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Letters penned by Elmer R. Drew, a UC Berkeley undergraduate in the 1880s, offers a snapshot of California, and campus life, of yesteryear: camping in Hetch Hetchy Valley, cart wheels atop the gym, a goat in the recorder’s office. University Librarian Tom Leonard writes about Drew’s missives, donated recently to the Bancroft Library.
Tag: Bancroft Library
New oral history online: Warren Hellman talks about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
October 5, 2012:
Catch the late Warren Hellman talking about his Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in this video clip from The Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office.
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life fall programming announced
August 27, 2012:
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library opens its fall season on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
UC Berkeley, as seen through Ansel Adams’ camera
June 1, 2012:
Legendary photographer Ansel Adams shot thousands of photos of Berkeley and the other UC campuses during the 1960s, and now a photo book based on the collection, “Fiat Lux,” is going out to all incoming students as part of the annual On the Same Page program.
Picturing UC’s future: position sousaphones, reshoot, remix
May 1, 2012:
At a precise location near Sather Gate, members of the Cal Band gamely shouldered their instruments Monday for a technically demanding photo op. The goal: to recreate a shot taken close to half a century ago by photographer Ansel Adams — this time for a 21st-century campus project on “picturing” UC’s future.
Alumnus and Japanese-American WWII vet Kenji Sayama donates Congressional Gold Medal to Bancroft
April 25, 2012:
Kenji Sayama, who attended UC Berkeley in wartime and after, donated to Bancroft Library the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to him and other Japanese-American soldiers from World War II.
Hoover slept here (and other campus visits by U.S. presidents, sitting and otherwise)
April 13, 2012:
A new library exhibit takes a look back at U.S. presidents, past, present and future, who have lunched, spoken and, yes, napped at UC Berkeley.
Never-before-released Toklas oral history highlights exhibit of Bancroft Library’s LGBT collections
March 29, 2012:
A Bancroft Library exhibit opening April 4 provides a salon-like setting for conversations about the artistic contributions of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual artists through the years.
Bancroft showcases rare collection of Shakespeare works
March 22, 2012:
The mini-exhibit features four bound editions of collected plays printed in folio format during the 17th century.
Dignitaries dedicate campus’s renovated Matsui Center
March 14, 2012:
Students, faculty and state dignitaries lauded the Robert T. Matsui Center’s work promoting public service, policy research and education during a special event highlighting recent renovations.
Mystery, murder on show in ‘Bullets Across the Bay’
February 23, 2012:
Exhibit on locally themed mystery fiction, in Doe Library’s Brown Gallery, is set to close Feb. 29.
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life to open Jan. 22
January 19, 2012:
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library, the latest addition to the city’s burgeoning downtown arts and culture district, is opening to the public on Sunday, Jan. 22.
Media Advisory: Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life open house Jan. 22
January 12, 2012:
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life to welcome the public to its new home with a Jan. 22 open house.
A taste of Chez Panisse history
December 23, 2011:
It’s tough to rustle up a new story about the most written-about restaurant in Berkeley, but California magazine has dipped deep into the Chez Panisse archive at the Bancroft Library and come up with a fascinating look at its early days.
Berkeley 2011 — the year in pictures
December 22, 2011:
Beyond the protests, the story — as always — is one of engagement, passion and perseverance in the face of challenges, whether institutional or personal.
‘Everyday Dogs’ book depicts allure of man’s best friend
December 6, 2011:
New book drawn from the Bancroft Library’s vast Pictorial Collection celebrates the powerful connections between people and pets.
ROHO staffer on Richmond’s remarkable boxcar village
October 31, 2011:
One of the migrations detailed in the Bancroft Library’s “California Crossings” exhibit is that of Pueblo Indians who, upon arriving in the Bay Area, were housed in a Richmond “boxcar village.” Bancroft staffer Sam Redman talks about the village in a KALW radio interview, which also includes clips of ROHO interviews with Native Americans who lived in the village.
In a stunning Bancroft photo archive, ghosts of the Spanish Civil War
October 6, 2011:
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Cal alum Robert Ropert, writing in California Magazine, describes his accidental discovery of a stunning trove of photos donated to the Bancroft Library a quarter century ago — depicting the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and, it turns out, war correspondent Ernest Hemingway.
Elaine Tennant named new Bancroft Library director
August 22, 2011:
Elaine Tennant, a medieval and early modern specialist in the German and Scandinavian departments at the University of California, Berkeley, will become the James D. Hart Director of UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library starting in September.
Historian of science Roger Hahn dies at 79
August 8, 2011:
Roger Hahn, emeritus professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leader in shaping the academic field of the history of science, died unexpectedly on May 30 in New York City.
Bancroft historians search for first-hand accounts as Port Chicago memorial approaches
July 14, 2011:
Officials at UC Berkeley’s Regional Oral History Office are looking to a July 23 memorial service for the hundreds of servicemen and civilians killed and hurt in the largest homeland disaster during World War II to aid the office’s search for first-hand accounts of the 1944 accident that helped desegregate the U.S. military.
Bancroft Library to expand documentation of Japanese Americans’ World War II experiences
June 29, 2011:
The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, has received two grants from the U.S. National Park Service to expand its efforts documenting the World War II era experiences of Japanese Americans.
Twain autobiography – the way he wanted it – hits stores today
November 15, 2010:
The first volume of the autobiography of Mark Twain lands on bookstore shelves on Monday, Nov. 15, 100 years after his death, courtesy of editors at the Mark Twain Papers and Project at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui visits campus and its Matsui programs
November 1, 2010:
On Oct. 29, Congresswoman Doris Matsui came to the campus for a first-hand look at the programs at Berkeley’s Robert T. Matsui Center on Politics and Public Service, and to visit The Bancroft Library, which houses the collection of papers donated by her late husband, Congressman Robert Matsui of Sacramento.
Bancroft Library opens reading room to personal cameras
September 2, 2010:
Patrons of the library can photograph any of the materials in the Bancroft’s vast collection for personal use throughout the fall semester. The trial program, which aims to foster increased access to the library’s materials, began in August.
Bancroft Library opens Mexico exhibit
August 31, 2010:
A rare 1916 poster offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of Mexican Revolution leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa is just one of dozens of images and original documents in the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library’s “Celebrating Mexico” exhibit that opens this Thursday (Sept. 2).
Sketching a season for Mark Twain Papers & Project
July 27, 2010:
The Bancroft Library’s Mark Twain Papers & Project at UC Berkeley has acquired “A Family Sketch,” Samuel Clemens’ 64-page, unpublished tribute to his daughter, Olivia “Susy” Clemens.
Bancroft Library is home to new Shorenstein Program in Politics, Policy and Values
March 2, 2010:
With the United States and many other governments mired in red ink, the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library couldn’t have picked a timelier topic than the U.S. national debt for the initial focus of its new Shorenstein Program in Politics, Policy and Values.Establishment of the program in the Bancroft’s Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) and underwriting by San Francisco commercial real estate titan Walter Shorenstein was formally announced today (Tuesday, March 2).
