Alas! For Lack of Gold She Left Me...

Paul Simon said “Sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears.” Well, the goodly ladies and gentlemen who penned such 19th century ballads as “For Lack of Gold She Left Me,” “Terry Ye Moments,” “The Cavalier from Rokeby” and Farewell, Farewell” certainly attempted just that. The music collection of the Myers family, housed at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, is simply overflowing with songs of love, loss and waning devotion from England, Ireland, Scotland, France and America. As I thumbed delicately through this music earlier in the week, I could not help but think of the endurance and universality of these themes. One lovely set of lyrics even details a young shepherd herding his flock past his lady-love’s home every day. One must assume that this was the 19th century equivalent of riding your bike past the home of your crush. Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, this collection has something for your heart, aching or happy. Happy Valentine’s Day, all! Until next week “Farewell, Farewell.”

Library Assistant Sara Mason

Celebrating American Archives Month: At Home and Abroad

Every family keeps records: birth certificates, deeds to land, and of course, passports. This particular passport, signed July 8, 1810 is special. It would have kept Jean Jacques Andre and his wife Suzanne out of prison as they left Norfolk and traveled to France in the middle of the American embargo against France. Suspicious that the United States was turning a profit from shipping goods from French colonies, Napoleon ordered the seizure of all American ships in European ports in 1806. By 1809, the United States Non-Intercourse Act stated that any French or British ships entering U.S. waters were to be seized. In 1810, the year stamped on the Andre’s passport, fears of war between the United States and France ran rampant. Tensions ran high between the two powers, making it difficult to travel by sea, and even more difficult to be a Frenchman traveling on an American ship. The trade disputes were eventually settled by the creation of tariffs and proper documentation for items shipped overseas. Proper travel documentation and regulations for people and cargo remain an important part our lives to this day. Unlike the passports of today, however, photographs were not available at this time for easy identification. Instead this passport features a description by the issuing agent, providing an interesting look at what he may have looked like.  Interested in finding out more? Stop by the Library and take a look!

Celebrating American Archives Month: Hampton Roads Stories from Our Collections

October is American Archives Month. To celebrate, we thought we would share some of the stories told by items in the archival collections of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. Each week in October we'll be featuring a story from our archives that reveals part of Hampton Roads history. This week's item, a diary, is a little mysterious...

Can you solve a mystery? – Diary-keeping has always been a popular form of reflection for both men and women. A diary might hold lists of daily activities, family life, travels, or – of course – secrets. The author of this diary is unknown. Writing between 1893 and 1895, the author was a servant on a working farm or estate in New Hampshire. We know what work the author did each day, what food they ate, what books they read (strangely enough, this diarist loved mystery novels), and even what time they got up each morning. We don’t know the name of the person who created this diary, their gender, why the author wrote or how this detailed account of daily life ended up here in Norfolk. Who knows, maybe you can solve the mystery.

Celebrating Archives Month: Hampton Roads Stories from Our Collections

October is American Archives Month. To celebrate, we thought we would share some of the stories told by items in the archival collections of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. Each week in October we'll be featuring a story from our archives that reveals part of Hampton Roads history. Feeling a little under the weather? This week’s item might help.

Feeling a little under the weather? We’ve got a remedy for you – a home remedy from the eighteenth century. It’s a little worse for wear, but we can still read most of the ingredients for these homemade pills. You take half an ounce of rhubarb, half an ounce of an ingredient lost to time, mix both with soap and roll into pea sized pills. Add a little honey (to help it go down) and hope for the best. What ailment was this prescription for? Unfortunately (or, perhaps fortunately), this document is very discreet, but we do know that rhubarb was used as a cure for various stomach troubles. This document hails from a time when home remedies were relied on for everyday ills. If a home remedy didn't appeal to you, there were other options. By 1882, people in Norfolk could also elect to head to K. Cook’s Hair Dressing Saloon where particular attention, as this advertising card notes, was paid not only to the dressing of Women and Children’s hair, but also to “cupping and leeching. ”

As for me, I think I’ll stick to the rhubarb…

The Body as Art

During the summer, we asked Interns Emma, Gabrielle, Brendan and Jessica to create a virtual collection by collecting digital images of some aspect of the library collection to be decided by them. For example, they could collect images of bookplates in the collection, of details on binding, books with funny titles, or books on a particular subject – the possibilities were endless. On July 31, at the Library Open House, each collection was presented. This week we're posting the last collection from this summer. Thanks to our Summer interns for all of their hard work!

This week’s collection comes from Jessica Dame who is a student at Christopher Newport University. Jessica described her collection “The Body as Art” as follows:

"Since the beginning of time, the human body has been an important part of art and has been expressed in endless ways. From early cave paintings of stick-like figures, to complex life-like sculpture and paintings that capture veins, muscles, curves and angles. The body is crucial to art. For many artists the human body, in all its conditions, is the focus of their work.

After spending time in the Jean Outland Library, I began to find great examples of masquerade, fashion and costume; from runways in metropolitan cities to the lesser know parts of the world where the body has always been used in expression.

I came across images of masquerade dancers in the Congo, the Dance of Tumbu in Guinea, and the Mancrab dancer of the Caribbean. Masquerades blend art and symbolism to make magnificent costumes for performance. In the world of fashion, as with masquerades, there are no limits but the catwalk or photo shoot becomes the canvas which designers and photographers show off their art. Examples are the elegant and sometimes controversial designs of Dior, Chanel, Givenchy, Gaultier and other designers.

Across cultures, through art work of the body, one can see what is considered beautiful, acceptable in a society at that time period. Statements can be made about life, spirituality, sexuality, and society.

So what happens when the body is no longer limited to a flat surface or stiff marble and rock? What if it could walk, run or dance? Then that would be art brought to life. "

You can view all of the images in Jessica's collection here.

Brides Across Borders

During the summer, we asked Interns Emma, Gabrielle, Brendan and Jessica to create a virtual collection by collecting digital images of some aspect of the library collection to be decided by them. For example, they could collect images of bookplates in the collection, of details on binding, books with funny titles, or books on a particular subject – the possibilities were endless. On July 31, at the Library Open House, each collection was presented. In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting each intern’s collection along with a few other posts they created during their time in the Library.



This week’s collection comes from Gabrielle Barr who is a student at Johns Hopkins University. Gabrielle described her collection “Brides Across Borders” as follows:

"For little girls, weddings are about the flowers, cake, and most of all their dream dress. Magazines and reality TV shows emphasize this fantastical view of matrimony, and occasionally distort the true meaning of the event. As I hope this collection demonstrates, weddings have always been a fundamental component of cultures throughout time and across borders. These paintings and photographs depict not only the individual subject but also his or her society. From the ancient Egyptian couple to the modern photograph of the bride in an unusual setting, viewers can observe how the world’s perspective on marriage has changed and remained constant. The scary sculpture of the bride who holds roses in one hand and babies and reptiles in the other differs vastly from the formal portrait of Queen Victoria. In turn, the regal and religious works vary greatly from the representations of peasant weddings. This cultural discrepancy between eras, nations, and classes can give the viewer a sense of how one ritual is performed in so many different ways.

Religion and ceremonial customs play a significant role in the event as well. Marriage is frequently seen as a religious rite of passage and a transforming ceremony, especially for the bride. In the depiction of the young girl flanked by her mother and grandmother, the artist is showing the Portuguese, Jewish bride at her beddekah ( a ceremony before the wedding where the bride sits on a throne like chair surrounded by female family members and greets her guests). While fashions have changed over the years, this custom and the kettubah are still important aspects of an observant, Jewish wedding. Similarly, the religious imagery seen in many of the works display the Christian view of nuptials and include certain symbols that westerners would associate with weddings today. The depiction of the Muslim wedding procession underscores Islamic values with the woman fully cloaked beneath a litter. An Englishman captured this scene which prompts the question, “How do other societies interpret foreign ceremonies and how have the traditions merged in our connected world?” From the colorful Berber and African weddings to Hogarth’s dark criticism of the institution, weddings have always been a part of art and the human experience. "

A better view of all of the images in Gabrielle's Collection is available here.

May I present Mrs. Emily Post?

The Jean Outland Chrysler Library wishes to extend a polite “How do you do?” to our newest addition: Emily’s Post’s Etiquette. Written by her great-grand daughter-in-law, Peggy Post, it is the 17th edition of Post’s 1922 publication, Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home. Etiquette contains helpful sections that have been updated for the modern audience including correspondence and communication protocol, dress and grooming, using proper names and titles, table manners, hosting celebrations, workplace interactions, how to behave when traveling, and a large section dedicated to weddings. Good manners and the know-how to handle a wide variety of social situation are essential to any institution, and the Chrysler is no exception. While Post’s work may be our latest acquisition, it is by no means our only book dedicated to custom and behavior. The Jean Outland Chrysler Library holds such insightful classics as Count Baldesar Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier and The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette: a Guide to Contemporary Living. Drop by the library (no R.S.V.P. required) and we will be happy to show you - as long as you say “please!”

- By Library Assistant Sara Mason