Extended Library Hours Dec 3 to Dec 9

Finals Week Approaches!
During the week before finals, the library will be open for extended hours:

Sunday, December 3, Noon - 1:00 am (mon)
Monday, December 4, 7:30am - 1:00 am (tue)
Tuesday, December 5, 7:30am - 1:00 am (wed)
Wednesday, December 6, 7:30am - 1:00 am (thu)
Thursday, December 7, 7:30am - 1:00 am (fri)
Friday, December 8, 7:30am - 11:00 pm
Saturday, December 9, 9:00am - 9:00 pm

Sunday, December 10: Finals Week Hours Begin

#TBT in the Archives 11/16/17: Thanksgiving

Turkey Day is just around the corner! As Shippensburg students get ready to take a few days off, see family, eat delicious meals, and give thanks, we thought it would be fun to explore past Thanksgiving celebrations on campus.

Students attending Cumberland Valley State Normal School in the early 20th century liked to save napkins from special dinners and events on campus. Several in the archives are from trips to Washington D.C., and others are connected to dinners and dances. The person who saved the napkins often wrote the date of the event and the occasion, and in some cases, had their friends sign. A Thanksgiving napkin at the archives is decorated with cherries and greenery and is dated 1906.

A napkin from the 1906 Thanksgiving dinner.

Much like today, the campus came together at the end of each November to enjoy a formal Thanksgiving meal. Though turkey and gravy were always on the menu, the vegetables and pies offered each year tended to change.


Mashed potatoes, celery, creamed onions and candied sweet potatoes were the side dishes in 1922. The meal closed with a mince pie a la mode. "Saratoga Flakes," listed next to the salad, is a type of frosted flake cereal.

Ten students signed this Thanksgiving menu from 1923.  Some side dishes disappeared this year, and the dessert was apple pie with ice cream. 

Dessert changed again to peach pie in 1924, and sweet potatoes returned to the menu. Also offered were buttered peas.

The economic turmoil of the 1930s meant the 1931 Thanksgiving menu was not printed in an ornate pamphlet. However, students still ate their fill of traditional Thanksgiving dishes, including buttered carrots, and pumpkin custard pie a la mode.

Not only did Thanksgiving mean food and friends, but Shippensburg students also celebrated with football games and theater. In 1924, Shippensburg battled Slippery Rock on the gridiron, and students could watch for just 50 cents.

1924 football ticket.

Dramatic plays were also on the menu, with students playing starring roles.


 A cast photo for "Stop Thief," performed November 27, 1919.

The cast of "Green Stockings," presented in November 1921.

Whether it be football, theater, or food, Shippensburg students have always made the most of the Thanksgiving holiday. What are your plans for Thanksgiving 2017?


Sources:
Class Files, Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, Shippensburg, PA.
Oversize photographs, Record Group 31, Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, Shippensburg, PA.
Photographs, Record Group 30, Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, Shippensburg, PA.

Turkey Day Break Library Hours - Nov 21 to Nov 27

Happy Turkey Day Break 2017!

Library Hours for the 2017 Thanksgiving week and weekend are:

• Monday 11/20 Regular Hours
• Tuesday 11/21 7:30 a.m. -- 10:00 p.m.
• Wednesday 11/22 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Thursday 11/23 Closed for Thanksgiving Break
• Friday 11/24 Closed for Thanksgiving Break
• Saturday 11/25 Closed for Thanksgiving Break
• Sunday 11/26 4:00 p.m. -- Midnight

Regular hours resume Monday 11/27/2017
Remember, Library Extended Hours start the week before Finals Week!

Flashback to earlier Thanksgiving activities at Ship with this #TBT in the Archives post from 2015!

#TBT in the Archives 11/9/2017: Pennsylvania Museum Extension Project

As part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) put millions of people to work throughout the United States. In Pennsylvania, the WPA's most ambitious project involved arts and education in the form of the Pennsylvania Museum Extension Project (MEP).

Based in Harrisburg with workshops located across the state, the Museum Extension Project was the first of its kind in the nation when it launched in 1935. It ended up producing millions of models, art pieces, illustrations, dioramas, and more for use by educators in public schools across the state.

A display case containing 24 varieties of crop seeds showed students the first step in growing food.

With training educators as its main mission during the Great Depression, Shippensburg State Teachers College had a model elementary training school on campus attended by local primary school students. Thanks to the Museum Extension Project, the model school and future teachers had the use of a wide variety of models, dioramas and lantern slides to teach history and science.

These materials now reside at Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, and many of the dioramas are on display on the main floor in the Learning Center.


A scale model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin connected students to the spark of the industrial revolution.

Museum Extension Program leaders tried to locate workshops in communities where skilled artisans resided. For example, a workshop in Lancaster County produced scale models of furniture and related items. Some of these models are in Shippensburg's collection.

This tiny printing press only occupies approximately six square inches, but offers a detailed view of a crucial piece of early technology.

By 1939, project staffers began working with the Pennsylvania Historical Commission (later the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission) to document historic sites, houses, and other structures. As a part of this relationship, the MEP began producing dioramas of these sites. Many are in the Shippensburg collection.

A model of a pueblo village.

Dioramas depicting industry, like this oil well, showed students industry close to home.

Still other products of the MEP included lantern slides, which could be used by teachers to show students models and dioramas that did not physically exist in the collection. Dozens of lantern slides at Shippensburg show classical and indigenous dwellings. Other lantern slides include plates showing the traditional costumes of native peoples of the Americas and Asia.

Dioramas and models are on display in Ezra Lehman Memorial Library anytime the library is open. To check out the lantern slides and accompanying description, make an appointment by emailing specialcollections@ship.edu.

Sources:

Curtis Miner, "Art With a Purpose: Pennsylvania's Museum Extension Project, 1935-1943," in Pennsylvania Heritage (Spring 2008), accessed November 7, 2017, http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-heritage/art-with-purpose-pennsylvania-museum-extension-project-1935-1943.html

Pennsylvania Museum Extension Project Collection, Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, Shippensburg, PA.

#TBT in the Archives 11/2/17: Books on Exhibit

As the weather gets colder, there's nothing more comforting than curling up with a good book and some hot tea - no matter your age!

Shippensburg State College librarians in the 1950s definitely believed everything is better with a book, and launched a program to put Cumberland County teachers and school librarians in touch with the latest "junior library books" available for young readers.

Launched in 1957, "Books on Exhibit" was a traveling collection of books that toured the county during the academic year to make it easy for teachers to choose new titles for their students. The exhibit opened at the beginning of November at Ezra Lehman Memorial Library.

The 1957 Books on Exhibit launched in early November.

In 1958, "Books on Exhibit" dominated the downstairs of the library (then located in Huber). Children from the campus laboratory school were welcome to peruse the new selections.


Books like Rockets, Satellites, and Space Travel were among the books that caught these boys' attention.

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, as read by the girl in the foreground, was a new book for 1958.

Books for all levels of young readers were displayed.

Teachers from Shippensburg schools as well as aspiring teachers attending Shippensburg State College also wandered the exhibit.

Teachers share Books on Exhibit finds with one another.

There was something for every classroom library on display.

The exhibit continued for several years and could be scheduled to visit any Cumberland County school by contacting librarians at Ezra Lehman Memorial Library. 


The new Library Science program was announced in the same 1959 edition of The Slate as "Books on Exhibit."

Sources:
Books on Exhibit, 1958, Photographs, Record Group 30, Series 4, Box 1, Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections, Shippensburg, PA.
The Slate, Shippensburg, PA

A Lehman Library Halloween

A Lehman Library Halloween

Halloween at Lehman Library was full of costumes and candy. Here are some photos of students and employees in their festive fare:

Christy Fic, Archives and Special Collections Librarian and Maggie Albro, STEM Librarian, as Rarity and Miss Frizzle:

A student getting library business done, dino-style:

Instruction Librarian Josefine Smith as The Little Mermaid:

Reference and Instruction Librarian Kira Piper as the ultimate Orioles fan

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! What did you dress up as and why?