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TowersNewsletter of the Library Associates of the University of Idaho Library

Late Fall 2011 Volume 14, Issue 2

Thanks for the Memories: University of Idaho Student Scrapbooks in Special Collections & Archives

P.O. Box 442350Moscow, ID 83844Phone: (208) 885-6534Email: librdean@uidaho.edu

Inside this issue:

Thanks for the Memories: Student Scrapbooks .........................................1-2

Exhibits and GIS Day.....................................3

The Gem of the Mountains from Digital Initiatives..................................................4

Kristin Henrich named 2012 ALA Emerging Leader...................................4

The Library by the Numbers......................5

Dean’s Corner: Thank You! ..........................7

Ways to Give ....................................................7

To subscribe to Towers, please visit us at:

www.lib.uidaho.edu/giving/

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Thanks for the memories

Of dances in Mem Gym, classes in Admin

If given half a chance, we’d do it all again

How lovely it was!

The University of Idaho’s wide-ranging Special Collections & Archives thoroughly document Idaho’s economic and political history. Hidden among these historical documents are those that poignantly express the social and cultural history of Idaho’s citizens. Scrapbooks, created by University of Idaho students while they pursued their curricular (and let there be no doubt) extra-curricular interests on the Moscow campus, provide excellent examples of these collections of personal history. In this issue of Towers we will highlight one of the most remarkable scrapbooks in Special Collections’ holdings. Its author was Esther Elizabeth Thomas, Class of 1919. This scrapbook is unique because Esther used it as both scrapbook and personal diary. Esther used her scrapbook in the familiar way, filling it with mementos of dances and luncheons, but she also placed her thoughts there. Esther was a hometown girl, and like other students from Moscow, she lived with her parents while attending classes at the University of Idaho. According to the 1920 “Gem of the Mountains” yearbook, Esther was active in the DeSmet and Home Economics clubs

(above) Esther Thomas, Class of 1919. The writing on the photo reads, “I didn’t want my picture taken.”

and the Phi Upsilon Omicron honor society. She graduated in 1919 with High Honors, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics. Alumni directories show that Esther went on to teach home economics after graduating; in 1922, she taught in Sugar City, and in 1926, Roberts, Idaho.

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Interestingly, the diary entries in Esther’s scrapbook do not begin until 1918, three years after she first enrolled at the University of Idaho. Perhaps she used something else as a diary during those first three years or, perhaps beginning in 1918 when both war and illness swept into Moscow, she wished to record how purposeful her life had become. The first entry in Esther’s diary is September 1, 1918, in which she notes, “No dates now – few doings. Went to church. Dinner at Cricket’s – no bread. Soldiers reception.” The last entry is

dated August 30, 1919: “Came home this morning at noon.” Whatever her reasons for keeping a scrapbook, this piece of University of Idaho history gives us fascinating insight into the life of one young woman, and the histories of the university and the country. Thanks to Digital Initiatives for digitizing these images from the Esther Thomas Scrapbook, held by the University of Idaho Special Collections.

Western Union Telegram notifying Esther Thomas that she had been accepted for a teaching position in Sugar City, Idaho (1919)

Several pages in Esther Thomas’s scrapbook are dedicated to photos and images from the homefront and the battlefield during World War I, including the above photo, labeled simply:

“Celebrating Peace.”

Esther’s balsa wood dance card from the “Timber Beash Hoe-Down,” hosted by Associated Foresters (1917)

A photo from the scrapbook of Esther with Charles, a young man in uniform.

Memories, continued from p. 1

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Esther’s balsa wood dance card from the “Timber Beash Hoe-Down,” hosted by Associated Foresters (1917)

Digitizing the Gem of the Mountains Yearbook CollectionGem of the Mountains Yearbooks are everywhere around the library. A set resides in the dean’s office, another set lives upstairs on the catalogers’ shelves, and a collection of duplicates fills an entire row of shelving down in Special Collections. Understandably then, staff and librarians have consistently mentioned the collection to me as being prime material for digitization.

At first, I questioned whether we had the capacity to digitize such a collection, but as we got rolling on digitization work for the Agricultural and Extension Publications Collection (http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/uiext/) last spring, I realized we might just be able to pull the Gem of the Mountains Collection off as well. So this fall we jumped into the project with both feet.

We began by selecting duplicates from the collection down in Special Collections. Then, we commenced (book lovers cover your ears) dismantling these duplicates for digitization: This involved breaking the yearbooks’ bindings then using a guillotine to slice off the glued edges of the text block so we could feed individual pages through our feed scanner. After the yearbooks were thus prepared, we began scanning them and assembling these scans into PDFs for online viewing.

We are quite pleased with how well these are turning out. These publications were made with care and dedication, and the attention to detail and quality of design comes through clearly in both their physical and digital representations. And in terms of content, the yearbooks contain a trove of University of Idaho lore, history, and photographs

My favorite find so far is a photograph (see it here: http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/docs/gem1942/230) of a student at a diner with six finished milkshakes in front of him and 4 full ones: The caption reads: “Ray Brookhart lost the bet … and everything else … after his sixth shake.”

We are about 50% through with the digitization of the yearbooks, and I hope to have the collection up by next fall. For those interested in browsing the first 25 issues we’ve digitized, please visit this website and click on one of the yearbook covers: http://issuu.com/uidahodigital/bookmarks.

Devin Becker, Digital Initiatives Librarian(above) “Ray Brookhart lost the bet...and everything else...after his sixth shake.”

Kristin Henrich, Reference Coordinator and Reference & Instruction Librarian, has been selected to participate in the 2012 Class of Emerging Leaders, a national leadership program developed by the American Library Association. Support for Henrich’s attendance at the Midwinter and Annual Conferences will be sponsored by the Association for College & Research Libraries University Libraries Section (ACRL-ULS).

“I am honored to have been selected for inclusion in the Emerging Leaders program, and would like to thank our library administration for encouraging and supporting faculty involvement in this and in similar programs. It is an excellent learning opportunity, and I am looking forward to representing both the University of Idaho and the Library at a national level,” Henrich said of her selection.

Henrich is the second librarian from the University of Idaho to be selected for the program, joining colleague Ben Hunter (Emerging Leader Class of 2011).

The American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders Program is “ a leadership development program which enables newer library workers from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. It puts participants on the fast track to ALA committee volunteerism as well as other professional library-related organizations.” More information about the program, as well as the official ALA press release, may be found at http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/2012-class-emerging-leader-participants-announced.

Kristin Henrich: ALA Emerging Leader 2012

An early iteration of Joe Vandal from The Gem of the Mountains Collection in Digital Initiatives

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Ways to GiveFor more information on giving options and ensuring your gift is used exactly the way you want it to be, contact Dean Lynn Baird at (208) 885-6534.• CashGifts• PlannedGiving• In-kindGifts(Materialsand

Personal Collections) • TaxBenefitsAppreciatedAssets• MemorialorHonoraryGifts

For more information, please visit: www.lib.uidaho.edu/giving/ways.html

Visit us online:www.lib.uidaho.edu

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P.O. Box 442350Moscow, ID 83844Phone: (208) 885-6534Email: librdean@uidaho.edu

It is the season for gratitude and reflection. As I consider accomplishments of the past year, I am struck by how much we have been helped by you, the Library Associates. You transformed our library spaces and services, you contributed to our collections in order to boost our contributions to scholarship, and gave wings to our dreams.

The library is built on the work of many who have gone before, laying the foundations for our future. While many things in the library have changed, much more has remained the same. My connections throughout the Vandal family tell me of times long ago when the library was the place where they met their spouses, found new ideas to help their studies, or were able to get away from a horrible roommate. The library continues to be the heart and living room of the university. Your investments sustain us.

Dean’s Corner: Thank You!

Thank you for your generosity, for your vision, and for your friendship. May you celebrate the holidays doing things that fulfill you and as you reflect on this year’s accomplishments, I hope you’ll consider what you’ve done for our students, scholars, and, by extension, our world.

Lynn Baird, Dean of Library Services

Dr. Lynn Baird, Dean of the Library

Dean’s Corner: Thank You!