Writings on Special Collections and Archives at Harvard University's Houghton Library
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Harvard Library joins Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies and the Department of the Classics to celebrate the birthday of Greek poet Nikos Gatsos and the launch of the Gatsos Translation Project.
Harvard Library’s 2018 acquisition of the archive of avant-garde Greek poet and lyricist Nikos Gatsos (1911–1992) has been widely celebrated by the Harvard community and beyond, with concerts in Cambridge and Washington D.C., lectures, panel presentations, and receptions. On December 8th at 12 PM EST, Harvard Library will join the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies and the Department of the Classics to celebrate the 110th birthday and legacy of this great twentieth century icon of Greek culture and to acknowledge both his songmaking and his work as a translator.
Harry Hawk, Our American cousin collage, ca. 1865-1894. MS Thr 888. Houghton Library, Harvard University
Rather unfortunately, an evening performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 is perhaps the most remarked upon theatrical event in American history. Harry Hawk, who played the “cousin” character Asa Trenchard, delivered this risible line in Act II: “Don’t know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap.” John Wilkes Booth ostensibly hoped that the ensuing laughter would cover the sound of his gun, and shot the President as he enjoyed a hearty laugh at the scene. Lincoln slumped forward as Booth jumped onstage and made a dramatic escape from the theatre. Although he survived the night, the wound was mortal and Lincoln passed away a little after seven the following morning. In the wake of the President’s shocking death, the public evinced a strong desire for mementos and playbills for the infamous performance proved to be one particularly valued keepsake. Years later and in a similar spirit, Harry Hawk assembled a montage of photographs and documents memorializing the tragic evening.
As part of our observance of African American history month, Houghton Library has taken an opportunity to research and reflect on the life and work of the library’s first African American colleague, Harold M. Terrell, Jr. At a time when the Harvard College Library employed very few African Americans, Harold was a notable exception in a career that spanned six decades. This post is intended to honor him and to highlight the lasting contributions he made to the library.
Harold was born in Boston on 20 June 1929, the youngest son of Harold and Mary (Forbes) Terrell. His father had moved in 1920 from North Carolina to Boston, where he held several jobs through the Great Depression and the Second World War; his mother raised their three children at home. Young Harold attended public schools, graduating from Roxbury Memorial High School in 1947. Two years later he joined the staff of Houghton Library as an assistant in the library’s reading room; a photograph of reading room staff taken in the early 1950s shows Harold as a young man, sporting the fine pencil mustache he wore his entire life.
Harold Terrell (far right) in the Houghton Library Reading Room with other staff members. Undated photograph. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Hi, everyone. My name is Monique and I am Houghton Library’s new Digital Archivist! I started working at Houghton in May 2020. My job sits within the Manuscript Section and revolves around the born-digital collections Houghton acquires in the form of media like hard drives and floppy disks, or networked content, like websites. While I haven’t yet visited Houghton’s physical space due to the pandemic, there’s been no shortage of work to dive into while working remotely.
Over the last few months, I have spent much of my time digging into the born-digital archival materials we have on cloud storage. I’m able to do this because of the previous work conducted by Accessioning Archivist, Melanie Wisner, and past Administrative Fellow and Project Archivist, Magee Lawhorn, to get born-digital work off the ground at Houghton. Before I arrived, Melanie and Magee captured files from born-digital removable media, like the 3.5” floppy disks in the John Updike, John Ashbery, and Jerry Schatzberg papers, respectively. As a result, I can begin to work with the digital files we have on cloud storage to determine how we can best provide access for researchers to these materials.