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News of Special Collections and Archives
Digital Memories: Early co-eds on campusNovember 2000Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "Early co-eds on campus," which uses a photograph of the class of 1899 as a lens to examine the significance of the admission of women at land-grant institutions. The photograph also includes Jennie Hughes, the university's first African american student. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/>. Previous editions, on the University Library's waspish cube, Homer Pound and Idaho, and Kyle Laughlin's photograph of Indian Post Office on the Lolo Trail, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a massive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 4200 entries from around the world. +++ Carpenter Boundary Surveys 1904-06
September 28, 2000 The University of Idaho Library today announced the gift of the surveyor's notes from the 1904-1906 survey of the boundary between Idaho and Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Widel brought the three leather-bound volumes from their home in Priest River, Idaho, and presented them to Ron Force, Dean of Library Services. Nellie Widel's grandfather was Howard Brady Carpenter, the government surveyor. She explained that there were four copies of the notes compiled, one each for the states of Montana and Idaho, one for the federal government, and one set for the surveyor. It was the latter that she and her husband presented to the library in memory of John T. Carpenter, '31, Mrs. Widel's father. Howard B. Carpenter was born in 1848 in Illinois of Quaker antecedents. He taught school for a few years in New York before learning civil engineering and surveying, on-the-job, from a cousin. In 1874 he headed west to San Francisco where he went to work with the city, laying out roads, water supply lines, ferry terminals and cable car routes. Subsequently he practiced mining engineering in Colorado and land surveying in Wyoming. In the latter place he struck up a friendship with the Surveyor General of Wyoming, and later Governor, William A. Richards. Richards soon became Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, DC. In this capacity he hired Carpenter as U.S. Deputy Surveyor to sub-divide the Shoshoni Wind River Reservation. This was followed by the job of resurveying the boundary between Colorado and New Mexico, and then that on Bitterroot Range between Montana and Idaho. Retiring to a fruit ranch at Meridian, Idaho, in 1908, Carpenter and his wife settled into a less strenuous life. Eventually, they sold the ranch and moved into Meridian proper. Director of the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District, Director of the Meridian's First National Bank, trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, member of the school board, and founder of the Building and Loan Association; Carpenter played an active part in the community. He died of typhoid at age 69 in 1918. Charged to survey the watershed divide at the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains between Idaho and Montana, Carpenter marked and noted each mile of the survey. He also made notes on the landscape, the geology, and the vegetation. The latter were particularly important because his crew of 21 men (with a pack train of 44 horses) blazed the trees along the survey line and built markers of brass caps on iron pipes or raised mounds of earth or rock approximately every quarter mile. Depending on the terrain and the weather they could make about 1.5 miles to 2 miles per day, usually working seven days a week. A typical entry on June 9, 1904 notes that the marker "falls on a point where it is impracticable to establish a corner. I continue this course on next mile. Land mountainous. Soil, rocky, 3rd rate. Formation, sandstone. Vegetation, pine and fir timber, dense snow brush." On June 10 and 11 he writes, "No line was run on account of storm, rain and snow." In addition to the surveying equipment, he brought along a photography outfit. Each volume contains over 30 photographs of particular locales as well as camp scenes. The working season in the mountains was the four summer months of June, July, August, and September; accordingly the project took three years from 1904 through 1906. Dean Force, in thanking the Widels, noted that the surveyor's contemporary descriptions would be "invaluable to researchers studying vegetation changes in Idaho's mountains." The survey notes will be placed in the library's Special Collections and Archives department. Terry Abraham, Head of Special Collections, observed that "primary sources such as these are essential for students and scholars studying Idaho's history." The University of Idaho is a Research Extensive, land-grant institution committed to undergraduate and graduate-research education with extension services responsive to Idaho and the region's business and community needs. The University Library supports the teaching, research, and service missions of the university. It is the regional depository in Idaho for U.S. government documents and is a designated Earth Science Information Center and a U.S. Patent depository. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. +++ Digital Memories: The 1910 Blow-UpSeptember 2000Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "The 1910 Blow-Up," a brief look at the forest fire that swept through three million acres in Idaho and Montana ninety years ago. Oral histories, newspaper accounts, and photographs document the fire and its consequences. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/>. Previous editions, on the University Library's waspish cube, Homer Pound and Idaho, and Kyle Laughlin's photograph of Indian Post Office on the Lolo Trail, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a massive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 4100 entries from around the world. +++ Erika Kuhlman joins staffAugust 2000Special Collections is pleased to announce that Erika Kuhlman has joined the staff as Historic Photograph Curator. She previously taught history at Idaho State University and has worked with both the Latah County Historical Society and the Idaho Humanities Council. Questions about the Historical Photograph Collections can be directed to her at 5-7951 or <erika at uidaho.edu>. Ms. Kuhlman has subsequently left for other opportunities. +++ Digital Memories: Earl Larrison and the Scott CollectionJuly 2000Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "Earl Larrison and the Scott Collection," featuring the intersection between Sir Walter Scott's description of collecting old books in The Antiquary (1816) and Professor Larrison's collection of Scott books. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/. Previous editions, on the University Library's waspish cube, Homer Pound and Idaho, and Kyle Laughlin's photograph of Indian Post Office on the Lolo Trail, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a massive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 4000 entries from around the world. +++ Library Associates' Web Site RedesignedMay 2000Check out the Library Associates' Web pages at <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/LA/libassoc.htm>. They have a new look, designed by University of Idaho architecture student, Kerry Brent, in the spirit of Towers, the Library Associates' newsletter. The text of the Winter 1999 and Spring 2000 issues of Towers have also been posted for your convenience. +++ Digital Memories: Memorial Steps CompetitionApril 2000Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "Memorial Steps Competition," featuring Jedd Jones' student design for the installation of the Memorial Steps from the University's first administration building, destroyed by fire in 1906. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/. Previous editions, on the University Library's waspish cube, Homer Pound and Idaho, and Kyle Laughlin's photograph of Indian Post Office on the Lolo Trail, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a massive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 3800 entries from around the world. +++ Digital Memories: Kooskia Depression LetterJanuary 2000Special Collections and Archives at the University of Idaho Library announces a new installment in the Webpage "Digital Memories." Digital Memories focuses on historic artifacts, documents, photographs, and books from the holdings of Special Collections and Archives. This is a changing showcase of highlights from our collections. The most recent addition to the series is "Kooskia Depression Letter," featuring a 1936 penciled letter describing the impact of the Great Depression on those living and working in north central Idaho. The Special Collections Department of the University of Idaho Library includes those materials that, because of subject coverage, rarity, source, condition, or form, are best handled separately from the General Collection. The several "collections" housed in this department include the Day-Northwest Collection of Western Americana, Rare Books, Idaho Documents, Sir Walter Scott Collection, Ezra Pound Collection, Caxton Collection, University of Idaho Theses, Historical Maps, Historical Photograph Collection, and Personal Papers and University Archives. "Digital Memories" can be accessed through the URL <http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/. Previous editions, on the University Library's waspish cube, Homer Pound and Idaho, and Kyle Laughlin's photograph of Indian Post Office on the Lolo Trail, are also available. Also at this site is information about Special Collections and its holdings, archival and manuscript descriptions and inventories, and a massive geographical guide to repositories of primary source materials. The latter now contains over 3700 entries from around the world. +++ |
