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September 2017
Welcome Back!
Classes officially began August 25. Although campus parking fills up, Clarke researchers can always request a visitor parking pass, either from the library or from
campus parking services. The Clarke is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. In October and November, we will also be open on Saturdays from 9 am to 12 noon.
During the week before the first class, new students interested in campus leadership roles participated in Leadership Safari, a skill building and academic success program hosted by the University since 1996. This year Clarke Archivist for University Digital Records Bryan Whitledge and Reference Librarian John Fierst (pictured with his group the Anteaters) both participated as mentors.
Coming Soon: CMU 125th Anniversary
As CMU prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary, Clarke Historical Library will soon install a new exhibition telling the story of CMU's long history. The official opening is September 13. On that date at 7:00 pm, Professor Jay Martin and Assistant Professor Brittany Bayless Fremion will speak about the University, drawing from their extensive CMU oral history project. A reception in the Clarke galleries follows their presentation.
Manuscript Collection Acquired: Michigan PBB Incident
The Library recently acquired an important manuscript collection documenting Michigan's PBB incident. In 1973, there was a mix-up between cattle feed and the industrial chemical PBB. This introduced PBB to Michigan's food system, with serious immediate and long term consequences. The collection donor Alpha Clark is a McBain, Michigan veterinarian who was involved in the exposure of the incident. Clarke Reference Librarian John Fierst met with Dr. Clark at his clinic (pictured) to facilitate the transfer of materials. The collection is now safely housed at the Clarke. Though not yet processed, it is available for researchers. The PBB incident is the subject of a book by Joyce Egginton, The Poisoning of Michigan. It's available at both the Clarke and CMU's Park Library.
Papers Support Hemingway Collection
Correspondence recalling Ernest Hemingway's friendship with Marjorie Bump Main is now on deposit at the Clarke. Following Hemingway's death in 1961, Donald St. John began to research persons who the author knew personally and he discovered Marjorie Bump Main. She became a good friend to Hemingway in late 1919. The correspondence consists of 208 letters from 1965-1974, with Hemingway the focus in the years 1966-1967. Photographs of Main and her husband were also received. The collection will be processed soon.
Fall Speaker Series Announced
This fall, the Clarke Historical Library will sponsor five free events to which students, faculty, staff, and the public are invited to attend. Each program will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Park Library Auditorium. Each will be followed by a reception in the Clarke Historical Library.
Speaker Series ? September 13: Celebrating CMU?s 125th Anniversary
On the anniversary of CMU?s first day of classes in 1892, Jay Martin and Brittany Bayless Fremion will draw on their extensive CMU oral history project to open the Clarke Historical Library?s Fall exhibit celebrating this milestone. Professor Jay Martin is Director of the CMU Museum of Cultural and Natural History/Gerald Poor School House Museum and Director of the Museum Studies Program. He is also a primary advisor in the Cultural Resource Management Masters / Certificate Program. Assistant Professor Brittany Bayless Fremion specializes in environmental, American, and public histories. She joined the CMU faculty in 2012 as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow after completing her PhD at Purdue University.
Speaker Series ? September 19: Roderick McGillis, 'A Highway of Diamonds with Nobody on It': Reclaiming Childhood Through Literature
Professor McGillis is the author of the award-winning The Nimble Reader (1996), and A Little Princess: Gender and Empire (1996). He is also the editor of George MacDonald: Literary Heritage and Heirs (2007). He is a former editor of The Children?s Literature Association Quarterly, and former president of the Children?s Literature Association. He teaches at the University of Calgary. The lecture is made possible through the generosity of the David M. and Eunice Sutherland Burgess Endowment.
Speaker Series ? October 5: Video 'Newcomer Legacy: A Vietnamese-American Story in West Michigan'
At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, 1.8 million refugees poured out of their native Vietnam and settled in the United States. Greater Grand Rapids is home to the fourth largest Vietnamese community in the Midwest. Newcomer Legacy: A Vietnamese-American Story focuses on the stories of nine individuals from the West Michigan area, ranging from ages 30 to 70. More details about the film can be found at the Michigan Humanities Council web site. Alan Headbloom, the documentary?s producer, will be present at the screening and the reception which will follow.
Speaker Series ? October 19: Joel Stone, Remembering the Detroit Rebellion
In 1967 the city of Detroit exploded in protest and violence. In 2015 the Detroit Historical Museum began developing an exhibit to open on the event?s 50th anniversary. In creating, Detroit 67: Looking Back to Move Forward. Joel Stone was charged with scouring hundreds of oral histories as well as working with over 100 advisors and partners to encompass the many perspectives that exist about the event. How the exhibit developed and how those many perspectives were included makes for a powerful story that speaks to the complexity of exhibit building and interpreting history. For more information about the exhibit itself visit Detroit 1967. Mr. Stone is the senior curator of the Detroit Historical Society.
Speaker Series ? October 26: Video, 'All or Nothin?
Share a casual but elegant evening out with filmmaker Charles K Campbell - ?CKC.' Share intimate moments of introspection as we view and critique his first feature film, All or Nothin'. The narrative drama recounts the 1853 Boone County, Kentucky slave escape and the Underground Railroad participants that made this event possible. Q & A will follow (runtime 90 minutes). A trailer of the film can be viewed on YouTube.
Each program will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Park Library Auditorium and each will be followed by a reception in the Clarke Historical Library.
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