Category Archives: Featured Collections

Currently on Display – Winning Directions: The Art of Direct Mail for Political Campaigns 1997-2012

In honor of the mid-term elections, AU Special Collections is highlighting one of its more recent acquisitions, The Anthony J. Fazio Direct Mail Archive, with an exhibit on the third floor of Bender Library.

Winning Directions is an award winning Democratic direct mail firm which was started in 1989 by Anthony J. Fazio. It offers a variety of services including campaign planning, fundraising, polling, voter database design, and a photo studio. Winning Directions works for individual campaigns as well as PACs and labor unions. The exhibit features examples of attack ads, candidate bios and endorsements, and hot topic pieces and will be on display through the end of the fall semester.

Leaves of Wesley Heights

W.C. and A.N. Miller started building in Wesley Heights in the mid-1920s. The development included a community center and swimming pool. The Millers began publishing a community newsletter, The Leaves of Wesley Heights, in 1925. American University Special Collections holds the company’s “personal” copies of the publication. Our run is incomplete and consists of issues from 1928 through 2006. The Leaves of Wesley Heights covered community groups and events including graduations, school activities and weddings. Some of the regular features were tips about gardening, a calendar of events, the “house of the month”, and news from the company.

Anna K. Nelson Papers

AU Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability of the guide to the Anna K. Nelson Papers.

Nelson (1933-2012) was an expert on access to and declassification of government records, the John F. Kennedy assassination, and the origins and evolution of the national security state in the United States. She was an adjunct professor 1986-1988, 1992-1995 and a Distinguished Historian-in-Residence 1996-2012 at American University.

Her papers in both analog and digital format consist of audiovisual materials; research files; speeches and writings; and teaching materials. Nelson’s research files consist of materials she collected on the National Security Council and women in the foreign policy establishment. The strengths of this part of the collection include the Aswan Dam, the Bay of Pigs, the Berlin blockade and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As a member of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board, Nelson’s papers provide insights into the declassification process. Of note are oral history interviews with JFK assassination witnesses still living in the late 1990s.

Jack Child Stamp Collection

Jack Child was an alumnus and former faculty member at American University. His stamp collection contains albums, first day covers, and individual postage stamps covering over one hundred and fifty years with an emphasis on Latin America, the Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, and Antarctica. Child’s fascination with postage stamps began when he was a boy growing up in Argentina and began collecting stamps from the Peron era. The first installment of this collection, the first day and stamp covers, went online earlier this month. The subjects of the covers are diverse and include Antarctic research and tourism, historic figures and events, native flora and fauna, planes and ships, and polar exploration.

Museum Exhibition Design

In support of American University’s Public History program, Special Collections has launched a new collecting initiative on the history of museum exhibition design.   Our first acquisition, the archive of the design firm, Staples & Charles, is arriving in installments. The first set of materials relate to exhibition work for the Chicago Historical Society (1975-1987) and the Levine Museum of the New South (1999-2001). The archive contains artwork, catalogs, design and fabrication binders, drawings, photographs, posters, press kits, programs, publications and reviews.

Collections of Peace Corps Groups

AU Archives serves as the home for the records of National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) and three of its member groups – the Friends of Colombia, the Friends of Ghana and the Friends of Nigeria.

The NPCA is a non-profit organization whose goal is to connect and celebrate Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. It currently has over 50,000 individual members and 140 member groups. Its archive contains materials documenting the development and evolution of the NPCA from its founding in the late 1970s to the present.

The Friends of Colombia’s mission is to provide a community for returned volunteers and staff as well as actively supporting community-based activities in Colombia.  The Friends of Colombia Archive includes organizational records, biographies of Peace Corps volunteers, correspondence, and newsletters.

The Friends of Ghana’s mission is to help promote a better understanding of the Ghanaian people, to serve as an essential resource for and about the Peace Corps Ghana community; and to facilitate its members’ engagement in Ghanaian issues. The Friends of Ghana Archive consists of annual reports, financial statements, and newsletters documenting its activities including Peace Corps partnership projects in Ghana.

The Friends of Nigeria was founded in 1996 to educate the public about Nigeria and promote continual service to the Nigerian people.  In addition to returned volunteers and staff, members of other organizations who served in the country are welcome to join. The archive consists of organizational records including by-laws, annual reports, newsletters, financial records, and membership directories.

Currently on Display: Bannockburn Under Construction

AU Archives and Special Collections is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Bannockburn Cooperators, Inc. (BCI) Archive.  The BCI Archive (1944-2006, bulk 1946-1959) consists of membership files, house plans and construction documents, financial records, stock certificates, and minutes from board and membership meetings.  A small exhibit featuring photographs of the construction of the first Bannockburn houses will be on display through mid-August 2014 on the third floor of Bender Library.

A Brief History of Bannockburn

The Group Housing Cooperative (GHC) was organized in 1944 in Washington, D.C. It developed a concept for a planned community which included single family homes, apartments, a neighborhood shopping center, recreational facilities, a club house, an elementary school, and park land.

At an auction in April 1946, GHC bought the 124 acre Bannockburn Golf Club for $193,000 to serve as the site for this community.  GHC selected a team of architects, Burket, Neufeld and DeMars, to develop site plans and see the project through completion.

GHC transferred the property in August 1946 to BCI which it incorporated to manage the project.  BCI’s membership originally consisted of GHC members who elected to live in the community but was open to new residents as well.

The first 24 houses were constructed in 1949 and 1950 at Wilson Lane and Braeburn Place and included a variety of house types.  BCI was unable to get permission to rezone the property so much of the original plan was tabled. The final Bannockburn house was completed by late 1960.

Currently on Display: 18th and 19th Century Illustrations of Flora and Fauna from the Artemas Martin Collection

American University Library Special Collections is pleased to announce the opening of its newest exhibit, 18th and 19th Century Illustrations of Flora and Fauna from the Artemas Martin Collection.  This exhibit features illustrated botanical and zoological works.  Though the primary purpose of these works is scientific, the works on display showcase their aesthetic value.  This exhibit will be on display on the third floor of the library though the end of the spring semester.

Crowdsourcing the Herbert E. Striner Collection

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Herbert Striner is a former Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University. As an amateur photographer, Striner took photos of a variety of subjects in the United States and abroad including the Washington Monument, National Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, plants, and animals.
The collection includes over 8,000 images taken by Herbert E. Striner beginning in the 1940s and ending around 1998. Due to the sheer number of images in the collection, we need your help to correctly label and identify the subjects of each photo, negative, and slide. By lending a hand, you will enable the AU Archive and Special Collections to complete image metadata, which is necessary to make the collection easier to search and use. Not only will you provide valuable assistance, but you’ll also have a chance to view some pretty incredible images from around the globe.
Help us out. Employ your knowledge and expertise of people, places, plants, clouds, animals, events, and general history.

Ready to begin? Here’s how to get started:
1. View the Herbert Striner collection on Flickr.
2. Use the “Comment” box to add information about location, event, people, and dates. You will have to log in, or create an account, to leave a comment.

Thanks for helping us build useful metadata for this collection.

Cataloging Complete of AU’s Mathematical Ciphering Books

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Archives staff just completed cataloging AU’s mathematics copy books also known as cipher books.  These manuscripts come in two types:

  • Instructions on mathematical principles, including arithmetic, square roots, and financial calculations which are followed by exercises and answers;
  • Mathematical problems, calculations, and answers including arithmetic and financial calculations.

AU’s collection contains manuscripts from twenty-two students from the United States and five from England.  They were created between 1763 and1850.  Several include hand drawn figures and illustrations.  Though the bulk of the cipher books in our collection feature arithmetic problems, we have several with algebra, geometry and navigation problems as well.  Over half of these manuscripts were donated to AU Library as part of the Karen D. Michalowicz Collection.

The cipher books were cataloged individually.  For a complete list, search our online catalog (ALADIN) using the following search term (Call Number): “Ciphering Book”