Artifact of His Time

We are always blogging about the really cool things you can find in Rauner. Usually, once things come here, they stay, but today we focus on one of our favorite things that we are losing. Dean of Libraries, Jeffrey Horrell, is retiring in June. A frequent denizen of Rauner, when he is here, he is definitely one of the coolest things not exactly in the collections, but among the collections.

We thought we might be able to declare him a part of the archives, but then we realized we would have to put a twenty-five year restriction on him (Dean's records, you know), and that seemed a little unfair to his family and friends. So, he'll just be deaccessioned and cast out into the world.

We will miss the delight he took in everything he saw in Rauner and his unceasing support for the collections. But, what we will miss most is the care, thought, and support he gave all of us everyday. He made us better at what we do, and made Dartmouth a more humane and decent place to work.

Bellicose Paperwork

Mileage stamps

When the United States entered World War II in 1942, the American economy shifted to a rationing system administered by the Office of Price Administration (OPA). It became illegal to sell items without the correct amount of ration stamps, no matter how much money a customer had. As you might imagine, this led to an explosion of paperwork.

Today, these ration books are not only historically significant, but aesthetically appealing, as the government used patterns, watermarks, and color to deter counterfeiters. Most of the symbols were patriotic and bellicose, ranging from eagles and American flags to tanks and airplanes.

The most commonly rationed items were gasoline, rubber, and oil, as these were all in high demand for the war. "Rubber footwear" required special permissions and paperwork, including a "Certificate to Acquire Men's Rubber Boots and Rubber Work Shoes." Even "Non-Rationed Shoes" required stamps.

The government privileged the military in the culinary realm, sending preserved food (like canned goods) and specialty food (like chocolate) to soldiers overseas, while Americans faced food rations. In our collection we have sugar allowance coupons -- but this sugar is only "for home food processing," unless you had a Special Application (Form R-315). This sheet of rationing coupons for "Meats, Fats, Fish, and Cheese" is for citizens living along the Mexican border; the back includes instructions in Spanish.

These rationing cards come from MS-1280 (Office of Price Administration Ration Cards Collection), Box 1. Come by and figure out how many stamps you'd need to get that new bike. Or take the OPA's advice: "If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT." 

Howl for Wess

Wess Jolley, our Records Manager, is retiring later this month. He was interim director of Special Collections for about a year. During that time, he discovered his favorite book in the collection: an inscribed copy of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, the Pocket Poets Series edition from City Lights books. When he made that discovery we discovered that our Records Manager was a Ginsberg fanatic (how many institutions can say that?).

So, in Wess's honor, we again present you with Allen Ginsberg's doodling dedication to Richard Eberhart celebrating his "Home Made Hebrew Thought" traveling through "the Stem of William Blake.""Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?"

It is pretty amazing. You can see it by asking for Eberhart PS3513.I74 H6. And here is another cool Howl (as well as the story of the relationship between Eberhart and Ginsberg).

"Das Boot" at Rauner

On May 5, 1916, the German Navy ordered a submarine from the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel, the most important construction wharf in Germany. The U-112 was one of ten submarines built by the shipyard between 1916 and 1918. It was launched on October 26, 1917. As was the norm, the U-112 underwent a months long inspection period overseen by the Unterseeboot Abnahme-Kommission (U.A.K.), a commission established to ensure that the submarine was built to and performed to specifications. The U-112 completed its inspection period on June 30, 1918. However, it never got the chance to perform. It was surrendered to Great Britain on November 22, 1918 and was scrapped in 1922.

The story of the U-112 is represented in a small collection of German submarine material from World War I, which we have here at Rauner. Among the documents are rules, regulations and orders like this one, which, addressed to the command of the "S.M.S U 112," describes the rules for entering the Germania shipyard.

"From land the shipyard may only be entered or left through the door by the fire station. A list of all names and ranks will have to be presented to the guard. Climbing over fences and doors is strictly forbidden. Smoking is not allowed in the shipyard. When entering the shipyard everyone has to identify themselves by uniform and identity card. A uniform alone is not acceptable…. People entering over land who do not belong to the crew have to be escorted by a fireman to the vessel and will have to be escorted back by a crew member, using the shortest distance…."

Another document describes the case of a crew member who had pocketed money intended for the cigarettes he distributed. In response it is requested that those in charge are to make sure that only trustworthy individuals and people who are not too young in age and rank be chosen for such as task and that they should be adequately supervised.

In this telegram a crew member asked for a few extra days of leave because his wedding had to be postponed, pointing out that his marriage certificate would certify this.

The collection also includes an engineer's log of submarine U-53 and a general orders folder from the U.A.K.

You can find the collection under call number MS-5.

A Very Special Time Capsule

Spilled beer (brown), now dried

In the world of Special Collections, legends of strange items occasionally drift through the office -- books bound in human skin (no, we don't have one), seal harpoons (yes, we do have one of those!), and other tantalizing snippets. This past week, we rediscovered one of the most Dartmouth-y time capsules ever: a beer can.

During the 1970s, Dartmouth was rapidly changing with women and computers improving campus life. Computer programmers developed Dartmouth's time sharing system, where multiple persons could make use of Dartmouth's computers at the same time. It was completed in the winter of 1977, and the programmers decided to create a lasting time capsule in honor of their creation. They chose a can of Miller beer.

The label on the can reads:

This time capsule was placed in the Kiewit Basement on 26-Feb-1977 to be opend [sic] in 100 years on 26-Feb-2077. The Sysprogs wish you greetings. 

The holes

Sysprogs is a common abbreviation for "systems programmers." Each of the programmers on the project signed  his or her name on two labels on the other side. Many signed their class years after, showing that many students from the class of 1980 were involved with the project.

In May 2005 (only 28 years in!), we discovered that the archival box was -- horror of horrors -- getting moldy. Our Collections Conservator Deborah Howe suspected a leak from the full can of beer. She drained it via two small holes at the bottom of the can.

Today, you can view the can (and the other items in the box, like a small statue of Paul Revere and a super old-school hard drive), by asking for DA-181, Box 4271.

Bound Out

When you think “town records,” you may think of nothing more than mundane city information and tax records. But delving into 19th-century Hanover town records offers quite the surprise. We discovered a deed of indenture, signed by representatives of the town of Hanover, regarding the fate of a 4-year-old girl by the name of Martha Eastman. The town deemed her mother, Josephine, as “not employed in any lawful business” and unable to provide sufficiently for her daughter. During this era, it was not uncommon for the local government to contract the poor into work. Oftentimes, poor adults were provided with room and board, but were required to work off their debts, usually on a poor farm. There were no centralized child services; rather, the town would indenture children, such as Martha, with an individual or family who was willing to take them in.

Martha was “bound out” to be trained as a seamstress and spinster for 14 years (until the age of 18) and to “faithfully serve” Mr. Abraham Perkins, the leader of the Shaker community in Enfield, New Hampshire. According to the arrangement, in exchange for Martha’s servitude, the Shakers were responsible for ensuring Martha’s education and training until the age of 18 when they would provide her with nothing less than “comfortable and decent apparel” – and, we assume, a chance to join the community for life. The Shakers are now mostly known for their furniture, communistic culture, and their belief in celibacy, gender equality, and passivity. For young Martha’s sake, we do hope her upbringing was as wholesome as the Shakers advertised!

Sifting through the other contracts regarding the poor, we found another that involves a boy: Moses Eastman. Moses was another illegitimate child of Josephine, and he was 8 years old at the time he was taken from her to be contracted into service. Unfortunately, he was not sent to Enfield with his sister. Instead, Moses was indentured to Laban Chandler of Hanover, a local farmer, for 13 years (until age 21). We found no additional record of Moses Eastman, besides Chandler’s census information which reported Moses to be Canadian. Also in this census, we know Josephine passed away “as a county pauper” in 1846, the same year that her children were bound out, although there is no apparent record of the cause.

After exhausting several leads on Josephine, her children, and their “masters,” we came to a dead end. Further searching through the Hanover and Enfield records here in Rauner offered no more insight as to where her children grew up, or whom they became. Perhaps in the future, we may stumble upon more clues …  for now, all we can do is wonder whatever became of Martha and Moses Eastman?

To see the Deeds of Indenture for Martha and Moses, ask for the Hanover Town Records, DH-1, Box 10801, folder 18.

Posted for Regan Roberts '16 (congratulations!)

The Special Relationship: Churchill and Roosevelt

The phrase, Special Relationship has come to describe the “exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, military and historical relations between the United Kingdom and the United States.” The phrase first earned its political associations in 1946 when Winston S. Churchill, the former British Prime Minister, referred to Britain’s relationship with the United States during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency as “special.” Since then the phrase has been used to describe other relationships between British and American political figures such as Heath and Nixon, Thatcher and Reagan, and Blair and Clinton.

However, there is a lesser-known yet equally special Churchill-Roosevelt duo that established their personal and political relationship decades before their contemporaries were ever acquainted.

Winston Churchill, the American novelist and Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, first began their relationship around the turn of the twentieth century during a meeting of the Vermont Fish and Game League in September of 1901. Churchill had been invited to address the meeting and Roosevelt attended as the guest of honor.

By 1901 Churchill was already considered a best-selling novelist. He had published two historical novels prior to the release of The Crisis that launched him into literary infamy. The Crisis became the best-selling novel of 1901 and a fan favorite of Theodore Roosevelt. Even before the two men met on Isle La Motte on Lake Champlain, Roosevelt had reached out to Churchill in a note praising The Crisis. Churchill, who supported Roosevelt’s political platform and quietly rallied behind his presidential aspirations, was equally a fan of Roosevelt.

Perhaps it was their similar political beliefs, fondness for the outdoors or respect for one another’s craft that forged the early stages of their relationship. For whichever reason the best-selling novelist and the young politician developed a lasting friendship that survived both of their evolving careers and political ambitions long after their first meeting at Isle La Motte. Roosevelt went on to become President of the United States after McKinley’s death and secured a full term when he won the 1904 election. Churchill also entered the political world during the Progressive Era and served in the New Hampshire state legislature in 1903 and 1905 but was unsuccessful in his run for governor of New Hampshire.

In the papers of Winston Churchill we have several letters between Churchill and Roosevelt, discussing visits to the White House, congratulatory messages on literary success and new additions of family members as well as informing on political situations. In a letter dated September 20, 1906, Roosevelt writes to Churchill asking for “I want you to come alone to lunch with me or else give me a couple of hours when I can go over at length the whole political situation with you.”

If you would like to learn more about their Special Relationship you can request Robert W. Schneider biography of Churchill, Novelist of a Generation, by asking for Rare PS1298.S3. ML-16 will get you Churchill's papers.