Collins Unbound

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

Among the student papers in our Archives & Special Collections is the Sociology I paper of Georgina Rowland, a freshman at the College of Puget Sound in 1932. The document is intriguing because the writer simultaneously expressed prejudice towards non-white people and amenity towards the racially inclusive work done at Tacoma Community House. Georgina wrote on the importance of maintaining the Community House, a local Christian charity, in order to help “the foreigner in an adopted country.” She noted that the most productive work the charity could do was with children, instilling in them a patriotic spirit and “respect for ‘their country.’” In describing how different nationalities of immigrants kept their homes, Georgina inadvertently revealed the racism of her time: “The Negro home represents the future problem in the Community House work,” she noted, going on to remark that miscegenation was an even larger problem in the neighborhood. In the face of a perceived “race problem,” Rowland advocated the Community House as a safe space for immigrants to share their common experiences and improve their lives through English lessons, employment, medical care, library access, and membership in Boy and Girl Scouts Troops. Overall, she determined that “the privileges and good of a Settlement do not come to one race. Exclusion is not known at the Community House.”

Despite Georgina’s outdated language, this paper expresses the progressive role that Tacoma Community House had and maintains today providing “services to refugees, immigrants, and English speaking adults and youth.”  Georgina’s “The Tacoma Community House: A Social Settlement” also exemplifies how much sociology has changed as a field from the 1930s to today, and would be an interesting read for a current student in the Sociology and Anthropology department.

For more social, historical documents, visit the Archives & Special Collections, which holds slave receipts from the 1830s, a Confederate letter from the Civil War, and civil marriage agreements written in Spanish from the 1770s.

By Maya Steinborn