Personal Blog guidelines

As an assignment, as well as a means of establishing some form of integrity for my blog I have created a set of "guidelines" dealing with the nature of blogging. These rules are subject to change as I learn more about the blogging world!

Facts:
Of course facts really depend on the nature of the site. In the case of my blog, facts are very important. I have presented myself as a provider of interesting facts about objects within the University’s collection, and because my site is available for everyone to see I hold a level of obligation to adhere to.


GENERALIZED RULES FOR BLOGGING INFORMATION:

1. If you are unsure about what you are writing, either don’t write it or make it clear that you are unsure.
-The Internet is at our fingertips… look it up!

2. Anyone that you are referencing should be aware that they are being referenced.
-This goes along for any quotations as well.

3. Anyone that you are referencing should be aware of the nature of your project.

4. The best information comes directly from a person as opposed to outside sources. If you want to quote an article, it wouldn’t hurt to verify the intention of the author by talking with them if it’s possible.

5. Be sure to properly cite any information that was taken from other places


RULES PERTAINING TO MY BLOG IN PARTICULAR:

1. The intention of my blog is to incite interest in the University of Michigan collections. I will assume that my viewers are uninformed and provide the most information I can (even if that means providing links for further research).

2. I will try my best to include a large variety of topics and objects, even though I have the best access to items within the Kelsey Museum and Map Library.

3. I will take into consideration any suggestions as my interests don’t always apply to everybody.

I think U of M collections are cool!

The building as art

This week I thought I would talk about the University of Michigan Museum of Art or the "UMMA." Unlike the other locations I've talked about, this museum is definitely more well known. It was under construction almost the entire time I've been at school here. While it was being constructed, I was definitely suspicious at times. The addition doesn't look like the original part of the museum at all, and I was worried about the way it would turn out. I think everybody is happy with the end result, however. The addition has a more modern feel, which works because it does house the museum's modern collection amongst other things. When you walk into a museum, it's generally assumed that you're there to appreciate the objects housed within, but we often times disregard the actual building itself. Architecture is a form of art, and a good example of this is the Guggenheim in New York City designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. There's a lot of thought that goes into the design of a museum, beyond the placement of the objects. The fact that the museum's collection existed before the building was built means that even the collection was considered when designing the new addition. I feel as if this video expresses the intent of the designer very well.

The honest truth about Abe

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, and as my “gift” to him I decided to write about an object relating to him. The interesting thing about this object, however, is that it directly relates to the end of his life as opposed to the beginning. In the Clements Library there is a shorthand personal account of Abraham Lincoln’s last moments.

I’ve heard the term, “shorthand,” and I guess I never really thought about what it is. I guess I just thought it was the way we’d write notes and sometimes abbreviate our words. Apparently, shorthand is a lot more complicated than that. When I saw an image of the account of Abe’s death, I immediately asked, “is that English?!” It really looked more Arabic than anything. I also thought that it might be just really messy handwriting, and somebody had to transcribe it.It turns out transcription of this account is a little more complicated than figuring out messy handwriting. This particular shorthand is called, “Pitman,” and it was first presented in 1837, which means it was around for only 31 years before this account was written. (For more information on Pitman shorthand click here).

If you take a look at the image above you can understand the confusion I had when I first saw this document. But why was shorthand necessary, and furthermore, how come we don’t use it today? The idea behind shorthand is that it can be written fast. Before computers, typewriters, or any kind of recorders, knowing how to write shorthand was a skill used particularly for its speed.

James Tanner, the author of this document we have in the Clements Library, happened to be the person to record this account by several coincidences. He was injured in the war and was forced to have both of his feet amputated. Unfortunate? Yes. He decided to go to Business College rather than dwell in sorrow. He acquired his ability to write shorthand while he was there and was hired to be a clerk in the War Department in DC. On the same night that Abraham Lincoln was shot at the Ford Theater, James Tanner was not too far away at Glover’s Theater. Lincoln’s assassination was announced during the show, and Tanner happened to be renting two rooms in a house across the street from Ford’s Theater and when he got home, he found out that Lincoln was in the adjoining building. He was able to check out what was going on by stepping onto his balcony, and when the services of a shorthand writer were requested, he was the only one who knew how! When he finished, he wrote a lengthy account in shorthand to his classmate from college and it looked like this:’

“At 6:45 Saturday morning I finished my notes and passed into the back room where the President lay. It was very evident that he could not last long. There was a crowd in the room, which was small, but I approached quite near the bed on which so much greatness lay, fast losing its hold on this world. The head of the bed was towards the door, at the head stood Cat. Robert Lincoln, weeping on the shoulder of Senator Sumner. Gen. Halleck just behind Robt. Lincoln and I stood just to the left of Gen. Halleck, and between him and Gen. Meiggs. Stanton was there, trying every way to be calm and yet he was very much moved. The utmost silence pervaded, broken only by the sounds of strong men’s tears. It was a solemn time, I assure you. The President breathed heavily until a few minutes before he breathed his last, then his breath came easily, and he passed off very quietly. As soon as he was dead, Rev. Dr. Gurley, who has been the President’s pastor since his sojourn in this city, offered up a very impressive prayer… Secretary Stanton told me to take charge of the testimony I had taken, so I went to my room and took a copy of it to be delivered to him, as I wished to keep both my notes and the original copy… Walch, I would not regret the time and money I have spent on Photography if it never brought me more than it did that night, for then it brought me the privilege of standing by the bed of the most remarkable man of modern times and one who will live in the annals of his Country as long as she continues to have a history.”

Source: Dann, John C, ed. One Hundred and One Treasures from the Collections of the William L. Clements Library. Ann Arbor, MI: The Mosaic Foundation, 1998. 166-68. Print.

A Hidden Treasure in the Literal Sense

This week I decided to focus on an object from the Clements Library. This building is unknown by a grand majority of students, but it is very well known amongst scholars. It is a really beautiful building located in a very prominent location on campus, but I will be honest in saying that I've walked by it a thousand times before I ever even realized what it was. It wasn't until this year that I actually learned what it was and how impressive it actually is. While working in the Map Library, my internship advisor, Karl, took me over to the Clements to sign me up as a reader. Once you're signed up as a reader, you are allowed to physically handle and look through some of the treasures, but what exactly does the Clements have in its collection? After signing me up as a reader Karl took me upstairs to the old "Reading Room," which is the room available to the public. This room is beautiful in its own right, and it usually houses some sort of exhibit highlighting a certain aspect of the collection. Right now there's an exhibit called, "Reframing the Color Line: Race and the Visual Culture of the Atlantic World."

Karl introduced me to Tom Dziuszko who volunteers as a docent in the reading room. He knows A LOT, and he's obviously very excited about the Clements, which is extremely contagious. I told Tom my idea about writing a blog and when I asked him if he could think of any objects in the collection that he found particularly interesting, he had a hard time narrowing them down. He did tell me about one object, however, that really stood out in my mind.

The object Tom described was the "Hack Atlas." He explained to me that in the late 1600's, the Spanish were charting the Pacific coast of South America and for some reason were especially secretive of their maps. If the Spanish were to have their ships ransacked, the first thing they would do as a precautionary measure was to throw their maps overboard so that nobody would ever have access to them. Well, one day they weren't lucky in protecting their maps and a British pirate by the name of Captain Bartholomew Sharp attacked a Spanish ship, "El Santo Rosario," and escaped with a somewhat unusual treasure that would one day save his life. Because England and Spain were not in war at the time, Captain Sharp's acts of piracy were punishable by death. When he was tried in England, King Charles II realized the value of the maps seized by Sharp and pardoned his acts of piracy in a trade for their possession. The King hired William Hack to translate and compile these maps into a new atlas. Because the atlases were considered confidential at the time, the atlas was not published, but rather hand crafted. According to the Mirlyn library database there are only 14 known copies made, and the University of Michigan has one of them! Knowing all this, it makes sense that the University acquired this object for a mere $144,000 in 1979, which is probably more lik $400,000 today.

Because I was signed up as a reader, I was lucky enough to request to see this atlas. When I was in the reading room, I turned in a slip to request this book. The real title is:

"From the Original Spanish Manuscripts & our late English Discoveries A Description of all the Ports Bay's Roads Harbours Rivers Islands Sands Shoald's Rocks & Dangers in the South Seas of America between Calafornia and the straghts of Lemaire as allso the Passage about Terra Del Fuogo Discovered by Capt Sharpe in the year 1681 & Peyps's Island lyeing in the North Sea Discovered by Capt William Ambros Cowley in the year 1684 Delineated by William Hack"

A little lengthy, but all the librarians knew it as "The Hack Atlas," and there was definitely a sense of regard as they brought it out into the room. It's enormous. It is unlike anything I've ever seen, and as I sifted through the hand painted pages, it's easy to forget how important this book really is. It isn't a large atlas of the Pacific coast of South America, but rather a collection of drawings of ports and harbors and notes to sailors entering them. I found some of these notes particularly charming. One of which pointed out a rock that could easily be mistaken for the hull of a ship in the distance. Another page said, "In the year 1680 Cap Bart Sharpe was here in this port called Velas where he & his ships company were sustein'd by eating of snakes and monkey which induced him to name it the bay of snakes." Areas were noted if the natives were willing to trade, and one harbor it was mentioned: "The valiant Cap' Richard Sawkings in the year 1680 was slain just after he landed on this shore an indian struck a launce through his body."

The story of this book is equally as intriguing as the book itself. We always hear about tales of pirates, but generally these stories seem fictional. Is there really a treasure chest marked out by an "X" somewhere? It's hard to tell, but our University houses one of the most important treasures of all and its housed in a building not known by many. Maybe it is a hidden treasure after all!