Tag: SC50

Categories

Ghosts in the Archives

What do an airship crash, a talking mongoose, and the most haunted house in England have in common? They are all topics addressed in the Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation Collection held in UMBC Special Collections. 

This remarkable collection of more than 12,000 books and over 100 periodicals, including rare books on and early journals devoted to psychical research, was compiled by the Parapsychology Foundation. Founded in 1951 by trance medium and research advocate Eileen J. Garrett and congressional representative Hon. Frances P. Bolton, The Parapsychology Foundation is a non-profit organization that encourages and supports impartial scientific inquiry into psychical aspects of human nature such as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis. It provides a worldwide forum supporting the academic and scientific investigation of psychic phenomena. In 2022, the Parapsychology Foundation donated its extensive library to UMBC. 

The collection emphasizes the literature of contemporary parapsychology and publications that approach the subject from objective and analytical points of view. Strengths include: the history of psychical research and parapsychology, including early Spiritualism, mysticism and relevant philosophical works, as well as mediumship, apparitions, hauntings, poltergeists, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and experimental research on extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis, and precognition. 

Hand holding a rare book in front of a row of bookshelves.
A volume from the Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation Collection. (Image courtesy of Shannon Taggart)

Among the rare books in the collection are Girolamo Cardano’s Somniorum Synesiorum omnis generis insomnia explicantes (1562) on the interpretation of Dreams, the three-volume collected works of physician and alchemist Paracelsus, Opera omnia : medico-chemico-chirurgica (1658), astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, John Dee’s A true and faithful relation of what passed for many yeers between Dr. John Dee (a mathematician of great fame in Queen Elizabeth and King James their reignes) and some spirits (1659), and the first English translation of scientist and mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg’s treatise on the plurality of worlds, De telluribus in mundo nostro solari (Concerning Earths in our Solar System, 1787.)

The accompanying archival collection comprises the history and proceedings of the Parapsychology Foundation and its annual conferences and publications, as well as fieldwork, research notes, and manuscripts from prominent parapsychologists. Audio-visual materials include over 600 audio and video recordings of conferences and lectures, spirit photographs, glass slides, target images, objects used in psychokinesis experiments (moving objects with the mind), and an ESP testing machine. Among the people and topics included in the collection are: the Bindelof séance phenomena, research files of psychic researcher Hereward Carrington, Montague Ullman and Stanley Krippner’s dream telepathy research, the poltergeist investigations and personal scrapbook of Nandor Fodor, scrapbooks compiled by Eileen J. Garrett, and spirit audio recordings captured by Hans Holzer. The collection also features original manuscripts by psychical researcher Harry Price and others pertaining to the infamous Borley Rectory case, popularly known as the most haunted house in England. 

Front page of Daily Express newspaper.
Daily Express Newspaper reprint, October 6, 1930. R-101 Airship files, Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation collection, Collection 331, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

Of particular interest are original case files related to the R-101 Airship crash, a disaster that occurred on October 5, 1930 when a British airship on its maiden voyage to India plummeted into the French countryside, killing 48 of 54 passengers and crew. That month, Garrett, who had demonstrated paranormal abilities since her childhood in Ireland and had already become a well-known medium, took part in a séance with Price. The purpose of the gathering was for Garrett to contact Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—author of Sherlock Holmes and an avid Spiritualist—who had recently died. Instead, Garrett channeled the voice of Airship R-101 Flight Lieutenant H. Carmichael Irwin, who reported on the technical failures that had precipitated the Airship’s fateful crash. Garrett also channeled the voices of several crash victims at another séance. The specificity of these communications, including technical details that were not public, convinced many that Garrett was indeed making contact with the dead. Files related to this incident at UMBC include news clippings and original manuscripts pertaining to this sensational story. 

Now, about that talking Mongoose… 

Small animal on fencepost.
James Irving, Gef the Mongoose, 1930s. Gelatin silver print. Nandor Fodor papers, Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation collection, Collection 331, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

In 1931, a family living on the Isle of Man claimed that their farmhouse was haunted by a spectral talking mongoose named Gef. Also known as the Dalby Spook, Gef—who could speak several languages—told the Irvings that he was 83 and from India. Initially, they saw him as a nuisance, but soon Gef became something like a family member. He hunted rabbits for them and read the newspaper over Mr. Irving’s shoulder. The story became a sensation and psychic investigators Price and Fodor studied the case, though Gef never made an appearance in front of these outsiders. If the Dalby Spook was an elaborate hoax, it was never definitively disproved. Researchers can sift through the evidence (including first-hand accounts, clippings, and photographs) in the Garrett Collection at UMBC and draw their own conclusions about Gef. 

Although the archival collection is currently being processed, researchers may consult these materials in our reading room. A box-level inventory is available by request and we are happy to assist users in locating materials relevant to their research. We are also working with our colleagues in the Library’s Technical Services department to catalog the books and serials. You can view the holdings that have already been added to the library catalog by narrowing your search location to Special Collections and the named collection to “Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation Collection.” Please reach out to speccoll@umbc.edu for further assistance. We hope you will visit and explore these fascinating materials! 

View of seance circle from behind a man's head.
[Séance with ectoplasm viewed from behind man’s head.]Gelatin silver print from glass transparency. Nandor Fodor papers, Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation collection, Collection 331, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).
Categories

In Love and (Post)War: Depictions of Gender Roles and Relationships in 1950s Romance Comics

This blog post analyzes romance comic selections from Heart Throbs: The Best of DC Romance Comics (1979). The compilation book and other standalone romance comic titles can be found in Special Collections’ comic book archive, which offers an assortment of other genres such as superhero, western, horror, and more! Click here to see more information about this collection and how to access its materials.

Today’s conceptions of romance comics range from appreciation for their bright, nostalgia-evoking aesthetic appeal and dramatic flair, to derision for their cheesy, shallow nature. But at one point in time, young women and girls across America were voracious consumers of these stories, and it’s no wonder why so many were once enthralled with them. Despite the stigma attached to the romance genre, love as a motif in American media has been ubiquitous and pervasive throughout time. As love is a concept that many can relate to—or, at least, hope to relate to—romance comics offered their audience a way to secondhandedly engage with the positive and negative experiences associated with love in a highly entertaining manner. Popular media has also served as a significant vehicle through which the masses learn social scripts. For this demographic, romance comics acted as somewhat of a soft form of propaganda, as they helped express and reaffirm notions of gender and sexuality that were dominant in the given era.

Front cover of "Heart Throbs: The Best of DC Romance Comics" in the Special Collections reading room. The cover features a woman and man embracing on the verge of a kiss. The woman is shedding tears and the thought bubble above her head reads: "If we don't stop now — we'll be living a lie!"
Scott, Naomi. Heart Throbs: The Best of DC Romance Comics. A Fireside Book. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1979. Rosenfeld (Science fiction) PN6726 .H4 1979

While the tumultuous years of World War II saw women increasingly assume social and economic roles beyond what traditional femininity would normally allow in order to make up for the large absence of men, the postwar years called for a swift rebound back to what was considered safe, normal, and stable (that is, in the imagination of white, middle-class, heterosexual America.) After the war, American youth were transitioning into adulthood at an accelerated rate: a young woman could find herself going from being a student to a fully-fledged homemaker almost instantly! At the same time, though, came the rise of a definitive youth culture marked by rebellion that evoked anxiety within the older generations. For young women, immoral behavior was primarily defined by sexual impropriety, and the promotion of traditional values was thought to be the solution to curbing such. Romance comics mirrored this sentiment, with the heroines’ woes usually being rooted in their failure to measure up to standards of traditional femininity (ex. Disappointing her breadwinner husband by not being a proficient housewife). Though these comics could be considered progressive in the sense that they weren’t hesitant to show the heroines struggling to grapple with their newfound responsibilities and communicate how difficult these standards truly were to live up to, conflict is ultimately always resolved by the heroines miraculously finding it within themselves to conform nonetheless. Take, for example, the conflict and resolution presented in these two strips:

Title page for "Impatient Heart" The cover features a man and a woman hugging as her sister looks from afar. In the scene, the woman agrees to marry the man, whereas her sister thinks that she's making a hasty decision that the woman will ultimately regret. The synopsis reads as follows: My sister Adele was thirty years old — and unmarried! In my eyes she was an old maid, and her life was finished! I was so terrified of being like her that I was ready to say 'yes' gratefully to the first man who asked me to marry him And, when I did, I almost broke my...'Impatient Heart!'"
“Impatient Heart.” Secret Hearts #26, February-March 1955.

In “Impatient Heart” struggling dater Irene contemplates the prospect of marrying the first man who shows her interest lest she end up like her “old maid” unmarried sister (who, by the way, is only thirty years old…) As Irene and Dennis’s relationship progresses, she begins to have second thoughts about whether or not she truly loves him. Her apprehension is confirmed when her sister manages to find her own true love, and she notices the stark differences between their two relationships. Irene ultimately decides to call it off with Dennis, but her happiness is not achieved by overcoming the fear of being an “old maid” and finding security in being single, but rather, continuing the pursuit of finding a husband and eventually securing “the one.”

Title page for "Forbidden Future" The cover features a woman in a long coat carrying suitcases walking down the street as elderly onlookers gossip about her. The synopsis reads as follows: "It isn't easy to return to a small town that was waiting for a chance to gloat over my unhappiness, to fling the bitter words 'I told you so!' in my face, to make me feel unwanted and despised. But I did return, hoping, somehow, to build a new life from the wreckage of my dreams and make my heart whole again. I soon learned, though, that for me happiness was a...Forbidden Future!"
“Forbidden Future.” Girls’ Love Stories #15, January-February 1952

“Forbidden Future” features Della Martin, a divorcee who returns to her hometown on the receiving end of everyone’s scorn. At a social gathering, an old acquaintance named Bill Waters attempts to overstep Della’s sexual boundaries under the presumption that she is promiscuous due to her divorcee status. Handsome heartthrob Dr. Alan Marshall steps in to save her, and after getting to know each other, they quickly fall in love. However, Della is worried about damaging Alan’s goodwill in the neighborhood with her own poor image and intends to skip town, forgoing any thoughts of marrying him. On the drive out of town, Della happens to come across a school bus crash and manages to change everyone’s mind about her after she saves the children from the burning bus — a nurturing, maternal act that practically epitomizes upstanding femininity. With her womanhood restored in the eyes of the public, Della now feels confident enough to pursue a future with her newfound beau!

Scans of the Julia Roberts' Romance Report advice column. The comic features a woman sitting as she writes on a typewriter with a rotary phone next to it.
“Julia Roberts’ Romance Report.” Girls’ Romances #14, April-May 1952.

Often times, romance comics would include features aside from the strips such as self-quizzes and advice columns. If avid readers ever had a burning question on their minds, these columns existed to guide them in the right direction: “What can I do to become prettier? Do you have any tips on navigating the social scene? How do I get my dream man? Am I even the right one for him?” But while they appeared to be written by women for women, similar to the strips, they were in fact…mostly written by men. Because of this dissonance, it would be within good reason to call into question the validity of the advice provided in these columns. Fortunately for the pictured column, the man masquerading as “Julia Roberts” doesn’t provide the worst advice possible. In the first Q&A section, a thirteen year old under the alias “Discouraged” ponders why she and her friends aren’t popular with the boys in her neighborhood, and he first advises her to “stop worrying about boys and start having fun!” (though, it is a bit ironic that this is immediately followed up with advice to emulate other teens and follow beauty trends in order to improve their social standing…)

Excerpt from "One Man in a Million" The first page features the protagonist listing the qualities of her ideal type, and the second page features her bumping into a man in the pool who fits the description.
“One Man in a Million.” Girls’ Love Stories #66, November 1959.

Romance comics had a relatively stable run all the way into the ’70s, but their true golden age occurred during the late ’40s to early ’50s. One simple reason for the decline in their popularity would be the combination of market oversaturation and the audience’s gravitation towards other formats such as television to consume romance media. But more salient would be the disconnect between the messages relayed in these comics and the evolving social and political ideology of its audience. While these comics would be considered incredibly tame and even regressive from a contemporary viewpoint, they drew ire from anti-comic critics who feared that the content was negatively influencing the minds of the public and encouraging delinquent tendencies. Thus, the 1954 Comics Code was enacted, which strictly censored the portrayal of any content that did not promote morality (i.e., representations of women and romance that did not adhere to conservative, patriarchal standards.) As a result, romance comics would fall out of favor because they couldn’t keep up with the ever evolving world. Their depictions of love were no longer relevant, relatable, or realistic enough for readers who were experiencing social revolutions and countercultural movements in real life. By the time restrictions were beginning to loosen and romance comics were able to incorporate more progressive and contemporary themes, the heyday of this genre had already long passed. However, even as much as we’d like to think we’ve progressed, some of the tropes and cliches present in these comics can still be seen in other popular media formats today, thereby reinforcing how deeply ingrained traditional notions of gender and sexuality truly are in our collective culture.

This post was written by Kayla Brooks, Special Collections intern currently enrolled in the historical studies graduate program.

Bibliography

Belliveau, Renée. “‘These Are Not Normal Times’: Masculinity and Femininity in Romance Pulps from the Second World War.” Journal of American Culture 44, no. 1 (January 1, 2021): 22–32.

Gardner, Jeanne Emerson. 2013. “She Got Her Man, but Could She Keep Him? Love and Marriage in American Romance Comics, 1947–1954.” The Journal of American Culture 36 (1): 16–24.

Scott, Naomi. Heart Throbs : The Best of DC Romance Comics. A Fireside Book. Simon and Schuster, 1979.

Wherry, Maryan. “Introduction: Love and Romance in American Culture.” Journal of American Culture 36, no. 1 (March 2013): 1–5.

Categories

Digitizing Cruikshank: Behind the Scenes

One of my favorite things about working at Special Collections is the amount of strange and fascinating items around every corner. A little over a year ago, I had no idea who George Cruikshank was, let alone that Special Collections houses so many of his oddest and most interesting works. George Cruikshank was a famous illustrator and caricaturist in 19th century Britain. Among his best known works are illustrations for George Dickens’s Oliver Twist and William Harrison Ainsworth’s Rookwood. While Cruikshank was respected for his craft, he was also considered by many to be eccentric and contentious. His fervent support for the Temperance Movement often appeared in his work, for which he received much criticism. But despite his controversial reputation, Cruikshank’s legacy as an influential and talented artist has endured through the centuries.

Picture of Sarah in the reading room holding open Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
Letters on demonology and witchcraft, addressed to J.G. Lockhart, esq., by Sir Walter Scott, bart. BF1531 .S5 1830
18 x 11.5 cm., full page recto and verso. Manuscript by Cruikshank starting "The Fairy Library- Jack and the Beanstalk 8 subjects- 6 Plates..."
Verso of Manuscript by Cruikshank, “The Fairy Library” and “Hop O’my Thumb” on recto, and “Cinderella” on verso Coll315_01-32-001_v

In 2020, Lindsay DiCuirci, associate professor of English, Beth Saunders, curator and head of Special Collections, and Susan Graham, Special Collections librarian, were awarded an Adaptation Grant through the Hrabowski Innovation Fund, for their project, “Digitizing the Funny Papers: A Student-Led Digital Humanities Collaboration with UMBC Special Collections.” This project culminated in the creation of a digital exhibition built by students in English 416/616 in Fall 2022. The collection required hundreds of scans of items in the Merkle Collection of 18th and 19th century English graphic satire, home of our Cruikshank materials. Digitizing collection materials is an important part of both access and preservation, but it can be very challenging. My colleague Gabe Morrison and I were tasked with scanning the materials, and there were many days when it felt like the world was conspiring against us. Books wouldn’t stay open, the scanner kept crashing, photoshop wouldn’t load — you name it, we probably ran into an issue with it. As fun as working at Special Collections is, some days are just hard. But the pressure was on: the exhibition had to be completed by the end of the Fall semester.

A new edition, revised and corrected. "For this edition the plates were "touched up" by Findlay and changed in several details with sometimes new backgrounds added -- considerably to the original artist's disgust"--cf. J.C. Thompson, Bilbliography.
(Scan 15) The adventures of Oliver Twist; or, The parish boy’s progress. By Charles Dickens. With twenty-four illustrations on steel, by George Cruikshank.  PR4567.A1 1846
Scrapbook containing 27 plates of illustrations, two photographs -- one of George Cruikshank and one of James Gibbs -- tipped in, and a handwritten letter from George Cruikshank to James Gibbs. Some pages have multiple illustrations and all illustrations but one are in color.
(Page 20) Scraps and Sketches, by George Cruikshank. To be continued occasionally.
NC1479.C9S3 1828

It took two semesters of digitization work to make this project possible. Gabe and I each spent many hours hunched over a computer, cropping and rotating each scan with care. When working with large tomes, even simple tasks could become unruly and overwhelming. Sometimes it can feel like our work would disappear to viewers of the collection, but, ultimately, that’s the goal: we wanted use of the digital collection to feel natural and effortless. Flipping through scans should feel as close as possible to flipping through pages in a book. We wanted Cruikshank’s illustrations to be the star of the show, not our labor.

The relentless support of our colleagues at Special Collections and Dr. DiCuirci reminded us that every challenge was a worthwhile effort. It is a privilege to work with the odd and beautiful items in our collection, to share objects that inspire so much wonder and fascination. We hope you enjoy the online exhibition, “Digital Cruikshank: Etching & Sketching in Nineteenth-Century England” — we’re so proud of how it turned out.

Scrapbook containing 27 plates of illustrations, two photographs -- one of George Cruikshank and one of James Gibbs -- tipped in, and a handwritten letter from George Cruikshank to James Gibbs. Some pages have multiple illustrations and all illustrations but one are in color.
(Page 22) Scraps and Sketches, by George Cruikshank. To be continued occasionally. NC1479.C9S3 1828

Thank you to Dr. Lindsay DiCuirci and the students of English 416/616 for their hard work and support. You can view the Cruikshank books and illustrations in the online exhibition and in person at Special Collections in the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery. This post was written by Special Collections student assistant Sarah Nove ‘24, English.

Categories

Library Rotunda Exhibit: New Accessions

This month Special Collections is debuting a new exhibit in the rotunda of the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery. The five cases that sit outside the elevators and stairway will feature a sample of Special Collections’ new acquisitions since fall of 2020. Since the COVID 19 outbreak and safety protocols closed campus during this period, we felt this was a great opportunity to highlight what you may have missed from our collection.

Concert flier from the Famous Ballroom, 1973, Left Bank Jazz Society Inc. The text states: "Notice of Artist Substitution. Due to the sudden cancellation of Lou Donaldson Quintet, The Left Bank Jazz Society of Baltimore proudly substitutes Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Sunday, July 1, 1973 5:00 til 9:00 p.m." The flier also displays a picture of American jazz drummer Art Blakey on the lefthand side.
Concert flier from the Famous Ballroom, 1973, Left Bank Jazz Society Inc. Collection, Collection 312, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD)

Case 1 highlights the Left Bank Jazz Society, a Baltimore, Maryland-based organization formed in 1964, which hosted a series of concerts featuring nationally acclaimed performers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. The Left Bank Jazz Society Inc. collection (Coll 312) contains the Society Constitution, news releases, concert programs, flyers, photos and many more items. The Left Bank Jazz Society sought to bring the country’s top jazz performers to Baltimore, as many had skipped the city en route from New York to Washington D.C. The founders successfully managed to not only book contemporary jazz greats, but they maintained steady performances in Baltimore clubs for nearly thirty years. Included in this case are the original 1964 Constitution, four concert tickets from various Baltimore venues, four concert flyers for The Famous Ballroom, a 10 year anniversary calendar/flier from 1974, an oversized bumper sticker featuring the Jazzline phone number and a news release statement from 1969 which highlights the incorporation of the Left Bank Jazz Society #954, a Maryland penitentiary treatment program which sought to rehabilitate inmates through a sense of civic and social awareness through music.

Left Bank Jazz Society Oversize Bumper Sticker. The sticker is yellow with green accents and white, bold font. The text states: "Jazz Live! Left Bank Society, Incorporated. Famous Ballroom 1717 North Charles Street Baltimore. Every Sunday..5 'til 9 p.m. Call Jazzline 945-2266"
Left Bank Jazz Society Oversize Bumper Sticker, Left Bank Jazz Society Inc. Collection, Collection 312, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD)
Cover art for science fiction comic The Eternaut, created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. The cover artwork features a man in an astronaut suit looking forward with a striped background.
Cover Art: Oesterheld, Héctor Germán and Francisco Solano López. The Eternaut. Seattle: Fantagraphics Books, 2015. Rosenfeld (Science fiction) PN6790.A73 O4513 2015

Case 2 features new items that add to our extensive Science Fiction collection. Intersectionality was a driving force in our collection development this year, focusing on representing underrepresented voices and the themes and identities that intersect through science fiction works. These include notable works by Indigenous, Black, Asian, Latine, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. These books and graphic novels feature amazing artwork by some of the most influential and talented illustrators, including Manuele Fior, Jon J Muth, Francisco Solano López, Stacey Robinson, and John Jennings.

Materials from the Bafford Photography Book Collection displayed in Case 3. The case features various items such as photographs laying down, and books standing upright.
Materials from the Bafford Photography Book Collection displayed in Case 3

Case 3 includes books and serials from our Bafford Photography Book Collection which feature the history and development of photography. This selection of recent additions to this collection features contemporary photography books in unconventional formats. Ranging from a cigarette-shaped book which examines the role smoking plays at some Chinese weddings to an exhibition book in nine accordion-folded series of prints which can be ordered and displayed in a variety of combinations, these photography books capture the imagination, diversity, and creativity of each individual artist as well as the scope of our collection.

Cover art for book "The Brother You Choose" The cover has a black background, with bold yellow and white font. The cover reads: "The Brother You Choose: Paul Coates and Eddie Conway Talk About Life Politics and the Revolution, Susie Day, Afterword by Ta-Nehisi Coates"
Day, Susie. The Brother You Choose: Paul Coates and Eddie Conway Talk about Life, Politics, and the Revolution. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2020. Arnold (Maryland History) HV9956.B35 D39 2020
Cover art for book "A New Deal for All?" The cover reads: "A New Deal for All? Race and Class Struggles in Depression-Era Baltimore, Andor Skotnes" with a Depression-era photograph of a group of men and women, some of whom have their fist raised.
Skotnes, Andor. A New Deal for All?: Race and Class Struggles in Depression-Era Baltimore. Durham: Duke University Press, 2013. Arnold (Maryland History) F189.B19 N475 2012

Case 4 documents the history and culture of Maryland’s people and communities.  Our new Maryland history book acquisitions feature numerous publications highlighting the often scandalous histories of Baltimore’s law enforcement, including Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force, whose members robbed drug dealers and sold their product back on the streets for half a decade, as well as differing historical chapters in the fight for racial equality that touch on incarceration, resistance protests, and the black power movement.

Case 5 highlights the Fluxus art movement in the 1960s from our Dick Higgins collection (Coll043). Co-founded by Dick Higgins, Fluxus embraced the fluidity and boundary-crossing nature of art and introduced the concept of “intermedia,” a collaboration of different artistic genres. This artform incorporated musical composition, design, poetry, painting, performance art, and theoretical writings. Many avant-garde artists took part in this movement including Dick Higgins, Ken Friedman, and Mieko Shiomi.

Materials from the Dick Higgins Collection displayed in Case 5. The items are laid flat in the case, including "Spatial Poem" by Mieko Shiomi, hand-written musical notations by Dick Higgins, and an invitation for Dick Higgins’ first solo exhibition at Galerie René Block, Berlin amongst others.
Materials from the Dick Higgins Collection displayed in Case 5

The new accessions exhibit will be on display in the Library Rotunda until March 17, 2023.

Post by Mark Breeding, Special Collections graduate assistant, with assistance from Kayla Brooks, an intern with Special Collections. Mark and Kayla are both currently enrolled in UMBC’s historical studies graduate program.

Categories

Daphne Harrison and Africana Studies Department

When UMBC began its first semester in 1966, the initial 750 students and 45 faculty members came to campus and established an atmosphere of diversity and open dialog. Members of the community were committing to their academic pursuits in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and soon after, the Vietnam war, a truly turbulent time in American society outfitted with instances of campus unrest. Students started asking questions and demanding answers across college campuses in order to enhance their collegiate experience and change their campus environment. An instance of asking questions and demanding answers came in the late 1960s, when students began to ask why there hadn’t been an established, degree-granting African American Studies Department, supported by African American cultural studies and literary scholars and professors. Higher educational institutions started to embrace the intellectual validity of cultural studies and neighboring institutions had already begun work to build programs to support this growing interest for students. And so, with the approval of the Maryland Council for Higher Education (MCHE) in 1972, the new department was solidified in UMBC’s curriculum.

Professor Daphne Harrison and class
[Professor Daphne Harrison and class], circa 1970s. Gelatin silver print, 5 x 7 in. University Photographs, UARC Photos-08-0016.

The African American Studies Department planning committee in 1973 included Dr. Daphne Harrison, who initially served as the Acting Director for the program, and fully reassumed the position from 1981-1992. Through her work and the inaugural faculty and staff, the curriculum explored areas of the African diaspora in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. The W.E.B. Dubois Distinguished Lecture series was established, and interdisciplinary connections became more solidified across departments.

Unidentified Africana Studies faculty and staff

William E. “Skip” Boyd, [Africana Studies faculty and staff], circa 1970s. Gelatin silver print, 4 x 5 in. University Archives, UARCPhotos-08-0012.

However, the Africana Studies records not only provide a spotlight on the development of the department, it sheds a light on the temperature on campus from its beginnings. In order to develop a program of integrity and substance on campus, faculty members and administrators involved in the department’s establishment thought it necessary to investigate the perspectives, biases, and relationships on campus that could better inform them of what the actual experiences of black students, staff, and faculty on campus were like. A series of efforts through surveys, interviews, and written testimonials, all captured in the collection, lends deep insight into what interactions and relationships looked like within what was then still a predominantly white population. The National Institute of Health’s Racism Intervention Development Program here at UMBC directly tackled the lack of awareness of, and developed solutions for issues that faced minority students at predominantly white institutions. This program brought a high level of exposure to understanding institutional racism in higher education, along with other participating institutions who were prepared to question and address this issue during the mid-1970s. It also took a direct look at opportunities of intersectionality across already established departments.

The collection also features reference documentation, correspondence, and proposals associated with the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for Teachers, a grant-funded program specifically targeting high school teachers, to enhance their teaching approaches on African American studies teaching of history, culture and literature. Not only did UMBC’s African American Studies program build itself, it also promoted its growing expertise by creating opportunities to expand the reach of exposure to African American studies curriculum.

Post by Laurainne Ojo-Ohikuare, Processing Archivist