In the spring of 2014, AU Library hired Matt Johnson, from ECS Conservation, to perform an assessment of the Artemas Martin Collection in particular the books that were published prior to 1700. He identified a number of books that would benefit from boxing or conservation treatment.

The first two works were sent to ECS Conservation in August and returned from the lab earlier this month. Here are before and after pictures of our copy of Billingsley’s 2 volume Euclid’s Elements of Geometry published in 1570:

After                               Before

Both the conservation assessment and the treatments were paid for with proceeds from AU Library’s Roger Brown Preservation Fund. In September, AU Library held a fund raising event in support of our initiative to get as many of the books on the list conserved as possible. The monies raised at our September event will be used in 2015 to cover the costs of conservation treatment of additional items from the Martin Collection. For more information on this initiative, please contact the University Archivist at archives@american.edu.

The final digitized image from Jack Child’s Slide Collection went online earlier this week. Jack Child maintained an extensive library of visual images that he regularly used in the classroom. The digital version of the slide collection focuses on the images taken by Child and his companions on his travels – approximately 50 percent of his library. Child visited every Latin American country at least once. He served as staff lecturer and guide aboard expedition cruise vessels to Antarctica and sub-Antarctic islands on fourteen trips. The strengths of the digital collection are as follows: Antarctica; Argentina; Colombia; Cuba; Falklands/Maldives; Mexico; Nicaragua; and Peru. All Latin American countries are represented in the digital collection. Of note are a selection of images from his two tours of duty in Vietnam.

The second and final installment of the Jack Child Stamp Collection, the albums, went online earlier this month. The subjects of the stamp albums are diverse and include current and historic figures and events, buildings and landscapes, military, native flora and fauna, space, sports, and transportation. The oldest stamps date from the mid-nineteenth century. As with the rest of the Child Collection, the bulk of the stamps relate to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Falkland Islands with particular strengths in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba and Ecuador.

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.

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.

On Thursday March 21st, University Librarian, Nancy Davenport, announced a new initiative, the Peace Corps Community Archive, to collect, preserve and make available materials that were created and acquired by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) during their service such as correspondence, diaries, film, photographs, reports, scrapbooks, and sound recordings. The archive will also collect organizational records of member groups of the National Peace Corps Association and oral histories and memoirs of RPCVs and host country nationals.  This initiative builds on materials held in American University Library Special Collections such as the records of the National Peace Corps Association and the archives of the Friends of Colombia and Friends of Nigeria which include information on and materials from RPCVs.  The purpose in developing the Peace Corps Community Archive is to support student and scholarly research, create exhibits, and provide educational and public programs that document the experiences and impact of individuals who served in the Peace Corps and illuminate peace diplomacy.