by | September 8, 2015 · 9:06 pm

1866 Stereoviews of Mammoth Cave

mc28The Department of Library Special Collections at WKU recently acquired a complete set of Charles L. Waldack’s 1866 stereoviews of Mammoth Cave. The collection of 42  stereoviews are magnesium light views about Mammoth Cave, and include scenes of the Hotel, guests, the African American cave guides, and many interior shots of cave formations. Stereoviews, also known as stereoscopic photographs or stereographs, were introduced in the early 19th century for viewing two almost identical images through a stereoscope to offer a 3D illusion.

Originally from Belgium, Waldack came to the United States in 1857, and is the first photographer of the cave. Waldack was noted for bringing “sunlight” to the interior of the cave by the use of magnesium to create images of the cave and the surrounding area.  The 42 views of Mammoth Cave were published by E. & H.T. Anthony & Co.

According to the Journal of Speleological History, “These were the first high quality photographs produced underground in any cave.” Waldack had a photography shop at 31West 3rd Street in Cincinnati and made many excellent views between 1857 and 1873. His most significant were his 42 stereoviews of Mammoth Cave. Twelve of his photographs were printed as engravings in the 1870 book A Historical and Descriptive Narrative of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky by William S. Forwood.

“WKU has long been a premier research institution for speleology and karst studies, and we have a particular interest and emphasis on Mammoth Cave due to its proximity and its long history as a tourist destination,” said Jonathan Jeffrey, Department head for WKU’s Library Special Collections.  “The Waldack stereograph collection is a major and unique acquisition for WKU; we are thrilled to make them available to our researchers.”

These stereoviews can be seen by visiting http://www.wku.edu/library/dlsc/index.php or by viewing it on the KenCat collection at http://wku.pastperfect-online.com/35749cgi/mweb.exe?request=keyword;keyword=waldack;dtype=d

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by | · 5:07 pm

WKU Librarians teach genealogy and local sources

On August 22, 2015 at the Cave City Convention Center, Katherine Pennavaria and Sue Lynn McDaniel presented a total of four of the ten sessions aimed assisting genealogists in their research at “Finding Your Family Story: Genealogy Symposium.” In the morning, McDaniel presented Beginning Genealogy 101-Part I and Beginning Genealogy 101-Part II, while that afternoon Pennavaria presented “Dancing with your skeltons” and “What else does the census say?” All four sessions were well attended and received positive feedback from participants.

Informing local historians and genealogists about Library Special Collections is a constant goal.

Informing local historians and genealogists about Library Special Collections is a constant goal.

Library Special Collections also had a table informing the public about one of the best genealogical libraries in the state of Kentucky. Available for pickup were Special Collections rack cards, WKU Libraries: Your Research Partner, McDaniel’s business card, WKU Libraries pens and candy. McDaniel plans to have a table at the upcoming Louisville Genealogical Society’s Annual Seminar on October 17th. Working with the LGS Seminar Chairman 2014 and 2015 Donald C. Howell, McDaniel will plan a Louisville Genealogical Society field trip to Library Special Collections to learn more about unique resources in our collection.

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by | September 4, 2015 · 12:35 pm

Back in Time – August

We’re changing up the format a bit due to the website audit. We will be highlighting documents, photos and events which took place 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.rotate1

25 years ago – Student Activities & Organizations 1989-90 Annual Report

50 years ago – Photos of students moving into the dorms in 1965.

75 years ago – Nina Hammer Oral History.  William Jenkins interviewed the former Bowling Green Business University Registrar about her time as a student and working at the BU.

100 years ago – Photo of the WKU student body in 1915

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by | September 3, 2015 · 6:48 pm

His Dream Home

J. C. Browning

J. C. Browning

In thousands of World War II soldiers’ letters in the collections of the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives section of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections, servicemen express their patriotism, love of family, apprehension, boredom, determination, and a host of other emotions.  Reading of a man’s hopes for the future, however, is especially moving if we know that he didn’t make it home to realize those hopes and dreams.

Edmonson County, Kentucky native James “J.C.” Browning left his teaching job, wife Lila and infant daughter for service with the U.S. Army at Fort Knox in August 1941.  He trained in Ireland, then embarked for North Africa, where he was killed in November 1942 during the Allied invasion campaign known as Operation Torch.  But J.C.’s letters to Lila rarely dwelt upon the threats he faced (he seemed more worried about what would happen to their baby if Lila died while he was overseas!)  Instead, he returned time and again to one of his fondest wishes: that after the war they would purchase a home.  As these excerpts from his letters show, J.C.’s dream was vivid, and no doubt sustained him until his death:

If we really save while I am in the army this year we can make a down payment on our home somewhere. . . . We would admire it and love it as we made it better and better.  I’m really looking forward to that.

I would like to buy a home as quickly as we can. . . .  It takes an awful long time to build up a farm home that we would be proud of.  That is what I want and I will never be satisfied until we get started on it.

We want a very fertile farm close to town.  It should contain about 80 or 90 acres and have the modern conveniences of town.  In other words we want a town home out in the country.

Remember that we have a home to establish and it is a semi-country home.  It should contain about a hundred acres of good land and a tenant house because most of our work will be done for the public.

We must select a good location, one that we would like when we are old as well as now.  We should know what we are going to be doing 10, 20 or more years from now.  We must think and plan things to the best of our ability.

Click here to access a finding aid for J. C. Browning’s letters to his wife Lila.  For other World War II collections, search TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.

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by | August 31, 2015 · 4:46 pm

Faculty members of Library Technical Services attend training

NACO blog pictureDepartment of Library Technical Services faculty Laura Bohuski and Amanda Drost had the opportunity to attend a 4-day Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) training at the University of Kentucky in June of 2015.

NACO is a program where participants contribute authority records for personal, corporate, and jurisdictional names; as well as uniform titles and series to the Library of Congress/NACO Authority File.

The Library of Congress defines authority control as a means of establishing a uniform recognized title for the body responsible for authoring a work and using that title whenever the name is required as an access point in a bibliographic record.

Why is authority control important? It provides the library user a way to search the catalog more easily. When a controlled heading is established for an author’s name, works by that author can be collected and accessed under the same access point in the library catalog. Authority control makes it easy to differentiate between people and corporate bodies with similar or identical names. It also allows librarians to link works together even if they have different titles and editions. These features of authority control ultimately clean up the library database and makes it easier for users to conduct research.

At their training, Laura and Amanda learned how to create authority records that meet the Library of Congress’s standards. By following these standards, they are able to contribute authority records to the Library of Congress’s authority file database, which is used by libraries worldwide.

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by | August 27, 2015 · 8:03 pm

WKU Libraries kicks off the 2015-16 Academic Year

DSC_0471WKU Libraries held staff, faculty, and library-all kick off meetings met Wednesday, August 19 in Helm 100. Dean Connie Foster welcomed and gave a brief presentation, charting the library course for the upcoming academic year. New faculty and staff were introduced. Glenda White, Dean’s Office coordinator, handed out numerous door prizes to everyone throughout the day.

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by | · 2:47 pm

A Railroad Man

Bowling Green depot, 1936; Morehead Hotel, 1921

Bowling Green depot, 1936; Morehead Hotel, 1921

Edwin “Ed” Tanksley (1898-1975) joined the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1925.  By the time he retired in 1960, he had witnessed many changes in the railroad industry and its significance for his home city of Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The transcript of a 1967 interview in which Tanksley talks about his long career is part of the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives collections of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections.

As a clerk and then a yardman, Tanksley became closely acquainted with the mechanics of train operation and the skill of his fellow workers.  There was Smith Wood, “one of the grandest men you ever saw handle a throttle,” able to “tool those big steam engines around these bends in the track and not spill a drop of coffee.”  There was engineer “Grandma” Garr, known for his love of buttermilk, and John “Dink” Petty, a wizard on the air brakes who could give his crew in the caboose a whiplash-free ride.  Their jobs could be stressful: Tanksley recalled the anguish of engineers unable to stop their trains to avoid hitting someone on the tracks.  There were also hazards in the yard, especially for those handling the couplers between rail cars.  “I used to work with men that didn’t have but two or three fingers left on a hand because they would get them pinched off,” he remembered.

Tanksley became familiar with many of the Bowling Green hotels that catered to railroad employees and the traveling public in the 1920s and 1930s.  There were the upscale hotels, the Mansard and the Morehead, the smaller Webb Hotel, operated by a former railroad conductor, and the Rauscher House, known for its good food.  Travelers on a layover in Bowling Green could pass the time at 5-cent picture shows, or at the Potter Opera House being entertained by minstrel companies whose actors and scenery came to town via the railroad.

The railroad also brought many VIPs through Bowling Green.  Tanksley remembered evangelist Mordecai Ham and whistle stops by governors, senators and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  FDR was a “railroad man’s friend,” said Tanksley.  The Railroad Retirement Act, a piece of New Deal legislation that provided pensions to those two- and three-fingered retirees, was “the reason a railroad man is pretty crazy about Franklin D.”

Click here to access a finding aid for Ed Tanksley’s interview.  For more collections on railroads, search TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.

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by | August 26, 2015 · 9:28 pm

Elizabethtown Library Faculty Tony Paganelli wins Dean’s Research Award

Dean Connie Foster announced Library Faculty Tony Paganelli as the inaugural research award winner at the faculty kick off meeting Wednesday, August 19 in Helm 100.

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The winning  research instruction session was designed to provide student interaction utilizing the Interactive Video Service(IVS) system for all four campus locations at WKU. The overall theme of the session was based on the NCAA College Basketball bracket system called March Madness, which the session was titled “Research Madness.” The information provided for the session is based on the WKU Libraries’ Statement of Objectives for Research  Instruction.

The research session placed students in groups, which they had the opportunity to name their group or team. Once the teams were named, students were given instruction on specific research and library information. Following each instruction section, students had to complete a given task. The tasks were organized in three rounds: Elite Eight, Final Four, and the Championship. A grading system was created to determine which team won each round. Please note, all teams advanced to each round. The brackets were released at the end of the session to determine the winner.

The session provided the necessary information to aid students in the research process, while allowing them an opportunity to participate in a fun activity. I attached a full detailed abstract of the session, if that helps better describe the instruction. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

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by | August 25, 2015 · 8:41 pm

Kentucky Women Writers Conference Livestream Set for September 11 & 12

KWWC Square Color

Date: Friday, September 11
Time: 8:00am – 3:15pm
Location: Room 212, Visual and Performing Arts Library (VPAL), Cravens Library
Contact: Sara Volpi (sara.volpi@wku.edu)

Description: Join us for the first ever FREE livestream of the annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference, live from Lexington, KY. Hear from acclaimed authors like Ann Beattie, Jacinda Townsend, Sonia Sanchez, Meghan Daum, Emily Bingham, and more to help you hone your craft and leave feeling inspired to write. Tickets are valued at $200, but thanks to a partnership with Conference Director Julie Wrinn, we’ll be able to livestream sessions and panels all day Friday and Saturday straight to you here at WKU. All are welcome. You must RSVP to attend by emailing sara.volpi@wku.edu by September 7. Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served, and participants are free to bring personal laptops for notes.

Daily Schedule:   

  • 8:00 -9:00 am poetry reading by Sonia Sanchez, with introduction and Q&A by DaMaris Hill
  • 9:15 – 10:15 am “Can the Writing Life Make Peace with Family Life?” panel discussion with Meghan Daum, DaMaris Hill, Hannah Pittard, and Julie Wrinn
  • 10:30 – 11:30 readings by Jacinda Townsend and Emily Bingham
  • 1:00 – 2:00 pm literary agent Joy Harris’ talk (part 1)
  • 2:15 – 3:15 pm Publishing Strategies for Poets: panel discussion with Lynnell Edwards, Kristen Miller, and Katerina Stoykova-Klemer

ann beattie Emily_Bingham Meghan Daum

Sanchez, Sonia head shot Jacinda Townsend

Date: Saturday, September 12
Time: 8:00am – 11:30am
Location: Room 212, Visual and Performing Arts Library (VPAL), Cravens Library
Contact: Sara Volpi (sara.volpi@wku.edu)

Description: Join us for the first ever FREE livestream of the annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference, live from Lexington, KY. Hear from acclaimed authors like Ann Beattie, Jacinda Townsend, Sonia Sanchez, Meghan Daum, Emily Bingham, and more to help you hone your craft and leave feeling inspired to write. Tickets are valued at $200, but thanks to a partnership with Conference Director Julie Wrinn, we’ll be able to livestream sessions and panels all day Friday and Saturday straight to you here at WKU. All are welcome. You must RSVP to attend by emailing sara.volpi@wku.edu by September 7. Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served, and participants are free to bring personal laptops for notes.

Daily Schedule:

  • 8:00 – 9:00am “What I Think I’m Doing” fiction craft talk Ann Beattie
  • 9:15 – 10:15 am literary agent Joy Harris’ talk (part 2)
  • 10:30 – 11:30 dramatic reading by Carson Kreitzer, with introduction and Q&A by Eric Seale

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by | August 21, 2015 · 3:37 pm

Mammoth Cave Stereoviews 1866

The Department of Library Special Collections at WKU already has an impressive collection of illustrative material related to Mammoth Cave. These items include glass plate negatives, post cards, guide books, etc. A recent acquisition of a complete set Charles L. Waldack’s 1866 stereo views will greatly enhance these materials as Waldack is the first photographer of the cave. The 42 “Magnesium Light Views in Mammoth Cave” were published by E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. and include scenes of the Hotel, guests, the African American cave guides and many interior shots of cave formations. Waldack, origimage015inally from Belgium came to the United States in 1857. It was noted that he brought “sunlight” to the interior of the cave by the use of magnesium, so that one of the greatest natural wonders of the world could be seen by many. His biography from a special edition of the “Journal of Speleological History” (2000) notes: “These were the first high quality photographs produced underground in any cave. Waldack was naturalized as an American citizen after his marriage to Mary Tanner (born about 1849) of Kentucky, who was also a photographer. He set up a photography shop at 31 West 3rd Street in Cincinnati and made many excellent views of buildings, streets, and bridges between 1857 and 1873. Most important was his 42 stereo cards of Mammoth Cave. The Anthony series was continuously printed until about 1872, and 12 of the photographs were printed as engravings in the 1870 book, “A Historical and Descriptive Narrative of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky” by William S. Forwood.

These stereo views can be seen at by visiting WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections or by clicking on the link to access the images at KenCat.

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