Tag Archives: Just Interesting

Domestic Manners of the Americans by Mrs. Frances Trollope

By Janice Schulz

“We heard on every side, that of all the known places on ‘the globe called earth,’ Cincinnati was the most favourable for a young man to settle in…”

From Domestic Manners of the Americans

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Mrs. Frances Trollope

Mrs. Frances Trollope

London gentlewoman Mrs. Frances Trollope had an idea. She would open a shop – a shop in America where she could offer the residents of that fast-growing country the finer things in life – unique items that they otherwise would not have the chance to purchase. Her middle son Henry could run the store, establish himself in a lucrative business, and take advantage of the opportunities that America had to offer a young man. Although possessed of the highest manners and an impressive family background, the Trollopes were not wealthy by the definition of London society, a fact that seriously interfered with Mrs. Trollope’s plans, especially for her children’s future. So she looked to America, and specifically to Cincinnati, to provide the right economic climate and market for her shop idea. In the end the venture was not a smashing success and her expectations of Cincinnati were far from confirmed, but the trip resulted in what would become Mrs. Trollope’s crowning glory, Domestic Manners of the Americans, a travel log of her adventures in the United States. While the book earned Mrs. Trollope popularity and was hailed as a triumph in her homeland, its revelations of uncultured Americans served to portray her as a snobbish villain in the States, particularly with the residents of Cincinnati. Continue reading →

Zen in the Archives and Rare Books Library: John Cage and the Van Meter Ames Papers

By Lauren Fink

Cage and Van Meter Ames

Van Meter Ames (left) with John Cage.

A new collection, documenting the friendship between composer John Cage and UC professor Van Meter Ames, has just been added to the Van Meter Ames Papers in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Books Library. Van Meter Ames was a faculty member in the UC philosophy department, beginning in 1925, and served as its head from 1959 until 1966 when he retired. Ames was a Rockefeller grantee, a fellow of the UC graduate school, and a Fulbright research professor in philosophy, University of Komozawa, Tokyo, 1958-59. Throughout his career, Ames wrote and published on a vast range of topics including aesthetics, the self, ethics, religion, science, freedom, existentialism, and Eastern philosophy. His interest in Zen paralleled Cage’s and solidified their mutual respect for one another, which is evidenced in this collection of documents.

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T. M. Berry Project: Sargent Shriver and Special Thanks to Gail Berry West and Judge Ted N. Berry

By Laura Laugle

Berry and Shriver talkingMy favorite finds for this week come to the Archives and Rare Books library courtesy of Judge Ted N. Berry and his sister Gail Berry West who kindly donated another addition to the Theodore M. Berry Collection. The pair came to visit the ARB while Gail was up from Washington D.C. visiting. I had a great time escorting them down memory lane with some items of particular interest I pulled from the collection for their visit.

Among the treasures they brought were these two photos which picture Berry and Shriver at a meeting with top management at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and Vice President Hubert Humphrey (seated at the far end of the table next to Sarge in the photo below.) Though they worked together closely for almost four years during the Johnson administration we have only a few photos of Berry and Shriver together and little in the way of correspondence other than that which pertains to the operation of OEO programs. Continue reading →

The Bearcat

By Janice Schulz

Have you looked at the Archives & Rare Books Library’s Bearcat exhibit lately? If not, you will want to check it out because we are continually adding new images and links to this evolving display of Bearcat memorabilia. The exhibit’s 70-plus images date back to 1914, when Leonard “Teddy” Baehr lent his name to what would become UC’s beloved mascot. Recent additions include the new Bearcat statue installed in 2010.   In addition to the images we have provided links to pages on Bearcat history and tradition as well as current news. (Remember the snowball arrest at last year’s Pitt game? – Yeah, we have the video!) Join us for a fun trip through the years with our Bearcat!

Leonard “Teddy” Baehr, the football star who lent his name to the Bearcat, 1914

Celebrating the NCAA championship, 1961

Bearcat Statue

The Bearcat statue installed in 2010

T. M. Berry Project: Civil Rights Leaders of 1942

Last week was highly productive in the sense that I got through a great deal of material. Unfortunately, much of that material consisted of things like insurance bills from 1975 and blank notebooks with dead flies stuck between the pages (yuck!) In other words, it’s bound for the “weed” pile. There was however, a diamond in the rough – a small collection of 8 x 10 glossy photos, most of which were taken at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles at the 1942 National Convention of the NAACP.

Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. NAACP Conference, 1942 Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: The Tuskegee Airmen Case of 1945

Poster depicting a Tuskegee Airman, Image courtesy of the US NARA, ARC ID 514823

If you’ve read my blog entry entitled “T. M. Berry Project: A Few Words for Sarge and Berry’s WWII Service” then you’ll know that Theodore Berry served in the federal Office of War Information during World War II as a Liaison Officer for Group Morale responsible for the “Negro Problem.” For those who have not read that post, let me explain that in Berry’s own words such positions “are in substitute for positions of merit and responsibility in general affairs of government heretofore occupied by Negroes prior to World War I and the Wilson Administration. They are compromise sinecures and in the nature of the case are second class – they compromise the Negro in his efforts and desire to share and serve his government, and they compromise the incumbents of the position.” Berry was thwarted at every turn in his efforts help African Americans serving and dying for their country during his short tenure at the Office of War Information by “dollar-a-year-men” who held no position of rank but nonetheless garnered control of Negro Morale Programs via secretive dealings with the administration. Because of this experience, Berry was no stranger to the rampant discrimination taking place in the American Armed Forces when, in 1945, future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall asked him to act as lead counsel for the defense team which Marshall would be directing on behalf  of three Tuskegee Airmen who had been court-martialed after the Freeman Field Mutiny. Continue reading →

Artist Justin Green

By Kevin Grace

In the past few weeks, the Archives & Rare Books Library has had some interesting visits from Justin Green, one of the pioneers of underground comics in the 1960s and 1970s.  Green is probably best known for his groundbreaking and controversial graphic novel, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, originally published in 1972 and re-issued in 2009 by McSweeney’s Books, one of the great innovative publishers in America.  In 2003, Last Gasp Press of San Francisco issued Justin’s incredible Musical Legends material that was first published in Pulse! Magazine.

Over the decades, Justin’s art has extended well beyond the heady days of the counterculture.  In recent years, he has created a wide range of notable watercolors and signage.  And, his blogs show his explorations into other areas of graphic illustration, such as his research in ARB in emblem books from the 15th to the 17th centuries.  His blog explains the importance of emblems in the history of book art and publishing: http://depression09.blogspot.com/2011/04/botanical-emblem-book.html and http://justingreencartoonart.blogspot.com/2011/02/forgotten-genre.html.

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Inaugural Life of the Mind Lecture Scheduled for April 19

The Life of the Mind lecture series will kick off April 19 at 3:30-5pm in the Russell C. Myers Alumni Center. Free and open to the UC community and public, Life of the Mind features interdisciplinary conversations with UC faculty around a one-word theme. Each quarter, there are two Life of the Mind sessions with three “thought provocateurs” contributing to each session. Each scholar provides a 15-minute talk followed by audience Q&A.

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