There will be a minor service disruption of OpenAthens on Friday, August 15, from 7am - 7:15am. A restart of OpenAthens is needed to renew the annual security certificate. The restart will impact those attempting to sign in to Alma/Primo or other online resources that use OpenAthens. However, it will not affect those who are already in the process of using electronic resources. If you have any questions, please contact Ramon Barcia (email: ramon.barcia@ucr.edu ).
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Footsteps to You exhibition hopes to inspire empathy and discourse
Empathy and the power of choice: those are two things that the Footsteps to You – Chattel Slavery exhibition hopes to inspire.
Footsteps to You – Chattel Slavery will open on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018 in Special Collections and University Archives, located on the fourth floor of Tomás Rivera Library. Curated by Jordan Brown, Class of 2019 History major and Mellon Fellow with the Curatorial Studies program at Spelman College, this exhibition will be presented at UC Riverside by the Black Voice Foundation with the Gore Collection.
“There’s a long-standing history with UCR,” said Hardy Brown II, Executive Director of the Black Voice Foundation. “The Black Voice News was started at UCR 45 years ago,” he added, which is one reason the Black Voice Foundation chose to bring this exhibition to our campus.
The collection featured in this exhibition was entrusted to the Black Voice Foundation by the Estate of Jerry Gore. Gore was a respected historian who developed a national reputation through his work and personal collection efforts, which focused on the history of enslavement and abolition in the Maysville, Kentucky metropolitan region.
The exhibition showcases primary resources and implements of slavery that date back to the 1800s. Some materials featured tell the story of a group of black and white people who decided that slavery was wrong and worked together to change the system. “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates are highly relevant to the current political climate,” Brown commented. “We have the same dialogue going on today.”
Gore was not a man of tremendous means, but he devoted every spare dollar he had to acquiring these artifacts, according to Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, Publisher of The Black Voice News and Steward of the Gore Collection for the Black Voice Foundation.
“Jerry felt like he had a special responsibility to keep it, and then impart it to those of us who he knew would go out and teach, as well,” Dr. Brown-Hinds said. For that reason, she considered Gore a “griot,” a West African term that means “keeper of the culture.” She added, “It’s important that we partner with institutions like the UCR Library to show it to a wider audience.”
The Black Voice Foundation originally connected with Gore through their “Footsteps to Freedom” tour. “The tour started because a teacher in a local district was teaching her students that slavery was good for the slaves, that it civilized them,” Dr. Brown-Hinds explained. “Today, we hear the same ignorant rhetoric coming from people with a larger platform.”
More than 1,500 educators have participated in the tour over the past 20 years. “When they go on this tour – something changes in them. They have to do something in their community,” said Brown. “When they walk out, it’s on them whether they want to continue to teach the way they were taught or whether they’re going to teach differently.”
Brown hopes that seeing these rare materials will open up a discourse between attendees. “I don’t want people to feel blame when they come in,” he said. “When they see these artifacts, it’s not just show-and-tell. It’s a conversation. The whole piece together really hinges on empathy and understanding other people. Our whole country was founded on freedom, but we had this whole population of people who weren’t free.”
“In 100 years, what do you want history to say about you? Were you on the right side – or the wrong side – of history?” he asked. “Even if something doesn’t affect you, are you willing to stand up and fight?”
Robin Katz
Robin's key responsibility is to foster primary source literacy for a wide range of audiences. She holds a BA in English & American Literature and European Cultural Studies from Brandeis University and an MLIS with concentration in archives and special collections from Kent State University. Robin joined the library in 2015.
Arts and Humanities Teaching Librarian
Newly Processed Collections - Fall 2019
Special Collections & University Archives employees are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of the UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out this list to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA will be open to the public during fall quarter 2019 on weekdays from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections - Fall 2019
Ira J. Condit Papers (UA 084)
The Ira J. Condit papers contain scrapbooks, notes, correspondence, photographs and articles written by Ira J. Condit, an American horticulturist who studied subtropical fruits including the fig, olive, and avocado. Includes meeting minutes from the Citrus Experiment Station (1915-1929) as well as information on the avocado and ficus genus, particularly figs. Of note is an album of photographs documenting a trip Condit took to China in 1934. The album contains photos of Condit and others as well as various plant specimens.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8183cwx/
Howard S. Fawcett papers (UA 362)
The Howard S. Fawcett papers contain articles, magazine and newspaper clippings, correspondence, periodicals, transcripts of radio broadcasts and other material gathered on Howard S. Fawcett, a University of California, Riverside professor and noted pioneer in phytopathology. The bulk of the papers consist of writings and research related to citrus diseases.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8w95gk0/
Eliud Martinez papers (UA 002)
This collection includes photos, DVDs, a floppy disk, notes, course materials, correspondence, conference materials, writings, and legal documents. The materials in this collection relate to the personal life and professional interests of Eliud Martinez, Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Riverside.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c89029mv/
Frank C. Vasek papers (UA 365)
The Frank C. Vasek papers contain articles, reports, correspondence, photographs, and other material from Vasek's tenure as life sciences professor at the University of California, Riverside. The bulk of the collection consists of information on plants from California and other areas.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8rj4qwq/
Transcriptions make Fujimoto Diaries more accessible
The Fujimoto Transcripts project has made a treasured library resource even more accessible to a global audience.
The diaries of Japanese Americans, Toranosuke (George) Fujimoto and George Fujimoto Jr. constitute one of the most valuable and unique collections housed in the UCR Special Collections & University Archives. Toranosuke, born in 1882, kept a diary from 1913 to 1968. George Jr. wrote in his diary from 1942, when he was 21 years old, to 1948. These astonishing materials document the daily life experiences of both the father and the son during World War II, when the family was forcibly removed from their Riverside, California home and taken to an incarceration camp in Poston, Arizona.
The opening entry in George Jr.’s diary, date March 11, 1942, documents his return from school to find that his father and others had been arrested and taken away:
“Went to school as usual… Came home about 5PM and was shocked to learn that Pop was taken into custody today by federal officials. 28 Riverside Japanese aliens were rounded up in today's raid; Mr. Sanematsu & Pop included. Fortunately Pop was partially prepared.”
According to Cherry Williams, Director of Distinctive Collections, some readers have had trouble accessing and using the digitized diaries because the readers were unfamiliar with cursive script, or because they lacked fluency with the English language and sentence structure, or due to challenges with reading the soft color of the ink, among others.
“The Fujimoto transcription project sought to alleviate such impediments by enhancing, expanding, and facilitating the ease with which these important and distinctive documents can be used and re-used by the general public, research scholars, students and any others interested in this period in Riverside County and The Inland Empire during WWII,” Williams explained.
The UCR Library recognizes and extends its deep appreciation to the committed librarians and library staff who dedicated months of work creating the transcriptions, which are now available on the Calisphere website: Diary of George Fujimoto Jr. (1942) — Calisphere
At present, only the diaries of George Fujimoto Jr. have been transcribed.
Special Collections Reading Room
Type
- Individual Study
- Quiet Space
Capacity
- Up to 10 people
This reading room is the public access point for all collections housed in Special Collections & University Archives. Tables are reserved for up to 10 registered users to consult Special Collections materials, and computers are reserved for Special Collections research. Additional visitors are welcome as the large reading room also features public exhibitions and an information desk.
Explore the Rich World of Fanzines for Research and Study
The UCR Library’s Special Collections & University Archives is thrilled to present a digital collection of fanzines, an exciting online resource for researchers of science fiction at UCR.
This digital archive features over 1,000 items from 12 different publications, offering a glimpse into the vibrant world of fan magazines.
This fanzine collection is a subset of the much larger collection of fanzines housed in Special Collections. Our comprehensive collection includes more than 68,000 fanzines, primarily from the 20th century, covering topics such as science fiction, fantasy, animation, and related genres. This extensive archive was created by integrating several individual fanzine collections from prominent members of the fan community, including the Bruce Pelz and Fred Patten fanzine collections.
Please note that the content on this site is for use by individual UCR-affiliated researchers only and you will need to log in with your UCR credentials for access. Specific written permission is required for public display or publication of these resources. To request reproductions of materials from the fanzine collections at UCR, please visit our SCUA Reproductions Policy.
To find out more about the fanzine collections at UCR, visit our LibGuide, Fandom Materials in the Eaton Collection: Fanzines.
Smith Acorn Press Finds a New Home
A Smith Acorn Press, a historic toggle-style printing press made in 1828, is now on display on the first floor of the Tomás Rivera Library
Patented by Peter Smith in 1821, the Acorn Press is known for its acorn-shaped frame and precise printing capabilities.
The press on display was discovered in Philadelphia in the 1930s by Jackson Burke, who used it in San Francisco to produce “Pocket Press” editions. In the 1950s, Burke gifted the press to Lewis and Dorothy Allen of the Allen Press, where it was used to create 12 titles, including Dialogues of Creatures Moralised.
In 1967, the press moved to the University of California, Santa Cruz. There, poet and printer William Everson used it at the Lime Kiln Press from 1968 to 1981, producing works like West to the Water and Granite and Cypress. After the Lime Kiln Press closed, UCSC’s McHenry Library donated the press to UCR in 2005.
Previously kept in the stacks of Special Collections & University Archives on the fourth floor of the Rivera Library, the press is now accessible to all visitors on the first floor, located to the right of the Library Support/IT Support Desk.
Visit during the library's operating hours to get a glimpse into the history of printing and the craftsmanship that went into making printing presses.
New primary source collections available for spring quarter 2018
Special Collections & University Archives staff are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out the list below to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
SCUA is open to the public on weekdays from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm. Check here for closures or other changes to our regular hours.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections – Spring 2018
15.29 linear ft. (30 boxes)
This collection contains photographs, negatives, and slides taken by Stephen J. Wayne, a local photographer from the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Images in the collection primarily reflect the landscape of Riverside and the greater Inland Empire during the later 20th century, and include depictions of local events, residents, architecture, and nature.
0.25 linear ft. (1 album)
The collection consists of approximately 200 photographs and photographic postcards depicting various places, people, and landmarks in Veracruz, Mexico, taken between 1910 and 1920.
9.17 linear ft. (8 boxes)
The collection contains materials created and compiled by LGBT activists Connie Confer, a retired assistant city attorney for Riverside, California and her partner, Kay Berryhill Smith, a retired social worker in Riverside County. Materials in the collection focus on local, state and federal LGBT rights issues and include organizational records, political campaign and lobbying efforts, research and publications on the LGBT community and discrimination, and legal records related to anti-discrimination cases.
0.83 linear ft. (2 boxes)
The collection consists of approximately 850 photographic slides, mostly of science fiction conventions, taken by well-known fan Don E. Ford in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Slides in the collection depict various parts of conventions, including audiences listening to performances and speakers, dinners, discussions, and other fan gatherings.
2.09 linear ft. (5 boxes)
The collection consists of materials related to various play-by-mail games collected and developed by John C. Muir and his daughter Shannon Elise-Muir Broden, including rulebooks, specification sheets, forms, newsletters, team rosters, turn results, reference manuals and play-by-mail publications.
5.86 linear ft. (14 boxes, 1 map case folder)
The collection consists of the papers of author, playwright, and screenwriter Michael Craft. Materials in the collection include manuscripts, notes, research materials, correspondence, promotional materials, reviews and other items related to Craft's career and creative works, most notably the Mark Manning and Claire Gray series.
Eaton Collection and George Brown papers highlighted on C-Span Cities Tour
Two of our UC Riverside librarians were recently interviewed by C-SPAN as part of their 2018 "Cities Tour."
C-SPAN interviewed JJ Jacobson, Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction, in a Local Content Vehicles (LCV) “Cities Tour” segment looking at UCR’s Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
C-SPAN also interviewed Jessica Geiser, collections management librarian in the Special Collections & University Archives, about congressional papers of U.S. Rep. George Brown Jr., housed at the UCR Library.
Newly Processed Collections - Summer 2021
Special Collections & University Archives employees are constantly working to process recently acquired collections and make those materials ready for use by students, faculty, and researchers.
Each quarter, we will provide a list of the UCR Library's newly processed archival and primary source collections. Check out this list to see if there are any items that fit your research area, or share with a friend!
Below you'll find brief descriptions and links to the finding aids or collection guides for each new collection. To use any of these materials, simply click the "Request Items" button at the top to submit a request, and log in with our Special Collections Request System. For more on conducting research in Special Collections, see this page.
For questions, email specialcollections@ucr.edu.
Newly Processed Collections - Summer 2021
Philip Flint papers (WRCA 248)
This collection consists of research materials for Flint's dissertation, printed materials; statistics, tables, and graphs; as well as a small amount of correspondence and personal material. Related subjects include nitrogen nutrient levels, arctic tundra, and the International Tundra Biome.
Joan Simpson Collection on Philip K. Dick (MS 081)
The collection consists mainly of letters, poems, and story drafts written by science fiction author Philip K. Dick to Joan Simpson, who he was in a relationship with for most of 1977. Letters in the collection focus mostly on Dick's relationship with Simpson, including their breakup in November of 1977, as well as reflections about his life and experiences. Also included in the collection are some correspondence from Dick to reviewers and publishers about his works and others, and personal correspondence and invitations sent to Simpson.
Anne R. Dick Collection on Philip K. Dick (MS 083)
The collection contains correspondence and related materials from author Philip K. Dick compiled by his third wife and biographer Anne R. Dick. Items in the collection are from the period after their divorce, and consist mostly of personal correspondence, along with some items related to Anne's biography of Philip K. Dick.