The exhibit Claiming Authority: Do Authenticity, Reliability, and Authoritativeness still matter?, is on display during regular Special Collections Hours in the Chapin Gallery February 8-May 10, 2018. These artifacts, books, manuscripts, and visual works are collocated to pose the question: Are these elements of authority still relevant? Am I authentic? Am I reliable? Am I authoritative? How do you know? Continue reading »
In a letter dated October 10, 1935 to Williams College President Tyler Dennett, Whiteman wrote that he was “still very much interested in the idea of a museum of American music at Williams College.” Whiteman had been collecting arrangements, instruments, records, and instruments throughout his career, and believed this material should be accessible and available to the public for educational purposes. Continue reading »
What are we missing in the Williams Libraries? The libraries’ collections and services have grown over the centuries and reflect that history and the needs of each generation of scholars and students who have formed Williams College. As our community has changed and become more inclusive, have the libraries kept pace? Are we standing with and sustaining our diverse community and supporting all members across differences? Stop by Sawyer or Schow and tell us! Continue reading »
Processing a collection involves careful consideration and appraisal of materials. Unruly piles of paper are sorted into series and tucked carefully away into acid free boxes. The end result, a row of neat boxes sporting clear labels, is a joy. But often there is more to a collection than meets the finding aid. What the public will not see are the (sometimes) towering stacks of materials that are “separated” from the collection. These are often duplicate photographs, non-pertinent materials, or publications available from other sources. Continue reading »
I will spend a year working on the Paul Whiteman collection, and during that year, I will process many parts of the 582 linear foot collection. I will process everything from photographs and personal files to scrapbooks and artifacts. But the boundaries of this wide-ranging collection are not clear-cut. Some materials came from Whiteman and his family, some from other sources. At this point, I will take a step to the side and address what began as a separate collection in the archives--the Carl Johnson records. Continue reading »
Library buildings, all departments and services are closed. The library catalog and the e-resources/databases remain available. To access the databases or the full-content of online resources, you need login to your library account and/or the proxy server. For instructions, go to Researching Off Campus. Continue reading »
The Paul Whiteman Collection is currently estimated to be 582 linear feet. Taken all at once, processing such a collection would be a daunting and seemingly impossible task. In fact, the collection is so large (it contains not only paper files, but also a door and a small piano--more on these artifacts later), that it cannot be housed in a single location. Continue reading »
A small display of original art for Christmas and the winter season painted by Pauline Baynes is on view through December in the Special Collections Instruction Gallery, Sawyer Room 408, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Baynes (1922–2008), a prolific artist and designer, is best known as… Continue reading »
Paul Whiteman was a Denver-born musician turned international showman. His career in the entertainment industry lasted more than fifty years, and he cultivated relationships with artists from George Gershwin to Bix Beiderbecke and Bing Crosby. Whiteman’s outsized presence and natural charisma won him fans of all ages in arenas from concert halls to radio broadcasts and the silver screen. Continue reading »
Students in Michael Lewis’s Modern Architecture course (ARTH 262) have written labels for a small exhibition on Frank Lloyd Wright now in the Special Collections Instruction Gallery (Sawyer 408), complementing the Wright exhibition currently in the Chapin Gallery. The student display, an exercise in how to concentrate art historical… Continue reading »
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