The UMD Libraries are pleased to announce the availability of a new electronic resource, the historical files of The Evening Star, the newspaper of record for Washington, DC, for the years 1852 to 1922. Articles in the database are full-text and fully searchable. Published under such titles as Washington Star-News and The Washington Star, this long-running daily afternoon newspaper was one of the highest profile publications in the United States.
A screen shot of the Evening Star search page
The UMD Archives is particularly pleased that this resource has been added to the very long list of the Libraries’ searchable databases, since the Star contains a great deal of coverage of activities at the Maryland Agricultural College and the University of Maryland.
Recently we acquired two interesting pieces of University of Maryland history, including the very first “key to the campus,” which was presented to alumnus Ralph Tyser on May 22, 1992. The item that accompanied the key was Ralph Tyser’s original University of Maryland diploma from 1940.
The first key to the campus presented to Ralph Tyser
Today we are happy to receive a new gift from Joseph Hrezo. Joe gave us some old Maryland football programs from the early 1960s. These programs are great because many of them are from Maryland away games and we don’t receive many away game programs.
The University Archives recently acquired these models of a silkworm larva and a male and female silkworm moth from Dr. Donald H. Messersmith, professor emeritus in the UMD Department of Entomology. Dr. Messersmith was responsible for their care for many years, and the Archives is delighted to take over preservation of these amazing pieces of laboratory equipment.
The models were created by the workshop of French anatomist and naturalist Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux (1797–1880) and were purchased by the Maryland Agricultural College c.1891 for use in entomology instruction. Auzoux developed a special papier-mâché technique that allowed him to create anatomically correct models of the human body and zoological and botanical specimens that could be taken apart to reveal their full structure.
Students working with the bug models at a table in the Entomology Lab, 1900. Click for a larger image – you can see both the moths and the caterpillar, as well as some kind of beetle!
Right now in the Maryland Room we have a small exhibit featuring these models and several photographs of entomology students using them. Make sure to stop by and check it out!
Donated by Adele Stamp’s relatives, this collection provides a glimpse into Miss Stamp’s private life beyond her image as Maryland’s strict Dean of Women. Some highlights from the new accession include photographs spanning from Adele’s childhood through her retirement. An album of photos from 1912-1914 captures her life between high school and college and features some great images of Adele having fun with friends and enjoying her youth. We knew that she went on to attend Tulane University, but had never determined the exact year of her matriculation or graduation. However, in this accession, we found programs from the 1921 Tulane graduation ceremony as well as a copy of the yearbook, including Adele’s photo. With some help from the archivists at Tulane, we obtained a copy of her transcript which showed she enrolled in the fall of 1919 and graduated in the spring of 1921.
The accession also contains a letter from Adele’s older sister Emma explaining to her daughter that Adele was born about three years after her, but always pretended to be six years younger. We did some research of our own to confirm her birth year as 1890. Miss Stamp famously lied about her age (for reasons that will probably remain a mystery) and apparently decided she’d rather be a few years younger. Most of her contemporaries never knew about her secret, and even her obituary in the newspapers listed her fictional age!
In addition, we were very excited to find four letters written to Adele by a suitor, Franklin D. Day. It appears Adele and Frank met while working at summer school in College Park and exchanged letters for almost four years. We do not have any of her correspondence to Frank, so the reason behind the end of their courtship is unknown. Frank married Elizabeth Hook, the first woman to graduate from Maryland with a four-year degree, and Adele never married.
Other items of interest in this accession include a sculpted bust of Adele, travel journals from her trips to Europe in 1912 and 1926, several university publications that include articles by Dean Stamp, a poem about her written by students on campus, newspaper clippings about her career, various awards and honors, and programs and photos from the 1983 renaming of the Stamp Student Union.
We’ve received quite a few awesome acquisitions this summer! Here are a gas mask and carrying bag from a UMD alum. These items date from the 1970’s Vietnam protests at the University of Maryland. The donor’s father bought him the mask to wear while he was walking to classes. You might think he overcompensated, but the mask probably protected his son from tear gas. Police used the gas to control rioters on campus, and bystanders were occasionally accidentally gassed when the wind changed directions. Check out our Vietnam protests resource guide, and search “Vietnam protests” and “riot” in University AlbUM to find photos of the protests.
Student protesters face down riot police on Route 1, University of Maryland, 1970. Taken by Wesley M. Kremkau.
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