Virginia Symphony Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Posted on April 22, 2021 | Leave a comment

by Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant

symphony-program1921

The Records of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in the Old Dominion University Library’s Special Collections and University Archives document the history of the Virginia Symphony from its first concert in 1921 up to the present day.  These records include concert programs from that first concert through 2019.  Other materials in the collection include newspaper clippings; newsletters; marketing; fundraising and membership campaigns; finances; correspondence; contract information; board of directors and executive committee information; meeting agendas and minutes; and by-laws.  Multimedia are also included in the collection.  These include audio cassettes, CD’s, VHS tapes, and DVD’s of various concerts, interviews, and promotional materials.  There are even Betamax tapes, audio reels, old film reels, and other media.  There are also photos, slides, scrapbooks, posters, and other memorabilia.  New programs and other materials are periodically added to the collection.

Over the years, the Symphony played at number of local venues. These venues have included the Armory auditorium, Blair High School Auditorium, Norfolk Center Theater, Harrison Opera House, Chrysler Hall, Norfolk Scope, Virginia Beach Pavilion Theater, Portsmouth Performing Arts Center, the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, the Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University, and the Norfolk State University Performing Arts Center, among other venues.  The Blair High School Auditorium was chosen in the 1930s to help save costs during the Great Depression.  The Symphony played at the newly created Center Theater beginning in 1943, and this became a regular venue for Symphony Performances beginning in 1947.  The Center Theater was renovated and renamed the Harrison Opera House in 1993. The Symphony moved performances to Chrysler Hall in 1972 and this has become its permanent home.

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Early conductors for the Symphony included Walter Edward Howe, W. Henry Baker, Bart Wirtz, Arthur Fickenscher, and Frank L. Delphino.  In 1934, Henry Cowles Whitehead, son of Symphony founder, Dr. Robert C. Whitehead, became conductor.  After Henry Whitehead’s death in 1948, Edgar Schenkman became conductor from 1948 until 1966.  In 1966, Edgar Schenkman resigned as conductor of the Norfolk Symphony in order to devote his full attention to the Richmond Symphony which he’d also conducted since 1957.  In 1966, Russell Stanger came on as conductor and he held the position until 1980.  Richard Williams, previously conductor of the Cedar Rapids Symphony, replaced Stanger as conductor from 1980 to 1986.  Winston Dan Vogel conducted from 1986 to 1990.  JoAnn Falletta was appointed conductor in 1991 and she remains with the Virginia Symphony 30 years later in 2021.  Falletta is stepping down at the end of the current season in May.

The Symphony has performed under several names over the years and its history has included mergers with other local symphonies, choral associations, and other musical organizations.  The Symphony started out under the name Norfolk Civic Symphony Orchestra in 1920.  The Norfolk Civic Symphony Orchestra became the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra in 1930.  In 1949, the Orchestra merged with the Civic Chorus and became the Norfolk Symphony and Choral Association.  Other mergers in the late 1970s included mergers with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Beach Pops Symphony Orchestra.  For a time, the group was known as the Virginia Orchestra Group, the Virginia Philharmonic, and a few other names, before finally settling on the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 1990.

Besides the Symphony proper, a number of supporting groups and organizations formed over the years. The Civic Orchestral Association organized in 1921, but was not chartered until 1931.  The Norfolk Orchestral Association was formed in 1922.  The Women’s Committee of the Orchestral Association was formed early in the Symphony’s history.  This committee organized the first Symphony membership campaign in the mid-1930s.  The Women’s Committee was later renamed the Women’s Auxiliary of the Norfolk Symphony and Choral Association in 1953.  It became the Norfolk Symphony Association Auxiliary in 1977.   Later supporting groups include the Virginia Symphony Foundation and the Virginia Symphony League which hold fundraising activities to help fund the Symphony.  The Virginia Symphony Society of Greater Williamsburg encourages support and enjoyment of the Symphony in the Williamsburg area.  The Virginia Symphony regularly collaborates with other arts organizations including the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Arts Festival, and the Richmond Ballet.

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Listen to oral histories with Virginia Symphony Members in the ODU Libraries’ Digital Collections: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/vsooh

The milestones and notable achievements of the Symphony are many.  In May 1924, the Orchestra performed their first choral work, Mendelssohn Symphony, No. 2, Lobgesang.  The Orchestra began charging admission to concerts in 1929, and it is believed that no musicians were paid before that time.  The cost of admission in 1929 was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children.  The first Young People’s Concert was performed in 1936.  These concerts continued until 1942, when they were interrupted by World War II.  Youth concerts resumed a few years after the war, and in 1953 the Women’s Auxiliary founded a Youth Orchestra.  The Symphony published the book “Song in their Hearts, 1920-1960” in 1961.  The book was written by Grace Shepherd Ferebee.  The year 1966 brought racial integration to the Symphony.  James M. Reeves, a bass player, became the first Black orchestra member.  Reeves went on to become a faculty member at Norfolk State University in 1974, and he served as head of the music department from 1979 until he retired int 1984.  In 1979, the Symphony performed under Russell Stanger with pianist Shura Cherkassky at Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.  In 1997, the Symphony performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City under the direction of JoAnn Falletta.

The Virginia Symphony has grown and changed over the last 100 years – from a small group of amateur and professional players into an organized, full-time, professional organization supported by yet other organizations.  It has thrived during good times and survived challenges.  Here’s hoping for another great 100 years of the Virginia Symphony!

Sources:

MG 81-A, Virginia Symphony Orchestra Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.  https://www.lib.odu.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=129

“Virginia Symphony Chronology” by Dr. Jean Major

Virginia Symphony Official Website.  https://virginiasymphony.org/celebrate100/

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Posted in Archival Research, Hampton Roads History, Music Special Collections, Norfolk History, ODU Digital Collections, Women's History

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Ancient Art in the Archives

Posted on March 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

By Lara Canner, Curator of Music Special Collections

Jordan Staten_Crypus Vase Drawing
Photographed here is student Jordan Staten drawing an archeological depiction of a vase from Bronze Age Cyprus

Early last spring, Special Collections and University Archives happily hosted Dr. Jared Benton’s Ancient Art History class. Using Bronze Age pottery from the island of Cyprus donated to ODU in the 1960’s, the students took photographs and created archaeological sketches of the vases. Later, this work would be turned into digital 3-D models and in-depth research papers. The results of their studies were impressive, so much so that Dr. Benton believed that their work should be presented at Old Dominion University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. The program gives a platform to ODU student researchers, from various disciplines, to present papers, or posters examining their scholarship. I must have been impressive too since Dr. Benton also asked if I would be interested in partnering in assisting his students with the symposium. (I was delighted to help!)

With campus remaining closed over the course of the summer, Zoom became the main means of communication between the students, Dr. Benton, and myself. Together, we formulated the design of a virtual poster, showing how the class created their digital representations of the Cypriot vases. Meeting with those more interested in presenting papers, advice was shared on best research practices, edits were made to their original papers and possible ways to introduce the student’s themes were explored. Overall, a very productive summer, but the fact of the matter was, to create the greatest possible poster and research presentation, the undergraduate scholars would need to view the vases again.

So here we are, adapting to the need for social distancing, but still providing access to our collections. Updated policies, such as granting appointments for ODU students and staff, wearing a face mask at all times and Archives staff disinfecting prior and after each appointment are just a few ways Special Collections and University Archives are creating a safe and healthy environment for our researchers. Only one patron and one staff member are allowed in Special Collections for appointments, meaning that for Dr. Benton to help guide our student through the creation of detailed drawing and building the 3-D model, he would have to utilize Zoom to communicate in real time. When problems arose, or just making sure we were on the right track, Jordan would have to hold her paper up to a laptop screen. Complicated to say the least…

Watching an archaeological rendering as a bystander is fascinating, but now I had to become an interpreter of the professor’s instructions and at times a fellow teacher of Bronze Age Pottery. Not exactly my field of expertise. However, this was a session not only a lesson in primary source instruction, but active learning. Together, Jordan and I talked through the best ways to capture the vase’s decorations, worked through mismeasurements, and inspected the vase from every possible angle. And, the results were incredible, just look:

Cyproit Vase Model

Two of Dr. Benton’s students will be presenting their research at the 2021 ODU Undergraduate Symposium on March 20, 20201! Registration is free and open to the public: https://www.odu.edu/honors/research/symposium

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Posted in Artifacts, Student research, Undergraduate Research

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Ask the Archivist: “February Is Black History Month, Can You Tell Me Some Little-Known Facts in ODU’s History Involving African American Students?”

Posted on February 24, 2021 | Leave a comment

Steve Bookman, University Archivist

Classroom-1967

I recently received the following question for my “Ask the Archivist” column in the ODU Alumni News: “February Is Black History Month, Can You Tell Me Some Little-Known Facts in ODU’s History Involving African American Students?”

While folks may already know about the groundbreaking achievements of Ronald Horne, Margaret Simmons, and Arthur “Buttons” Speakes, there are some other achievements of African Americans at ODU that people may not know about. During segregation in the 1950s and 1960s, while other schools in Virginia denied admissions to African Americans, there were several instances where African Americans were able to take classes at the Norfolk Division campus. While not officially admitted to the division, as we understand it today, African Americans were able to take classes if they were not offered at area African American institutions such as what would become Virginia State University and Norfolk State University.

JackieBryant-undated

In 1968, Jackie Bryant (pictured) became the first African American to rush a sorority, and Bill Forbes became the first African American to win a bid from a fraternity at ODU. It would be another six years before the first African American sorority, Delta Sigma Theta in 1974, and fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi in 1975, would be established. In 1972, Jerome Nixon became the first African American Battalion Commander of the ODU ROTC.

More information about the history of diversity and inclusion at ODU can be found in the online exhibit: Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion at ODU: http://exhibits.lib.odu.edu/exhibits/show/celebrating-diversity-and-incl/introduction

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Posted in Desegregation, Diversity and Inclusion, ODU Archives, ODU History

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The History of the “Breaking the Ice Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival” at ODU

Posted on February 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

by Mel Frizzell, Special Collections Assistant

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Our Own, January 1995, page 8: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown

The Breaking the Ice Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival was first held February 2, 1991 in ODU Webb Center.  It was sponsored by the ODU Gay and Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) and the Hampton Roads Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition (HRLGPC).  The event was envisioned as a winter pride event to supplement the annual Out in the Park pride picnic held each summer.  It was also a fundraiser with proceeds going toward Breaking the Ice expenses and toward the summer picnic.   The main event took place from 9:30am to 5pm and was followed by the play “I’m Positive” at 8pm and a dance in Webb Center from 10pm to 1am.  Daytime events included a showcase of vendors and organizations, as well as workshops “on healthy gay and lesbian relationships, being single, addiction, political activism, coming out, minorities, and the dilemma of gay men and lesbians in the military.”  Guest speakers that year included Robert Bray of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) who led a workshop on “The State of the Gay and Lesbian Nation: 1991” and Kate Dyer, an aide to U.S. Representative Gerry Studds (D-MA) who led a workshop on gays in the military.  Tickets to the main event were $5 in advance and $7 at the door.  Attendance to the evening play and the dance were free. 

The format stayed fairly consistent in subsequent years, though there were some changes.  The daytime hours shortened to 11am to 5pm the following year and by 1997 the main event ran from 12noon to 5pm.  Admission costs were lowered to $3 general admission and $1 for students, and only went up by $1 by the late 1990s.   Early evening events varied year to year.  Some years featured plays, most years an evening film festival, and a few years featured other entertainment.  1997 featured one act plays by ODU students, followed by country dancing performed by the OtherSiders country dance troupe, and music by local singer and songwriter Julie Clark.  1998 featured Lesbian comedian and musician Lynn Lavner and music by the Hampton Roads Men’s Chorus.  The late evening dance in Webb Center remained a fixture each year.   In 1997, there was an “All Faiths” continental breakfast held in Webb Center before the day’s other activities.

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Breaking the Ice 1995 Workshop Schedule from the ODU Gay and Lesbian Student Records, Box 2, Folder 1: https://sites.wp.odu.edu/oduwiki/2018/06/25/gay-and-lesbian-student-union-glsu/

A number of prominent guest speakers were featured over the years.   Guest speakers often represented current events related to the LGBT community.  The 1992 guest speaker was Karen Thompson who had recently been awarded guardianship of her lover Sharon Kowalski in the Minnesota Appeals Court.  Kowalski had been “severely disabled” in a car accident in 1983. Guardianship had initially been awarded to Kowalski’s parents who barred Thompson from visiting.  After nine years of court battles, Thompson finally won custody in December 1991.  The 1993 guest speaker was Crae Pridgen — a gay man who had been beaten outside a gay bar in Wilmington, North Carolina by three Marines in January 1993.  This happened only a week before his appearance at the 1993 Breaking the Ice.  In 1995, Rev. Mel White of the Metropolitan Community Church was guest speaker. White had been an Evangelical writer who ghostwrote autobiographies for televangelists such as Jerry Falwell, Sr., Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham.  White came out as gay in 1994, transferred his credentials to the gay-affirming Metropolitan Community Church, and devoted himself to serving gay Christians.  The week following the 1995 Breaking the Ice, White led a peaceful protest on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach.  White had requested a meeting with Pat Robertson to discuss how the televangelist’s anti-gay rhetoric was harming gay people “in the name of God.”  Robertson refused the meeting and White was arrested for trespassing.  White refused bond and fasted three weeks in the Virginia Beach City Jail until Robertson finally agreed to meet with him on March 8.  At that time, Robertson dropped the charges against White.  Guests speakers for other years included Mandy Carter of the Human Rights Campaign Fund (HRCF); Barbara Grier, CEO and Founder of Naid Press; Kerry Lobel of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce (NGLTF); David Perry of Virginians For Justice, and Lesbian comedian/singer Lynn Lavner. 

A variety of workshops were held at Breaking the Ice with some themes remaining consistent over the years.  Given the huge military presence in Hampton Roads, it’s not surprising that “gays in the military” was a frequent workshop theme.  Coming out was also a frequent theme, as were Lesbian and Gay relationship issues, LGBT affirming-spirituality (including alternative spiritual beliefs like Wicca), and LGBT politics and activism.  Other topics included LGBT youth, bisexuality, diversity within the LGBT community, addictions, safer sex, Lesbian and Gay Unions, LGBT legal concerns, finances, child custody, Lesbian and Gay literature, and dealing with grief.

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Breaking the Ice Photo with Caption, Our Own Community Press, March 1991, Page 1 : https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/ourown

Each year ODU’s Webb Center cafeteria was filled with LGBT vendors and organizations.  Vendors included bookstores such as OutRight Books, Phoenix Rising, Lambda Rising, The Tidewater Women’s Bookshelf, White Rabbit Books and Things, and others.  Other vendors sold pagers, candles, clothing and jewelry, health products, and Pagan spiritual supplies, among other things.  Organizations included political and activist organizations like the Human Rights Campaign Fund, Virginians for Justice, and even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).   Local service organizations included Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce, AIDSCare, Full Circle Hospice, and American Red Cross.  LGBT-affirming religious organizations were represented.  These included New Life MCC, All God’s Children, Dignity (Catholic), Honesty (gay Baptists), Unitarian-Universalists, Integrity (Episcopal), and Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns.  Support, social, and recreational organizations with tables at the event included Youth Out United, Transgender Pride, Gay Games, Mid-Atlantic Amateur Softball Association, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Primetimers, Lambda Car Club, Gay Men’s Chorus, and Tidewater Bears.

Breaking the Ice couldn’t happen without the support of its sponsors and those organizations that provided volunteers and workshop facilitators.  The two main co-hosts for Breaking the Ice were always the Hampton Roads Lesbian and Gay Pride Coalition and the ODU Gay and Lesbian Student Union (later renamed ODU Gay Lesbian Bisexual Students and Allies).  Over the years other community sponsors and supporters included: Mandamus Society, Hershee Bar, Coral Sand Motel, Don’t Tell Mama restaurant, New Leaf / Quarberg Gallery, Mitch’s Cut-ups, OutRight Books, Out of the Dark, Out and About, Out in Virginia, Our Own Community Press, New Life MCC, Mac Graphics, Virginian’s for Justice, Youth Out United, Bi-Choice, All God’s Children Church, the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce, Tastebuds Supper Club, Taylor Rental, B&B Exxon, and many others.

Breaking the Ice continued at ODU through the late 1990s, and possibly into the early 2000s.  The exact date of the last classic Breaking the Ice is unclear as our primary sources for the festival in the ODU Special Collections and University Archives only go up to 1998.  ODU Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) brought Breaking the Ice back to ODU in 2019.

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Posted in Archival Research, LGBTQIA+, ODU Archives, ODU Digital Collections, ODU History, University Archives

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Looking Back at Polio in the Time of COVID-19

Posted on January 25, 2021 | Leave a comment

by Kathleen Smith, Special Collections Metadata Specialist

PolioWTAR2
Interview with Norfolk music teacher Leah O’Reilly who became disabled due to being stricken from polio. The interview also includes a tour of her home which has been designed to accommodate her disability: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/wtar/id/647/rec/4

Today the world has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected millions of people world-wide. Scientists are exploring the origins of this virus and what causes it to thrive in order to develop vaccines or even develop forms of treatment (i.e. plasma therapy). Until there is a cure or a way to treat COVID-19, measures such as vaccination, washing hands, wearing masks, practicing social distancing, is the only way to fight it.

There was a similar deadly virus which killed and crippled people-mostly young worldwide, this virus was known as poliovirus which caused a disease known as poliomyelitis or called by its shorter form-polio. Poliomyelitis was an infectious disease that was spread through contaminated food and water, causing varying damage to the muscles of the head, neck, and diaphragm, as well as spinal damage. Paralysis, muscle deformities, and breathing difficulties were the effects left on those who were infected.

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Polio quarantine sign-From Penn State News: https://news.psu.edu/story/317052/2014/05/28/health-and-medicine/probing-question-could-polio-make-comeback

Even though poliomyelitis existed back into ancient times, the first reports of polio were recorded in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, which included an on outbreak in Vermont infecting 132 people and killing eighteen. In the summer of 1916, a major polio epidemic broke out in the United States, starting in Brooklyn, which infected 27,000 across the United States, along with 6,000 deaths (2,000 of the deaths were in New York City). As a result, affected families and individuals were quarantined, movie theaters and swimming pools were closed, public gatherings were a rarity, and young people were told to avoid drinking from water fountains and to not to go to the beach. After the 1916 outbreak, there would be a polio epidemic each summer with the most serious cases occurring during the 1940s and 1950s. The worst known outbreak was in the United States was in 1952 with 57,628 cases which resulted in 3,145 deaths and 21,269 with mild to severe paralysis.

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“Polio and Children,” features children being treated at DePaul Hospital and the hospital’s campaign to fund those treatments. In the segment one can see a very ill young man being treated in a “rocking bed” in order to improve his breathing and a very young girl in an iron lung to help her breathe: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/wtar/id/1988/rec/1

Over the years efforts would be made, such as improvement of sanitation practices, trying to finding a vaccine, as well as an developing an array of treatments to treat the effects of the virus such as the iron lung, the rocking bed, antibody serum treatment, splints, and hot compresses. A breakthrough came in 1952 medical researcher Jonas Salk developed an injectable vaccine containing a dose of killed poliovirus. The vaccine was put in use worldwide in 1955. The number of polio cases went down dramatically in the United States: 35,000 in 1953; 5,600 in 1957; 161 in 1961. An equally successful oral vaccine developed by Albert Sabin in 1957 and licensed in 1962, used a live but weakened virus, and gradually replaced the Salk vaccine due to it being easier to administer and less expensive in cost. Today there are fewer than 1,000 cases in the United States and the world. I hope the same can be done for COVID-19.

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A brief news segment from 1963, features an unidentified medical official urging people to come to a local immunization clinic for an oral polio vaccination program: https://dc.lib.odu.edu/digital/collection/wtar/id/1431/rec/5

In the 1950s polio greatly affected the local Hampton Roads population young and old. A news show airing on the fledgling television station WTAR-TV, called “Tidewater Viewpoint” featured stories/segments on those who were affected by polio in Hampton Roads. These segments are part of the WTAR News Collection in the ODU Libraries Digital Collections.

Sources:

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_polio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_polio

https://amhistory.si.edu/polio/howpolio/ironlung.htm

https://amhistory.si.edu/polio/howpolio/ironlung2.htm

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Posted in Archival Research, Coronavirus, Covid-19, History of Health, History of Medicine, Norfolk History, WTAR-WTKR Hampton Roads Va., Historic News Film Collection

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New Online Exhibition! Russell Stanger: Portrait of an American Conductor

Posted on December 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

by Madeline Dietrich, Music Special Collections and Research Specialist

StangerOmeka001

I am pleased to announce the publication of a new digital exhibition, Russell Stanger: Portrait of an American Conductor, and I’d like to take a moment to offer some background on the project. It began in 2018 with the charge to identify correspondence and photographs from the Russell Stanger Papers documenting Maestro Stanger’s friendship with Leonard Bernstein in celebration of the latter’s 100th birthday. It turns out the collection contains only a few items directly relating to Stanger and Bernstein’s relationship, however, as I pored through the collection it became clear that there was more than enough material to create an exhibition focused solely on Russell Stanger.  

The Russell Stanger Papersis a large collection, consisting of over 75 linear feet of materials including manuscripts, conducting scores, original works, photographs, correspondence, sound recordings, and ephemera from Stanger’s long career as an internationally known conductor and composer. Due to the constraints of the physical space designated for the exhibition I selected only visual materials (photographs, newspaper clippings, program covers) and omitted any multi-media objects (sound recordings, video footage). Further, I wished to target a general audience and thus I avoided inclusion of esoteric materials (for example, items consisting of notated music).  

The physical exhibition was installed in the Diehn Building at ODU during the fall of 2018 and remained in place for 18 months. It was arranged chronologically and covered Stanger’s young adulthood through the time he was hired by the Norfolk Symphony Group in 1966 and was intended to showcase Stanger’s credentials as a conductor and why he was hired to lead the Norfolk Symphony as music director. At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic it was decided to digitize the exhibition and expand it to include Stanger’s entire career through his retirement in the late 2000s, and this online exhibition is the result.  

In keeping with the original intent, the exhibition focuses solely on Stanger’s professional life, omitting materials relating to Stanger’s personal life and focusing on visual materials. Additionally, there is little attention in the exhibition relating to Stanger’s significant contributions as a composer. Despite these omissions it is my sincere hope that the items displayed here are sufficient to give at least a basic account of Russell Stanger’s career as conductor, orchestra-builder, and Maestro. 

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Posted in Archival Research, Diehn Composers Room, Music Special Collections, Norfolk History, ODU Digital Collections

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The Joy of Gelatin Molds and Recipes of Old

Posted on November 20, 2020 | 1 comment

By Special Collections Assistant Mel Frizzell

L0072306 Illustrated recipe for 'Under the Sea Salad'

With the holidays coming up, I decided to change pace from my usual blog posts to write about finding recipes and cookbooks in the archives.  I can’t say that I’m that much of a cook myself.  Back at the beginning of this pandemic when friends and co-workers were sharing all their great cooking and baking photos on social media, I was pretty proud of myself when I made instant pudding – pour pudding mix into bowl, add half cup of milk, stir vigorously with a whisk, and chill at least 30 minutes.  When I wanted to get fancy, I made it banana pudding, threw in some sliced bananas, and haphazardly placed some vanilla wafers on top.  If it takes more than two pots to cook or mixing a multitude of ingredients from scratch, I’m likely to leave well alone. 

While I’m not much of a cook, that doesn’t stop me from being fascinated by recipes and cookbooks.  I have dozens of cookbooks at home (many that caught my attention in the checkout line of the grocery store) and a number of recipes I’ve printed from the internet with good intentions.  Occasionally, I’ll pull these out, wipe off the dust, and imagine how great it would be to cook something from them – only to decide upon further reflection that maybe I should just get takeout.

In my years working in the archives, I’ll occasionally stumble upon a recipe or even a cookbook in a collection I’m working on.  Cookbooks and recipes in collections include the personal (or at least personally collected) recipes of the donor, compilation cookbooks created by organizations (often created for fundraising), and sometimes official cookbooks published for mass consumption (though these are often removed unless they are specifically related to the donor or their collection). 

Recipes and cookbooks in the archives can provide cultural and historical context.  For example, in our Special Collections in the ODU Library we have a cookbook created for the Clan MacLeod Society of the USA.  This is a Scottish society for those of the MacLeod lineage.  You wouldn’t at all be surprised to know that one of the recipes in the book is for “Haggis.”  What might surprise you are non-Scottish recipes like “Australian Bacon and Eggs” or “Hawaiian Chicken.” But it is a compilation cookbook and most folks don’t limit their choices in food to one culture, even if they are proud of their heritage.

clan-macleod-preface

As for historical context, certain ingredients and food trends might be related to a certain period of time.  How many of us in the 21st century still cook with lard?  How many of us are watching our fat or sodium intake? Do we subscribe to a dieting trend – Paleo, Keto, Atkins, Slow Carb, etc.?  Various trends and fads of the time might influence what you find in an old cookbook.

The preface to the 1993 reprint of the Unitarian Church’s “Your Bazaar Cookbook” from 1958 states this idea well.

This 1958 Unitarian Church Cook Book has been reproduced just as it was written. 
You might find it dated.  The recipes were not selected for “low cholesterol” or “low sodium.” You will find ingredients that are not familiar to us today (lard, for instance).
Also, the quotes, “Mental Spices!”, are not the ones we’d pick today.
However, we present it to you, almost as is, with grateful appreciation for those earlier “UU’s” who were then only “U’s” but who were on the same quest we are on in 1993.
“The Liberal Seasonings” Cookbook Crew
Norfolk, Virginia, November, 1993

The Unitarian Church cookbook is a perfect example of a compilation cookbook created for an organization.  “Your Bazaar Cookbook” was reprinted at the same time the Church decided to compile and print a contemporary cookbook titled “Liberal Seasonings.”  The older cookbook contained sections titled “Mental Spices” and the 1993 cookbook continued this tradition with sections titled “Food for Thought.”  The idea was that the cookbook contained not just recipes of food for the body, but also recipes for life and the soul.

Prefaces, forwards, and other sections in these cookbooks can provide additional historical context, and sometimes humor.  “Your Bazaar Cookbook” has this piece of humor under its “Mental Spice” headings “Salmon is a fish that lurks in a can and only comes out when unexpected company arrives.”  The newer “Liberal Seasonings Cookbook” under its “Food for Thought” provides this definition from Abrose Bierce: “Deliberation.  The act of examining one’s bread to determine which side it is buttered on.” I thought the preface to the Clan MacLeod Family Cookbook especially entertaining.  Rather than quoting it directly, I have included an image of the page here. 

Years ago, I remember seeing a cookbook devoted entirely to gelatin molds.  It was fascinating to see the things they’d throw into Jell-O from the 1930s into at least into the 1970s.  Historically speaking, gelatin didn’t become mainstream until refrigeration became mainstream in the early 20th century, though it has been around in some form since Victorian times.  Today, we mostly think of Jell-O as dessert, but back then gelatin molds could be anything from a dessert to a main course.  While I couldn’t identify that exact cookbook when writing this article*, I did find examples of gelatin mold recipes in other cookbooks in our collections.  The Creative Cookery Recipe Book in the Edythe Harrison Papers included various gelatin molds including: a Salmon or Haddock Mold, an “Out of this World” Tuna Mold, a Horseradish Ring, and a Crisp Cucumber Mold.  Betty Howell’s recipes include a gelatin mold recipe for Cole Slaw Souffle Salad.  The Cook Family Papers contains an undated Jell-O recipe book that contains mostly desserts. 

out-of-this-world-tuna-mold

Cookbooks and recipes in our Special Collections at ODU include: the Clan MacLeod Family Cookbook (undated); the Unitarian Church “Your Bazaar Cook Book (1958) and also their “Liberal Seasonings Cookbook (1993); the 1975 Creative Cookery recipe book created by the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Chapters of the Women’s American ORT (this cookbook includes sections on Jewish traditional and Passover meals among others); a 1950 personal recipe for Shrimp Lamaze from Eleanor Bader; a small collection of personal recipes from Betty Howell including the aforementioned  Cole Slaw Souffle Salad; various recipes in the James Washington Singleton Papers including a historical  1785 “Slave Recipe for Beer” and various recipes (both handwritten and clipped from newspapers) from the late 19th / early 20th centuries;  and the Whittle Family’s recipe for Rum Punch in the Warren Spencer Papers.  The Cook Family Papers includes a 1907 recipe book titled “Choice Recipes by Miss Parloa and other Noted Teachers;” a 1907 Recipe Book by Walter Baker & Co. Ltd. Manufacturer of Cocoa & Chocolate Preparations, Dorchester, Mass. which contains all sorts of chocolate dessert recipes; an undated (early 20th century) recipe book for making ice cream and “frozen dainties” using the “Auto Vacuum Freezer” device; an undated recipe book for using “Jell-O Ice Cream Powder;” “A Selection of Old and New Recipes for using Amber Brand Deviled Smithfield Ham” (undated) created by The Smithfield Ham & Products Company, Inc., Smithfield, Virginia; and “A Few Recipes from Virginia” compiled by the Hampton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  This last recipe book is also not dated, but mentions the Jamestown Exposition which took place in 1907.

So if you’re looking for a historical recipe for this upcoming Thanksgiving, just want to see what people ate back in the day, or want to get adventurous with Jell-O, consider searching for recipes in the archives.

* It’s possible this gelatin cookbook may have been the Jell-O recipe book from the Cook Family Papers, but I remember a larger cookbook with more main course and side type recipes.  This one is mostly desserts. 

Images: Clan MacLeod Cookbook preface, and “Out of this World” Tuna Mold (from Edythe Harrison’s Creative Cookery” recipe book).

‘Under the Sea Salad” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustrated_recipe_for_%27Under_the_Sea_Salad%27_Wellcome_L0072306.jpg

References:

Clan MacLeod Family Cookbook, Box 80, Folder 9, Clan MacLeod Society USA Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Your Bazaar Cookbook 1958 (1993 reprint), Box 61, Folder 9, Unitarian Universalist Church of Norfolk, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Liberal Seasonings Cookbook 1993, Box 61, Folder 9, Unitarian Universalist Church of Norfolk, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Rum Punch Recipe from Whittle Family, Box 1, Folder 36. Warren Spencer Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Betty Howell’s Recipes, Box 282, Folder 8, Henry Howell Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Recipes, Box 4, Folder 19, Eleanor Bader Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Creative Cookery, Box 74, Folder 18, Edythe Harrison Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Slave Recipe for Beer, Box 28, Folder 22, James Washington Singleton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Recipes, Box 28, Folders 1-5, James Washington Singleton Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

“Choice Recipes by Miss Parloa and other Noted Teachers”, Box 5, Folder 3, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Walter Baker & Co. Ltd. Manufacturer of Cocoa & Chocolate Preparations, Dorchester, Mass., Box 5, Folder 3, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Auto Vacuum Frozen Dainties Ice Cream maker and freezer recipes using the “Auto Vacuum Freezer”, Box 8, Folder 3, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

“Jell-O Ice Cream Powder”, Box 8, Folder 3, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

“A Selection of Old and New Recipes for using Amber Brand Deviled Smithfield Ham”, Box 8, Folder 3, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

“A Few Recipes from Virginia”, Box 5, Folder 7, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Recipes, Box 12, Folder 30, Cook Family papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, Old Dominion University Libraries, Norfolk, VA 23529.

Wikipedia, ‘Jell-O’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jell-O

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Posted in Archival Research, Hampton Roads History

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Local History: Discovering The Fight For Desegregation In Norfolk

Posted on November 19, 2020 | Leave a comment

by Ethan Dykes, HIS368 Intern

As a resident of the Hampton Roads area I have always been fascinated by the region’s rich history. It’s been home to many important historical events, towns, buildings, and people. Jamestown and Williamsburg were some of the first successful colonial settlements. The first enslaved Africans believed to be brought to the Americas were deported on the coast of Point Comfort, not more than thirty miles from where I live. My own home town was the site of a battle in the Revolutionary War, where Virginia rebels pushed out British forces and helped secure key points in the area. The great city of Norfolk is home to the largest Navy base in the world and has long been an important city in America’s history. One aspect of my local history, however, that I have largely overlooked has been the fight against racism. We all know of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and others that fought so famously against segregation and racial oppression. We all know of the March on Washington, the events on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the many other great examples of the fight for justice. But so often do we forget the smaller victories against racism, so often do we not realize the local impacts these events have on us.

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Granby Street late 1960s

The Importance of Archives in Preserving Local History

Thanks to my experiences as an intern with the Special Collections Department at Old Dominion University, I have had the privilege of seeing some of this history firsthand. I was able to watch several videos from different news outlets from the 1960’s and 70’s. The videos included several interviews, statements, and images on desegregation, and many were focused on the city of Norfolk specifically. I saw President Eisenhower give a statement on desegregation and the closing of schools in several cities such as Norfolk. I saw the Virginia General Assembly issue a response to the  Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court, and their plans to implement the Massive Resistance policy to prevent desegregation. I also saw several videos of activists fighting for the desegregation of schools and other public buildings, such as the YMCA. Each video captured the feelings of Norfolk citizens at the time, and how the changes in government, such as the Brown vs. Board decision and the implementation of Massive Resistance, caused them to react. The fight against racism and segregation in Norfolk was captured and documented in these archives, and I of all people was given the opportunity to observe and organize them. I had never before now truly appreciated the rich history of Norfolk and its citizens who fought against racism. Norfolk and the rest of Hampton Roads has had a long and deep history, filled with ordinary people doing great things.

NorfolkProtest1960s
Protest over the Norfolk YMCA’s segregation policies

Everyday Deeds

Until recently, I did not consider the area of Hampton Roads, and Norfolk specifically, to be of some importance in the fight against segregation. We are always told to study the big events and the people who had the most impact on the world. The people and events involved in the local history of Hampton Roads may not have been as memorable or had as large of an impact as other occurrences in their times, but their efforts were still felt and preserved in history. The civil rights movement in Norfolk may not have been the most noticed or impactful of efforts in America, but it nonetheless changed the city and its citizens for generations to come. This look into local history reminded me that even the smallest things can have large impacts. It was thanks to the cumulative efforts of ordinary people that the schools in Norfolk were reopened, desegregation was implemented, YMCA buildings and other facilities were opened to people regardless of color, all because the citizens of Norfolk and others willed it. When observing history in such a way, I can’t help but be reminded of the words of a famous grey wizard: “Some believe that it is only great power that can keep evil in check. But I have found that it is the small every-day deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay”. Despite what many may think history is not just made of people or events of major significance. Its foundations lie with the efforts of everyday people in everyday towns, creating a cumulative structure filled with local history and local people, of which we should strive to preserve and learn from.

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Posted in Archival Research, Civil Rights, Desegregation, Desegregation of Schools, Norfolk History, ODU Digital Collections, Student research

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Spooky Rare Book Spotlight: “The Witch of Pungo” by Louisa Venable Kyle

Posted on October 29, 2020 | Leave a comment

by Jessica Ritchie, Head of Special Collections and University Archives

WPIllustration
Illustration of Grace Sherwood’s “ducking” from The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies by Louisa Venable Kyle

If you have lived, visited, or grown up in Virginia Beach like I did, then you are probably familiar with the infamous Witchduck Road. The road was named after the site of the last “witch ducking” that took place in Virginia in 1706. According to historians, local townspeople were searching for answers as to why their crops were dying and, as was fashionable at the time, they blamed women. They were particularly suspicious of the farmer’s wife Grace Sherwood, who dared to wear trousers, worked as a midwife, and knew a little too much about the healing power or herbs. Neighbors accused Grace of bewitching their pigs and cotton crops, and even flying through a keyhole in the black of night! A judge agreed with Grace’s accusers and ordered her to be tried by ducking. On July 10th, 1706 Grace was bound by her toes and thumbs, and dropped into the Lynnhaven River. The judge decreed that if she drowned she would die an innocent woman, but if she survived, it was because she was a witch. Luckily, Grace managed to escape her bonds and swam to shore, but shortly thereafter was imprisoned for witchcraft. After approximately 7 long years in jail she was released and returned to her three sons, and eventually died at the age of 80 on her farm in Pungo (now a part of Virginia Beach) in 1740. Go Grace!

GraceStatue
A statue depicting her was erected near Sentara Independence on Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach, close to the site of the colonial courthouse where she was tried. The statue depicts Grace standing near a raccoon and holding herbs, which represent her love of animals and her nursing skills.

As a child, I struggled to understand that there was a time in history where innocent women were blamed for society’s ills and drowned just to prove their innocence. I still struggle with that thought, but I am pleased to see that Grace Sherwood’s legacy has been preserved in the Sherwood Trail, including Witchduck Road and other landmarks in Virginia Beach. Her legacy has also been preserved in many stories, books, and news articles, including a children’s book by author Louisa Venable Kyle.

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The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies by Louisa Venable Kyle, ODU Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives Rare Book Collection

Born in Norfolk, Louisa Venable Kyle studied at Mary Baldwin Seminary and graduated from Lasell Seminary. She wrote for the Virginian-Pilot and The Portsmouth Star and was one of the founding members of the Princess Anne County Historical Society. Her children’s book The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies is based on seven folktales from Princess Anne County, including the tale of Grace Sherwood. The book was published in 1973 by Printcraft Press, Portsmouth, Virginia, and was reissued in 1978 and 1988 by Four O’Clock Farms Publishing Company.

WPSignature
The Witch of Pungo author’s signature

ODU’s Special Collections and University Archives is fortunate to have a rare, autographed hardcopy of The Witch of Pungo. The books is in great condition with a vibrant orange color, and features a wonderful collection of illustrations and short historical essays related to each folktale. I am so pleased that we can keep the legacies of both Grace Sherwood and Louisa Venable Kyle alive and well by sharing this book with our students, faculty, and community members. It’s incredible to think that we have so much important history here in Hampton Roads, and I am glad authors like Kyle have kept those stories alive for future generations.

Sources:

“Louisa Venable Kyle”. The Virginian-Pilot. October 25, 1999. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
“Grace Sherwood (ca. 1660–1740)”. The Associated Press. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
Grace Sherwood (ca. 1660–1740)”. Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
RoadsideAmerica.com: Virginia Beach, Virginia: Witch of Pungo Statue

Further reading:
“The Virginia Case of Grace Sherwood, 1706.” In Narratives of the New England Witchcraft Cases, ed. George Lincoln Burr, 433–442. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2002.Davis, Richard Beale.
“The Devil in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 65 (April 1957): 131–149.Gibson, Marion. 
Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.Kyle, Louisa Venable. The Witch of Pungo and Other Historical Stories of the Early Colonies. Portsmouth, Virginia: Printcraft Press, 1973.

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Posted in Hampton Roads History, Norfolk History, Rare Books, Virginia Beach History, Virginia History, Women's History

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A New Insight: An Intern’s First Look Into Archival Work

Posted on October 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

by Ethan Dykes, HIS 368 Intern in Special Collections and Archives

As an up and coming history major at Old Dominion University, I was excited to receive the opportunity to work as an intern at the Special Collections Department in the Perry Library. I have always been curious about the specifics behind the jobs that entail the collection, study, and preservation of historical materials. This being my final semester at the university I was thankful for the opportunity to learn all I could about archival work before I graduated. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, I would have to do the internship remotely rather than the usual in-person experience. Still, I believed this to be a good opportunity to see what working in an archive facility was like and if I would consider it as a job for myself in the future. Needless to say I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I have learned about archival work and the types of materials I have gotten to work with despite the global pandemic.

ArchivesMonth
October is National Archives Month! It’s a great time learn more about archives and the labor and expertise that goes into them.

Unexpected Lessons

My first few assignments in the internship mostly involved getting to know the staff and reading the training modules for archival work. To my surprise, the training module held a plethora of information on the specifics of archival work, and I learned many unexpected lessons. Not only did the modules define the different types of archives in the world and what they look to collect, but how they may sort and preserve those different types of materials. Many paper materials, for example, need to be kept in properly humidified places with dim light and kept in containers safe from dust and bugs. I knew from common sense that paper materials certainly needed to be kept clean and with minimal exposure, but I did not know the amount of tiny specifics that were important to keep those materials in good condition. Such things included the importance of using iridescent bulbs and not fluorescent ones in rooms with paper or other materials to prevent deterioration from ultraviolet rays. I also learned much about the importance of structure and safety in archival facilities. Archives have to be careful of how their buildings are built and manage to ensure safety from disasters and accidents, such as water leaks from air conditioning units. There is also a surprising amount of importance on security, such as the need to organize materials in a certain way that prevents just anyone from looking something up and being able to take it. Archival work has a surprising amount of complexities and small details that one must learn if they wish to be able to handle historical documents.

Employee in Washington National Records Center Stack Area, ca. 1968. (National Archives and Records Administration)
Employee in Washington National Records Center Stack Area, ca. 1968. (National Archives and Records Administration)

Of Surprising Importance

Other than learning much about archival work and the surprising amount of information required to conduct such labor, I have also found archival work to be of surprising importance to the world of history. As a historian, I always knew that archives played a key role in the study of historical materials but I did not initially see their overall importance. Archives do not simply gather and preserve information, which in of itself is of significance, they also organize, label, and make that information easy to access to the public and to historians. Those wishing to research certain materials for a book or paper may easily find themselves in the depths of an archive facility shifting through shelves of materials. Many archives are also the keepers of documents one would not find anywhere else in the world, and are thus of major importance to the preservation of local and smaller portions of history. Archives are not only more complicated than I initially thought, they are also of greater significance than one such as myself may originally think. They are a key cog in the machine that preserves and teaches the world’s history.

A New Found Respect

Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying my time with this internship so far, and have a new found respect for those who work in archives. The work I’ve done so far has been interesting and insightful, with a plethora of information about archival work. A person outside of the archival world, such as my previous self, may believe it to be simple and easy. But there is actually a science to it, a methodology that is used to best preserve the world’s history. This has been the most useful and world-changing lesson I have learned so far from the internship. In just a few weeks I have had the privilege of learning about the importance of archival work and the amount of effort that goes into it. I strongly recommend anyone interested in archival work, or in other professions of history, to seek out information on the methods behind archive work. It may yet offer a new perspective on your view of the work behind historical preservation and research.

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Posted in Archival Theory, Internship, ODU Archives, Student research