Collins Unbound

Happy last day of classes, Loggers! It’s been a long semester but you made it. Here in the Archives & Special Collections, we’ve had a very busy (and exciting!) fall.

We started the semester strong by welcoming two new student employees, Sita and Mali. We also participated in the Race & Pedagogy National Conference. Adriana Flores, our Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, spoke on a panel titled “The Liberated Archive: Creating Inclusive Spaces for all Histories”, and Peer Research Specialist Julia curated an exhibit on Japanese-American incarceration and historical memory using materials from our collections.

We held two “Behind the Archives Door” events this semester – one highlighting the Claire and Don Egge Collection on China, and one on student activism in which Dennis Flannigan, Class of 1961, spoke about his work registering African-American voters during the 1964 Freedom Summer. The A&SC also collaborated with Humanities Librarian Katy Curtis to host three zine reading hours utilizing the Collins Library Zine Collection. Professors, liaison librarians, the A&SC staff came together to teach a total of 28 class sessions this semester, allowing students to examine and analyze primary sources firsthand.

Overall, it’s been a great semester here in the A&SC, and we’re excited to see what the spring semester brings. In the meantime, get studying for those finals like the students seen in these pictures! We won’t have open hours during reading period or finals week, but if you want to use archival or special collections materials for any projects or papers, you can make an appointment by emailing archives@pugetsound.edu.

By Julia Masur

Seeding the Vote, Dead Feminists broadside

The Archives & Special Collections recently acquired the newest Dead Feminists print, titled Seeding the Vote, by local artists Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring. This is the 27^th broadside in the Dead Feminists series which features quotes by historical feminists, tied in with current political and social issues. In honor of the 2018 midterm elections, Seeding the Vote features a quote by voting rights activist and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer.

This broadside is particularly relevant to the university’s history, as Hamer visited Puget Sound in February 1969 to discuss her work in helping thousands of disenfranchised African Americans register to vote. She organized Mississippi’s Freedom Summer campaign in 1964 and worked closely with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a national organization that many Puget Sound students were involved in. There was an active SNCC chapter on campus in the mid-1960s. In addition, Hamer was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party.

The Trail, p. 1, February 21, 1969.

The February 21, 1969 issue of The Trail ran a photograph of Hamer speaking with Social Sciences 111 students including Black Student Union founder and president Lou Smith. The February 28, 1969 issue contains two articles about Hamer’s visit. The first article, titled “Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer Speaks of Legitimate Means and Black Power,” recounts Hamer’s public speech in which she “spoke from her own personal perspective, told the story of her upbringing in southern tension-ridden Mississippi and her eventual rise to a place of influence with citizenship.” Hamer discussed her own experiences in registering to vote and the physical violence she faced as a result of helping others to do the same. The article quotes her as saying, “White America, you should know by now that you can’t save yourself by teaching us to hate – you have to learn to love. We’re not fighting men, we’re fighting principalities and the devil himself.”

The second article in the February 28, 1969 issue of The Trail is titled “Hamer Speech Sparks Action.” Following Hamer’s lecture, student Lou Smith asked President Franklin Thompson about his views on black courses on campus. The article quotes Smith as saying to Thompson, “Are you moved enough now to sanction a separate, autonomous black studies course curriculum here at UPS? Are you moved enough now to sanction the hiring of more black professors? Are you willing to take the ‘raps’ off the courses we have now?” Thompson responded the following day that the restricting factor on the establishment of additional black studies courses and hiring of new faculty members was the financial situation at the university.

Visit the Archives & Special Collections to see the Dead Feminist broadside collection and learn more about Fannie Lou Hamer’s visit to Puget Sound.

The Archives & Special Collections is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Laura Edgar, Assistant Archivist

The Trail, November 26, 2018, p. 4

Well, Loggers, the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to spending time with their family and friends over a delicious meal. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what you are grateful for in your life, and this short article from The Trail 100 years ago really puts things into perspective. World War I had ended just a few weeks earlier on November 11, 1918, after four long years of fighting. Even though the United States was only involved in combat during the last 18 months of the war, it had a significant impact on our campus community. Many faculty, staff, and students were involved in the war efforts both abroad and at home. The Trail writers wrote,

“Surely history has never recorded a Thanksgiving time when there was more to be thankful for than this year! 1918 – a memorable year; Thanksgiving – a memorable day! Why wonder that gray-haired mothers, wives, and sisters crowded the churches on November 11, kneeling to pour out their thankfulness for the cessation of hostilities? For have not all of our hearts been filled with the great Thanksgiving spirits since that memorable day! And the gripping feature of Thanksgiving, 1918, is what this time means to the whole world! ‘O let the Nations be glad and sing for joy!’”

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Archives & Special Collections is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.