Collins Unbound

As was mentioned earlier this week, October is Archives month; it also happens to be Archaeology Month.  To celebrate Maya Steinborn ’14 and Morgan Ford ’17 put together a small display of notebooks, photographs, and artifacts from the Douglas Edwards papers.

Featured is the work of Professor Douglas Edwards from his early excavations in Khirbet Qana: his journals, a map of where Khirbet Qana can be geographically found, photographs of the dig site, and artifacts discovered there.  Edwards was a distinguished professor of Religion at the University of Puget Sound from 1987 until 2008.  He initiated the excavations at Khirbet Qana in 1998 and went on to confirm the site as the location of biblical Cana (where the Gospel of John says Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine).  The full Douglas Edwards collection includes much more information about the project, such as slides of photographs, detailed lists of findings, and elaborately hand-drawn diagrams of the areas being excavated.

The exhibit is located on the wall near the circulation desk in the library.  It will be on display through October.

Stop in and see what else you might be able to find!

Archives & Special Collections Open Hours:
Wednesdays      1:00-7:00 p.m.
Thursdays           9:00-11:30 a.m.

By Morgan Ford

October is Archives Month and the Archives & Special Collections are celebrating!

We continue our Behind the Archives Door series with talks on October 1^st and 15^th by Amy Fisher, Professor of Science, Technology and Society who will discuss our 18^th century rare books on electricity and Beau Beausoleil, curator and poet of The Al-Mutanabbi Book Arts Exhibit.  All talks begin at 4:00 p.m. outside of the Archives & Special Collections on the second floor of the Collins Library.

On October 25^th from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. the Archives & Special Collections will hold an Open House, feel free to stop by and browse the collections!  At the end of the Open House we will formally “seal” our 125^th Anniversary time capsule!

Finally, we have a small exhibit featuring material from the Doug Edwards papers on display near the circulation desk (check back Thursday for more details)!  This exhibit was curated by student archivists Maya Steinborn ’14 and Morgan Ford ’17.

On September 27, 1963 President John F. Kennedy visited Tacoma and gave a speech on education and conservation at a joint convocation held by Presidents R. Franklin Thompson of the University of Puget Sound and Robert Nortvedt of Pacific Lutheran University. Speaking to a crowd of 20,000 that included students, faculty, and politicians, President Kennedy stated, “Those of you now in school must prepare for leadership. You must make sure the United States maintains its responsibilities. We all want to see this country continue to grow.”

Among those at the event was The Trail’s editor, who went on to become mayor of Tacoma, Bill Baarsma. Our Summer Research Fellow interviewed Bill this summer about President Kennedy’s visit and the recording is in the Archives & Special Collections.

To see more of President Kennedy’s visit to Tacoma, visit:

The Trail’s coverage of Kennedy in Tacoma

Photographs of Kennedy in A Sound Past

Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Press copy of Kennedy’s speech from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum

A story from The News Tribune: The day President Kennedy came to Tacoma

Pacific Lutheran University’s Guide to President Kennedy’s visit

Amongst our rare book collection is a translated book of short poems written by poet, mathematician, and astronomer Umar Khaiyám in the eleventh century. The poems (four-liners called rubáiyát or quatrains) are very mystical, a quality attributed to Khaiyám’s roots in Sufism, a mystical and somewhat transcendentalist sect of Islam. Sixteen richly colored illustrations in the book depict daily rituals and life in Persia. Alongside the English translation of each poem is a French translation, making this book an interesting read for students studying foreign languages or poetry in the Creative Writing program.

Here are a few examples of the style and content of Khaiyám’s poems:

(60)
Every Heart illuminated by the Light of Love, frequenteth the
Shrine of its Illuminator. He, whose Name is written in
Love’s Book, is free from Hope of Heaven, and from Fear of
Hell.
–
Chaque coeur que (Dieu) a éclairé de la lumière de l’affection,
que ce coeur fréquente la mosque ou la synagogue, s’il a
inscrit son nom dans le livre de l’amour il est affranchi et des
soucis de l’enfer et de l’attente du paradis.

(103)
Tell me, o Lover o’ me, what of worldly Riches have I been
able to acquire? None. What of Time past away is left to
me? None. I am Joy’s Torch; but, when its Light is
quenched, I am no more the Torch of Joy. I am Jam’s Cup;
but, being broke, I am no more the Cup of Jam.
–
Dis, ami, qu’ai-je pu acquérir des richesses de ce monde?
Rien. Que m’a laissé dans la main le temps qui s’est écoulé?
Rien. Je suis le flambeau de la joie; mais une fois ce flambeau
éteint, je ne suis plus rien. Je suis la coupe de Djèm, mais
cette coupe une fois brisée, je ne suis plus rien.

To seek out your own interesting archival finds, visit us on Wednesdays from
1:00 – 7:00 p.m. or Thursdays from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m.

By Maya Steinborn