Thursday, June 28, 2012

Today's Fun Find!

Hello again!

We were doing some spring cleaning and found a curious plastic lens contraption along with some instructions for using it hiding in a drawer. The instructions explained how to use the 'viewer' to look at the stereoscopic images (better known as 3-D) in the Stereo World Magazine! Orginally, I thought that Stereo World was a magazine about music or sound art, because people normally associate the word stereo with stereophonic sound. However, the word stereo actually has Greek origins relating to three-dimensionality.

So how does 3-D imaging work? It imitates our eyes! The average person's eyes project two slightly different images onto the retinas, which are then transformed in the brain into spatial representations. Using both eyes allow one to perceive spatial representations. But when we look at a regular image it is only "one-eyed" and therefore flat. When the lenses imitate a person's eyes, a pair of almost identical images are separated by the average distance between a person's eyes - the viewpoint becomes similar to the view seen by the left and right eye, thus creating a 3-D image! How cool is that? With 3-D movies, television, videogames, and art on the rise in popularity it is nice to know the basics of that technology.

Stereo World Magazine has been around since the 1970's and is quite a gem in our collection. It thoroughly keeps track of the past, present, and future of 3-D imaging. Feel free to come into the library to check out these fun magazines! We can even provide patrons with a handy-dandy pair of viewers.

-Library Assistant Rebecca Wilkinson

Friday, June 22, 2012

Parent Teacher Conference Circa 1825

Greetings from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library!
Today's blog post is brought to you by the Moses Myers Archives. We were transcribing some letters and came across a rather entertaining set of exchanges between Samuel Myers and his son's teacher, which today could be the equivalent to a parent-teacher conference. Through these letters we see that the dynamic between parents and teachers has not changed much since 1825. Consider this glance into the past of a tense moment between a parent and a teacher...



Here is the context:

Samuel Myers, son of Moses Myers, lived in Richmond, VA with his wife and his son named Moses II. When Moses turned eight-years old they sent him to the other side of town to be taught by a teacher named Jeremiah Osbourn. Mr. Osbourn's letters provide some fascinating insight into the teacher/parent dynamic of that time period.

The first letter:

In the first letter Mr. Osbourn confirms that Samuel's tuition payment has been recieved and he expresses his thanks for doing so. He writes: "Sir, I have received thirty dollars which you, this day sent me, in full compensation for the tuition of your son, Moses." Wait. Thirty bucks for a years worth of tuition!? I'll take that. But then again, this was the 1800s and thirty-dollars back then was about 600-and-something-dollars today. Jeremiah seems exceedingly grateful for the paymen: "Permit me, sir, to express my sincere thanks for this advance. It relieves me from the serious apprehension of being unable to clothe myself decently." 

The second letter:

In the second letter, things start heating up. Eight months after Moses started school, Jeremiah writes Samuel expressing his anxiety that Moses is not living up to the expecations of the school. He writes, "He was more successful in grammar than either of us had anticipated but, like the other children, his learning has sensibly evaporated in the long vacation. The peculiar difficulty attending Moses is his disinclination to study." I suppose that's a nice way of saying, "your kid finds everything else under the sun way more interesting than my grammar book." Jeremiah then offers some suggestions that might help Moses improve his education.

The third letter:

The third letter is, in my opinion, the most engaging part of the exchange, which was written five days after this previous letter. Jeremiah writes, "We agree that he has not applied himself to study as he might; but we may not perfectly agree that he has been properly instructed." Did Samuel Myers insult Jeremiah's capabilities as a teacher in his earlier reply? This part also brings up that timeless debate between parents and teachers: whoes fault is it if the child isn't learning? But, Jeremiah clearly see's the potential in Moses and knows what it would take to bring out the scholar: "If a radical change is to be effected in the distinction of a student, it can only be affected by prudent means applied for some considerable time. This is the case of your son Moses. This genius is equal to that of a good scholar, but not to that of the first order, whose orbit is very eccentric."

-Library Assistant Rebecca Wilkinson

Friday, June 8, 2012

Celebrate Opsail with the Myers Family!

As the boats of OpSail parade through our waters this weekend, it is the perfect opportunity to see tall ships  similar to those that local shipping merchants would have commissioned over two hundred years ago. The Myers family of Norfolk was one local family who attained prominence in the shipping industry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In addition, the Myers family were the first permanent Jewish-American residents in the Norfolk area, and would compose the region’s entire Jewish population for over a decade.

The patriarch of the family, Moses Myers, served briefly in the American Revolutionary War and helped to aid the cause for independence by acquiring military supplies for American forces. After marrying his wife Eliza Judah Chapman, Moses moved to Norfolk and began building his business.

By the height of his career in 1807, Moses owned his own fleet of merchant vessels, with an average of six ships at any time in the fleet. Ships with cargoes marked for Moses Myers arrived from ports all over Europe and the West Indies, carrying goods such as textiles, spices, sugar, liquor, coffee, tea, and iron. Moses Myers also traded in Smithfield hams, which had a reputation for exceptional quality.  He shipped hams to buyers as far as Great Britain, and sent them as gifts to friends and business associates.

Moses’ business suffered during the embargo of 1808-1809 and the War of 1812, rebounded, but then was devastated as a result of the crash of 1819. Despite these setbacks, Moses sat on the Common Council from 1794 to 1800, served as consul to France and the Netherlands, achieved the rank of Major in the militia, was appointed Superintendent of the Norfolk branch of the Bank of Richmond, and was a founder of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce.  His wife Eliza gave birth to twelve children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.

As you celebrate Opsail, consider stopping by the Moses Myers Historical House to learn more about the remarkable mercantile family that lived there for five generations!


The Moses Myers House has been on
Freemason Street for more than two centuries.

Moses Myers House

FREE ADMISSION
Open Friday through Sunday
Noon—4 p.m.
323 E Freemason St Norfolk, VA 23510


You can also contact the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library to learn more about the Myers Family Papers, which contain a collection of family correspondence and business papers dating from the 18th century into the late 20th century.