More on Coxe Hall

With a little further research I found that we have the plans for the Coxe Hall classroom renovation from 1981. And specs on the 1926 alteration.  I also copied the few interior photographs we have from days gone by and burned them to a CD. Information is adding up!

Back in Action

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve written!

This is the first day a classes.  I’m so glad to see my studentworkers back.  Not just because I need them (which I do) but because I’ve missed them.

We are starting work with all those boxes from the Office of Communications that came in early in the summer.  Jessica is putting an inventory into an Access database for me.  From there we will be able to print up folder labels and make a finding aid.

We also started right off with a request for information on all the previous uses of Coxe Hall.

• I pulled all the folders I could find, which include floor plans, Alumni/ae magazine articles, dedication speeches, etc.
• I also went through the catalogues.  I looked at one for every 10 year period.  Until 1970 they told how each building was used.  After that they just list some many classroom building, laboratories, etc.
• I was hoping to find something in the directories, but it would require look through all the faculty staff entries for the building name.  Perhaps I can use them to back track the President’s office and Human Resources to see when they moved in.

Digitization of Scrapbooks

I’ve been away on vacation. Could you tell? 🙂

Tuesday I spent the day with the Colleges’ photographer,  Kevin Colton.  He photographed two scrapbooks for us for the William Smith College Centennial webpage they are putting together.

Once he was all set up he clicked and I turned pages.  I am very excited about seeing these on the web.  He would photograph a page, then if there was a folded item, e.g. program, news clip, I would open it and he would photgraph it again.  The webpage will be set up so if you click on the item it will appear to open.

The scrapbooks we did were the William Smith 50th Anniversary scrapbook, and the Francis Belle Eddy scrapbook.  Eddy was in the WSC charter class (1912) and seems to have documented her college life very well.  It will be great fun to read in detail. And the scrapbooks, already in bad condition will not have much further handling.  I think I will put them on display when they kick off the webpage, however.