From the Vault: March 2021 Newsletter
We have lots to share since we last talked to you in December!
Greetings to the students, faculty, and researchers with whom we work! As many have been observing, we are approaching the 1 year anniversary of the Santa Clara County health order to shelter-in-place, which means 1 year of working from home and 1 year since we last welcomed researchers to the Martin Reading Room. At this point we are heartened that many SCU Library employees have received access to the COVID-19 vaccine, which bodes well for reopening for research appointments with rare and archival materials in the coming months. Meanwhile, the University Library at large will soon again welcome study space reservations for students starting next week (March 14).
As we approach the 1 year anniversary of COVID-19 at SCU, we are anticipating a very exciting announcement about a project to collect and archive pandemic stories from the SCU community. Look out for an email from Fr. O’Brien to the campus next week announcing the unveiling of the project, and more from us in our next newsletter.
Otherwise, we wish you the best as you wind down Winter Quarter and as you find a moment to rest and reflect during Spring Break. Should you need help, we remain at your service—just drop us a line at SpecialCollections@scu.edu or catch us on our Ask an Archivist live chat 1 pm - 5 pm Monday - Friday.
Othello in Special Collections
During Part 2 of “Speak of me As I Am,” a series hosted by the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program, Nadia Nasr, Head of Archives & Special Collections, shared some of our holdings of Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, as part of a screening of Othello-san. Othello-san is a short film featuring SCU alumnus Theo Adams IV ‘15 and directed by his father, Theo Adams III, that follows a young African American actor preparing to play Othello while enrolled at a prestigious Japanese theatre school.
Featured A&SC holdings included Othello in the Artist’s Bibliophile edition of the Henley Shakespeare, the Smock Alley Othello prompt-book, and a 3-volume set of Shakespeare’s complete works edited by Charles Knight (above, left), which includes portraits of 19th century actors in character. Of particular interest in relation to themes in Othello-san are the essays “Why young men should study Shakespeare” and “How to study Shakespeare,” both included in a 1902 pamphlet (call number PR2987 .S64 1902) that was once part of the Santa Clara College Students’ Library, meaning it was approved by the college president for independent study and use.
Recordings of both events are available on YouTube:
Othello Part 1 with Vanessa Corredera (Andrews University) and Aldo Billingslea (Santa Clara University)
Othello Part 2 with Nadia Nasr and Theo Adams IV
Othello-San is available to stream by subscription on its official platform, Laurel Channel, via individual Amazon Prime accounts, or free via YouTube.
SCU Faculty: Book Your Spring Classes
Attention SCU Faculty! Now is the time to contact Kelci Baughman McDowell about instruction for your Spring 2021 classes. We are happy to work with you in a variety of ways to put your students in touch with rare and archival materials, and to develop fun activities based on course learning outcomes. Over the past year we have gotten very skilled at sharing our materials digitally and at having fun asynchronously inside Camino or on platforms like Padlet and Jamboard. An old-fashioned live Zoom session could just be what the doctor ordered as well.
You can email Kelci directly at kbaughmanmcdowell@scu.edu or fill out our instruction request form to set up your session.
From the Blog, Arthur’s Attic
Hispanic Students at SCU in the 19th Century
Trizha Aquino, A&SC student research assistant
In this blog post we take a close look at the 1866 school year as a way to illuminate the experiences of Spanish-speaking students from Californio families and from Central and South America. In the process, the Americanization of California is examined in context with one specific student learning English, Jesús María Estudillo.
The Colorful History of SCU’s Colors
Trizha Aquino, A&SC student research assistant
How did SCU get the school colors of red and white? We dive into the history books to find out.
Collaboration on the Renaissance Era Stage: Questions of Authorship, Attribution, and Piracy for The Elder Brother
Jessica Joudy, SCEMBI student research assistant
The Santa Clara Early Modern Book Initiative (SCEMBI) continues its work investigating bibliographic issues related to the holdings of Archives & Special Collections. This blog post examines the authorship attribution of The Elder Brother: how much help did John Fletcher get from Phillip Massinger writing the play, and what was their relationship?
Dances at SCU
Trizha Aquino, A&SC student research assistant
Archives & Special Collections celebrated Valentine’s Day by looking back at the tradition of legendary SCU dances. But, it also made us miss being together. Cheers to dancing in a sweaty group in the not-so-distant future!