A View from the Stacks: Intern's Journal Week 6

Our wonderful interns Casey and Chelsea have completed their internships and are headed back to school, but they left us with a vivid journal recounting their summer adventures in the Library. Stay tuned for future editions of "A View from the
Stacks" which will continue to appear on the blog during the next few weeks.

Week 6 - Outreach

This was a busy week for the interns in the library! With the library open house scheduled for Wednesday night, Chelsea and I scrambled to finish our independent projects, which included a Book Trailer and Book Collection. For my book trailer, I chose a 1918 book called, Das Werk Von Gustav Klimt. I wanted my trailer to resemble a movie poster. Using Photoshop, I collaged images found within this book and others from Klimt’s oeuvre. For my Collection, I decided to highlight images within the stacks corresponding with the alphabet. Both my Book Trailer and Collection were displayed alongside Chelsea’s at the open house and seemed to receive positive reviews (and should be posted online for viewing). The quiet library was shaken up Wednesday as the open house was a success and we received many visitors!
The second half of our week was spent getting our hands dirty by preparing materials for the upcoming exhibition of Victorian paintings. Chelsea and I looked through the stacks to find interesting books published in the 19th Century – many of which were covered in red rot. We started by pulling every book published during the Victorian era. This, however, proved to be a never-ending task and we switched to pulling attractive books, books with “creative” titles, art books, and books that could only be produced by the Victorians themselves. This narrowed our findings down to about 200 books – a much more manageable task. Each book was photographed, entered into a spreadsheet, and labeled so they could be pulled for later use during the Victorian show. The prettiest books will hopefully be displayed in the library and the others will be accessible to the public online. We hope all our hard works pays off and you enjoy our selections.

  - - Casey Nye, 2010 Summer Library Intern


 Casey and Chelsea's book trailers are below. I'll be posting their collections in the coming week - so stay tuned! The Victorian Books they selected are on now view in the Reading Room.

Chelsea's Art Fraud Trailer (Above)  and Casey's Das Werk Von Gustav Klimt Poster (Right).

International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010

‘Tis once again the magical time of year when we throw grammar and diction, manners and class aside in order to bring you International Talk Like a Pirate Day http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html. Yo-ho, me hearties! It is in this spirit that we here at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library (an aaarrrrrrt library, you know), with the help of the Myers Family papers, bring you the “Pirates Rules for Civilized Living.”

To all of you career pirates out there – Just because Whistler was interested in The Gentle Art of Making Enemies doesn’t mean that you have to be. Here are a few rules for playing well with others and not interrupting international trade this holiday based on actual incidences of piracy that effected the shipping trade of the Myers family.

1- It is not polite to attach a ship and steal someone else’s cargo of $222.86 dollars in sugar. Do you have any idea how much that was in 1822?

2- It is unkind to abscond with a ship carrying mail – particularly that containing good gossip all the way from Richmond. Now what will we read for fun?

3- If you attempt to highjack a schooner off Pensacola, please leave the coffee aboard. We’re dreadfully tired of tea.

Well, me Matey? Do you feel better prepared to celebrate in higher class and style this year? Need a refresher course in pirate manners and 19th century Norfolk society? Stop by the JOCL and ask us about the Myers papers. Mind your pirate Ps and Qs, and make September 19, 2010 arrrrrguably the most polite International Talk Like a Pirate Day ever!

- SCM

A View from the Stacks: Intern's Journal Week 5

Our wonderful interns Casey and Chelsea have completed their internships and are headed back to school, but they left us with a vivid journal recounting their summer adventures in the Library. Stay tuned for future editions of "A View from the

Stacks" which will continue to appear on the blog during the next few weeks.

Week Five - Archives and Vertical Files

After a week’s vacation spent relaxing beach-side, week six of my library internship was spent easing back into my work and my winter wardrobe. After spending a day in a stylish loaner sweater, I’m comfortable saying the process of sorting archives was the easier transition.

We began our study of archiving by reintegrating the vertical files from the Women of the Chrysler Show with the rest of the Library’s massive collection of manila folders containing academic articles, exhibition flyers, news clippings and other information on artists and works relevant to art research. After dealing with a few finicky filing drawers and some alphabetizing doubts, Casey and I moved on to a couple large office boxes of newspaper clippings. For the rest of the week we learned about the nature of archival work as we sorted through years of art-world news comprising the hard work of long-time library volunteer, Gizella Pongracz.
We sorted the boxes first by subject and artist, and then by the relevance of their content to academic research in Yes,” “No,” and “Maybe,” piles. Though my education in academically useful material began on day one of my internship when I returned dust jackets to books (in case any included an important image), my doubts about archiving led to a massive “Maybe” pile. Almost every article had an important fact or unique picture, but without knowing what else was in an artist file or if anyone would be interested in reading fifteen articles on the same modern Chinese art exhibition, definite answers eluded me. At the end of the week I had made a rather large dent in the box, and read some really great articles. I have also learned a little about the purpose and importance of archival sorting.


- Chelsea Reinhardt 2010 Summer Library Intern

Free Your Mind

You might not know this, but I’m a rebel. For one week each year I attempt to get everyone to rebel with me. I read - wait for it - BANNED BOOKS! And so should you, if you want to. The 28th Annual Banned Books Week (September 25 – October 2, 2010), promoted by the American Library Association, endeavors to raise awareness about the practice challenging and banning and its hindrance to intellectual freedom. Some books that are banned in American school and libraries might surprise you, including The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Childhood favorites, one and all! Sadly, across the country and around the world, these and other classics are kept out of the hands of willing readers because someone they might have never met or heard of feels that they shouldn’t be reading it for one reason or another. Defend their right to read and yours by participating in Banned Books Week. Please visit the ALA website at http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm to see how you can get involved. You will also find a link to the top 100 banned and challenged publications, to further encourage your personal rebellion. Think for yourself and let others do the same!

-SCM

Wanderlust

It’s just 20 days until the start of autumn (not that we’re counting). As the days become just slightly cooler it seems only appropriate to begin to say a proper goodbye to summer. ‘Tis the season for families all over the country to pack into the car for one last adventure before school begins and schedules become once again hectic. It’s time to take a moment to reflect on simpler days and fine weather, much as Duncan Hannah does in his painting “Vagabondia” (seen at left). Hannah grew up imagining trips to far off places. In this work, he shows us a long, peaceful road surrounded by fresh-looking foliage. Does the farm house in the distance signify the end of the journey, or the beginning of a new story altogether? Are you traveling this month? Are you dreaming of far off places and clear weather? Please stop by The Jean Outland Chrysler Library, and we’ll be happy to share with you one of our many books about travel and adventure at home and abroad. Pack lightly, drive safely and don’t forget the roadside souvenirs!

- SCM

Item of the week: the September 3 storm

John Myers Sept. 4, 1821 letter to his brother Sam

It looks like Hurricane Earl has blown by Norfolk, luckily without much damage. The round the clock coverage of approaching storms we enjoy today gives us ample time to prepare for storms – a luxury previous generations of Norfolk residents didn’t have. A pair of letters from the Myers Family papers reveal the surprise and terror they felt in the wake of devastating weather. On September 3, 1821 a powerful storm, probably a Category 2 or 3 hurricane on today’s Saffir – Simpson scale hit Hampton Roads. On September 4 John Myers wrote his brother Samuel Myers in Richmond:


“We have an awful tempest – the damage done is great – the extent not ascertained – sufferers many – some severe – the papers give you a hazy & imperfect sketch. It is a scene that could not be described without detailing a thousand minutia - you must see it to believe – we have not a tree, shrub or fence standing ... I do not know what is the loss in expense to the Richmond Boats – They are both high and dry in a cornfield, about ten miles above the eastern Sandbridge – when & how to be got off I know not.”

On September 5, John wrote again in greater detail, adding:

“Our dwelling stands & all are safe & well within – but every tree & fence & shrub around are leveled – Our drawbridge struck ground & the Lothair (a ship) is in a cornfield not to be gotten off … I would not repair the damage to the town for 200 million dollars - it is a scene of devastation – Chamberlain is a considerable sufferer – His brig sunk – I must refer you more particularly to the papers – The Richmond & Petersburg are in a cornfield ten miles above the Eastern Bridge, how and when to be got off is conjecture – heavy expense at least. Disease & death , which surround us, has no terror like the fury of the tempest...”

The Hurricane, which went on to be the last Hurricane to directly strike New York City continued up the coast, leaving destruction in its wake. Disease often followed a storm, and in 1821 Norfolk was struck by a yellow fever epidemic which increased the toll on the  already suffering city.

If you’d like to learn more about the Myers family, stop by the Library or visit the Moses Myers House.

Intern's Journal - A View From the Stacks Week 5

Our wonderful interns Casey and Chelsea have completed their internships and are headed back to school, but they left us with a vivid journal recounting their summer adventures in the Library. Stay tuned for future editions of "A View from the Stacks" which will continue to appear on the blog during the next few weeks.

Week 5 – Research


        Research week! My favorite part of art history. While this process feels daunting at first, I’ve found that research always leads me through unexpected avenues and leaves me questioning even long after the project has been completed. For our project, Laura instructed us to find one piece in the collection to research. Our research would be added to the Library’s vertical files in the hopes of bringing them up-to-par with Registration’s files, and helping to lead future researches in the right direction. Once again, I was faced with choosing one piece in a collection of thousands!

Rather than selecting a piece by an artist I was familiar with, I decided to choose one I knew little about, and one whose vertical file was in need of expanding. I wrote down several and then narrowed my choices. In a Northern Renaissance gallery (of course) I stumbled upon a tiny painting by Frans Francken II called Death and the Miser. This painting, with its grim subject, is not one I would ordinarily be drawn to, but one that certainly interested me at first glance. It shows a skeleton serenading a seated old, feeble man. Presumably the same man and skeleton are seen out the window, but the man appears much younger. This image’s small size does not detract from its psychological impact, nor it’s ability to show the artist’s skill. It was a front-runner in my choices, and I soon found out it was lacking a vertical file altogether. I felt that this painting’s ability to attract my attention at such a small size and with such a strange subject earned it the right to live among the library’s vertical files.

After researching online and looking through files in the Registrar's record, I found out there are several reproductions of Death and the Miser, and also that there are several Franz Francken’s – a problem that has plagued connoisseurs and researchers for generations. For the purposes of this project, I decided to note this information, but to coincide with the Chrysler’s identification panel, to attribute the painting to Frans Francken II (or the Younger) . My Pathfinder for future researchers included websites containing relevant information, other paintings by Frans Francken the Yonger, useful publications within and outside the JOCL, and other artists and paintings from Northern Europe depicting similar subjects. I hope this research will help to further the interest of others looking for information about this painting and those of similar subjects.

Also this week, Chelsea and I constructed our Book Cart, inspired by a German do-it-yourself doll-house book. Our dollhouse, while not as glamorous as the dollhouses in this book, was done on a budget of only $10. We used cardboard and masking tape to create faux bricks and hardwood floors. We printed out pictures of windows, appliances, cabinets, wallpaper, and tile floors for the interior, and included my childhood dollhouse furniture. Members of our house include, Dr. Scott Howe, Dr. William Hennessey and even our cataloguing fellow, John Curtis. We hope you enjoy our home-made Puppenhaus!

- Casey Nye, 2010 Summer Library Intern