Digital Mapping at the Davidson Archives

Inspired by the newly-established campus Digital Mapping Learning Community, we’ve been creating more digital map-related resources this semester. Regular Around the D readers have likely heard of Under Lake Norman, our mapping project that includes crowdsourced stories and images related to what lies beneath Lake Norman.

ulnscreenshot
A screenshot of the Under Lake Norman project’s map – you can see all of the sites under the lake here, and share stories or add sites here.

One of our faculty members, Dr. Anelise Hanson Shrout (who wrote a guest post for Around The D last year), has been creating mapping projects centered around Davidson, and taught DIG 360: Digital Maps, Space and Place last semester, which resulted in two student digital mapping of Davidson projects as well. Check out Dr. Shrout’s Mapping Davidson’s Past project on her website.

A screenshot of a HistoryPin tour of Main Street that Dr. Shrout created.
A screenshot of a Historypin tour of Main Street that Dr. Shrout created.

Last week, in preparation for the Archives & Special Collections participation in Digital Charlotte, I created a map of the Charlotte locations featured in our collections postcards. The Charlotte Postcards maps is actually my first Neatline (an Omeka plug-in) project, and was a fun way to learn more about early 20th century Charlotte history.

Charlotte postcard locations, 1900 - 1920 - Davidson has roughly 20 postcards featuring Charlotte locations in our collections.
Charlotte postcard locations, 1900 – 1920 – Davidson has roughly 20 postcards featuring Charlotte locations in our collections.

As we all learn new methods for digital mapping, we’ll be creating even more maps of Davidson (and the surrounding area)! Currently, College Archivist and Records Management Coordinator Jan Blodgett and Kyle Goodfellow from the Center for Civic Engagement are working on translating the freshman orientation community walk to an interactive map,  making the stops along the walk and information about getting involved in the Davidson community available year-round. Current student Sarah Roberts (Class of 2015) is working on physically mapping the environment of Davidson, and I am partway through mapping Davidson’s National Register of Historic Places sites – look out for all of these projects to be linked on the Archives & Special Collections website when they’re completed!

Santas of Davidson Past

Classes are out for the semester, and E.H. Little Library is closed until January 2nd, but not being in the building won’t stop us from sharing some historic Davidson holiday cheer! Since today is Christmas Eve, here’s a post of my favorite Santa-related images from our collections:

The Davidson College Wildcat mascot as Santa, 1986.
The Davidson College Wildcat mascot as Santa, 1986.
A Santa and a skeleton from an unknown play., 1967.
A Santa and a skeleton from an unknown play, 1967.
The Admissions Department Christmas card, taken outside Chambers Building, 1987.
The Admission and Financial Aid Department Christmas card, taken outside Chambers Building, 1987.
A message to Santa, written on a door inside of Alumni Gymnasium (built 1916, remodeled into the Ovens Student Union in 1952, and demolished in 1972 to make space for E.H. Little Library).
A message to Santa, written on a door inside of Alumni Gymnasium (built 1916, remodeled into the Ovens Student Union in 1952, and demolished in 1972 to make space for E.H. Little Library).
Part of our mystery photo parcel, this scary Santa dates from winter 1960-1961.
Part of our mystery photo parcel, this scary Santa dates from winter 1960-1961.
Cover of the Winter 1950 edition of Scripts 'N Pranks, depicting a freshman student (Class of 1954) wearing the traditional beanie, telling Santa what he would like to get this year.
Cover of the Winter 1950 edition of Scripts ‘N Pranks, depicting a student (Class of 1954) wearing the traditional freshman beanie, telling Santa what he would like to get this year.
Two unknown students wear Santa hats and holidays pins while in the College Union, 1991.
Two unknown students wear Santa hats and holidays pins while in the College Union, 1991.
E.H. Little Library staff's annual holiday gathering - this picture, which includes current library staff (Susan Kerr, ) dates from the mid to late 1990s and was taken in front of Beaver Dam.
E.H. Little Library staff’s annual holiday gathering – this picture, which includes current library staff (Susan Kerr, Michael Forney, Denise Sherrill, Trish Johnson, Joe Gutekanst, Alice Sloop, Denise Torrence, Mittie Wally, Kim Sanderson, and Around the D’s own Jan Blodgett and Sharon Byrd), dates from the late 1990s and was taken in front of Beaver Dam. The man in the Santa hat is Frank Molinek, a library employee from 1992 until 2006.

We hope you enjoyed our Santas of Davidson Past! Have a great winter break, and happy holidays!

A (Brief) History of THATCamp Piedmont

This Saturday, October 18th, Davidson will play host to the third THATCamp Piedmont. THATCamp, short for The Humanities And Technology Camp, “is an open, inexpensive meeting where humanists and technologists of all skill levels learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot,” according to the official website. The first THATCamp was held at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in 2008. THATCamps are often organized either around a theme or geographic location, and provide a space for learning, sharing, and collaboration across a range of disciplines and specialties.

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THATCamp Piedmont was first held in 2012, at Davidson College, and again in 2013 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  You can read reactions and reflections related to the events by Roger Whitson, Donna Lanclos, Barry Peddycord, and Davidson’s own Mark Sample.

This year’s THATCamp sessions will be split between E.H. Little Library and the Knobloch Campus Center, with the day’s activities starting at 8:00 AM with breakfast and registration, and wrapping up at 4:30 PM with post-THATCamp drinks and conversation at the campus coffee house, Summit.

Register online for this Saturday’s free unconference, and please contact Mark Sample (masample@davidson.edu) with any questions. We hope to see you there!

The Twelve Days of Davidson

For this Christmas Day edition of Around the D, we offer a play on “The Twelve Days of Christmas” – The Twelve Days of Davidson, collapsed into a single post:

On the first day of Christmas

Davidson College Archives & Special Collections sent to me

12 Original Houses on Patterson Court

Patterson Court, circa 1960s
Patterson Court, circa 1960s.

11 Seniors Graduating at the First Commencement Exercises (1840)

A young E. Constantine Davidson, one of the those eleven graduates in 1840, and the diploma of Oni Davis McNeely (Class of 1840), currently on display in the Library's Davidsoniana Room
A young E. Constantine Davidson, one of the those eleven graduates in 1840, and the diploma of Oni Davis McNeely (Class of 1840), currently on display in the Library’s Davidsoniana Room.

10 Wins in the Undefeated 2000 Season for the Football Team

Excited Wildcat fans tear down the goalposts after the last game of the undefeated season; a few fans hang off the posts
Excited Wildcat fans tear down the goalposts after the last game of the undefeated season; a few fans hang off the posts (from Quips and Cranks 2001).
Those goalposts ended up in the senior apartments, as seen in this photo from Quips and Cranks 2001 - shown here with Chris Thawley, Jeff Larrimore, Rob Neuman, and William Childs (all Class of 2004).
Those goalposts ended up in the senior apartments, as seen in this photo from Quips and Cranks 2001 – shown here with Chris Thawley, Jeff Larrimore, Rob Neuman, and William Childs (all Class of 2004).

9 Decades of Wildcat Logos

Top row, left to right: 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Middle row: 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Bottom row: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
Top row, left to right: 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
Middle row: 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Bottom row: 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

8 Teams Left in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship when Davidson Reaches the “Elite Eight” in 2008

Davidson Men's Basketball Team in 2008
Davidson Men’s Basketball Team (from Quips and Cranks 2008).
Poster advertising a celebration of the 2008 basketball team, after March Madness
Poster advertising a celebration of the 2008 basketball team, after March Madness.

7 Cemeteries Under Lake Norman (that we know of!)

Original site of Baker Cemetery
Original site of Baker Cemetery.
Current site of Baker Cemetery, at Centre Presbyterian Church in Mooresville, NC
Current site of Baker Cemetery, at Centre Presbyterian Church in Mooresville, NC.

6 Deep South Field Hockey Championships in a Row (1990 – 1995)

Team photograph of the 1990 field hockey team, the first in the run of 6 championships
Team photograph of the 1990 field hockey team, the first in the run of 6 championships (from Quips and Cranks 1991).
1995 field hockey team, the last in the conference title run (Davidson's field hockey team currently plays in the NorPac conference, not Deep South)
1995 field hockey team, the last in the conference title run (from Quips and Cranks 1996; Davidson’s field hockey team currently plays in the NorPac conference, not Deep South)

5 Years of “Ghosts in the Library”

Posters from the first three years of Ghosts in the Library (2009 - 2011)
Posters from the first three years of Ghosts in the Library (2009 – 2011)
Posters from Ghosts in the Library, 2012 and 2013.
Posters from Ghosts in the Library, 2012 and 2013.

4 College Library Directors

Cornelia Rebekah Shaw, 1907 - 1936; Chalmers Gaston Davidson (Class of 1928), 1936 - 1975; Leland M. Park (Class of 1963), 1975 - 2006; and Gillian Gremmels, 2007 - present.
From top, left to right: Cornelia Rebekah Shaw, 1907 – 1936; Chalmers Gaston Davidson (Class of 1928), 1936 – 1975; Leland M. Park (Class of 1963), 1975 – 2006; and Gillian Gremmels, 2007 – present.

3 Students Taking One of the Earliest X-Rays (1896)

Eben Hardin, Pender Porter, and Osmond L. Barringer snuck into Dr. Henry Louis Smith's lab to X-Ray: a cadaver finger wearing a ring and stuck with two pins; magnifying glass; a pill box containing two 22 cartridges, one pin, two rings, and six Strychnine pills; and an empty egg with a button inside.
Eben Hardin, Pender Porter, and Osmond L. Barringer snuck into Dr. Henry Louis Smith’s lab to X-Ray: a cadaver finger wearing a ring and stuck with two pins; magnifying glass; a pill box containing two 22 cartridges, one pin, two rings, and six Strychnine pills; and an empty egg with a button inside.

2 Chambers Buildings

Original Chambers Building
Original Chambers Building (1860 – 1921), before the fire of November 28, 1921.
New Chambers Building, completed in 1929.
New Chambers Building, completed in 1929.

and the First Woman President at Davidson College

Dr. Quillen receives the College mace (photograph from the Davidsonian)
Dr. Quillen receives the College mace (photograph from the Davidsonian).

Happy Holidays (and a merry winter break) from Davidson College’s Archives & Special Collections!

Physical to Digital and Back to Physical Again: 3D Scanning and Printing

Davidson recently unveiled a new makerspace, Studio M, which will provide a wealth of opportunities for students and the college community to experiment with new technologies. After attending the open house two weeks ago, we began to think about archival collaborations with the makerspace – how can we leverage these new resources with those already existing in the library?

The cuneiform collection has already been scanned and added to the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), but what if the college’s oldest objects were 3D scanned and printed in a more durable, lend-able form? The Archives & Special Collections team rolled up our sleeves and began to brainstorm about items from the college’s collections that could use a good scanning, for either preservation or use (or both). The Smithsonian Institution’s 3D digitization work provides inspiration what the affordances of this kind of digital inquiry could be:
One of the first collections we thought of was that of  Gordon Clift Horton (class of 1942) – Horton was the engine behind the first Annual Student Exhibition, and he went on to study interior design at Parsons School of Design (now Parsons the New School for Design). When his mother, Florence Clift Horton, passed away in 1975, she willed her estate to Davidson College, and several of Gordon Horton’s collections can still be found on campus. Horton’s collection of jade figurines could be an interesting scanning project…

A jade Budai from the Horton collection
A jade Budai from the Horton collection

Student medals and badges also provide a unique 3D digitization opportunity – these medals were created for the Eumenean and Philanthropic Literary Societies, and each comes imbued with stories of previous generations of Davidson students. A literary society badge could be scanned, and the resulting 3D model could be altered to reflect the name of a current student organization, providing a physical manifestation of the past of Davidson’s student groups for those in the present.

A tray of Eu and Phi medals from the 19th century
A tray of Eu and Phi medals from the 19th century
A Eumenean Society badge, which belonged to Joel Mable (class of 1864)
A Eumenean Society badge, which belonged to Joel Mable (class of 1864)

While these are just ideas at the present, we’ll have more news to share in a few months.  Watch this space to see which of these visions becomes a reality!