Recently in New Accessions Category

As a continuation of our series on our 2011 Annual Report, please see a description of our work in Collection and Financial Development:

• See the entries on accessioning Public Policy Papers and University Archives for collections of note acquired in this fiscal year. In addition, during the past year gift agreements were signed with Edward Djerejian (who served as Ambassador to both Syria and Israel) and James Hoge (the outgoing editor of Foreign Affairs), though no documents were delivered during the fiscal year.
  
• Linke finished raising money for the digitization of the Daily Princetonian, with over a quarter of a million dollars accrued for this project. 
• The James Baker Oral History Project completed seven additional interviews with Susan Baker, Edward Djerejian, Francoise Djerjian, Marlin Fitzwater, John Major, John Sununu, and Robert Zoellick.   

As a continuation of our series on our 2011 Annual Report, please see a description of major activities in accessioning of University Archives:

• A 1765 document signed by Richard Stockton when he served as a trustee of the college
• A wide range of reunion material from alumni
• Audio recordings of WPRB's broadcast of the Vietnam War teach-in
• Auxiliary to the Isabella McCosh Infirmary Records
• Log of Princeton Scientific Expedition of 1866 by Walter Lowrie Hervey '1886
• Office of Government Affairs Records, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab Files
• Photographs of dance at Princeton collected by Professor Ze'eve Cohen
• Princeton in Africa Records
• The Dr. and Mrs. Arnold S. Breitbart Collection on Moe Berg

As a continuation of our series on our 2011 Annual Report, please see a description of major activities in accessioning of Public Policy Papers:

• American Civil Liberties Union Accruals
• James A. Baker Papers Accrual
• Council on Foreign Relations Accrual
• Project on Ethnic Relations Records (including over 8 GB of electronic records)
• Norman Ryder Papers
• Kristen Timothy Papers
• Margaret Tutwiler Journals
• Elmer Werner Papers

There's a scene in a documentary about the French philosopher Jacques Derrida where Derrida visits UC Irvine (where he had donated his personal papers). The philosopher, going through the rows of newly-processed collections, comments that the gray archival boxes on the shelves look like little gravestones.

For someone whose best-known axiom was that "there is nothing outside the text," and who was very concerned about who has "authority" over the archive, perhaps it was somewhat distressing for Derrida to see his texts buried away in folders, boxes, shelves and behind locked doors.

It's easy to understand this concern. In some ways, archival records are by their nature "dead" -- they have been given to the archives because they're no longer used in the course of daily business. And it's true that most institutions keep these materials tucked away in closed stacks.

On the other hand, from my point of view as someone who processes new accessions as they come to Mudd, collections are constantly growing, re-interpreted by new context and new evidence, and given new life through the research and reference process. We care for collections so that they may find new life -- all of our core activities, as an institution, are to serve researcher needs in their synthesis and analysis of the past.

In May and June of this year, most of our accessions were additions to collections we already hold -- in some cases, this was an instance of a donor finding or having created additional material that rounds out our collections. In most cases, new additions to an archival collections are an opportunity to re-examine the existing collection from a new point of view.

We hope that this will be the case with our newest additions. Here is a list of what we received in May and June: 

[ML.2011.015] Photocopy of Douglas Linder Article
[ML.2011.016] Photographs and correspondence to William H. Kellenberger from John Foster Dulles
[ML.2011.017] Women's World Banking Records
[ML.2011.019] Chalmers Benedict Wood Papers
[ML.2011.021] George S. McGovern Photographs and Letters
[ML.2011.022] Marten van Heuven Writings and Correspondence
[ML.2011.023] Woodrow Wilson Letter
[ML.2011.025] Kennett Love Papers

As organizations grow and change through time, so do their archives.The Mudd Manuscript Library collects the records of the American Civil Liberties Union [ML.2011.011], the Association on American Indian Affairs [ML.2011.005], and Americans United for Separation of Church and State [ML.2011.003], among many other organizations. In the last few months, we've had the pleasure of receiving a new cache of materials from each of these organizations and adding them to existing collections. Although some materials from both the ACLU and AAIA may be restricted for some time to comply with legal and privacy concerns, the remainder will be valuable to researchers hoping to learn about the recent history of these important organizations.

In addition to these organization records, we have also received an accrual of papers from James A. Baker III, former Chief of Staff to President Reagan and Secretary of State to President George H.W. Bush [ML.2011.002]. These records, mostly from his post-Washington career, include research files created during the writing of his memoir, correspondence, events files, and a small number of financial files. They also include his "desk drawer" files, letters and notes from important figures in his career, including Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, Nancy Reagan, Henry Kissinger, and Karl Rove. Please consult the finding aid for this collection for access restrictions.

One of Mudd's newest accessions, the Kristen Timothy Papers, finds itself in good company with other Mudd collections documenting individuals who have had profound influence in the United Nations, including the papers of Margaret Snyder, Regional Advisor of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Henry R. Labouisse, Director of UNRWA and Executive Director of UNICEF; David A. Morse, Director-General of the ILO; and many other luminaries.

Timothy organized the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. The conference addressed enduring inequalities for women and girls across the world. Timothy was instrumental in outlining the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which were adopted by consensus on 15 September 1995.

Timothy's records include audio-visual materials (much of which is available online), records regarding the creation of the platform for action, materials created in preparation for and during the conference, and a series of Timothy's research records on the history of the global women's movement.

The Mudd Manuscript Library received 12 public policy accessions and 30 University Archives accessions between April and June 2010.

The public policy collections received significant additions to the American Civil Liberties Union Records and the Council on Foreign Relations Records.  In addition, a wonderful surprise was the receipt of Woodrow Wilson’s and Edith Bolling Galt’s marriage license, 1915. The item was donated by Mr. Barry C. Keenan of Granville, OH, who also confessed to having caused the green ink stain on the document as a ten-year-old.

In January, the University Archives acquired a lecture notebook penned by Elijah Rosengrant (1776-1832). The notebook was written in the spring of 1791 for John Witherspoon's course "Lectures on Moral Philosophy." The significance of the notebook derives not only from its documentation of President Witherspoon as a faculty lecturer and of the pedagogical technique of the college in the 18th century, but also from the fact that Elijah Rosengrant was not enrolled as a student in the College of New Jersey (as Princeton was then known). In fact, Rosengrant was a student of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), Class of 1791, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The Mudd Manuscript Library received 8 public policy accessions and 31 University Archives accessions between January and March 2010.

In January, the Library purchased a rare pamphlet written in Yiddish supporting Woodrow Wilson’s bid for reelection 1917. The pamphlet is one of only a handful of Yiddish-language Wilsoniana known to exist (accession number ML.2010.003).

In addition, in March the Library purchased a personal notebook by James Forrestal containing records of meetings and conversations as well as Forrestal’s thoughts on current events for the year 1949. The notebook, which is typed but contains a number of handwritten items, seamlessly complements Mudd’s prior holdings of Forrestal’s diaries. It is especially noteworthy because Forrestal was in the habit of typing even his personal notes, making this one of the scarce examples of Forrestal’s handwriting (accession number ML.2010.008).

Coming soon in New Accessions, Part II will be an accessions highlight from the University Archives— the Elijah Rosengrant Lecture Notebook, 1791.

The following is a complete list of materials that were accessioned between January through March 2010. As always, if you would like additional information about these materials, please contact us through our general email account mudd@princeton.edu.

The Mudd Manuscript Library received seven public policy accessions and 31 University Archives accessions between October and December 2009.

One of the highlights is an architectural rendering of Commencement Hall (now called Alexander Hall) that was published in American Architect and Building News on December 12, 1891. The rendering was created prior to the building’s construction, which began in 1892, in accordance with architect William A. Potter’s design.

First occupied in 1894, Alexander Hall was built to accommodate commencement exercises and other large gatherings. Today, the Romanesque-style structure is one of Princeton’s most recognizable buildings and it is home to the Richardson Auditorium concert hall.

Commencement Hall, architectural rendering, 1891, AR.2009.111.

The following is a complete list of materials that were accessioned between October and December of 2009. As always, if you would like additional information about these materials, please contact us through our general email account mudd@princeton.edu.