Ohrstrom Blog » History

From the Archives: SPS Under Construction

Lisa Laughy — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:16:17 +0000

As construction continues on Dunbarton Road and the new Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, it brings to mind other major construction projects from the history of St. Paul’s School. Although difficult to tell from inside or outside of the New Chapel, an entire section was added to the nave forty-two years after original construction began. The images below depict the expansion at its most dramatic point:

In 1928 the New Chapel was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of students at St. Paul’s School. The Sesquicentennial Exhibit offers this description of the photos:

In 1928 the Chapel was deconsecrated and workmen began to slice through the brick walls. The School held its collective breath as the eastern end of the vast structure, seemingly too narrow to hold itself erect, was slid upon tracks to its new location. The task of reconstruction then went forward as the void between the two parts of the old building was filled with Gothic tracery.

See if you can spot this particularly brave fellow in the picture above!

New Archives Online Exhibit: Places of Invention

Lisa Laughy — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:35:30 +0000

A new online exhibit, called Places of Invention: Science and Mathematics at St. Paul’s School, is now part of the Ohrstrom Library website. This online exhibit is based on a more in-depth Archives photograph exhibit now on display in the upper level of Ohrstrom Library. Here is an excerpt from the introduction to the online exhibit:

With construction of the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science now well underway, it is fitting that the St. Paul’s School community reflects back upon the places that have served the study of science and mathematics so well throughout the School’s history.

Photos from the Archives were scanned specifically for the online exhibit including this image of a Biology classroom in the Westinghouse Lab:

The online exhibit features images ranging from the first science lab built on the St. Paul’s School grounds in 1889 to the architectural renderings of the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, now under construction. The main gallery of thumbnail images includes links to individual pages that feature larger images and brief descriptions. There is also a slideshow of the images that can be initiated from any of the pages in the exhibit.

Take a few moments to browse through the gallery of images and follow the development of the places that have helped to facilitate the high standard of education in mathematics and science that has been a part of the St. Paul’s School vision from its very beginning.

Visit the online exhibit by clicking HERE.

Visit the full Archives exhibit in the upper level lobby of Ohrstrom Library.

New Reference Book: The Eloquent Shakespeare

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:00:42 +0000

The Eloquent Shakespeare by Gary Logan, University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 822.3 zL82E

A pronouncing dictionary to Shakespeare’s complete dramatic works, with notes. Written by the director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting this unique reference book seeks to standardize pronunciation for the stage.

Learn to pronounce:
•    Alphonso
•    cap-a-pe
•    eyas-musket
•    Oxfordshire
•    wolt

Helpful for: Humanities III, Humanities V, Shakespeare, Theater, Fiske Cup

The Primary Source Hunt: OAIster

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Are you too looking for primary sources? Most Humanities V teachers are requiring at least two for completion of a successful research paper. If you’ve looked in all the usual places (such as those listed here in our primary source round-up), yet still aren’t finding quite what you want, consider OAIster.

What is it? OAIster is an online catalog of digitized sources. It is made available by OCLC, a company that provides many library-related services.

It might help to compare this to Ohrstrom Library’s catalog. The Ohrstrom Library catalog searches through the records of our 70,000 print titles. OAIster searches through the records of 23 Million digitized sources from over 1,000 contributors.

What might you find?

A copy of Redon’s journal, contributed by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Correspondence from Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein regarding war contributed by I-Revues.
Sanitary Statistics of Native Colonial Schools and Hospitals by Florence Nightingale contributed by University of California Libraries.
An image of an Alice in Wonderland Float, from Mardi Gra 1938 contributed by the Indiana University Digital Library Program (see image above).
An abstract of a report from the National Program for Inspection of Non-Federal Dams regarding the St. Pauls School Dam contributed by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Repository.

Is it hard to use? The search function is very straightforward, offering a basic search or advanced search. As always, if you would like a little help using this resource please be in touch!

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:00:08 +0000

Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography edited by Lynne Warren, Routledge, 2006.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 770.9 W25

Photography’s second century is recorded, analyzed and discussed in this new reference set. Photography is placed in a variety of contexts such as: geography, institutions & exhibitions, inventions and people. The set offers a glossary of photographic terms, bibliographies and B&W samples of artists work.

Check out entries on: Lotte Jacobi, Bracketing, Impressionism, Dada, and Works Progress Administration.

Looking for more examples of a particular artist’s work? Try searching the artist’s name in ARTstor.

Helpful for: Humanities V, Humanities V Research Paper, Humanities IV, Humanities IV Research Paper, Photographers, Art

New Reference Book: European Immigration

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:06 +0000

European Immigration edited by Anna Triandafyllidou and Ruby Gropas, Ashgate, 2007.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 305.7 T73E

A presentation of immigration patterns as related to the 25 European Union member states. Immigration policy(s), impact, history and related statistical data for each member state is included.

A sampling of included nations: Austria, Denmark, France, Latvia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.

Helpful for: Humanities V, Global Studies, Statistics, European Studies

Research Process – The Fifth Form Paper

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:01 +0000

Below are a few tips offered to those of you approaching the Humanities V research paper. Consider consulting the Humanities V Research Guide for a more detailed list of research sources including: reference books, magazines, databases, journal articles, and the free web.

Recommended Research Process

Explore your topic in reference books for a helpful, instant grounding in the topic.
As you locate useful material, cite it. Consider using Noodlebib as your citation management tool.
Take note of special keywords that are specific to your topic. Use these keywords when searching the material described below.
Use keyword and subject searches in Ohrstrom’s online catalog to locate books on your topic.
Use JSTOR and ProQuest to find contemporary periodical articles on your topic.
Use the Times [of London] and the U.S. Historical Newspaper databases to search for primary source newspaper coverage on your topic.
Use American History in Video to search for U.S. newsreels on your topic.
Note: Research rarely goes exactly as planned. You may find you need to veer from, re-sort or revisit the steps listed here.

Most importantly: Please feel free to ask a Librarian for help at any step along the way.

Fifth Form Paper: Go With the Flowchart!

Lisa Laughy — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:24 +0000

You’ve received your assignment for your Humanities V research paper, but where do you go from there? Go with the flowchart – the Fifth Form Paper Flowchart, that is:

The Fifth Form Paper Flowchart was developed as a companion to the Fifth Form Paper Research Guide – as an easy way to visualize the process of writing your Humanities paper. The flowchart is available as a one page PDF document (click HERE) that can be downloaded, saved to your computer desktop, printed out for ready reference, and/or hung on the wall as a constant guide. Hypertext links have been embedded into the PDF for the online elements, making it possible to click through to the resource described. Following the flowchart step-by-step will help you see where you are in the research process and what still needs to be done – assisting with time management so you can avoid a last minute crunch.

Save it, print it, post it, bookmark it, or favorite it, just be sure to take advantage of this great new reference resource!

New Reference Book: Berkshire Encyclopedia of China

Lura Sanborn — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:06:42 +0000

Berkshire Encyclopedia of China edited by Linsun Cheng, Berkshire, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 951 B45

Just in time for writing your Ma Prize essay, Ohrstrom Library has acquired this five-volume set with 800+ articles about historical and modern day China. Includes articles that focus on: art, philosophy, economics & development, people, social & cultural history, the natural world and international relationships.

Examples include: Bamboo; Clothing, Traditional – Hong Kong; Dragon Boat Festival; Energy, Renewable; Ming Dynasty; and Yungang Caves

Helpful for: Asian Studies, Global Studies, Ma Essay Prize, Humanities V

From the Archives: Delphian Football Eleven, 1897

Lisa Laughy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:43:22 +0000

The following photo from the St. Paul’s School Archives, located in the basement of Ohrstrom Library, was scanned recently as part of the planning process for a digitization project. From time-to-time we will be sharing some of these newly scanned images on the Ohrstrom Blog to provide a glimpse into the wealth of visual history contained within the Archives’ photo collections.

The first photo in this blog series is of the Delphian Club football team from 1897. Each of the three clubs at St. Paul’s School – the Isthmian Club, the Old Hundred Club (both founded in 1859), and the Delphian Club (founded in 1888), had three strings of eleven players on their club football teams. This photo is likely of the first string, the Eleven I. It is easy to imagine that the Delphian Club colors of maroon and black are being worn in this photo.

Although there are no names listed on the photo itself, The Record, St. Paul’s School, 1898, lists the members of “The Delphian Club Foot-Ball Elevens, Fall, 1897″ as follows:

Henry Blackstone Farrar, Captain

Line: Prescott M. Metcalf, Ethelbert I. Low, Ernest T. H. Metcalf, Douglas Kimball, Peter F. Rothermel, Robert W. Glendinning, Franklin Farrel, Jr.

Quarter-Back: Henry B. Farrar

Half-Backs: William C. Douglas, William Frew

Full-Back: Lion Gardiner

Fall of 1897 was not a good season for the Delphians – they didn’t win any of the four games played, and scored zero points. An average of the previous ten years has them in better standing, winning 18 of a possible 38 games, and putting them second to the Isthmian’s record of 30 out of 38. This detail of the photo gives a better view of the clothing worn to play football at that time – very little padding and quite a few rips and tears.