Category: Updates

Testudo’s Womanhood: A Case Study in Gender Norms

On By umdarchivesIn Campus History, Tales From the Vault, Testudo, Updates, Women's HistoryLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

Color photograph of the original Testudo, taxidermized in a glass case. She is sitting on a wood panel within the case.

Original Testudo, taxidermized, Memorabilia Collection no. 171, University Archives, University of Maryland, College Park

We missed National Trivia Day earlier this month, but we’ve still got some fun UMD trivia for you! Did you know that our beloved Testudo is actually a woman?

Testudo was chosen as the school mascot by the class of 1933 and then-VP Harry Clifton “Curley” Byrd, who didn’t seem to care whether the terrapin sent to him was male or female– he just wanted “the biggest one” to model for a statue. Below is a photo from the unveiling of the first Testudo statute, a ceremony attended by all the UMD big-names, like Senior class president Ralph Williams (far right), President Raymond Pearson (shaking hands with Williams), and Vice President Byrd (far left).

Black and white photo of the Testudo statue unveiling ceremony. In front of a building on a grass field is a large statue of Testudo, sitting on a square, White pedestal with a large letter "M" in the middle. To the left of the statue are three people standing and one person is standing to the right of the statue.

Testudo dedication ceremony, University of Maryland, June 2, 1933, Dept. of Intercollegiate Athletics Media Relations records, Box 23, folder “Mascot Testudo”, accession 2003-91.

Interestingly, and right in line with the topic of this blog post, the woman between Byrd and Pearson had remained unidentified on all copies of this photo. Either whoever took this photo in 1933 or whoever gave this photo to University Archives didn’t think it was important to write down the name of this woman- who was clearly important enough to the event to be front and center of the photo- and for decades, she was nameless. It may not seem like a big deal, but without a name, we were unable to give her credit for being a part of this event; we were unable to know how she was even connected to this event. Who was she, why was she there? For a long time, these questions went unanswered because someone took it upon themselves to erase her.

Now, we may have an answer. There’s no way for us to know for sure, but she may be Eva Catherine Bixler, and she was likely there because she was a part of the Women’s Student Government Association, which worked with the senior class president and the Student Government Assoc. to make this project happen. This rabbithole I went down to identify this woman was ironically perfect, though I guess it should come as no surprise; people have been trying to erase (important) women from history for centuries, whether it be their names and identities entirely or their womanhood– humans and animals alike, apparently.

Eva Catherine Bixler, Reveille 1933.

The terrapin that modelled for the statue was- for reasons we can probably guess and talk about for ages- assumed to be male (ironically, probably because of her large size) and the persona of a male Testudo was born. “Testudinette”, the female counterpart to Testudo, also existed, largely in the 1950s and 60s, but through to the 80s. She appeared in yearbooks, newspapers, programs, etc. But Testudo– the original Testudo, now taxidermized and living in University Archives,– was always assumed to be male. 

Black and white clipping of an article in Alumni Magazine. There is a cartoon drawing of Testudo with shoulder-length hair, wearing a dress and a shoulder purse and a bracelet.

 Sez Testudinette article, Alumni Magazine, March-April 1956, p.58, accession LH 1. M3M3 vol. 37, folio.

That is, until John Pease, professor emeritus of Sociology at UMD, began to look into Testudo around 2018. His archival research on the mascot came up with a lot of general information, but none about its gender. So, Pease contacted Jennifer Murrow, an Environmental Science & Technology professor about biological signs that may point towards female or male. Murrow cited the “higher dome of the terrapin’s upper shell, its larger head, and its small tail” as signs that suggest Testudo was female!1  

Color photograph of the original Testudo, taxidermized in a glass case. She is sitting on a wood panel within the case.

Original Testudo, taxidermized, Memorabilia Collection no. 171, University Archives, University of Maryland, College Park

There’s much to be said about the assumption of maleness in the first place, and why exactly mascots are always male. There’s even more to be said about what effect that’s had on how we perceive aggressiveness and ferocity as a society and how we’ve gendered certain traits. 

 In an article from the Diamondback, Alexis Lothian, Women’s Studies professor at UMD, said that without acknowledging a difference between male or female, “what you end up with is the status quo… The assumption of Testudo’s maleness probably speaks to the default maleness that is in operation all over the university, within sports, within academics and within many, many contexts.”2

Even Pease’s teaching assistant, Devorah Stavisky, spoke of Testudo’s assumed maleness and how that’s led to a portrayal of “brute force in ad campaigns”, which then feeds into “the image of what men should look like… what this school should look like”3, what power looks like (and who it belongs to). Especially considering how the university “has historically treated Testudo as a masculine symbol for our power as a university.”4 

Though Testudo’s femaleness is a fun fact you can pull out at parties, it also says a lot about gender, power, and aggression— something to be unpacked in another, longer blog post perhaps.   

For more about Testudo, check out these blog posts! 

Color photograph of the original Testudo, taxidermized in a glass case. She is sitting on a wood panel within the case.

Original Testudo, taxidermized, Memorabilia Collection no. 171, University Archives, University of Maryland, College Park

Works Cited

1 Hunt, R. (October 14, 2018). It’s a girl! Researchers surprised to find the original Testudo may have been female. The Diamondback. https://dbknews.com/2018/10/14/umd-testudo-gender-mascot-terps-girl-female-research/

2 Hunt, R. (October 14, 2018). It’s a girl! Researchers surprised to find the original Testudo may have been female. The Diamondback. https://dbknews.com/2018/10/14/umd-testudo-gender-mascot-terps-girl-female-research/

3 DBK Admin. (December 31, 2018). We should celebrate Testudo’s female identity. The Diamondback. https://dbknews.com/0999/12/31/arc-cotudgxw45hu3ap5ixslqs7sh4/

4 DBK Admin. (December 31, 2018). We should celebrate Testudo’s female identity. The Diamondback. https://dbknews.com/0999/12/31/arc-cotudgxw45hu3ap5ixslqs7sh4/

Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, anthropology, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

The Asian Student Union

On By umdarchivesIn Campus History, Student Life, Student Publications, Updates1 Comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

Black and white clipping of a newspaper. At the top it says "The Asian Voice", the article is titled "ASU 101: An Introduction to Asian Unity". Below that is a black and white photo of four Asian students sitting outside of a building. They are smiling and looking at each other.

The first issue of The Asian Voice, September 1991.

Officially recognized in Spring 1991, the Asian Student Union came together to give a voice to Asian students and address their concerns about campus policies. It worked as an umbrella group to other Asian student groups, like the Korean Student Union, Filipino Culture Association, Hong Kong Club, Indian Student Association, and more. In just one semester, the group gained 100 members.

Eventually, it also became a way for Asian minority student groups to work together and organize rallies, especially after the Asian Culture Club faced harassment and mistreatment at the 1992 Homecoming. It was the first year Asian culture clubs had participated, but the experience was marred when members of the Homecoming committee and Greek Life shouted slurs at their tables. Later that night, a member of the Chinese Culture Club had his gym bag and sweatshirt smeared with dog feces.

Afterwards, the ASU really shifted their focus towards racism on campus; throughout the 90s and 2000s, the ASU and eventual other AAPI student groups rallied against other incidents of racism and hate on campus, as well as to give each other the support and resources they needed. The ASU also started “The Asian Voice”, where they talked about the things they felt needed to be talked about more. The ASU has been disbanded since 2009, but many of the smaller groups underneath ASU have continued to this day.

Black and white clipping of a newspaper. To the left is an article titled "ASU Officers Meet with President Kirwan". To the right is a photo of two Asian students looking at the camera. Below that is an article titled "Underrepresentation of Asian Faculty and Staff."

ASU Officers Meet with President Kirwan, The Asian Voice, October 1991.

Black and white news article. The title reads "Racism Marks Homecoming / By Jean Hwang"

Racism Mars Homecoming, The Asian Voice, November 1992.

Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences from the University of Maryland. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, anthropology, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

How Student Activists Paved the Way for ADA: A Short History of Disability Activism at UMD

On By umdarchivesIn Campus History, Exhibits, Updates1 Comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

July is Disability Pride Month, celebrating the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law in 1990. ADA was monumental for many reasons, but mostly because, before it, there were virtually no protections against discrimination against individuals with disabilities. But the fight for ADA began long before 1990, and disability activists are the reason it exists, including activists at UMD.

Before 1977, there were no real resources for students with disabilities at UMD. There was a 1968 state law requiring “all new construction to be accessible to the handicapped” but it was rarely enforced.1 In a 1974 protest rally, student speakers took over the steps of McKeldin Library to voice their frustration and anger over being denied their basic right to an education and demanded action from the university. Mike Taft took the stage to say “we should be able to go to movies, ball games, the bathroom and college just like everybody else.”2

Black and white photo of student protesters. One man in a wheelchair is being carried down a large step. There is one man holding his wheelchair by its handles, by the man's head, and another man is at his feet, lifting the wheelchair's wheels up. Behind them, students walk past. One student is standing beside the group looking out.

Handicapped hold protest rally, The Diamondback, April 26, 1974.

September of 1977 is the first mention of a new “disabled services office” on campus, which eventually transitioned into a more official office named “Disabled Student Services” (DSS). This office wouldn’t have existed at all if it weren’t for the perseverance and hard work of student activists on campus. Before it was adopted by the university, Disabled Student Services was an “unofficial network of students and counselors who work with the handicapped”, who fought for accessibility on campus and fairness for disabled students.3   

Article in a newspaper. The article is titled "Bicycles blocking ramps create growing problem/By Hubert Neely". Below that, the article is in two long columns. To the right of the columns, there is a black and white photo. It is a close up photo of a bicycle locked to a ramp, with a slip of paper on the ramp handle, right next to the bicycle, that reads "Does this look like a bike rack?"

Bicycles blocking ramps create growing problem, The Diamondback, September 27, 1988.

Students took on professors, administration, university officials, and even the Board of Regents to fight for their rights, force them to face their discrimination, and make amends. In 1977, four students gave a presentation to the Board of Regents’ Student Relations Committee, demanding they support their students with disabilities and prioritize increasing accessibility on campus (to which the board asked them to create a list of the most necessary changes).4  

Later that year, the Disabled Services Office transitioned into the Disabled Student Services and began to receive adequate funding, meaning they could begin to truly provide the resources students needed to be independent and advocate for themselves and their right to an education in the classroom. In 1988, acting president William Kirwan created the President’s Commission on Disabled Persons (later named the President’s Commission on Disability Issues), which showed some progress and movement in the right direction. However, progress was stunted by the still-looming issue of a lack of state and federal protections.5

It wasn’t until 1990 that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in the federal government, finally protecting Americans with disabilities from discrimination and creating programs/services with their needs in mind. Before ADA, “no federal law prohibited private sector discrimination against people with disabilities, absent a federal grant or contract.”6 ADA could only have been created and passed because of the work of disability activists in educating the general public on their struggles and perils, and demanding that they be heard by people in power. The fact that basic education on disabilities and accessibility was the difference between life and death sometimes was difficult for individuals without disabilities to understand; ignorance and a lack of regard towards individuals with disabilities meant many died before they could see this bill passed.

The fight towards ADA and disabled rights did not begin in 1990, at the signing ceremony at the White House; it didn’t even begin in 1988 when it was first introduced into Congress. It began decades and decades earlier, with individuals like these UMD students, who demanded visibility and acknowledgement and fought hard for it. The fight is far from over, but it’s also important to take a moment to remember where it started, and who it started with.

Black and white photos from a newspaper article. There are three photos. The right column is a photo of a young Black woman walking in the street, holding a sign that says "Ronnie Hood: Steals from the poor and gives to the rich". She is wearing a sailors hat and an American flag dress. To the left, in the upper section is a square photograph of a woman in a wheelchair in the street. In her right hand she is holding the leash of a dog and in her left, she is holding a protest sign. Below that is a small photo of three people walking in the street, smiling and looking straight ahead.

Thousands of protestors take to the streets…, The Diamondback, September 21, 1981.

Disability activism on the UMD campus is part of University Archives upcoming exhibition, Rising Up! 100 Years of Student Activism at the University of Maryland, which will open this fall in Hornbake Library. You can see the history of disabled Terps’ activism, and much, much more this October!

Works Cited

1 Lewis, Lee. “Handicapped hold protest rally”. The Diamondback, April 26, 1974.  

2 Lewis, Lee. “Handicapped hold protest rally”. The Diamondback, April 26, 1974.  

3 O’Malley, Sharon. “Campus tries to assist handicapped.” The Diamondback, March 17, 1976. 

4 Quinter, Rebyn S. “Regents face disabled students.” The Diamondback, September 8, 1977.    

5 Neely, Hubert. “Bicycles blocking ramps create growing problem.” The Diamondback, September 27, 1988.

6 Mayerson, Arlene. “The History of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A Movement Perspective.” Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, 1992. https://dredf.org/about-us/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/#:~:text=Before%20the%20ADA%2C%20no%20federal,a%20federal%20grant%20or%20contract.

Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences from the University of Maryland. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

Finding Your Nest: Gwendolyn Betts on being Black at UMD

On By umdarchivesIn alumni, Reparative Histories Intiative, Student Life, The Black Experience Project, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

“The positive part was the way we fought. We stayed together as a people, as a group.” 

A black and white image of Gwendolyn Betts. The photo is a headshot and she is looking just off camera, towards the left. She is slightly smiling with her teeth showing. Her hair is medium length, hitting her shoulders and curled up when it hits her shoulders. She is wearing a black shirt and hoop earrings. The background is black at the top and fades to white when it meets the top of her head.

Betts’ yearbook photo, The Terrapin 1970.

Growing up, Gwendolyn Betts’ (1966-71) father used to take Route One into D.C., and every single time, the College Park campus mesmerized her. She used to “live in a world of fantasy books”, and the campus reminded her of the beautiful landscapes they would conjure up. Betts was in the top 5% of her high school class- she remembers her counselor telling her she could probably go to Morgan or Coppin for free, but she had her sights set on Maryland; it was the only school she was going to attend, so it was the only school she applied to. Her mother used her last $25 for the application, and the rest is history. 

One of her very first experiences on campus was meeting her freshman roommate and her family in their dorm room, both of them excited to start a new chapter together. It turned out to be a short-lived experience, though, after the roommate and her family immediately began packing her stuff again and left the room after seeing Betts was Black. She remembers her mother coming back and claiming she was “assigned to the wrong room” and had to leave, but it was clear to Betts that she just refused to live with a Black person. Unfortunately, the rocky start didn’t get better as classes started. In fact, it got worse.

A color photograph of Wicomico Hall. The hall is in the center of the photo, the bottom left is slightly covered up by a bus standing on the road. Next to the bus, there are two people walking, each with a suitcase in hand. Next to the building are other dormitories.

Wicomico Hall dormitory, 1959, University AlbUM

Betts was the only Black person in most of her classes, and it was clear that “they tried to flunk [her] out… It was very difficult.” Whether it was her classmates or her professors, most were “very, very prejudiced.” At first, it was hard for many to even believe that she was Black- “they assumed Black people were on television and that we all looked alike and didn’t come in different shades, or different perspectives or anything.” For Betts and her Black friends, it was a near-constant barrage of questions and thinly veiled suspicion– “why are y’all here? Why do y’all always sit together?” Once, she was walking across campus and somebody threw water on her. 

Not only did she have to deal with that outside of class, but within class, it could be just as bad and sometimes worse. She has countless memories of professors belittling her in class, particularly in her foreign language classes. They would say she was “tone deaf” and she was this and she was that. Proclaiming in front of everyone “oh, somebody’s gonna say this wrong… it’s probably you [Betts].”  For Betts, “the hardest part was the teachers and how they treated you in the class.”

But, that’s not to say there weren’t good things happening too. 

Betts saw the University through a lot of changes; some of which, she had a hand in. She was part of the group that started Black Student Union in 1968; she was also part of the protests that started the  groundwork on creating Black sororities and fraternities, after a less-than-ideal experience with one her freshman year.  She was invited by a sorority to meet the members, but arrived to shocked faces. They didn’t realize she was Black. “They were very polite”, but she, of course, was not invited back after. She was also there when both the basketball and football teams were first integrated. By the time she graduated, she had protested and advocated around Black student retention, Black student recruitment, fair housing, and segregation– in Betts’ mind, “the world doesn’t change by you sitting [at] home. Being an activist started there [at Maryland]. The positive part was the way we fought. We stayed together as a people, as a group.” 

And in their downtime, “[they] had great parties. One person will have a car and all piled in… it wasn’t all gloom and doom. We did have fun.” She also often found solace in the dining hall, where she could go after a hard day and “all the Black people hugged.” She learned pretty quickly that in difficult situations, you learn to find a space that makes you comfortable; you find your spaces and you find “your nest of people.”

A black and white photo of a line forming at the door of a dining hall. There is a door and in front of it, a man sitting at a small desk, against the wall to the right of the door. On the left side of the desk, a line forms and there are four people standing. A lunch lady is standing next to the line wit her hand out, as if she is waving the next person in line forward. Behind the lunch lady, a man is walking past, exiting the doors to the dining hall.

Line at the dining hall, 1975, Diamondback Photos, Box 156, item 17205

Being at Maryland was difficult, yes, but everybody formed a reality that worked for them. Some dropped out, some decided to commute, and some stayed on campus full-time. “Each of us had a different experience, but we survived it and we’re proud.” 

Born out of the need to address gaps in archival records, the Reparative Histories Initiative seeks to document the voices and stories of underrepresented minorities at the University of Maryland, from the past to the present.

Part of that initiative is the Black Experience at UMD Oral History Project– here, we aim to directly address the under-documented existence of Black students on campus & capture their stories and experiences so that we can slowly piece together a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the university’s story. You can read more moments of difficulty, perseverance, and joy in Betts’ oral history, along with many others’, here.

Eleena Ghosh is a student assistant pursuing a degree in Environmental Science & Policy with a concentration in Anthropology. She is interested in museum scholarship, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and figuring out how to combine all these different interests.

Great Egg-Spectations: Chicken at UMD

On By umdarchivesIn UpdatesLeave a comment

By Maureen Jones

This month’s #ArchivesHashtagParty was #ArchivesBirds, and as a former agricultural college, there is one bird we have in abundance: the noble chicken. The Poultry Department dealt with all manner of chicken, from cochins to wyandottes, and oversaw instruction for animal husbandry students and local Marylanders who took courses at the Cooperative Extension Service (CES). Poultry was one of the earliest fields of study at the Maryland Agricultural College, which perfectly aligned with the institution’s aim to educate the next generation of agriculturists.

A list of the specializations offered at MAC in 1916, all of which fell under the umbrella of ‘Agriculture, Horticulture, Science, Engineering and Rural Social Science.’

An early ad in the March 29, 1919 edition of MAC Weekly, which showcased the school’s curriculum and pricing.

Education in this field was varied and diverse, including conducting egg quality judging, bird health and disease mitigation, chicken rearing and breeding, laboratory interventions, poultry marketing and consumption, and training on cutting edge machinery. Throughout its tenure, the Poultry Department maintained the most modern of machines, such as an incubator with a capacity of 3000 eggs and a “coal heated colony brooder’ in 1918.2 Here is some of that cutting-edge equipment in action:

A woman wearing a white smock and cap surrounded by full buckets of eggs. In front of her is a contraption that has several empty bucket-shaped components, likely where the separated yolks and whites are deposited. The woman is about to place an egg between two parts of the machine, the bottom part of which has a hole in it, where the liquid inside likely will flow out.

“Fig. 169: A mechanical apparatus for breaking eggs and for separating yolks and whites,” and “Combination Cyclo-Matic Picker,” Department of Poultry Science Records, Acc. 74-18

A large, square machine that resembles an industrial stand mixer.

“Combination Cyclo-Matic Picker,” Department of Poultry Science Records, Acc. 74-18

A worker with their back turned lifting a tool that picks up several dozen individual eggs at once using vacuum components, each of which resemble tiny plungers. The worker is midway through setting those eggs down on a platform in front of them, which has a small divot in it to hold each egg.

Worker using a vacuum to move eggs from cases from trays to sorting, Department of Poultry Science Records, Acc. 74-18.

Two male workers operating a complex conveyer belt to pack cartons of eggs into boxes labeled 'eggs.'

Workers packing eggs, Department of Poultry Science Records, Acc. 74-18

Much of the Poultry Department’s work was undertaken at CES, the services of which were available to all people across the state, not just students. As such, the Poultry Department was very involved in agricultural fairs, shows, and 4H clubs, all of which supported outreach for their programs and provided access to those who may have been unable to pay to attend the college. The department put on exhibits at state poultry shows, oversaw budding 4H club members as they reared flocks, and emphasized marketing and salesmanship to encourage students to succeed in the business.3

The Poultry Department staff and faculty were as much academics as they were farmers, and made considerable contributions to the field. Dr. Morley Jull, one-time department head, was particularly active. He gave a lecture about bird efficiency in the face of economic depression in 1947, was a chairman of the International Poultry Review, and even acted as chairman of the National Turkey Department. 3,4,5 His specialty was poultry breeding, and aside from contributing greatly to the expansion of the department, Jull executed a number of experiments on shipping hatching eggs by plane, allowing countries with high poultry production, such as the United States, to export viable eggs to countries in need of sustenance.6 His contributions to the University were immortalized in 1954 when Jull Hall, the new poultry science building, was dedicated. The building houses the Institute of Applied Agriculture, among other bodies. 

Dr. Jull, a middle aged man with a mustache, in a posed portrait. He is sitting diagonally, slightly turned to stage left, and is wearing a light-colored suit and tie.

Dr. Morley Jull, Head of Poultry Department, 1936-1956. Cooperative Extension Service records, Acc. 2006-69.

Naturally, when mentioning great Poultry Husbandry department contributions, we cannot omit Dr. Mary Shorb. As one of only three female Poultry Husbandry faculty members in the 1940s, Shorb’s mere presence in the department was a landmark accomplishment. In 1948, Shorb further made history by discovering and isolating Vitamin B-12 when researching poultry nutrition, specifically the bacteriological uses of liver extract. This discovery not only revolutionized the treatment of anemia, but provided more rounded nutrition to vegans everywhere.7 Her impact is such that the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences Mary Shorb Lectureship, which provides scientists the opportunity to give talks on their work in nutrition.8

Dr. Mary Shorb, a middle aged woman with short curly hair, wearing a white lab coat. She is holding a test tube up off the table, at about face level, and is using a pipette to drop something into the test tube. In the foreground of the image are racks full of test tubes.

Dr. Mary Shorb with Test Tubes, ca. 1941-1950. Mary S. Shorb Papers, Acc. 72-14.

Two circles viewed through a microscope. One is labeled C-2 4 and the other is labeled C-3 4. Inside each circle are five smaller, darker circles with a white ring around each.

Symposium on Liver Factors and Pernicious Anemia, First International Congress of Biochemists. Vitamin B12. Silver “L” Assay Plate. August 19, 1949. Mary S. Shorb Papers, Acc. 72-14

Following the model of the Dairy Department, the Poultry Department was integrated into the Department of Animal Science to form the Department of Avian and Animal Sciences in the late 1990’s.9 Perhaps one of the most understated and impactful tasks undertaken by the Poultry Department was their role in educating the public, not just students, through CES and 4-H programs. Here are a few images of poultry outreach in action, including expositions, contests, and members of the public undergoing CES training:

A group of around 20 young boys sitting on stumps and wooden benches. Their backs are facing the camera or they are only visible in profile, and an adult man in a white button-up shirt stands in front of them, holding eggs for some sort of demonstration.

“Club members receiving training in egg grading and judging- Harford County Club Camp- July 1925.” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

A group of around 10 young boys, many in white button up shirts and round caps, standing around small chicken coops. They are analyzing chickens, with some of the boys holding chickens and others watching.

“County Judging Contest at Harford County 4-H Camp, July, 1926. Such local contests have served as a means to select county teams to compete in the State Contest,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

Three people are in frame, one young woman and two men in hads. One man and the woman, Edith Hobbs, are sitting on top of a wooden cage, presumably intended for chickens. They are each holding one side of a large book and appear to be reading it. The third man is standing over them, presumably also reading. There is a blurry black chicken running past the front of the frame.

“Conferences of County Agent, local leaders, and club members (Edith Hobbs) facilitate organization and well-directed effort in 4-H Poultry Club club work,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

A table laid out with science materials, similar to a table at a science fair. In the back there is a sign titled 'Selection and Care of Hatching Eggs,' and then lists different factors that affect egg quality. On the table are a few graphs, as well as bowls with three eggs each in them. The bowls are labelled with things that affect the quality of the eggs, such as 'odd shape.'

Miniature demonstration groups prepared by 4-H Poultry Club members attracted considerable attention at the 1947 Maryland Poultry Products Show January 5, 6, 7. The above exhibit by Smithsburg (Washington Co.) 4-H Poultry Club was judged the best of the 1947 exhibits,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA..

Finally, we can’t talk about chickens without actually showing you some chickens: from farm…

A very fluffy, medium-toned chicken. The edges of the feathers are lighter than the body of the feathers. The chicken's face is barely visible from underneath the fluffy crown of feathers on it head. This chicken looks very round overall, and is shaped like a classic chicken.

“Buff-faced Polish female,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

A chicken with extremely long legs standing atop what appears to be a wooden barrel. The chicken is primarily white, with a few dark spots on its wing and the back of its neck. this chicken is not fluffy, but is rather streamlined, with just a few slender feathers on its tail and no crest on its head. Overall, the chicken has kind of awkward energy, mostly because its legs are at least as tall as the neck and body.

“Figure 9: Red Pyle Bantam Male,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

An extremely fluffy white chicken, with feathers so airy that they resemble down, but this is an adult chicken. Its face is hard to distinguish from the background, as they have a similarly dark coloration. The chicken's legs are feathery as well.

Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

Two chickens with a sheet as the background. On the left is a crowin rooster. It has a classic rooster appearance, with medium-toned feathers, a crown, and a long tail. Next to him is a nondescript hen, which is squatted slightly with a bowed head, as if she is about to go to sleep.


Long-tailed Brown Chabo from Japan,” Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

… to table.

A plate of chicken wings. They are matte in color, giving the impression that they lack oil and are likely quite bland. The plate is set on a placemat with a bit of a floral design, and there is a sugar bowl off to the side.

A proposed preparation for chicken, Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

A glass plate. The outermost part of the plate is a ring of thick tomato slices, lettuce leaves, and cherry tomatoes in a circle. Then, there is a ring mold full of pureed meat, with slices of deviled eggs around it. In the center of the ring is more lettuce.

Kathryn Bele Niles’ ring mold egg salad, 1941. Morely Jull papers, 0256-UA.

Relevant Collections

Mary S. Shorb Papers
Morely Jull Papers
Clyne S. Shaffner papers
Dept of Poultry Science Records
Cooperative Extension Service (CES) Records

Works Cited

  1. Maryland State Weekly. “Poultry Department.” May 22, 1918, sec. Farmers Day Thursday, May 30th, 1918.
  2. The Diamondback. “Poultry Division Presents Exhibit at Food Display.” October 25, 1940.
  3. The Diamondback. “Poultry Dep’t Head Reorganizes Journal.” December 25, 1940.
  4. The Diamondback. “Dr. Morely, Poffenberger Participate in Exposition.” October 3, 1947.
  5. The Diamondback. “Dr. Jull Appointed Committee Head.” April 4, 1947.
  6. The Diamondback. “Eggs, Chicks Make Money Poultry Researcher Attests.” October 10, 1947. 
  7. Wages, Stacy. “Noted Female Scientist Receives County Honor.” The Diamondback, April 20, 1988.
  8. Stephanoff, Jonathan. “2021 Mary Shorb Lecture in Nutrition.” Department of Avian and Animal Sciences. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, November 10, 2021. https://ansc.umd.edu/news/2021-mary-shorb-lecture-nutrition.
  9. Zielke, Kate. “Animal Science, Poultry Departments to Merge.” The Diamondback, October 5, 1995.

Maureen Jones is a graduate student pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland iSchool as well as the Museum Studies and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, reparative justice in archives, taxidermy, and hockey.

Add Some Terrapin Pride and Pizzazz to your Snail Mail

On By umdarchivesIn UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Anne S.K. Turkos

The corner of a white envelope with the Eugenie Clark forever stamp on it. The stamp is an abstract underwater scene. On top of the abstract background is a large shark and a photo of Eugenie Clark with wet hair and a snorkel and goggles on her head.

Eugenie Clark Stamp, courtesy of the United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service released a commemorative stamp honoring the late University of Maryland professor Eugenie Clark on what would have been her 100th birthday, May 4, 2022. 

Dr. Clark, known around the world as the “Shark Lady,” taught at UMD in the Department of Zoology from 1968 to her retirement in 1992, continuing to lead some graduate classes into the late 1990s.

Her life-long interest in fish led her to bachelor’s (Hunter College, 1942), master’s, (New York University, 1946) and doctoral (New York University, 1950) degrees in zoology. She began her career as a research assistant at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, from 1946 to 1947. There she learned to dive with gear that later became known as scuba, a skill that served her well in the 72 submersible dives as deep as 12,000 feet she made throughout her lifetime.

In 1955, she founded the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory, which evolved to become the world-renowned Mote Marine Laboratory, now based on City Island in Sarasota, Florida. Clark and her growing team of researchers collected and studied hundreds of fish species off the Florida coast in the lab’s early years. She served as its executive director until 1967; that year it was renamed the Mote Marine Laboratory.

Her accomplishments were legendary. She was credited with being the first person in the U.S. to execute successful artificial insemination experiments on fish. She taught lemon sharks and other shark species to push on a target in order to receive food; this research contradicted the long-held belief that sharks lacked intelligence. She also discovered that some shark species do not have to swim continuously to breathe and that whale sharks give birth to live young. Her studies of shark behavior led to her work to improve the image of sharks in the public eye and her lifelong efforts to preserve the marine environment.

Eugenie Clark is facing away from her desk, which is covered in stacks of papers, holding a shark mouth and her glasses in her right hand. She is wearing a dark, button-up shirt with a collar and has short, dark hair.

Professor Emerita Eugenie Clark with a large shark jaw, University of Maryland, circa 1991-2000

Over the course of her career, Dr. Clark completed numerous expeditions to shark habitats around the world. Her research led to the publication of over 160 research papers and over 50 books, including her memoir of her research in the largely unexplored waters of the Red Sea, Lady with a Spear, published in 1953, and The Lady and the Sharks, about the joys of diving, exploring, and discovering the world that lives beneath the sea and the birth and growth of the Mote Marine Laboratory, published in 1969.

According to the Mote Marine Laboratory press release at the time of her death in 2015 , Dr. Clark received three honorary degrees (University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; University of Guelph, Ontario; and Long Island University, New York) and numerous awards including The Explorers Club Medal; the Medal of Excellence from the American Society of Oceanographers; The NOGI award in Arts from Underwater Society of America; the Dugan Award in Aquatic Sciences from the American Littoral Society; a Gold Medal from the Society of Women Geographers; the Distinguished Fellow Award from the American Elasmobranch Society; and the Franklin L. Burr Award from the National Geographic Society. Several fish species were also named in her honor: a goby, Callogobius clarki, a clinid, Sticharium clarkae, a barred triplefin, Enneapterygius clarkae, and a sciaenidae, Atrobucca geniae, as well as a new species of shark, Squalus clarkae.

Eugenie Clark, “The Shark Lady” and Biology professor, holding one of her children’s books
Eugenie Clark, “The Shark Lady” and Biology professor
Eugenie Clark, “The Shark Lady” and Biology professor, holding nurse shark jaw

This beautiful stamp, designed by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, may be available at a post office near you, but you can also order it online. Show your Terrapin Pride and add Dr. Eugenie Clark and some pizzazz to the next piece of snail mail you send!

P.S. You may be wondering if Dr. Clark is the only Terp who has ever been honored on a postage stamp. She is not. Two alumni preceded her. The first alumnus to be featured on a stamp was Jim Henson (Class of 1960). Henson, the creator of the world-famous Muppets, joined Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, Fozzie Bear, and several of his other early characters on commemorative stamps issued by the United States Postal Service on September 28, 2005, in Los Angeles, CA. Alumna Judith Resnik, one of the astronauts killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, appeared on stamps in Guyana, Guinea-Bissau, and Central Africa and on a number of first-day covers.

Sources used:

  1. Rutger, Hayley. “Remembering Mote’s ‘Shark Lady’: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Eugenie Clark.” MOTE Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, March 5, 2015. https://mote.org/news/article/remembering-the-shark-lady-the-life-and-legacy-of-dr.-eugenie-clark.
  2. National Ocean Service. “Dr. Eugenie Clark (1922-2015).” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Department of Commerce, n.d. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/may15/eugenie-clark.html.

Anne S.K. Turkos is the University Archivist Emerita for the University of Maryland. She has been a part of the staff of the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives since January 1985. Before retirement in July 2017, she worked with campus departments and units, student groups, and alumni to transfer, preserve, and make available permanent university records. She continues to support the Archives through her work on special projects and fundraising. Follow Anne on Twitter at @AnneTurkos.

Halima Jenkins on Navigating the University of Maryland and Sparking Joy

On By umdarchivesIn Reparative Histories Intiative, Student Life, Student Publications, The Black Experience Project, The Black Explosion, UpdatesLeave a comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

“The racial challenges at the University of Maryland, they were small and they were big, they were subtle and they were obvious. They were interwoven throughout all facets of the experience- dorms, cafeterias, in class itself, extracurriculars, study abroad.” 

If there’s one thing Halima Jenkins (1996-2000) knew when she came to the University of Maryland, it was that she wasn’t going to do what everyone else did. Right from the very beginning, she opted not to choose a major based on the job at the end of it, but rather what she was passionate about, and what she would enjoy studying; she knew that, in the end, that’s what would make her feel satisfied. 

She looked at going to college as an opportunity to explore the “things that felt meaningful, that spark joy, that allowed me to also explore themes surrounding identity.” Jenkins was always acutely aware of the privilege of having the opportunity to go to college and “the contrast between [her] experience and [her] grandmother’s”. She was always very clear on the oral histories of segregation and afterward, from her father’s family, who’ve been in Maryland for generations. She often thought about her grandmother and how her opportunities, just a generation or two before, were so different from Jenkins’. 

In her four years here, she had a hand in numerous student organizations– the Caribbean Student Association, Latino Student Union, Hispanic Heritage Coalition, Student Entertainment Events, and she even had time to study abroad in France. Where she truly found her joy was tutoring with Saturday Freedom Schools, copy editing at the Black Explosion, and performing with the dance department. 

A grey background with black text. At the top it says "Freedom Schools Project, Tutors and Mentors." Below that is a list of names- "Justin Adger, Dalia Angrand, Patrice Billingsley, Narvette Blount, Nichola Brown, Chris Brown, Kamilah Brown, Dontae Bugg, Rahman Culver, Sheryl Eastman, Dan Feher, Winnie Felix, Carlos Graham, Kiyon Harley, Benjamin Hobbs, Dawna Horton, Halima Jenkins, William Jones Jr."

Jenkins named in The Diamondback, April 25, 2001.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean she didn’t have some “rude awakenings” while she was on campus. 

A distinct memory of her first roommate always arises, during their first week together. Jenkins walked out of the shower without washing her hair and her roommate, apparently appalled, asked her why she wouldn’t wash her every day– “isn’t that nasty” not to? Jenkins barely knew how to respond;  “I didn’t go to college to be judged as being unclean. And I didn’t go to college to have to give lessons about everything… I didn’t go to college to have to defend myself for doing regular stuff, but that’s what I found was part of the college experience.” 

Another rude awakening came during her time studying abroad. She was assigned to an apartment with two White girls and one Black girl, all strangers to each other. However, it became clear upon arrival that her two White roommates had already decided to be roommates, as well as take the nicer of two rooms. Jenkins remembers that as her first experience with someone else’s sense of entitlement, and being treated like an outsider in her own apartment. 

“I think most people who are ‘other’… have a moment where it really switches from the conceptual to a very kind of soul-twisting experience, where it’s just really in your face. You’re like, ‘Oh, this is happening to me right now. It’s not just one of those family folktales.’ When you’re younger… we all thought we knew almost everything. Here I was, 20.”  

In her experiences with racism, Jenkins also struggled with the implicit expectations of how she “should” react– “I’ve never liked the… social onus that I feel is put on us as Black and Brown people, to be accommodating and tolerate and understand all these microaggressions.” But she also knew that, on the other end of the spectrum, if she responded angrily, that was another problem. There were more than enough times Jenkins had to hold herself back and control her reactions, but a memorable moment was in France, when her two White roommates asked her “why she thinks she’s Black, since she’s ‘almost the same color they are.’” Jenkins was so caught off guard, she had no immediate reaction. It wasn’t until she could “rebound and catch her emotional breath” that she remembered, for “us on the outside… if you get angry- all Black people are angry. When you’re ‘other’, you carry the burden of all the stereotypes that you didn’t create, but that are in other people’s minds.” 

She wishes she could say she came back from France to a better, less aggressive year at the University, but, instead, she found herself more aware than ever of the “entry level racism and microaggressions.” Students and professors would tell her she’s “so clean and articulate”, or, when she was excelling in her language classes, that she “can’t just be Black American.” As if, somehow, she couldn’t be excelling by virtue of just studying and being intelligent, like other people. For Jenkins, racial challenges at Maryland “were so meticulously woven in that [she] cannot talk and reflect on [her] experience at the university without automatically thinking about any number of racial politics or dynamics, or the anger, the resentment, the fear, the intimidation, ferocity, and disappointment.” It was “a bittersweet experience.” 

Nevertheless, Jenkins found places on campus where she could be at peace.

A black and white photo of Halima Jenkins in a black square box. She is looking at the camera and smiling, resting her hand on her cheek. Her hair is tied back and she is wearing oval, metal-rimmed glasses and she is wearing a white t-shirt. Below her picture it says "Halima Jenkins, 4th-yr French Major, Head Copy Editor."

Jenkins on the Black Explosion staff page, March 30, 2000.

As a serious student, McKeldin Library was the place she could sit down, focus, and get her work done.. The Student Union lounge, since renovated, had some “serious” spades games; and she means serious- there were quite a few times she remembers being late to class because she had to finish a spades game (though she admits that perhaps wasn’t the most responsible decision she’s ever made). The other place she has the most fond memories of is the Black Explosion office, largely because she spent so many grueling hours in it before an issue would come out. Though the work was hard, she was excited about the paper and the stories that were in it, because “they were voices and stories that were not reflected in The Diamondback.” 

To this day, the University has its painful stories and memories, but, outside of all that, it’s where she found and explored her passions, where she and her husband fell in love, and it’s a place that her children have known their entire lives.

A black and white photo of Jenkins, on the left, and Rahman Culver, on the right. They are standing in front of a brick wall, looking at the camera. Jenkins is smiling, wearing oval, metal-rimmed glasses and her hair tied back. She is wearing a white T-shirt. Culver is straight-faced, with his hair down around his face. He is wearing a black t-shirt and a necklace. Below the picture, it says "The Layout Editors."

Jenkins and her now-husband, Rahman Culver, in the Black Explosion, March 30, 2000.

Born out of the need to address gaps in archival records, the Reparative Histories Initiative seeks to document the voices and stories of underrepresented minorities at the University of Maryland, from the past to the present.

Part of that initiative is the Black Experience at UMD Oral History Project– here, we aim to directly address the under-documented existence of Black students on campus & capture their stories and experiences so that we can slowly piece together a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the university’s story.  

You can read more moments of difficulty, perseverance, and joy in Jenkins’ oral history, along with many others’, here. You can also view all the newly digitized issues of Black Explosion at our Student Newspapers database here.

Eleena Ghosh is a student assistant pursuing a degree in Environmental Science & Policy with a concentration in Anthropology. She is interested in museum scholarship, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and figuring out how to combine all these different interests.

Kene Holliday: The Gutsy New Guy in Town that Changed University Theatre

On By umdarchivesIn alumni, Athletics, Campus History, People, Performing Arts, Reparative Histories Intiative, The Black Experience Project, Updates1 Comment

By: Eleena Ghosh

“I had been warned that, “You’re going down right there below the Mason Dixon Line, Holliday. Do you know what you’re getting into?” “

I’d say, “Well, I can handle it. I’m from New York. I can adapt to anything.”

It would be impossible to talk about Kene Holliday’s (1967-72) time at UMD without talking about football. After all, it was a campus visit set up by a UMD scout that convinced him to go here, and for the first two years, it was his life. Holliday has always been strong-headed and capable of defending himself, but he found it difficult at first, dealing with the “great deal of racism” from his fellow teammates. “In [those] days, they hadn’t played with Black players before. We only had a few… on the team. Some of them were still carrying their very racist training that they had grown up in.” 

To make matters worse, the players all lived in the same dorm, where there was a lot of “racially motivated stuff” that would go on. The coaches wouldn’t respond either, since some of them were also operating on that same racist mentality. When Holliday finally got to varsity, he hoped the team relationships would be better. 

Regrettably, they weren’t– in fact, he ran into more trouble with the coaches than the players here. One of them had a history of running his Black players off the team; unsurprisingly, they often picked on Holliday during practice. He remembers one day in particular, when he was reprimanded and talked down to in front of everyone on the field for defending himself against another player running at him. Worse still, the coach then instructed his heaviest teammate to run at Holliday as he held a block dummy, not allowing Holliday to push back against him. Holliday ended up leaving the field with a broken collarbone and shattered shoulder. He remembers that “it was around four years before [he] could throw a baseball again with that right arm.” But this wasn’t the coach’s first offense- his trainer told him he’d done this to other Black players in the past.  

A clipping from a newspaper. It is titled "Sports shorts" and below that, "The eyes have it." It reads "Of the Terps' surprising running star, sophomore Ken Holliday, coach Bob Ward says, "He has a little trouble seeing the ball. We're going to have to buy him contact lenses."

Clipping from The Diamondback, May 9, 1968.

That wasn’t the end of Holliday’s experiences with racism in football at Maryland. Over the next year, there were good and bad times, with a player strike, coaches butting heads, and even locker room fist fights. 

But eventually, Holliday’s world grew bigger than football, especially when he officially changed his major to Speech and Drama and was cast in a major stage production of The Hairy Ape. That meant he could only play one week of spring football, which his new coach didn’t take well. He told Holliday in plain words- “you’re not going to be playing football anymore”.

A photo of Holliday on stage during The Hairy Ape, The Diamondback, April 10, 1969.

But to Holliday, that  “was a deliverance”, because he then became the first African American to be put on the main stage at UMD in a lead role. “There was a new guy in town, and he was not afraid to get out here and do stuff that was wonderful.” 

A clipping of a small part of an article. It reads "For University Theatre, this was the year of the performer. And not just any performers either; it was the year of the star. There were seventy people on stage for most of "The Hairy Ape" but almost none of them were even noticeable when Kene Holliday was on stage with them."

Holliday mentioned in an article about the upcoming year of University Theatre, The Diamondback, May 23, 1969.

Theatre became his mainstay; he directed, wrote, and acted for the remainder of his college career at the Tawes Fine Arts Theatre. But that’s not to say it was smooth sailing from there. 

As a Black male in the program, he had a hard time with some professors, especially one who failed him in a class repeatedly because Holliday refused to tone himself or his Blackness down for the sake of others. And there was resistance in the department because of it. 

He hit a big rock when he was assigned to a predominantly Caucasian school as a student teacher. With 2 weeks to graduation, he was fired and thrown out of his class after some parents were upset after he sent his students home with an essay on the Black student experience. He  fought “like you ain’t ever seen before” and got himself a new assignment within the week. This time, he was able to lead his students to the state drama championship and win the school their first two trophies ever– “the exclamation point on [his] career at the University of Maryland.” 

Throughout his career at UMD, Holliday fought against people’s preconceived notions about him and all Black students. He worked hard to change the perception of “what we were, what our potential was.” He  didn’t want Black students to “be looked at as some type of unusual entities… we studied just like they studied. We had the acumen just like they did.”

A clipping of a newspaper article titled "Actor really digs role". To the side, there is a picture of Kene Holliday. It is a side profile of him wearing sunglasses and labelled below "Holliday".

An article about Holliday in The Hairy Ape, The Diamondback, May 2, 1969.

Born out of the need to address gaps in archival records, the Reparative Histories Initiative seeks to document the voices and stories of underrepresented minorities at the University of Maryland, from the past to the present.

Part of that initiative is the Black Experience at UMD Oral History Project– here, we aim to directly address the under-documented existence of Black students on campus & capture their stories and experiences so that we can slowly piece together a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the university’s story.  

You can read more moments of difficulty, perseverance, and joy in Holliday’s oral history, along with many others’, here.

Eleena Ghosh is a student assistant pursuing a degree in Environmental Science & Policy with a concentration in Anthropology. She is interested in museum scholarship, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, and figuring out how to combine all these different interests.

Entomology at the Maryland Agricultural College

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By: Maureen Jones

Maryland Agricultural College (MAC) was founded with the intent of providing farmers and their children with a robust, well-rounded education that emphasized cutting edge technologies and techniques to improve production efficiency and output. As much is evident from the faculty list and the subjects offered in MAC’s earliest days; though the institution aimed to produce graduates that were as educated in religion, ethics, philosophy, and language as the mechanical arts, they ultimately sought to instill these in students who would then go on to work in agriculture.1

The names of faculty in 1860 and the subjects they taught. Three of the five professors are science instructors. It also lists the University President and the Assistant. For a full transcript please email ua-ref@umd.edu

Faculty, 1860

Much of the scientific research and instruction at MAC was centered around advancing agricultural production and efficiency. As such, entomology is one of the most well documented and successful fields of study, the instruction and research of which contributed to pest management in the farming industry. Classes allowed students to both work in the field and enhance their understanding of insect biology. Spraying orchards to control harmful insect populations was a regular undertaking for budding entomologists.34 Students studied insects from the inside out using diagrams, collections of pinned insects, and living insects from the fields maintained by the college.

A group of men stand in front of a row of trees in an orchard in the tall grass. Most are dressed in their cadet uniforms, likely students, but a few are in work clothes and are likely the regular farm laborers. One man is on a buggy attached to two dark horses. Two of the men have hose-like contraptions that lead back to a canister on the buggy, and are spraying the tree with the contraption.
Six students sit around a wooden table. They are all wearing cadet uniforms and have side parts with their bangs swept to the side, and appear to be in their 20’s or early 30’s. The second student on the left is T.B. Symons. On the table are several insect models, microscopes, various scientific instruments, and a few glass jars. A professor in a dark suit and tie, believed to be Willis Johnson, stands over the table. In the background are a chalkboard, a small bookshelf with binders and small boxes on it, and a massive wooden cabinet with a dozens of specimen drawers.
This is the same entomology lab as noted in other photographs. There are three wooden desks in the room, with six students divided between the three. They are all working with different materials. Some of them are holding large insect models, it is difficult to determine what the others are holding. The desks are covered in various materials, such as glass jars and bottles, books, and glass cloches. Professor Willis Johnson stands over the students and surveys the room. The walls are covered in diagrams of different bugs, particularly arthropods. There are three large windows with potted plants on the sills, and bright light is shining in. The third student from the left is T.B. Symons, and
Willis Johnson sits at a wooden desk to the right side of the image, holding a specimen that cannot be clearly discerned. He has dark brown hair and appears to be in his 40s; he is wearing a white shirt with a high collar, a dark vest and slacks, leather shoes and a black bow. There is what appears to be a linen towel across his lap. He is in the entomology lab, which is covered wall to wall in large diagrams of various insects, such as locusts and butterflies. There are bookshelves full of heavy hardcover reference books and jars with unidentifiable contents. There is a second desk to the left side of the image, and there is a glass cloche as well as some unidentifiable instruments on it.
Seven glass jars with metal lids in a line, each noting the scientific name of the pesticide within. The pesticides are all powdery and white. Another jar with no label and a sprayer rests on top of the jars. The sprayer resembles a caulking gun or very large syringe, with a nozzle, a tubular barrel, and a plunger on the end.

Top row, left to right: Students Spraying Trees from a Horse-Drawn Buggy in Entomology Class, 1910, Entomology lab, 1900, Entomology Lab, University of Maryland, circa 1899 (bottom). Bottom row, left to right: Entomological Lab, Maryland Agricultural College, 1899, Glass jars of pesticides and sprayer, undated.

Entomology was taught at MAC from the college’s inception, first by Townsend Glover. From 1876 to 1879, zoology instruction replaced entomology in the Division of Natural Sciences, which continued to instruct students on bees and beekeeping. By 1887, full entomological instruction was reinstated. The field grew in prominence and scope in the 1890s with the foundation of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and research on insects as agricultural pests began in earnest. It also ushered in the demand for a defined department for entomological studies, and the formal Entomology Department was formed in 1897.5

A large group of men stand outdoors in front of an orchard. There are also two small sheds behind them. In front of them are several beekeeping boxes. The men are dressed in suits, ties, and white collared shirts, and some of them hold hats in front of them.

Beekeepers at Somerset, undated

Some of the most interesting entomology materials in the University Archives collections are three silkworm models produced by French naturalist Louis Auzoux, who was an expert in . These extremely detailed models were one of the teaching tools used in the instruction of invertebrate biology.  They were created by 1880 at the latest, and were in use in MAC classrooms by 1900 at the latest- this is their first documented use in the curriculum. Auzoux’s anatomical models were anatomy clastiques, which meant that they opened to reveal interior anatomical details.6 Crafted from paper mache and finished with shiny egg tempura, Auzoux’s models were intended to be as affordable as they were accurate. He engaged in extensive study of each creature he produced, using them to create models that allowed students to see anatomical details that would be almost imperceptibly tiny on the animals they were based on.7 His highly sought after models were were one of the items that provided MAC entomology students with a quality education. 

The first woman to graduate with a four year degree from MAC, Elizabeth Hook, received a degree in entomology. You can learn more about Elizabeth Hook in this 2020 blog post.

MAC secured a number of highly decorated entomology professors over the years, a testament to the caliber of education provided. In addition to being the first entomology professor at MAC, Glover was the first entomologist in the federal government, taking a position with the Bureau of Agriculture that would eventually be known as Entomologist of the United States. Glover was deeply interested in the artistic side of entomology. He made copper etchings of insects that were featured in Illustrations of North American Entomology as well as 2,000 models of fruits. His publication Manuscript Notes from My Journal was developed from a field journal he had created to help his students identify 200 different insects, which he also illustrated. His interests were not limited to illustration, however, and Glover would often take to the wooded areas and fields around campus to collect specimens, notes pertaining to which were then featured in reports published by the Commissioner of Agriculture.8

Memorabilia #2524

Willis G. Johnson was a professor of both entomology and invertebrate zoology, and is pictured in many of the earliest remaining images of MAC, including several of those pictured above. He wore a number of hats in his decorated career, including serving as Associate Editor of American Agriculturist and as the State Archivist of Maryland during his time instructing at MAC.9

In 1894, San Jose scale was discovered in Maryland. This insect is known for wreaking havoc on fruit trees, particularly apples and peaches. Johnson became the foremost expert in the true bug and contributed extensively to the Maryland Tree and Nursery Stock Law.10  In support of his campaign against San Jose scale, Johnson studied and developed fumigation methods for the control of pests in agricultural settings, the analysis of the use of hydrocyanic acid gas being one of his best known contributions to that effect.11 He believed that early recognition and prevention were the key to controlling the pest, and his work with fumigants is proof of such. 

T.B. Symons was a graduate of MAC’s entomology program, and is featured in several of the above photographs. As an assistant of Johnson’s, he was also influential in the fight against San Jose scale, and the two toured Maryland orchards to document the devastation of San Jose scale. Together with F.H. Blodgett, he published a calendar of pest control measures and spray schedules for the Horticultural Society.12 He was particularly well known for his efforts in advancing the use of lime sulfur as a pest control spray, the effects of which were detailed in his publication “Lime-Sulfur as a Summer Spray.”13 Later, Symons went on to be State Entomologist, and he continued to teach entomology and zoology at MAC. In his lifetime, he was also the Head of the Department of Entomology, Secretary-Treasurer of the Maryland State Horticultural Society, a charter member of the Entomological Society of America, and the Director of Extension at the MAC Cooperative Extension Service.14 Between his schooling and professional work, T.B. Symons served MAC, then Maryland State College, then the University of Maryland, for seventy five years.

T.B. Symons stands in a nondescript office, resting his hands on the back of a leather chair. He is holding a pair of wire- rimmed glasses and is looking into the distance. He is bald and appears to be in his 60s or 70s, and is wearing a dark, double breasted suit and tie.

Formal photograph of Dr. Thomas B. Symons in the President’s Office, undated

In the 19th century, the Maryland Agricultural College’s future was contentious, and financial difficulties threatened the institution with closure. The success of entomological study there certainly helped keep it afloat, tying it to legislation and the scientific community. Entomology was a key component of the curriculum, presenting the opportunity for students to enhance their capacity to succeed in farming through pest control measures. The college’s labs and fields facilitated massive developments in the field, providing both botanical specimens and ample insect life for students and professors alike to study.

Works Cited

1: Maryland Agricultural College, Circular of the Maryland Agricultural College (College Park, MD: 1860): 13.

2: The Agricultural Experiment Station was the primary body for agricultural innovation on campus, and its contributions to the natural and biological sciences cannot be overstated. Its history is a robust topic in and of itself, and will be explored with more depth in future blog posts.

3: Maryland Agricultural College, “History — Agricultural Experiment Station, 1852-1915 and undated,” Box 7, Folder 2. Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station records, University of Maryland University Archives.

4: Maryland Agricultural College, “Students Spraying Trees from a Horse-Drawn Buggy in Entomology Class, 1910,” Maryland Agricultural College Bulletin (College Park, MD: 1910): 7.

5. Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 80-81. 

6: Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 81. 

7: Cocks, Margaret Maria. “Dr Louis Auzoux and His Collection of Papier-Mâché Flowers, Fruits and Seeds.” Journal of the History of Collections 26, no. 2 (June 2014): 230-231. doi:10.1093/jhc/fht036    

8. Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 80. 

9. “Willis Grant Johnson,” Journal of Economic Entomology, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1 April 1908, Pages 163–164, https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/1.2.163 

10. Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 80. 

11: Willis Grant Johnson, Journal of Economic Entomology, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1 April 1908: 164, https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/1.2.163 

12: Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 83. 

13. Norton, J.B.S., and T.B. Symons. “Lime-Sulfur as a Summer Spra.” Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 164 (February 1912): 263–72. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011480558. 

14: Bissell, Theo L. “History of Entomology at the University of Maryland.” Reprinted from Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 6, no. 2 (June 1960): 83. 

Maureen Jones is a graduate student pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland iSchool as well as the Museum Studies and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, reparative justice in archives, taxidermy, and hockey.

Celebrating Adele Stamp

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By: Anne Turkos

Adele Stamp sitting at her desk. She is in her middle years, with short light hair, glasses in one hand, and a blazer with a sparkly lapel. Her desk has many papers on it, and she is posed as if she were writing, but she is making eye contact with the camera.

Dean Adele Stamp at her desk, University of Maryland, circa 1951-1960

The Fall 2022 semester marks the 100th anniversary of the appointment of Adele Hagner Stamp as the University of Maryland’s first Dean of Women. She initially agreed to a one-year contract, but she often told interviewers that by the end of the second year, she knew she wanted to make this position her life’s work.1

This was not the first role she had played on campus, however. Miss Stamp, born in Baltimore, MD, on August 9, 1890, had been associated with the university as early as the summer of 1917, when she was a member of the faculty for the summer training school for teachers, teaching a course entitled “Playground and Games,” and an assistant adviser to the women housed in the Calvert Hall dormitory.2 She continued her work with summer school until her appointment as dean, serving in various capacities, including as a social secretary and special adviser to female students, a dance chaperone, a member of the Women’s Advisory Committee, and as head of the Young Women’s Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.) at Maryland.3

Adele Stamp with two co-eds during May Day festivities

While spending her summers at Maryland, she spent the academic years at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, where she received her B.A. in Education in 1921. She continued her education with graduate courses at Maryland, Catholic University, American University, and Yale, receiving an M.A. degree from UMD in June 1924. 4

When Miss Stamp became Dean of Women in 1922, approximately ten percent of the student body of nearly 900 students was female. By the time she retired in 1960, the number of women students had grown to 4,000, out of the total of 13,000 students. She oversaw all aspects of student life for “her girls,” monitoring their academics, social activities, athletics, and behavior, and was a very determined and vocal advocate for their needs. You can learn more about what President Albert F. Woods expected of her from this March 19, 1923, letter he sent outlining her responsibilities:5

A letter from President Woods to Adele Stamp in which he addresses unladylike behavior among women students. For full transcript please email askhornbake@umd.edu

Woods to Stamp, March 19, 1923

Among her many accomplishments as dean were:

  • Creation of an active athletics program for women and service as the director of girls’ athletics
  • Establishment of the Women’s Honorary Society, which later became a chapter of Mortar Board
  • Creation of the Women’s Student Government Association, which was folded into the present-day Student Government Association in the 1970s
  • Inauguration of the annual May Day celebration of women and their achievements in 1923, a tradition which continued until 1961
  • Founding of the Freshman Honor Society for Women, which later became Alpha Lambda Delta

Miss Stamp was also well-known for her emphasis on what she felt was proper behavior for young ladies. During her tenure as dean, women were not allowed to wear pants to class, they had to be in their dorm rooms by set times each day and observe quiet hours, and they had to sign in and out of the dorms, even if they were just going to the library or a committee meeting. Examples of the rules that female students had to follow can be found in the student handbooks digitized by the University Archives.

The university recognized the impact of her 38-year-tenure as Dean of Women with the naming of the Student Union in her honor in September 1983.6  Notably, Judith Resnik, an alumna of the university and one of the astronauts killed in the space shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986, participated in the ceremony. Today, many members of the university community consider this structure to be the center of campus life, and thousands pass through its doors each day. As you do, I hope you will think about the legacy of the woman for whom it is named, a true pioneer and fierce advocate for women students at the University of Maryland.

Works Cited

  1. “Miss Stamp, 1st UM women’s dean, dies.” Baltimore Morning Sun, October 18, 1974.
  2. Catalog, Summer Training School for Teachers, 1917, https://archive.org/details/summerschool1917univ. Accessed October 9, 2022.
  3. Catalogs, Summer School, 1919-1922, https://www.lib.umd.edu/collections/university-archives/digital/course-catalogs. Accessed October 9, 2022.
  4. Papers of Adele Stamp, Series 4, Box 14, Miscellaneous Papers, 1922-1960 and Series 6, Box 15, Personal and Biographical Information.
  5. Records of the President’s Office, Series 6, Box 4, Correspondence, R, [1923-1925], Woods to Stamp, March 19, 1923.
  6. “Union Dedication Planned, Diamondback, September 14, 1983, p. 3.

Anne S.K. Turkos is the University Archivist Emerita for the University of Maryland. She has been a part of the staff of the UMD Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives since January 1985. Before retirement in July 2017, she worked with campus departments and units, student groups, and alumni to transfer, preserve, and make available permanent university records. She continues to support the Archives through her work on special projects and fundraising. Follow Anne on Twitter at @AnneTurkos.