Winter Quarter 2007

Urban & Regional Design 211: Urban Design & Behavior

Professor Kristen Day

Special Collections Session – Primary Sources

 

 

Steve MacLeod – smacleod@uci.edu, 949-824-4967

Public Services Coordinator - Special Collections and Archives

 

Anne Frank – afrank@uci.edu, 949-824-4968

Librarian, Southeast Asian Archive

 

Outline of class session:

  • Brief overview of resources handout (2 minutes)
  • Brief overview of primary sources tutorial, especially definition of primary vs. secondary and finding primary sources (3 minutes)
  • Student examination of primary sources (10 minutes)
  • Round-robin discussion with students about their primary sources (30 minutes)

 

Special Collections and Archives (SCA):

Located in the Langson Library SCA holds the Libraries’ non-circulating collections of rare books, archives, manuscripts, photographs, maps, pamphlets, and other items notable for their age, values, fragility, provenance, or uniqueness. Materials are collected exhaustively in selected subject areas in order to build and preserve world-class research collections, including:

  • The Regional History Collections, emphasizing Orange County;
  • The Southeast Asian Archive, documenting the post-1975 diaspora from Southeast Asia following the Vietnam War and the establishment of new communities worldwide;
  • The Critical Theory Archive, containing the papers of Jacques Derrida and other distinguished theorists, as well as the Rene Wellek Collection of the History of Criticism;
  • The Dance and Performing Arts Collections highlighting the history of dance in Southern California and featuring the archives of UCI choreographers Donald McKayle and Eugene Loring;
  • The personal papers of distinguished UCI faculty, including Nobel Laureate Frederick Reines;
  • The University Archives, which documents the history of UCI in photographs, publications, maps, business records, and other formats.

 

Other collections focus on Thomas Mann, orchids and horticulture, British naval history, fine printing, the book arts, small press poetry, and political pamphlets. All cataloged materials are included in the ANTPAC online catalog, and detailed finding aids for archival collections are accessible via the Online Archive of California. Materials are available for research use in the Verle and Elizabeth Annis Reading Room on the 5th floor of the Langson Library.

 

Hours:

10 am-6 pm Monday-Friday and 1-5 pm Saturday.

Access:

Materials do not circulate and so are always available for use.

Web page:

http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/special/special.html

Dept Phone:

949-824-7227

 

 

The Southeast Asian Archive (SEA)

The Southeast Asian Archive (SEA) is located in Room 360, on the 3rd floor of Langson Library. The official hours  are 1:00-5:00p.m., Monday- Saturday and by appointment.  Anne Frank, the SEA Librarian, will be unavailable January 17-21. She will return on Monday, January 22.

 

Resources:

 

Gay community, City of Laguna Beach

UCI Special Collections & Archives – Archival Collections

MS-R110 - “Robert Major photograph albums of West Beach gay volleyball”

Three photograph albums created by Jerry Minnucci, who took the photographs, for Bob Major, a resident of the West Beach area of Laguna Beach who organized a gay men's volleyball group that played at West Beach during the 1970s.   This albums are dated 1973-1975 (one per year) and document both the volleyball and the social lives of a large group of Southern California gay men in the 1970s.

MS-R125 – “Tom Peterson collection on Elections Committee of the County of Orange”

This collection consists of general newsletters of the Elections Committee of the County of Orange ("ECCO," a lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender political action committee which monitors legislative issues pertaining to its community), 1994-circa 1996 issues of the 120+ Reporter, a newsletter for ECCO donors, invitations, programs and reports compiled by Tom Peterson, a member of the board of directors and editor of 120+ Reporter.

 

The Blade. V.2-  , 1993-  . Laguna Beach, CA: The Blade, 1993-  . Langson CPR. HQ 75 .O734

 

OC Historical LGBT Time Line Project

http://www.lgbtrc.uci.edu/info/timeline.html

 

Laguna Beach Historical Society

http://www.lagunahistory.org/

 

June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives (in Los Angeles)

http://mazerlesbianarchives.org/

 

 

Little Saigon, Cities of Westminster/Garden Grove/Santa Ana

Both circulating and non-circulating materials are available on the Vietnamese American community in Orange County, otherwise known as “Little Saigon.”  Key subject headings to search Antpac for circulating materials:

                Vietnamese Americans – California – Orange County

                Vietnamese Americans – California – Westminster

 

Non-circulating materials, including newspaper clippings, journal and magazine articles, conference papers and ephemera, are available in the Vertical File Collection under the heading:

               Communities, Vietnamese American – California – Orange County 

 

 Under this heading are subheadings on issues and events of importance to the Vietnamese American community, e.g.  Hi-Tek Demonstrations, Vietnam War Memorial, Harmony Bridge Controversy.

 

Archival collections are located in the Special Collections and Archives Department on the 5th floor of Langson Library.  Finding aides for processed collections can be found in the Online Archive of California [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ ] and can be searched by keyword.  

 

Links to all of the processed SEA archival collections: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/ark:/13030/tf529010fv

 

Other related links: http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/sea/sasian.html

 

Cambodian community, Minnie Street neighborhood, City of Santa Ana

There are few circulating materials on the Minnie Street neighborhood in the UCI Libraries.  The best way to locate them in Antpac is a keyword search on “Minnie Street,” which will produce two items, both of them surveys on the Minnie Street community.

 

Non-circulating materials  in the Vertical File Collection include newspaper clippings and second copies of the two surveys and a study on SSI use by residents of Minnie Street, located under the heading:

Communities, Cambodian American – CA – Orange County

 

Additional information relevant to Minnie Street can be found in the files for The Cambodian Family, Inc., a social services organization located close to Minnie Street.  Newspaper clippings, newsletters, and ephemeral materials relating to this organization are found in the Vertical File Collection under the heading:

Cambodian American organizations – CA - Santa Ana – The Cambodian Family, Inc.

 

Links to all of the processed SEA archival collections: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/ark:/13030/tf529010fv

 

Other related links: http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/collections/sea/sasian.html

 

 

Other O.C. local history sources

Anaheim Historical Society -- http://www.anaheimhistoricalsociety.com/

Anaheim History Room -- http://www2.anaheim.net/article.cfm?id=113

Anaheim Museum -- http://www.anaheimmuseum.com/

Fullerton Heritage -- http://www.fullertonheritage.org/

Fullerton Public Library History Room -http://www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/depts/dev_serv/planning_/launcher_room.asp

Garden Grove Historical Society -- http://www.ci.garden-grove.ca.us/gghsocty_html

Heritage Coordinating Council -- http://www.ocheritage.org/

Huntington Beach Historical Society -- http://hbnews.us/nwhouse.html

Old Orange County Court House -- http://www.ocparks.com/oldcourthouse/

Orange County Archives -- http://www.ocarchives.com/

Orange County Historical Commission -- http://www.ocparks.com/historicalcommission/

Orange County Historical Society -- http://www.orangecountyhistory.org/

Orange County Mexican American Historical Society -- http://www.ocmahs.org/

Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society -- http://www.santaanahistory.com/

Santa Ana Public Library History Room –

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/library/history/sahrmission.asp

Society of Hispanic Historical & Ancestral Research -- http://members.aol.com/shhar/

 

 

 

What are primary sources?

Primary Sources Tutorial -- http://www.lib.uci.edu/tutorial/

 

Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning an historical topic under research investigation. Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched. Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or period after the event has occurred and, generally speaking, with the use of primary sources.

 

What are archives?

 

Archives are organic, they document activity.

Archives are unconsciously created for a purpose, e.g. personal papers.

Not created for the purpose of becoming an archive, but rather for a specific, immediate purpose, e.g. an evolving art work, letter to Mom, a photograph or to document some event, e.g. a record of a mtg, a report of an activity, a photo album of a trip.

Sometimes more.

 

Context is critical.

Christine Tamblyn Papers, for example:

·   Diary/Journal – If you don’t know about her overall work you will need a larger context to begin to derive an accurate meaning for each item.

 

Very few archives are complete so you don’t always have a complete contextual picture.

 

Every archive is unique, by definition.

 

Can include any kind of material.

Generally unpublished, but not necessarily.

Can include published materials that were used by the person that add to context.

 

Examples of different types of archives in SCA:

  • Local history, both historic & contemporary
  • Papers of choreographers
  • University archives
  • SEA
  • Women in local politics
  • Notable faculty
  • Writers
  • Critical theorists

 

Character of materials varies based on kind of activity that occurs.

Archives document activity.

 

 

 

Questions to ask when examining primary sources:

 

  • Describe your item. What kind of a source is it? Book? Pamphlet? Photograph?

 

 

 

  • When was the item published or created?

 

  • Why do you think this is a primary source? Could it also be a secondary source? Or both? Why?

 

 

 

 

  • Tell us something that you think is interesting about the item, e.g.
    • What does the item tell you about life in a particular area during the time the item was created?
    • If a photograph, what does the image say to you? What does it say about life when the photograph was taken? How do you feel about the image? 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Is there a bias in the way information is presented in this item?

 

 

 

  • What specific questions do you have about the item?

 

 

 

 

 

  • What is a research question for which your item might be a good primary source?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples of primary sources:

 

[1] California vacation albums, 1909-1924. [MS-R067] 1.2 linear feet (2 boxes).                                                                                                                   Note: Artificial collection comprised of several early-20th-century vacation albums of uncertain provenance containing photographic prints, postcards, and photochemical reproductions documenting the California vacation experiences of the creator of each album.   

 

[2] Thomas Joel Wilson files on Vietnamese refugees, 1987-1989. .2 linear feet, 1 box.  MS-SEA 023. Box 1: Folder 1.
Note: “A Refugee’s Story,” the narrative of Ly Ba Hung, with an introduction by Nhat Thien, circa 1980.

[3] Cochems, Edward W., 1874-1949, photographer. Edward W. Cochems photographs, ca. 1919-ca. 1949. [MS-R016] 8.2 linear feet (23 boxes and 1 oversize folder).                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Box 2:7. Photographs of Laguna Beach, California.  #392 (Laguna Bay), #393 (Emerald Bay), #394 (Woman wading), #395 (Three bathing beauties: left to right: Mrs. Cochems, Mrs. Weston Walker - daughter of the Cochems, and Toni Bartch - a friend from Chicago.)    

 

[4] Meadows, Don, collector. Don Meadows Papers, 1824-1994. [MS-R001]. 89.3 linear feet (150 boxes and 109 oversize folders).
Box 48:1. Promotional brochure for Laguna Beach, California, ca. 1920.                                                                                                                                     
Box 45:12. Two promotional brochures for Huntington Beach, California, ca. 1948, ca. 1968.

[5] Kelly, Jon Timothy, collector. Disneyland employee and promotional materials collection, 1975- 1993 (bulk 1981-1987). 1 linear foot (2 boxes and 2 oversize folders).
MS-R 077. Box 1, Folder 1, 2.
Note: Three items from the collection of Disney-related training and policy guides, promotional material, and publications accumulated by a Disneyland employee during the 1980s

[6] Yamada, Mitsuye. Mitsuye Yamada papers, 1942-1998 (bulk 1975-1991). 6.6 linear feet, 16 boxes and 2 oversize folders).
MS-R071 Box 1, Folder 6.
Note: Two items. One is a copy of the sign (the Civilian Exclusion Order) that was posted in public places in cities on the Pacific Coast in Washington, Oregon and California. This poster was specifically for the city of Los Angeles.  The other item is the “Evacuation Diary” of Ted Matsuda.

[7] Raup, Hallock Floyd, 1901- . The German colonization of Anaheim, California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1932.
Special Collections. OC Pam G58 .C3 v.6, no.3

[8] Restaurants – Code Violations. Vertical file folder from the Southeast Asian Archive.