Emory University Archives

Emory President Sanford S. Atwood, right, helps commemorate the
groundbreaking for the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing building,
the proceedings of which are recorded in Series 210

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In the spring of 2012, the Emory University Archives began an audiovisual materials survey and re-processing project. After months of wrangling cassette tapes, VHS tapes, 16mm film, and more, the vast majority of archival audiovisual resources in the University Archives have been added to our finding aids in MARBL's EmoryFindingAids database. One new collection consisting exclusively of these audiovisual resources is a significant resource for documenting University history through sound and video: the Teaching Aids Department audiovisual materials (Series 210). 

The Teaching Aids Department was responsible for purchasing and circulating film and audio resources for teaching and instruction, loaning recording and projector equipment, and creating reproductions and photographic slides. What really makes this collection important to Emory is that it contains recordings of campus events from the early 1940s through 1979. This group of recordings documents developments at Emory, changes in academia and higher education as a whole, and specific subjects like desegregation and civil rights, the Cold War, public health, and theology.

Below are just a sample of some of the kinds of subjects and events documented in this collection:

• 
  Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
  speaks at the World Affairs Conference
  held at Emory University in 1960

  Recordings of public programs or lectures with figures such as Margaret Mead, President (then-Governor) Jimmy Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Strom Thurmond, as well as many more intellectuals, scientists, journalists, politicians, doctors, theologians, and Emory presidents, deans, professors, and administrators.

• Two series of recordings entitled "Health Education for Emory College students" from 1969 and 1973, offering a glimpse into how public health issues were addressed at that time.
• "Crisis in the Schools:" a series of recordings of public programs hosted by Emory's Community Educational Services from 1957-1959 about desegregation in schools featuring politicians, journalists, and others.
• Eleven recordings of an Emory News Bureau radio program called "Let's Talk" consisting of 3 to 5 minute talks by Emory professors on a wide range of academic subjects.
• A series of recordings from a conference on theology education celebrating Emory University's fiftieth anniversary
• Local memorial ceremonies for President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Emory Charter Day (December 12) ceremonies from 1951 to 1962
• Emory Birthday Party celebrations (analogous to Founders Day) from various years from 1963 to 1973
• Baccalaureate sermons and graduation exercises for many years between 1942 and 1977
• Musical performances from Emory groups like the Glee Club, Women's Chorale, Emory Chamber Singers, and Atlanta Chamber Orchestra

All of these materials can be requested for listening or viewing in the MARBL reading room, but you must contact MARBL a few weeks in advance to have them digitized. Don't be shy, once they are digitized, they will remain available for the next researcher who wants to listen or watch!

(I would like to add a BIG hearty thanks to Ben Nobbs-Thiessen, PhD candidate in History, for trudging through these materials with me and helping make these resources available. Thanks, Ben!)

Aerial View of Emory University Campus, circa 1965

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Emory University Archives is pleased to announce the reopening of the Emory University photograph collection (Series 111). The collection recently underwent reprocessing, during which the collection's organizational structure was streamlined and simplified and descriptive resources, such as the online finding aid, were produced. The aim of the reprocessing project was to increase the accessibility and usability of the collection, making the collection itself more visible and its contents easier to discover, identify, and locate.

DVS Senior Honor Society composite, circa 1920

The Emory University photograph collection, which spans two centuries and contains approximately 22,000 items, provides researchers with the opportunity to explore Emory's history visually. It contains photographs in multiple formats and sizes, from cabinet cards to composites and panoramas. The subjects of the photographs vary broadly but are united by their connection to Emory University and its predecessor Emory College. Photographs depicting campuses, buildings, and construction, document Emory's growth and change while photographs and candid snapshots of students and events add dimension to our understanding of student life and the Emory experience.

Sock Hop at Dooley's Den, circa 1950s

Some highlights of the collection include pushball games, Dooley's week dances, student protest movements, early Emory College portraits, athletics, student societies, and musical and military groups.

Emory College Junior Class Baseball Team, 1906

To view the Emory University photograph collection and other primary sources documenting Emory's history, please visit the Emory University Archives in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

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The James Harvey Young papers (opening soon) will be an exciting new addition to the Emory University Archives holdings. The collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, research, teaching materials, and a multitude of records pertaining to Emory University committees and governance.
 
Dr. James Harvey Young was born in New York in 1915, though spent most of his childhood in Indiana and Illinois. He graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he developed an interest in health fraud and quackery. After obtaining his Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois, he took a teaching position at Emory in 1941, where he would stay until his retirement in 1984. He served as a member on multiple committees, oversaw 37 doctoral dissertations (an Emory record), and served as head of the history department for nearly a decade, all while teaching and continuing his research on food and drug regulation and medical quackery. He continued to research, write, and speak publicly on issues surrounding health and consumer protection until his death in 2006.
   

Some highlights of the collection are manuscripts and drafts of Dr. Young’s most celebrated works, The Toadstool Millionaires, The Medical Messiahs, and Pure Food, which served as the go-to reference book for the early history of the Food and Drug Administration in America. The James Harvey Young papers will also be an asset to social historians. Given the decades-long span of personal correspondence, it will be a valuable resource in examining the changing nature of personal and familial communication, both in terms of content, writing style, and the technologies implemented to stay connected. We are pleased to bring this content to MARBL researchers.

NOTE: The James Harvey Young papers are currently closed to researchers. Please contact marbl@emory.edu for questions about the collection.