Blog – Page 23 – Special Collections & The Gallery

We Want Willkie!!!

This was the refrain heard from the floor to rafters of Convention Hall, Philadelphia during the summer of 1940 and echoed through that autumn when the Republican Party nominated corporate lawyer and long time political booster Wendell Lewis Willkie of Indiana as their standard bearer for the upcoming presidential election of that year. Willkie (1892-1944), who never held public office was an outspoken internationalist who later became an informal ambassador-at-large for important causes including global welfare programs and civil rights most notably as outlined in his seminal work: One World(located in the Walsh Library Main Collection, Call Number: D811.5 .W495) which heralded the need for a “world government” to aid society at-large which would later come to fruition in part through the establishment of the United Nations a few years after its publication in 1944.

Wendell Willkie photo

Willkie focused his run for the White House on three primary themes which included the lack of military readiness in case of war, streamlining the “New Deal” programs of incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the never before attempted third term candidacy of a sitting president. In the end, Willkie lost the race, but registered 22.3 million votes nationwide (more than any previous Republican candidate at this point) and won 82 electoral votes (plurality in ten states) total.

Although defeated, the successful legacy of Wendell Willkie is celebrated in the Seton Hall Archives & Special Collections Center through the availability of varied resources regarding the candidacy of this icon in American political history. Included are a unique set of scrapbooks donated by Maplewood resident, Mr. Jack Chance who followed this election closely and documented the 1940 race through a collected series of local and national press clippings. Famed funeral director Mr. Gerald Spatola of Newark served as a delegate from New Jersey to the 1940 G.O.P. convention and in turn left a convention book as a reminder of civic activity on a national stage. Additionally, our political science department has collected various campaign buttons over the years and Wendell Willkie figures prominent among them and serves a tangible reminder of his candidacy seven decades ago. A further point of connections was made more valid and vivid during that fall of 1940 when Willkie in the midst of a national spotlight was invited to visit campus by former College President, James Kelley, but in an October 15^th letter from the candidate to the chief executive of Seton Hall he wrote regrets for being unable to make his way to South Orange, but praised the work of the school in a larger context inside the following passage…

“As a mid-Westerner, I am of course not intimately familiar with Seton Hall, but I am fully aware of the splendid educational work done by the Catholic clergy at many institutions throughout the land…the College was founded by and named for collateral ancestors of President Roosevelt. I was extremely interested to hear of the pioneer work of Bishop Bayley and Mother Seton in New Jersey. The State and the Nation are profiting greatly from the untiring efforts of these inspired people and others like them…It is hope that the college may long be able to continue its educational and character-building endeavors, that it may never have to encounter the hatreds and oppressions which have perverted or destroyed so many similar institutions in other lands.”

Just like 1940, if you want Willkie and learn more about his life and times please feel free to make an appointment with us to explore in further depth and detail. We can be reached by e-mail: Archives@shu.edu, or by phone: (973) 275-2378. Thank you in advance for your interest.

Book repair and conservation

As like any library, the Archives and Special Collection Center has a number of books in need of repair and conservation. Below are some examples:

This 1787 edition of Notes on the state of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson is currently held together by black book tape and needs to be rebound. The book’s text block (book pages and inner binding) are intact but no longer attached to its front and back covers, the included map of Virginia and neighboring states also has some minor damage. This edition is one of the rare volumes published by Jefferson during his lifetime.

This rare 1578 volume by Ignazio Danti is one of the first Italian works that centers on astromony and the use of the astrolabe. The highly damaged cover and spin are made from vellum and needs to be conserved or replaced. The book has also survived previous water damage and the staining is visible throughout.

Another prevalent issue in rare book collections is ‘red rot,’ which is the degradation process of leather. If stored in the improper conditions the leather can degrade and weaken, producing a powder-like residue which transfers to other books, crumbles onto shelving and generally gets everywhere. The damage is irreversible, but can be somewhat stabilized through conservation. This example is an 1860 edition of the History of the religious Society of Friends by Samuel Janney.

If you are interested in helping the University preserve these irreplaceable works, please consider donating to the Friends of the Archive Fund, contact Director Kate Dodds for more information.

A Look Back at Archdiocesan History: Time Capsule from the Old Chancery Building

On 11 October 1932, the Chancery Building at 31 Mulberry St. was dedicated. The new building replaced the parochial school of St. John’s Church, which housed the Chancery office until the widening of Mulberry St. forced the Diocese to demolish it. At the dedication, a time capsule was placed inside the cornerstone of the building. This time capsule was recovered in 2011, almost 80 years later. Inside, there was a collection of surprisingly well-preserved Diocesan artifacts and ephemera.

Tin box which was inserted in the cornerstone of the Chancery building in 1932

Several news articles relating to the construction and dedication of the new Chancery building, as well as a four page letter detailing the history and circumstances of the Chancery building’s construction, provide context for the time capsule.

The time capsule also contained a photograph of Bishop Thomas J. Walsh, who later became the first Archbishop of Newark when the Diocese was elevated to Archdiocese in 1937. A 1927 medal depicting Immaculate Conception Seminary on one side and Bishop John J. O’Connor on the other was found in its own small case within the time capsule. Bishop O’Connor’s calling card was also enclosed in the case. In addition, there was a small collection of coins, including a Pius X medal, a 1907 quarter, a 1923 buffalo nickel, a 1925 Liberty dime, and a 1901 Liberty nickel. Lastly there were three stamps from 1932: a cancelled Washington stamp, 1¢; postage due stamp, 2¢; and a cancelled Washington stamp, 3¢.

Coins and Immaculate Conception Seminary medal

These materials provide a fascinating look back at the history of the Archdiocese of Newark. To learn more visit the Archdiocesan history and archives page, or the A&SCC page on Archdiocesan history.

Seton Hall’s Madison Roots

With the advent of programs like Who Do You Think You Are produced by Lisa Kudrow and Henry Louis Gates’ Finding Your Roots on PBS, genealogy research has become even more popular than before, particularly with more and more resources available online. Did you ever wonder about the genealogical history of Seton Hall?
It may seem when one looks at the campus today as if the college was always here in South Orange. In fact, according to a history of Seton Hall College written in 1895 by then President Rev. William F. Marshall, printed in that year’s catalogue, “When James Roosevelt Bayley [Mother Seton’s nephew] was appointed Bishop of the newly erected See of Newark, New Jersey, October 30th, 1853, he found the diocese poorly supplied with priests and with no Catholic institutions of any kind… save a few scattered churches and chapels.” He decided to establish a college for the education of both secular students and theological students training to be future priests. He and Rev. Bernard J. McQuaid who would one day become both a bishop himself, and the first president of Seton Hall College searched to find a proper location for the college. They settled upon Madame Chegary’s Young Ladies’ Academy in Madison. Madame was relocating her school to New York City, vacating the white frame building that can be seen in a drawing on a sizable map from 1857 that hangs just inside the entrance to the Msgr. William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center in the Walsh Library.

The inset drawing seen below of the building amid trees with a horse and carriage in the foreground notes the date Sept. 1856 when the first class of students began their studies – all five of them including Leo G. Thebaud, Louis and Alfred Boisaubin of Madison, John Moore of New York City and Peter Meehan of Hoboken.

drawing of Seton Hall College, Madison, Sept. 1856

Rev. Marshall tells us, “Before the end of the month twenty additional names were registered,” clearly showing that this new college was filling a need. Bishop Bayley named the college for his aunt, now St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who preceded him in converting from the Protestant Episcopal Church to Catholicism, and who was the founder not only of the Sisters of Charity, but also of Catholic education in this country.
Bishop Bayley found traveling to his newly established college from Newark by horse and carriage too time consuming, and by 1859 the college had outgrown the small, white building in Madison. Returning from unsuccessful scouting for a new location along the South Orange and Newark Turnpike, Bishop Bayley spied a white marble villa on his right. A Catholic real estate dealer of Valisburg was commissioned to make the purchase of the Elphinstone Manor which stood where Presidents Hall does now. Formal transfer was effected on 2 April 1860, and Seton Hall College moved from Madison to South Orange. The College of St. Elizabeth now occupies the site of the original Seton Hall College where the white frame building still stands.
To see the map of Madison, please drop in during our hours, M-F, 9-5. We are the Archive for Seton Hall University and for the Archdiocese of Newark, and have an extensive collection of manuscripts, photographs, rare books and artifacts. If you have a paper or project which requires primary source material on the history of Seton Hall University or the Archdiocese, or you wish to research your family history using local Church records, please make an appointment to come in to confer with our staff and use some of the materials we conserve. Contact archives@shu.edu or 973-761-9476.

The Second Installment of WWI: A Centennial Exhibition

The second installment of our three-part series commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the Great War is now on display in the Msgr. William Noé Field Archives and Special Collections Center, and will remain until 31 January 2014.

This phase of the exhibit demonstrates many of the technological advances that came about during the war. It includes figurines of German, French, and British soldiers using machine guns and artillery, which came into widespread use during the war.

In addition, model tanks, armored cars, and airplanes highlight the ways these new machines developed and changed warfare. Rare books from our Archives add poetry, photographs, and illustrations of the war to complete the display.

The exhibit can be viewed any time the Walsh Library is open, in the display cases across from Walsh Gallery. It will be followed by the third installment on 1 February 2014.

Annual Accountability – Almanacs in Action

Have you ever imagined living in another time and place? Finding out more about daily routines in the course of recorded history through the words of historians who chronicle the story of human experience are invaluable to the present day reader. Another useful aid is a publication(s) from the actual time period which documents the doings of a person, place, or object first hand. With this in mind, and more specifically, materials that allow for personal reference from an annual perspective such as directories, yearbooks, and most notably almanacs provide the researcher with useful data to learn from by word and number alike.

An “almanac” (or “almanack” or “almanach” as they are sometimes referred to) by definition is an annual publication that provides weather forecasts, tide rates, astronomical data, and other relevant information in tabular form. Modern day almanacs have evolved to include various statistical and descriptive information such as economics, government, religion, and political results among other subject areas that touch not only upon local communities, but national and world issues in brief line item and/or summary form. The earliest known almanac published in the “modern sense” was the Almanac of Azarqueil written in 1088 by Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm, al-Zarqālī in Toledo, al-Andalus. There have been several subsequent examples from here as found in different countries, languages, and specializations.

One example of an international almanac found in our collection can be located in our rare book collection if you look back 280 years ago at a far different world than the one of today. This volume entitled: The Gentleman and Citizen’s Almanack, For the Year of Our Lord (Dublin: S. Powell, for John Watson, Bookseller to be sold at his shop on Merchants Key, near the Old Bridge, 1734) is a tome that provides a look at 18th century life in Ireland. This book provides a traditional format with the following array of categories found in the index: “Tide Table, Table of Twilight,” “Table of Coin and Gold Weights,” “Table for a Company Foot,” “Table of the Price of Goods,” “Table fo the Weight of Bread,” “Masters and Wardens Quarterly Assemblies,” “Roads of Ireland,” “Fairs of Ireland,” and others. The attached illustrations provide further details on how the consumers of that day and contemporary readers can relate alike can relate to the facts and figures found here including postal service and its value for communication links before cell phones and twitter for example.

This particular publication provides an every day look at life in an Ireland that goes beyond the essay alone. This and other Irish “almanacks” from 1732-1838 and other books on the Irish experience both reference and beyond can be found here in the Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center.

For more information contact Alan Delozier, University Archivist at: Alan.Delozier@shu.edu, or (973) 275-2378.

What about Digital Preservation?

Here in the Archives, most of our material is paper-based. We have more than 4600 linear feet of archives and manuscript materials in our Vault, amounting to millions of pieces of paper, strips of film, objects, and other tangible things available for research.

What about all the things that can’t be touched? More and more electronic materials are appearing in the collections we take in, and are being created by the organizations whose records we preserve. At Seton Hall, there are records of historical significance in emails, databases, websites, shared and co-edited documents, spreadsheets, twitter feeds, and cell phones. Archives exist to collect the materials that uniquely document their organization, and in the 21st century, a lot of those documents do not exist on paper.

Many times, people assume that once something is in saved on the computer or posted on the internet, it’s forever. At least, it always seems that way when there’s an embarrassing photo out there. But in fact, if you’ve ever lost some work to an ill-timed battery failure or the fall of a laptop, been frustrated by a dead hyperlink or a 404 Not Found error, or just plain been completely unable to find that file that you KNOW you saved, you also know that plenty of electronic records are lost all the time. If you’ve tried to open a document or photo in the wrong program or operating system, or found an old floppy disc with a label like “Important Papers,” you also know that even being able to find an electronic record doesn’t mean you can actually use it.

So what are we doing in the Archives to make sure that the important records of our time will be saved for the historians and students of the future?

Digital preservation is the term often used in libraries and archives to refer to saving these materials. In an archive, just as we are very particular about the order of papers in boxes and folders, the types of folders and boxes we use to store those papers, and the way those materials are described, we are also very careful about digital preservation practices. Archival digital preservation is about a lot more than getting extra cloud storage to store more files; it’s about doing the best we can to make sure the files we’re saving now will still be readable and still look pretty much the same to the person who wants to use them in fifty years. We collect metadata, information about the files and records we’re saving, that describes not only the content, but the programs used to create and use the content, as well as checksums, information that can be used to see if a file has become corrupted over time. Steps can be taken to update files to newer formats so they can be used in updated software, called migration, or software can be maintained or replicated so files can be used as they were when they were created, called emulation. Websites and versions of websites can be saved and accessed offline, and some programs even exist to save and search across social media platforms.

In the Archives and Special Collections Center, we are still planning out our program to collect and save some of these records. It’s a big job that requires many different programs and people working together, and nobody has all the answers just yet.

So what can you do? Whether your papers and files ever end up in an archive or not, there are some simple things you can do to keep track of your electronic records and make sure you can find what you need when you need it.

Come up with a simple way of naming and organizing your documents, pictures, and emails that makes sense to you, then write it down and keep it somewhere easily accessible (which means not in the same place you’re storing your files!).
Before you upgrade to a new computer or new phone, make a back-up copy of your important files and save them somewhere else, then make sure you can open everything in the new system.
Schedule a regular time to clean out and sort your email inbox.
Try to store things in more than one physical location, such as BOTH your computer and phone, as well as a cloud storage service.
Take a look at what the experts have to say! The Library of Congress has an excellent set of resources to help you save your own and your family’s stuff, and the folks in the POWRR program have gathered resources to help you save your social media life.

And if you want to help preserve more digital history, check out the resources at the National Archives and Records Administration’s Citizen Archivist Dashboard or help identify photographs posted on the Flickr Commons.

A History of the Family of Seton during Eight Centuries

A History of the Family of Seton during Eight Centuries is a two-volume work written by George Seton in 1896 that details the history of the Seton family back to the 10^th century. Drawing on an earlier work by Sir Richard Maitland, he traces the main line of the Seton family to its origin. A member of an old British family named Say moved to Scotland, where he adopted the surname Sayton or Seyton upon receiving a grant of land in East Lothian. The name has gone through several spelling changes since that time, including Setone, Setton, Settone, Seytoun, Seaton, Saeton, and Ceton, before Seton was finally adopted by all the principal branches of the family.

The first Seton whose full name could be found was Dougall de Seton, believed to be the son or grandson of the Anglo-Norman immigrant who first assumed the surname. Dougall lived during the time of Alexander I (1107-1124).

Although the family has had ties to Scottish nobility and high society through marriage since its beginning, the first Seton to become a member of the nobility himself was Sir William, the first Lord Seton. Sir William was a distinguished knight, who also became Premier Baron of Scotland and a Lord of Parliament. He appears to have traveled as far as Jerusalem, a significant accomplishment during the mid 14^th century in which he lived.

In 1763, seventeen-year-old William Seton, descended from a line of the family that resided in the county of Fife, Scotland, immigrated to the United States to find fortune. Within two years he established himself as a businessman in New York, importing goods from Europe and India. He was a loyalist during the Revolutionary War, but after the war remained in New York and became a citizen of the United States. His eldest son, William, followed in his father’s footsteps as a successful merchant and businessman. On the 25^th of January 1794 he married Elizabeth Ann Bayley. After William Seton’s death in 1803, Elizabeth Ann Seton converted to Catholicism. She later founded the first order of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, and opened St. Joseph’s School, the first free Catholic school in the country. She was also the aunt of Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, who decided to name Seton Hall College after her when it was established in 1856. Later, she was canonized as the first American-born saint.

The Seton family can trace their history back eight centuries, how far back can your family go? The Archives has a number of great genealogy resources. One of our most-used collections is the Latter Day Saints microfilm of parish and cemetery records in the Archdiocese of Newark. These microfilms largely consist of sacramental records and cemetery records which can provide key information to genealogists studying their family history. The films, which were made in the mid-1980s by the Latter Day Saints, can be viewed in the Archives by appointment, or can be ordered from Salt Lake City to be sent to a local LDS Family History Center. For more information about Family History Centers, visit the FamilySearch website. You can also request a search to be performed by Archives staff for a $25.00/hour research fee. For more information please visit our Genealogy Resources page, and have fun exploring your family history!

From the Rare Book Collection

The Archives holds a number of pre-1800 monographs, one such work is C. Julius Solinus’ Polyhistor: Treasury of memorabilia from all over the world.
This edition (shown below) was published in Basel, Switzerland in 1538.

Solinus was a third century Latin scholar, who compiled a number of earlier ancient texts in his Polyhistor, including works from Pliny the Elder and the cartographer Pomponius Mela. Topics covered include the geography of the ancient world and a chronology of ancient Rome.

A number of newer maps are credited to Sebastian Munster (1489-1552). Shown below is a map of Asia, while obviously lacking in details (including Japan) the map does contain a small portion of North American visible in the upper right, labeled ‘terra incognita.’ This has been called one of the earliest maps to feature the west coast of North America.

The same map also includes a number of ships and sea monsters along the bottom edge, in what would be the Indian Ocean.

To learn more about map-making and the history of cartography please consult the library collection, including these works:

The marvel of maps : art, cartography and politics in Renaissance Italy

The power of projections : how maps reflect global politics and history

Photographs: Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes

Can you imagine what it would be like to only have one picture of your family? Or if your family only had one picture of you, and there was only one copy of it anywhere?

Ambrotype portrait of an unidentified girl, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

Before photography was invented, the only way you might have an image of your loved ones was to have a picture painted or drawn, and even once photography was invented, it was a complicated and often expensive process.

Daguerreotype portrait of an unidentified man, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

The daguerreotype (duh-GARE-oh-type) process was the first widespread photographic process. It was developed by Louis Daguerre in 1839. A piece of silver-plated copper was coated in light-sensitive chemicals, which created the photographic image when exposed to light in the camera. This piece of metal held the original image, which was very delicate and placed under glass for protection when viewing. In order to both protect the image and to add rich decoration to this precious object, the photograph was usually put into a decorative case. This case could be closed and carried around, or propped open on a shelf. But each image was unique, and couldn’t be reproduced without being photographed again.

Daguerreotype case, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

Ambrotypes were created through a similar process, using glass coated in certain chemicals, then placed into decorative cases. The difference is that while a daguerreotype produced a positive image seen under glass, ambrotypes produced a negative image that became visible when the glass was backed by black material. In fact, this main difference is also the most reliable way to tell ambrotypes and daguerreotypes apart: daguerreotypes are backed by shiny silver, while ambrotypes are backed by a piece of glass painted black. The daguerreotype appears to be on a mirror, so when viewing it at an angle the dark areas are silver. For an ambrotype, the dark areas remain dark even at an angle.

Daguerreotype portrait of an unidentified man, distinguishing format, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

Ambrotype portrait of an unidentified man, distinguishing format, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

Getting your picture taken was a special occasion, even for the well-off. People wore their very best outfits and jewelry. Because the process of exposing the chemicals to light could take a long time, people had to sit very, very still while the photograph was being taken. The solemnity of the occasion, and the need to sit very still, is why people sometimes look sad or uncomfortable in very old photographs. All photography was black-and-white until the end of the 19th century, but people often added some hand-painted color to brighten up the image. Very often, cheeks would be painted slightly pink, and buttons or jewelry would be painted gold. Adding color or decoration to the image, and placing it in a fancy case, emphasized the beauty, importance, or wealth of the person photographed.

Ambrotype portrait of an unidentified man, image only, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs — Ambrotype portrait of an unidentified man, cheeks colored, image only, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

In the Archdiocese of Newark photograph collection, we have a very few daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. The individuals in these images are not identified, but these photographs must have been precious to their families, which we know both from understanding the history of photography and the fact that these photographs survived to this day. Each of these images is unique, and was likely one of a very few, if not the only, photograph of these people their families may have had. We not only respect and care for these objects as fragile and delicate pieces of our history, but also for their beauty and for the people they so faithfully represent.

Ambrotype portrait of an unidentified man, from the Archdiocese of Newark photographs

Interested in learning more? There are many resources on the history of photography on the web, including some that focus on daguerreotypes and similar processes. The Image Permanence Institute’s Graphic Atlas lets you compare and identify formats, or just explore fascinating images of different types. Daguerreobase includes a great deal of helpful information on identifying daguerreotypes as well as many beautiful examples. And for those who want to delve even further into the history of photography, this blog entry on Hunting and Gathering features e-book resources for you explore.