Finding Her Passion in ARB

Lauren Fink, a junior percussion performance major in UC's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), started work in the Archives & Rare Books Library in summer 2011 as a student assistant. In January 2012, she became the Library's intern, working on three projects, the first of which was to fully process the Nelson and Florence Hoffman Cincinnati Postcard Collection, a group of over 1,500 postcards reflecting the history and images of Cincinnati. From there she went on to process a collection of 53 calendar cards created by the Strobridge Lithography Company and donated by Gaylord Oscar Shepherd, Jr. Her final project as intern was to research and create an exhibit about the Library's books on dreams. Lauren completed her internship in June 2012. Following is a piece Lauren wrote for the Libraries' blog about the first collection she worked with and the impact it has had on her academic pursuits.

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When I began working at the Archives and Rare Books Library last June, I never could have imagined all that I would learn in the following year. As my one year anniversary at the Archives and Rare Books Library approaches, I find myself reflecting on all of the great collections I have had the opportunity to process and research, all of the priceless books I have gotten to browse every day, and all of the help and support I have been given from my wonderful co-workers.

By sheer chance, the very first collection I was given to process during my initial weeks of working here was directly related to my percussion performance major and my academic interests. The Van Meter Ames Papers document the friendship between the late UC philosophy professor Van Meter Ames (1898-1985) and prolific 20th-century composer, music theorist, writer, and artist John Cage (1912-1992), composer in residence at CCM from 1966-7. Most of the collection consists of an unpublished manuscript written by Ames about his own life and Cage's.

After spending the first few days of processing this collection in awe of what I was holding in my hands – something I was pretty sure no one else knew about – I needed to tell my percussion professor, Allen Otte, a member of the Percussion Group Cincinnati. Because Otte was interested and excited about the collection, and because I wanted a chance to work with the collection more closely, I applied for a grant from the Undergraduate Research Council (URC) with Allen Otte serving as my advisor.

Having just been notified of my URC award, I am very excited to report that this summer I will have the opportunity to research and analyze the Van Meter Ames Papers in more depth. My eventual project goals include writing a paper that will be presented at the John Cage Centennial Conference held at CCM this fall.

Because 2012 is John Cage's Centennial celebration, multiple Cage-related events are being held all over Cincinnati and the world. For a complete list of world-wide events, see the official centennial website at http://johncage.org/2012/. To visit the Washington, D.C. Festival homepage, visit www.johncage2012.com. For Cincinnati events, keep an eye out in publications like CityBeat and CCM's online calendar at www.uc.edu/webapps/ccm/Calendar/MonthlyCalendar.aspx. Multiple Cage performances, including the Percussion Group Cincinnati playing Cage's Renga for 75 Musicians with the CCM orchestra (on Nov. 29th, 2012), are scheduled. Though the Solway Gallery has just ended its John Cage and Friends exhibit, it is still viewable online at
www.solwaygallery.com/2012_exhibitions.html.

To learn more about the Van Meter Ames Papers or any additional Archives and Rare Books holdings, visit www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb.

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