Visitors to Special Collections admire a Gradual, or hymnal used by Gregorian monks. The piece weighs around 37 pounds and has iron clasps. Date: Oct. 26, 2011 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

Some of Oregon State University’s most rare collections rarely see the light of day, but part of the McDonald Rare Book Collection got an airing this week when library technician Trevor Sangathe brought a handful of pieces out of hiding.

A handful of faculty and staff gathered for a glimpse of some of the collections most unusual pieces, which were hidden under pieces of black velvet until their unveiling.

The collection began, oddly enough, with some troublesome tumbleweed.

OSU caught the eye of California timber baroness Mary McDonald in the 1930s, after her land was plagued by tumbleweed. The problem was resolved by an OSU faculty member, and in response, McDonald began donating to the university. In addition to her interest in the outdoors, McDonald was also a lover of books.

“When she learned we did not have a rare book collection, she was horrified,” Sangathe said. She first donated her own collection of rare books to the university, and then added more through the years, finally donating an entire room for the collection, which the library eventually outgrew.

In 1986, the collection was absorbed by Special Collections (now Special Collections & Archives Research Center), and placed in a controlled environment to protect the delicate materials.

“Rare books are not our focus,” Sangathe said, as Special Collections specializes in the history of 20^thcentury science and technology. “But we have a wonderful sampling of a very broad group of volumes of literature.”

The oldest piece in the McDonald Rare Book Collection at OSU is a Sumerian cuneiform tablet dating approximately 2041 B.C. The fragile piece has a prosaic purpose, it's a receipt for the donation of livestock to the feast for a Sumerian king. Date: Oct. 26, 2011 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

The oldest and most delicate piece in the collection is a Sumerian cuneiform dating from 2041 B.C. The small tablet is about the size of a bar of soap, and is covered with markings made by a stylus, a small writing utensil. Although it looks exotic, it’s actually a rather prosaic piece, Sangathe explained.

“It’s a receipt,” he said, of the donation of some livestock to the feast of a Sumerian king. These receipts were often tossed aside in large piles, and weren’t considered to be worth much attention, but now are a valuable piece of history.

A long scroll from the early 19^th century is only slightly more sturdy, and contains a much more vivid story, that of the Book of Esther. The elegant Hebrew script dances across the scroll’s yellowed animal skin, which has been carefully sewn together in sheets.

Trevor Sandgathe, a library technician, unrolls a Hebrew scroll of The Book Of Esther. The piece is part of the McDonald Rare Book Collection at OSU. Date: Oct. 26, 2011 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

Just down the table, a tiny page of manuscript from the late 1200s displays the traditional red, blue and gold illustration popular with monks and scriptoria, while a hefty wood-bound hymnal known as a Gradual loomed on the other side. The 13^th century tome’s vellum (skin) pages were painstakingly illustrated, and include a long list of Saints’ holidays in elegant Latin script.

“Owning books was considered a major mark of wealth,” Sangathe said. “If you were a patron of literature, you were special.”

Some more modern pieces in the collection include letters from John Astor and Theodore Roosevelt, and several series of handsome bound sets with hand-tooled leather and watercolor illustrations. One set, the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, is a “special” special edition that contains a collection of original signatures in the back section, including Lincoln’s.

An original plate by Charles Dickens’ illustrator ‘Phiz’ (Hablot Knight Browne), and a stack of first edition Edgard Rice Burroughs pulp fiction novels, helped round out the exhibit, giving everyone who attended a taste of the rich collection being housed at OSU.

~ Theresa Hogue

Chris Gray is a faculty member with The Union Institute and University and a lecturer at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is the author of Postmodern War (1997), Cyborg Citizen (2001) and Peace, War and Computers (2005), among other works. His project is an examination of the political and social implications of contemporary evolutionary theory. He plans to use components of the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers as well as the Paul Lawrence Farber Papers.

Christopher O’Brien is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Maine, Farmington. Dr. O’Brien will be using the History of Atomic Energy Collection and the Pauling Papers to study the effect on children of the Cold War nuclear build-up. O’Brien’s research will be conducted in support of a forthcoming monograph on the subject.

Graciela de Souza Oliver is a faculty member at the Universidade Federal do ABC in Santo Andre, Brazil, where she lectures on the social history of Brazilian science and technology, agricultural history, and other areas. Dr. Oliver will use the Nursery and Seed Trade Catalogues and various monographs and dissertations held in the History of Science Collection. Her project focuses on the “visual and textual elements of advertisement and trade in plants and seeds, in view of the relationship between amateurs and science professionals.”

Linda Richards is a Ph. D. candidate in the History of Science at Oregon State University. Her ongoing research for her dissertation compares the development of radiation health safety at Atoms for Peace research reactors with the experience of uranium mining workers and communities. She plans to utilize components of the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers as she continues researching this topic.

The Resident Scholar Program, sponsored by Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections and supported by the Peter and Judith Freeman Fund, awards stipends of up to $2,500 per month, renewable up to three months, for a total maximum grant award of $7,500. To date, six researchers have carried out studies under the auspices of the program, traveling to Corvallis from as far away as Kentucky, New York and Germany.

For more information on the Resident Scholar Program, see http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/residentscholar.html

Cliff Mead, Head of Special Collections for the OSU Libraries, is retiring in 2011.

Clifford Mead, an expert on the life of one of Oregon State University’s most celebrated alumni, Linus Pauling, and the man responsible for the growth of the OSU Libraries world-class collections, is retiring after 24 years at the university.

Mead, Head of Special Collections for OSU Libraries, will retire effective Jan. 1, 2011.  Mead’s expertise in special collections administration has resulted in the development and growth of a collection that serves as an outstanding resource not only for the OSU community but for scholars from across the globe.

Not only is Special Collections an ideal environment for on-campus study and research, but as OSU’s Horning Professor of Humanities and Professor of History Emeritus, Mary Jo Nye explained, Mead has dedicated himself to making the collection available to the public.

“Cliff and his staff have pioneered online website communication of historically valuable documents, photographs, films, and other resources to the public,” Nye said. “He has been a real treasure at OSU whom countless visitors have found to be their engaging and omniscient guide in Special Collections.”

The focus of OSU Special Collections is on the Ava and Linus Pauling Papers with a broader emphasis on the history of 20th century science and technology. Mead has led the Special Collections Department’s development of outstanding digital resources, especially those that provide in-depth coverage of the life and work of Linus Pauling, the only recipient of two unshared Nobel Prizes.

“In addition to Professor Mead’s leadership in developing a truly innovative and  world-renowned web presence for displaying the vast resources of the Special Collections department, he has provided exceptional opportunities for OSU students to have firsthand experience working with primary research materials, ” said Karyle Butcher, former OSU University Librarian and University Press Director.

Mead is recognized internationally as the authority on the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers.  He has authored several publications, including Thomas Pynchon:  A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources (1989).  His most recent book, co-edited with Chris Petersen, is The Pauling Catalogue: Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers at Oregon State University (2006).  He also has co-edited Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker (2001) and The Pauling Symposium: A Discourse on the Art of Biography (1996). Mead received his master of library science from Syracuse University School of Information Studies, Syracuse, New York and a B.A. in English from the Utica College of Syracuse University.

Paul Farber, OSU Distinguished Professor Emeritus, said it is Mead’s personality that really drove the collection.

“Cliff has that rare combination of intelligence, organization, personality, wit and humor that makes a university collection of papers and books into a Special Collection,” Farber said. “He has been at the center of creating this major asset at OSU, one that has large portions available online, and one that brings scholars from around the world to campus.  He cannot be replaced, but he has built an institution that will persist.”

Larry Landis, University Archivist, will serve as interim director of the Special Collections beginning Jan. 1, 2011 until a permanent head is named.  Landis is an experienced library administrator, having served as the University Archivist since December 1996.  Landis started his career at OSU in January 1991 after having worked for seven years at the University of Texas at Austin at what is now the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.  Landis earned an M.A. in history from Texas Christian University and completed post- graduate work in archives

The “Linus Pauling Day-by-Day” is a constantly-expanding resource that provides in-depth description for a substantial portion of the half-million item Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers.

1960 was a difficult year for Linus and Ava Helen Pauling, one marked by two especially-harrowing incidents. At the end of January 1960, having become lost while walking near his coastal home, Pauling was forced to spend nearly 24 hours trapped on a cliff some 300-feet above the Pacific Ocean. Pauling didn’t suffer physical harm but the experience left him shaken.

An even greater source of stress emerged in the early summer, when Pauling was summoned to testify before the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. Suspicious of Pauling’s peace activities, the subcommittee demanded that Pauling reveal the names of those individuals who assisted both he and his wife in their circulation of the famous United Nations Bomb Test Petition.
Though threatened with imprisonment for contempt of Congress, Pauling refused to divulge the requested information.

After two tense hearings and a great deal of media attention, the subcommittee ultimately relented, and Pauling was not penalized.
As with all of the years featured in “Linus Pauling Day-by-Day,” the 1960 release is comprised of thousands of text summaries, multi-page illustrations and transcripts of items held in the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers.

The on-line project began in 1999, when the OSU Libraries Special Collections launched an ambitious undertaking that seeks to closely-document virtually every day of Linus and Ava Helen Pauling’s lives.

This huge amount of data is presented in calendar form. Index pages created for each year of the Day-by-Day calendar provide an overview of the major events in the Paulings’ lives, a full accounting of their travel and snapshots from their various adventures at home and abroad.
Within the calendar, cross-referenced summaries of tens of thousands of documents are accompanied by weekly illustrations and a growing cache of full-text correspondence transcripts.

The product of all this information is a resource that provides unprecedented access to the daily activities of both Pauling as well as the many important figures with whom he communicated.

With the inclusion of the 1960 content, the project now boasts of well-over 76,000 activities listings, 1,700 illustrations and 2,000 transcripts.
To learn more about the project, see http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/calendar/index.html

~ Cliff Mead