Staff Accomplishments:

Anne Hakes and Robert Vay have been invited to attend an Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Managment Skills Insititute workshop. The workshop is to be held on Mason's Fairfax campus on August 15-17, 2005. This ARL workshop was originally intended for only members of the Management Group, but the University Librarian, John Zenelis, chose to invite other members of the Library staff that might benefit from the workshop. For more information pertaining to this workshop, and ARL in general, please visit:

http://www.arl.org


People:

SC&A recently hired Lara Harmon to assist organizing SC&A's Rare Book Collection. Lara is a second year Theater major. We are happy to have her on board.


Collection Highlights:

The Francis C. Steinbauer Collection

Francis C. Steinbauer was a key participant in the development of Reston through the first twenty years of its growth as a major new community in Northern Virginia. In 1964 he joined Palindrome Corporation (later Reston VA, Inc), headed by founder Robert E Simon. The Steinbauer Collection consists of materials that include reports, photographs, manuals, and master plans. More information regarding the Steinbauer Collection can be found at:

http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/steinbauer.html

Notable Researchers:

Paul Renard, a Ph.D. candidate from Virginia Tech, looked at the entire Milton Barnes Civil War Collection The collection consists of numerous letters and photographs. Milton Barnes was a recently married lawyer in Cambridge, Ohio, when the Civil War began. He served first as a captain, commanding G Company of the 62nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The unit participated in the first Union invasion of the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1862. When the 62nd Ohio was transferred to the Rappahannock in mid-1862, Captain Barnes was discharged on medical grounds and returned to Cambridge, Ohio. More about Milton Barnes and the collection can be found at:

http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/barnes.html

Four New Electronic Finding Aids/Research Guides

Special Collections & Archives recently created four new Electronic Finding Aids/Research Guides (EADs). Electronic Finding Aids/Research Guides are Internet browseable sources of information on collections in SC&A's holdings.

• C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Collection EAD:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/gmu/vivadoc.pl?file=vifgm00053.xml

Mann (1908-1977) was in integral part of the creation of GMU. He served as the Chairman of George Mason College's first Board of Control. He sponsored bills constituting George Mason College as a branch of the University of Virginia and later elevating it to a four year division of the University with the right to grant degrees and offer graduate program. He served on the GMU Board of Visitors from 1975 to 1977.

• Martha V. Pennino Collection EAD:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/gmu/vivadoc.pl?file=vifgm00060.xml

Martha Pennino (1918-2004) was called the Mother of Fairfax for her long service to the county. She was one of the longest-serving members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, spending 24 years on the board. She was first elected in November 1967, representing what was then the Centreville District. Pennino served as vice-chairman for 17 years.

• Leonid Ozernoy Collection EAD:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/gmu/vivadoc.pl?file=vifgm00054.xml

Leonid M. Ozernoy (1939-2002) taught in the School of Computational Sciences and Informatices at GMU from 1993 to 2002. Born in Moscow, Ozernoy was one of the former Soviet Union's "refusniks" and came to the United States in 1986. He worked at Boston University and Harvard University before coming to the Washington, D.C., area in the early 1990s to join NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as a consultant. At George Mason, he taught courses in computational sciences and physics, most recently Colloquium on Computational Sciences and Informatics, Astrophysics, and Modern Astronomy.

• John Dockery Collection EAD:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/gmu/vivadoc.pl?file=vifgm00050.xml

John Dockery served on the Reston Community Association planning and Zoning Committee from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The collection contains materials relating to the Planning and Zoning Committee of the Reston Community Association. Maps, planning documents, memoranda, correspondence, legal documents, are in the collection.

All of SC&A’s EADs can be accessed at:

http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/eadfndgaids.html

Notable Researchers:

• Last week, Peter Gough, a researcher from Utah, examined10 cubic feet of materials from the Federal Theater Project Collection, including listening to three oral histories. Gough is writing a book pertaining to the end of the Federal Theater Project and plans on visiting SC&A again this summer. More information about the Federal Theater Project Collection is available at: http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/federal.html

• Recently, Ann White, a doctoral candidate from Northwestern University, visited SC&A, examining approximately 50 cubic feet from the Federal Theater Project Collection. White looked at a variety of material over the course of four days, including 25 oral history transcripts and Theater of the Thirties videotapes. She plans on returning in late June to conduct more research.

Online Collections Addition:

SC&A is pleased to announce a new addition to our online collections: Life at Bailey’s Crossroads 1961-1964, found at:
http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/mason_history1.pdf The beautifully designed booklet combines photographs and text by Richard Sparks, who is a free-lance photographer and artist. Mr. Sparks attended George Mason College at its first location at Bailey's Crossroads from 1961 until 1964. Sparks later returned to George Mason College/University, where he received his M.S. in biology in 1973.

Introducing SC&A

The staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) at George Mason University hopes to use this forum to announce new acquisitions, staff accomplishments, events, and other happenings in SC&A. We welcome your comments and any inquiries you may have regarding our postings. As always, please continue to visit our website, http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/ for more information. Feel free to e-mail us at speccoll@gmu.edu with any comments or questions.


People

• SC&A would like to take this opportunity to recognize our two volunteers: Kay Liebermann and Sid Friedland. Kay and Sid have been devoted volunteers for years, helping to process and make collections accessible. Their service has proven to be an invaluable part of SC&A.
• We would also like to bid farewell to two of our graduating students, Nate Smith and Ali Gardezi, who leave Mason with graduate degrees. We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
  

Events

SC&A supports a rich oral history program. Graduate assistant, Katja Hering, has been our oral history coordinator for the past year and will continue in that capacity for the 2005-2006 academic year. Just within the last month, she has interviewed:

• J.J. Mathy, a long time contributor and supporter of GMU.
• George Johnson was GMU's president from 1978 to 1996.

These interviews are available for research and review in SC&A.

Staff accomplishments

• Anne Hakes is pursuing a Master's of Library Science degree from the University of Maryland. She was recently awarded a scholarship from the Friends Scholarship Fund sponsored by the Fairfax County Public Library Foundation, Inc.
• Bob Vay was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award pertaining to his exhibit catalog, Simplicity, Performance, and Economy: The Origins of George Mason University's Fairfax Campus. Please visit the online exhibit at http://www.40th.gmu.edu/ It commemorates the Fortieth Anniversary of the building of GMU's Fairfax Campus. Just recently, Bob was chosen as an "Everyday Hero," by the Daily Gazette. Look for the upcoming article that details Bob's role as the University Dissertation and Thesis Coordinator.
• Veronica Fletcher earned her MA degree in History from GMU in May.

Recent Acquisitions
Books on Northern Virginia History:

• Warder, T.B. and James M. Catlett. Battle of Young's Branch, or, Manassas Plain, Fought July 21, 1861. The book noted for being an important Confederate imprint, with one of the best battlefield maps in the genre.
• Burk, John. The History of Virginia, from Its First Settlement to the Present Day. Petersburg, Virginia, Dickson and Pescud, 1804-1805-1816.
  It is the first comprehensive history of the Commonwealth published after the Revolutionary War.
• Stith, William. The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia. New York, Reprinted for Joseph Sabin, 1865.
  The 1865 edition is a facsimile reprint of Stith's 1747 book. Joseph Sabin chose to reprint "edition A," also known as the first edition or Williamsburg edition of the two Parks editions. It was published by Sabin as the sixth in his reprint series.