the Class of 1941 attending their 60th Reunion this year will meet in Special Collections on June 9 for a viewing with talk about the books their generous gift has added to the treasures of the Wellesley College Library.
Heather Ure Dunagan '95
On an enchanted September "Afternoon of Poetry," eminent poets David Ferry and Robert Pinsky captivated their audience with vigorous, moving readings from their work. Both poets' teaching and writing have influenced generations of Wellesley women, Ferry from 1952-1989, Pinsky from 1967-1981. Janice Hunt, former Co-Chair of Friends of the Library, introduced the program. Frank Bidart, internationally known poet and Professor of English at the College, welcomed the two poets.
Bidart was pleased to announce that Ferry, Wellesley's Sophie Chantal Hart Professor emeritus, had just won the $10,000 Lenore Marshall Prize for Of No Country I Know, his most recent collection of original poetry and translations. (Since the reading, Ferry has also won the Library of Congress's Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, and has been named one of the Boston Public Library's Literary Lights.) During his presentation, Ferry read from Of No Country I Know, from his acclaimed translations of Gilgamesh and the Odes of Horace, then read a new poem, "Willoughby Spit." We applauded his impassioned readings.
Pinsky, Professor in Boston University's Graduate Program in Creative Writing, has recently completed an unprecedented third term as Poet Laureate of the United States. He read primarily from his new collection, Jersey Rain, although he also shared poems from "my Wellesley years": one work entitled "The Cold," set in the old Corkum's Hardware Store, and another entitled "The Volume," drawing on his daughter's girlhood in Wellesley. Introducing the latter, Pinsky spoke fondly of the College as one-time "playground" for his young family. His clear articulation of complex meaning delighted us.
I and many other guests lingered afterward to talk with the poets, to have books signed, and to savor the pleasure of this perfect afternoon.
| Echoes of the Past: |
the first 75
years
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| Voices and Views | ||
By reflecting on the past, we inform the present. Here is the voice of the past itself : short excerpts of authentic Wellesley voices from the College's first 75 years - Wilma R. Slaight, College Archivist
Back to the topI looked around me and saw a lot of strong women. They inspired me to be more, to get involved. In high school, I joined organizations but never thought of myself as a person who would step up to the plate. At Wellesley, I learned I'm capable of doing that. I learned to ask - What can I do? How can I contribute to this community?
Jae Rhim Lee '98, Admissions brochure, 1998Our teaching should be critical, not dogmatic, with the Socratic purpose of arousing thought. If we want students to learn to think, they must not be shielded from ideas, but exposed to many kinds of doctrine.
"Some reflections upon the teaching of philosophy in Wellesley," Thomas Hayes Proctor, The Literary Review of Wellesley College, April, 1937I am so glad that all you friends of the library, in both the specific and generic sense, can be gathered here to inaugurate a very special new feature of the Wellesley campus: our newly automated library. Not just a new piece of hardware we celebrate today, but in a real sense, a whole new library: a new way of thinking about books and their usefulness, of receiving them, storing them, gaining access to them, of learning what we love available to read, study, teach.
President Keohane, ceremony to celebrate library automation, October 18, 1988News proposes Wellesley include courses on the pass/fail system to encourage students in studying unfamiliar, interesting areas without worry of doing poorly. Such a system would encourage students to learn for the sake of learning rather than grades.
News, February 2, 1967Everyone acknowledges some degree of arbitrariness in separating the college curriculum into departments, knowing it leads to overspecialization. But there is also thoughtful objection to interdepartmental work An expanded honors program, enrolled with our best students, is a good place to experiment with interdepartmental studies.
Report to Academic Council, Special Committee on Honors Review, April 29, 1965No matter bow conscientiously a student has worked, when she has to review her course in one or two days, she can hardly do justice to the subject. A reading period would be one way to avoid feelings of unreadiness and inadequacy when confronted with all this material we ought to know.
News, February 18, 1932Students learned a great deal from the experience of the last few months. They perceived that the values of free speech and dissent are not as widely shared in the world outside as they may have assumed, then supported each other in expressing a wide range of views with civility and respect. They learned a good deal about the history of social change, and about women's options across the generations.
Nannerl Keohane '90, charge to seniors on controversy surrounding commencement speaker Barbara BushDuring my four years here, Wellesley joined the ranks of all farsighted liberal arts colleges in incorporating the creative arts. Only from actual experiences with artistic media can we develop true appreciation of what is aesthetically good.
Betty Ann Metz '49, "Student Committees: experimental theatre, drama study committee," Wellesley Magazine, February, 1949We dedicate the building, this greatly expanded, beautiful building, but it is the people who use it we actually think about - Wellesley students and teachers, present and future, combing the card catalogue, consulting librarians, and prowling through stacks, searching, constantly searching, for diamond facets of Truth. We have high hopes for this search, knowing our entire civilization, indeed life itself depends upon it.
Trustee Elisabeth Luce Moore '24, dedication of library expansion, June 13, 1958
Scholar Discovers Historic Tract
While cataloging Special Collections' medieval and Renaissance holdings on the first grant given for this purpose, Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis, Project Director, Uncatalogued Manuscript Control Center, uncovered a hitherto unknown account documenting the struggle between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.
Davis writes: The Plimpton Collection's Italian manuscripts consist mostly of beautifully illuminated humanistic texts by authors such as Boccacio, Petrarch, and Dante. Hidden among these shining jewels, I found a diamond of rougher cut: an apparently unknown, unique Italian account of the life, trial, and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The conflict between Elizabeth and Mary has generated poems, books, plays, and films. In his treatise, Francesco Marcaldi, the Italian author of Plimpton MS 440, defends Mary as a champion of Catholicism victimized by Anglican Queen Elizabeth.
Marcaldi presents text in dated chapters running from 1548 to 1587. Since Mary was beheaded in 1587, he writes as events unfold. A 1580 dedication preceding the text dates the manuscript from 1580 at the earliest. While it may be a copy of original annals, handwriting style and watermark indicate the work could not have been written more than 10 or 20 years later-1600 at the latest.
Presenting a near contemporary account of events, the Italian manuscript proves interest in the conflict between the two insular Queens extended beyond Britain, reaching as far south as the Italian peninsula. Marcaldi's defense of Mary in the context of Catholicism is one of the manuscript's most interesting facets. This text deserves study, editing, and translation by a student of 16th-century Italy. A scholar interested in these two remarkable women will find much of interest in Marcaldi's refracted version of events.
Priority 1: Educating Students
Working with Special Collections' rare Chaucer editions was an "incredible experience," according to Shafina Shehnaz '01. An advisee of Wellesley Professor and Chaucer specialist Kathryn Lynch, Shafina curated the Fall 2000 "600 Years of Chaucer," deciding which portraits and which of the Library's early printed editions to include. Shafina's favorite portrait was a full-length pose from Thomas Speght's 1598 edition. This spring, Shehnaz is hard at work on another Chaucer project, utilizing the Library's resources once again as she completes her senior thesis, "Gender and Power Dynamics in Chaucer's Marriage Group Tales," emphasizing the Wife of Bath's tale.
Shafina Shehnaz '01(left), and the Class
of 1916 Gates
Examining a multitude of Archives' materials, Carol Cross Wodtke DS '02 has researched the historic but largely forgotten College gates and lodges The Fiske or Class of 1916 Gates stand partly obscured by dark conifers at the apex of the campus facing town. Soon after their completion in 1923, these handsome gates were closed to motor traffic. To mark the entrance roadways leading to Wellesley's Great Hall, Wodtke also found that Hammatt Billings had designed two eclectic and picturesque lodges. Overgrown with shrubbery at the edge of Route 16 are East Lodge and Gateposts, completed well before Wellesley's formal opening in 1875. In the shadow of the Keohane Sports Center, West Lodge, finished by Billings several years later, stands by Route 135. "Can these historic portals and lodges be moved or altered to enhance new College entrances?" Wodtke considered. "With traffic circulation patterns under study and the Campus Master Plan taking shape, anything's possible."
Clapp Library continues to offer students like Shehnaz and Wodtke important opportunities for groundbreaking research.
Lights, camera, declare! Since September 2000, Wellesley students have been able to major in Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS), formalizing an informal list of film and video courses into an interdepartmental concentration. Now cineastes can declare their devotion without having to design independent majors.
Cinema and Media Studies is much more than "clapping for credit." In addition to its multicultural scope and interdisciplinary methods, CAMS' chief objective is to develop "skills to understand and interpret various forms of the moving image." Since media have assumed a dominant cultural role, it is both timely and necessary to equip students to reflect critically on prevalence and power, to analyze "texts," and to appreciate artistic merit.
The CAMS web site (www.wellesley.edu/ Film/homePage/home.html) contains detailed descriptions and lists of related courses. "Propaganda and Persuasion in the 20th Century," for example, shares billing with "Love Stories in French Cinema," "Japanese Animation," and "Interrogating the Internet: Critical Perspectives on a New Medium." Majors are required to focus on several themes: media as social practice, cinema and video as art, media and identity, or media and the culture industry. Students may choose courses from a dozen subject areas: Africana Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Sociology, Spanish, Women's Studies, and the Writing Program.
Two courses form the concentration's core: CAMS 175, "Introduction to Cinema Studies," and CAMS 231, "Film as Art." Maurizio Viano, Professor of Italian Studies and Program Director, teaches the first required course. He was instrumental in bringing 14 departments together under the CAMS marquee, then persuading Academic Council to approve the venture. Professor Viano was schooled at the University of Genoa and the University of Oregon. Identifying himself as a film and cultural studies specialist, Viano believes this new addition to the curriculum "is in keeping with demands of the times." This spring, Vernon Shetley, Professor of English, teaches the second required course. Shetley, a graduate of Princeton and Columbia, is the author of After the Death of Poetry. His current interests encompass contemporary film and avant-garde theater. Shetley is enthusiastic about CAMS: "We already have several majors signed up and anticipate many more in the near term."
Early reviews are positive. Tune in next issue for a plot summary of the new Environmental Studies major.
May 2: Spectacular One-Day Note Card Sale
from the Wellesley College Library and Archives collections
All proceeds benefit Friends of the Library
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1. FRIENDS
OF THE LIBRARY POSTCARDS I |
2.
HOLIDAY NOTE CARDS |
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FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY POSTCARDS II Our second edition of postcards from the College Archives represents Wellesley College during the 1920s and 1930s. This set contains photographs of Tree Day, Float Night, and scenes of classroom and sports activities (physics, economics, studio art, basketball). Set of 16 cards (2 each of 8 images) Price |
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ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CARDS Color holiday note cards of illuminated initial (enlarged) from "Book of Hours," Netherlands, 15th century, Special Collections. The elegant illumination portrays a musician with harp, and the interior message reads: Wishing You joy this Holiday Season. Box of 8 cards with envelopes. Price |
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SPECIAL FEATURE - LIBRARY TOTE BAG The new Library tote bag is an updated version of our popular original. Black heavyweight canvas, zippered closure, larger 18 " x 13 " size! New Friends of the Library logo in sky blue and magenta designed by Kristin Lovejoy '01. Tote $25.00 |
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Eileen Hardy, Collections Manager
Clapp Library adds over 10,000 new items to the collections each year. While most are in tangible format (e.g. books, periodicals, microforms, maps, videocassettes, CDs), Internet-accessible electronic resources play an increasingly important role in meeting our users' research needs. In the first half of the 2000-2001 academic year, we added the following titles, providing research support for the humanities, social sciences, and sciences:
American National Biography: Searchable online version of important biographical dictionary, ANB contains over 17,000 biographies of deceased, notable American men and women. Coverage through 1995.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Online: Online version of the English language dictionary, resource contains not only definitions of words but history of use of words over time. Updated as new words enter the lexicon.
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers Online: NBER is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting understanding of how the economy works. Provides access to full text of NBER working papers published since 1994.
National Journal Online: Database provides online access to full text of weekly magazine covering politics, public policy, and government.
New Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online: Database includes articles on classical music, jazz, ethnic music, and more, with searchable text and links to music clips.
Philosopher's Index: Searchable online version of major indexing source for philosophy and related fields, index contains over 200,000 bibliographic citations covering scholarly research in the fifteen fields of philosophy.
Religion Index: Published by American Theological Association, database includes indexing to articles, books, and essays in all fields of religion including Biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religious perspectives on social issues. Coverage begins with 1949.
Science Direct: Database provides online access to full-text versions of articles in over 750 science and social science/ behavioral science journals. Coverage begins with 1995.
SciFinder Scholar: Produced by American Chemical Society and designed especially for use by students and faculty, this resource provides online access to indexing of world's chemical literature, substance searching, links to full text of ACS journals, and other resources.
Friends
of the Library
Steering Committee 2001-2002
Diana Chapman Walsh '66
Founding Member
Mary E. Jackson '24
Co-Chairpersons
Ruth R. Rogers
June M. Stobaugh '66
Newsletter Editor
Wanda Lankenner MacDonald '72
Steering Committee
Mary G. Aydelott
'67
Georgia B.
Barnhill '66
Claire M.
Broder '61
Heather U.
Dunagan '95
Kerin D. Fenster
'64
Kathryn K.
Flynn, ex officio
Judith E.
Harper '75
Deborah Holman
'89
Janice G.
Hunt '52
Charlotte
L Isaacs '68
Micheline
E. Jedrey
Jill D. Marsh
'94
Katherine
H. Page '69
Nancy L. Pasley
'65
Lia Gelin
Poorvu '56
Kathryn Preyer
Deborah T.
Rempis '68
Donna V. Strouse,
ex officio
Elinor Bunn
Thompson '37
Pamela W,
Turner '65
Sigrid R.
Watson '47
Virginia B.
Wickwire DS '81
This web
version was prepared by MacKenzie Stewart,
Digital Library Specialist, Wellesley College Library.
All images were reproduced from the printed paper newsletter - quality
may vary.
Click here to return to The Friends of the Library
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- Date created: March 27, 2001
- Last modified: May 7, 2001
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