“Led by traditional Chinese Lion Dancers to summon luck and fortune, several hundred people entered Helm Library on Friday afternoon to participate in the new Confucius Institute Chinese Learning Center at WKU…” reported WKU News. Visit WKU’s Blog to read more of the news.
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Bowling Green Rotary Club’s 1962 newsletter
When 15 local citizens (including WKU’s alumni director, William J. “Uncle Billy” Craig) organized the Rotary Club of Bowling Green, Kentucky on September 1, 1920, they joined a nationwide network of clubs dedicated to the creed of “service above self.” Since then, Bowling Green Rotarians have played a role in countless projects for the benefit of the community: road, hospital and airport development, children’s camps, school lunch and mentoring programs, and partnership with the Salvation Army, to name a few. In order to carry out more effectively the responsibilities of commercial and civic life, the club deliberately cultivates members from a wide variety of businesses and professions.
WKU’s Special Collections Library now houses a large collection of materials documenting the history and activities of the Bowling Green Rotary Club. Dating from the club’s organization to the present, this collection of more than 7,500 items includes minutes, correspondence, newsletters, programs, membership and project records, clippings and photos. With future additions, the collection will serve as an ongoing record of the Rotary tradition of service and civic involvement in Bowling Green.
A finding aid for the collection can be downloaded here. For more on local clubs and organizations at WKU’s Special Collections Library, search TopScholar and KenCat.
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After her service as the Manager of Community Outreach for WKU Libraries for four years, Tracy Harkins left her position for another job on campus. WKU Libraries threw a farewell party to thank her for her service on May 19, in Cravens 100.
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That was the headline of an article in the Students Weekly, October 31, 1935. The reporter goes on to say:
“Shades of the two-headed dog, Cerebus guarding the gates of Hades an the dragon that guarded the golden fleece are recalled when one seeks to enter the treasure house of the Kentucky Library at Western. Just above the door is an old muzzle-loader and swinging in the doorway is one of the largest hornets’ nest that has been one’s fortune to see.”
This and other articles about the WKU Libraries’ history are now available online in the first two library scrapbooks covering the period 1911 through 1959. In addition to newspaper clippings, there are photographs of the library, faculty and staff members along with some biographical sketches of early librarians and staff.
WKU Libraries Scrapbook 1 – http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/295/
WKU Libraries Scrapbook 2 – http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/296/
These and other records regarding the history of Western are available in the University Archives and online through KenCat.
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A postcard from Mia Kleijnen, 1945
During World War II, Maria Jozefina “Mia” Kleijnen and her family lived in Heerlen, a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. When her country was freed from Nazi occupation in 1945, 19-year-old Mia wrote with relief to the family of George Grise in Bowling Green, Kentucky. While serving in Europe, George had befriended Mia and her boyfriend Fritz Kraat, and George’s sisters Dorothy and Mary Ruth, his brother Richard, and his parents Mary and Finley Grise had also embraced the Kleijnens. Mia’s letters to them, part of the collections of WKU’s Special Collections Library, continued for more than 20 years.
Mia’s letters provide a portrait of an ordinary Dutch family grateful to have survived the war. “The Americans are our liberators and friends and therefore we’ll always be thankful!” she declared. The Grises sent gifts and other support, but immediate postwar conditions hampered the Kleijnens’ efforts to rebuild their lives. Christmas gift-giving in 1945 brought Mia “2 pieces of soap, a pair of summer socks and a chocolat bar”–less than before the war, but much more, she admitted, than over the past five years of German occupation. Other precious consumer goods were slow to reappear. “I think whole Holland needs shoes,” Mia observed. She had finally redeemed her ration ticket for a pair of “real leather shoes,” but laid aside her ticket for stockings as “they are not to get in no shop.” Explaining to Dorothy Grise that fountain pens were only available on the black market at high prices, Mia asked if she could arrange to buy one–even a used one–from America for Fritz’s birthday. Nevertheless, Mia was hopeful as she moved toward marriage and a family of her own in the postwar world. “We are going forward, a little slow,” she wrote, “but we go.”
A finding aid for Mia Kleijnen’s letters to the Grise family of Bowling Green can be downloaded here. For more on our collections, search TopScholar and KenCat.
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These twenty ladies comprised the Potter College for Young Ladies Class of 1903. To date we have identified Mamie Johnston, Maud Cole, Celeste Cuthbertson and Hallie Brite. As with many photographs in the WKU University Archives, we need your help to identify the remaining members of the class. A larger version of this image is available online at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/293. So take a closer look and let us know if you can identify anyone else.
Check KenCat for other “unidentified” images and see if you recognize anyone. It may just be you!
We have also digitized the extant Green & Gold Potter College student magazine published between 1902 and 1909. We are missing the Vol. 3, No. 3 issue. Please contact us if you have a copy to donate to the archives.
The Potter College yearbooks called Golden Rod and Talisman are also available online.
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On the afternoon of May 9, 2011, WKU Libraries gave Dr. Mike Binder, Special Assistant to the Provost and former Dean of Libraries, a reception for all he has done in the past 25 and a half years. Among the gifts was a memorabilia scrapbook photos. On behalf of Interim Dean Connie Foster and the employees of the WKU Libraries, Brian Coutts, Head of Department of Library Public Service, made a speech thanking Dr. Binder for his services and initiatives.
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Helm-Cravens Library will be open each night until 2am this finals week from Sunday, May 8th through Thursday, May 12th. As in past semesters Western’s Student Government Association is helping to underwrite this service to our students. For the first time, the Student Technology Center (the computer lab) on the second floor of the Helm Library will also be extending its hours until 2am from May 8th through May 12th.
Students needing a study break can stop by Java City in Helm Library for complimentary coffee and pastries from 10pm to 2am on May 8th, 9th, 11th, and 12th.
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Sam Sing Price List
The Kentucky Library & Museum recently accessioned an interesting account book related to a Chinese laundry in Bowling Green. The ledger, written in English, contains a few pages of customer accounts kept for Sam Sing, the operator of a laundry here in the 1880s. At the back of the notebook is a small printed form which lists the types of work Sam Sing performed in his hand laundry and the corresponding prices for those services. We know nothing else about Sam Sing. To view the finding aid for this collection click here.
In the late-nineteenth century United States, the occupation of laundry worker was heavily identified with Chinese Americans. Discrimination, language barriers, and lack of capital kept Chinese Americans from most available occupations. Around 1900, one-fourth of all ethnic Chinese men in the United States worked in a laundry. “Laundry work,” wrote one historian, “was especially wearisome, because it meant the soaking, scrubbing, and ironing of clothing solely by hand; moreover, prompt and high quality service was necessary to keep customers satisfied. Workers in laundries…received the going wage of twenty-five dollars per month, and despite long hours the work-week was seven days. For the majority of the Chinese, then, the daily routine was almost solely working, eating, and sleeping. There were few other occupations available to Chinese.”
We do know of at least one other Chinese launderer that lived in Bowling Green, and unfortunately he met a tragic fate. Kee Shuck operated a laundry on College Street. He was murdered with a pair of scissors on May 30, 1896. The culprit was never found, although the operator of a rival Chinese laundry was a prime suspect. With no local family Kee Shuck was buried in an unmarked grave in Fairview Cemetery. The Kentucky Library & Museum owns his city-issued burial permit. His cause of death is listed as “murder” and his color “yellow.” For more information on Bowling Green history, check out TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.
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In the News: Osama bin Laden
Free Salem Reference of Current Interest
by Peter W. Tobey, Salem Press
Osama bin Laden’s death returns us to the subject of September 11, 2001 in a number of ways. But the events of that day, the personalities, frustrations, and cultural clashes involved are far from straightforward. And the repercussions are, of course, far-reaching.
Salem Press has published a great deal on the history, biographies, religious and cultural backgrounds of terrorism. Perhaps most significantly, Salem has brought libraries two critical works by the Schlager Group covering the original source documents (plus analysis) of works by both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden.
Free Relevant News
We’ve selected these and two other articles on this subject (from four different reference works) because we feel your patrons and students may find them informative. You may download them freely, print as many copies of these articles as you need, and distribute them any way you’d like.
Salem also has published a brief, helpful biography of Osama bin Laden and an overview of the war on terrorism. See links to these articles below:
“Osama bin Laden” (1,682 words) from Great Lives from History: The 20th Century
“The War on Terror” (4,656 words) from Weapons & Warfare
Complimentary Downloads
To download these articles click on In the News.
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