WSSU Building Exhibit and Digital Collection

The WSSU Archives is currently running an exhibit on the history of the WSSU Campus.  On display are some of the material from the first buildings on campus as well as a streaming photograph display.  This exhibit is running in conjunction with the newest collection added to the Digital Library.

The WSSU Building Collection contains the groundbreaking and building dedication programs.  These programs talk about the naming as well as the events surrounding the dedication or groundbreaking ceremonies.

Two Collections Added to the WSSU Digital Library

Two more collections were recently added to the Digital Library.  The first collection added is the WSSU Published, "Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity".  This journal is produced by the the WSSU School of Health Sciences and there are currently 4 issues available online.  More issues are being scanned and will be available in the near future.

The second collection added is the student created newspaper, the "News Argus".  The Archives has made available every issue currently in their holdings.  The run covers the years 1962-2011 and is text searchable.  The Archives would like to thank the staff at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center for scanning the "News Argus" as well as the Yearbooks.  Both collections wouldn't have been available as fast as they were if it weren't for their great work.

WSSU Archives Launches its digital collections in the new Digital Library

After months of scanning, uploading, and adding metadata, the WSSU Archives has finally launched its new Digital Library.  Using cloud technology, the Digital Library allows the Archives to share documents, photographs, and movies.  Attached to each image, movie, or document are metadata fields describing the collection it came from as well as the item itself.  Keywords were added so that the items are searchable within the collections level.

The first three collections available on our new Digital Library are: The WSSU Yearbooks, Commencement Programs, and Teaching Portfolios.

The Yearbook collection was scanned and made text searchable by the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.  The Yearbooks cover the years of 1935-2010.

The Commencements Programs (1926-2007) list the names of graduates as well as any award winners for that graduation year.

The Teaching Portfolios are a collection of WSSU Faculty portfolios that were submitted for many of the teaching and service awards available at the university and within North Carolina.

Please visit the newly uploaded collections and feel free to leave a comment here or at the Digital Library with your thoughts and ideas.  Thank you and keep an eye out for our next collection to be uploaded.  The next collection will be the student newspaper The News Argus.

Tweets from the Civil War

In memory of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources will be using Twitter and a Blog to bring back to life the voices of the past.  Each day the NCDCR will be posting a tweet from a North Carolina primary source.  The blog will expand on certain tweets so that the full resource can be viewed outside the constraints of the 140 character limit of Twitter.  This will be a four year project with the hopes of sharing the impact of the Civil War on the people of North Carolina from their own words.

Follow the twitter account at - @civilwartime
The corresponding blog - CivilWarTime

For more information on the NCDCR and the project please visit their newsroom.

Preservation Week 2011

Sunday marked the beginning of the 2011 Preservation Week.  This year preservation week runs from 4/24/2011 until Saturday 4/30/2011.  The WSSU Archives would like to welcome any questions or comments regarding the preservation of material.  Below is a link to this years events and poster provided by the Society of American Archivists.

SAA Preservation Week Events
SAA Preservation Week Poster

WSSU Baseball, Softball and Women's Tennis Teams Win CIAA Championships

The Archives would like to extend a congratulations to the WSSU Baseball, Softball, and Women's Tennis Teams.  Each won the CIAA Championships in extraordinary fashion.  Below are links to the CIAA Website articles providing more details about the championships.

WSSU Baseball
WSSU Softball
WSSU Women's Tennis

In honor of the great accomplishments of the WSSU Athletic Teams this year, we wanted to show how great a tradition and history sports has at WSSU.  Below is a photo of the Slater Industrial Academy and State Normal School Baseball Team c. 1924.  The image can also be viewed through Digital Forsyth along with other sports photographs.


Slater Industrial Academy and State Normal School Baseball Team c. 1924

Exhibit: Mr. Ram and Miss WSSU

Here is the official advertisement for the current display in the Archives.  Photographs and ephemera documenting the history of the Mr. Ram and Miss WSSU on campus will be shown in the Archives through the end of the spring semester.

Greek Life Photo Exhibit

Below is the official advertisement for the WSSU Archives latest photograph exhibit.  Please stop by to view the photographs and inquire about more images related to Greek Life on WSSU's Campus.

CG O'Kelly Library is now on Twitter

The CG O'Kelly Library staff would like to invite everyone to check out the new Library Twitter Page.  The Twitter account will provide news, updates, and events that are taking place at the library.  Please feel free to follow the page to get up to date information from the library.  Thanks.

WSSU Archives Website Updated

Over the past couple of months there have been several changes that occurred to the WSSU Archives Homepage.  I welcome you to visit the new website and encourage any suggestions for it.  WSSU Archives

The biggest change was to the Manuscript Collection.  The new title of the link is University Records & Manuscript Collection.  The Archives holdings are divided into three headings: University Records, Manuscript Collections, and Photograph Collections.  Each of the three sections contains some updated finding aids or new collections that were recently processed.  Below are a list of the most recent updates.

University Records:
RG 1.2 - Simon G. Atkins Collection  Although the finding aid is the same, it is the first use of Archivists' Toolkit by the WSSU Archives.  We are continuing to populate Archivists' Toolkit and look to move as many of our finding aids over to the software.

RG 1.2 - Francis L. Atkins Collection

Manuscript Collections:
MC 2 - C.E. Gaines/Clint Johnson Collection  This collection contains material related to their work on the book "They Call me Big House"

Photograph Collections:
Two different photograph collections were created.  One contains photographs related to the coaching and athletic directing career of C.E. Gaines.  The second one contains general photographs of the and for WSSU.
RG 8.1 - C.E. Gaines Photograph Collection
RG 8.2 - General Photograph Collection

Camera 'Flash' Back

I couldn't resist with the title.  The other day while taking photographs of the Archives to document some of the changes that have occurred, we thought it would be fun to photograph some of the cameras from our collection.  Although I doubt any of the cameras still work, it was interesting looking at the digital camera we were using and realizing that it will, one day, be obsolete like the cameras we were photographing.  Here are a couple of shot taken of the WSSU Camera Collection.

"Mr. Ram & Miss WSSU: a visual history"

The Archives is proud to announce the completion of its latest exhibit, "Mr. Ram & Miss WSSU: a visual history."  As the time quickly approaches for the election of the new Mr. Ram and Miss WSSU, the Archives wanted to show a glimpse into the history of the competition.  The exhibit contains several photographs documenting events in the process of electing Mr. Ram and Miss WSSU, including coronation ceremonies and presentations at football games.  The photographs range in date from 1945-1991.  Also incorporated into the exhibit is the 1935 WSTC yearbook open to the photo of Miss WSTC 1935, Hazel Bingham.  The exhibit shows some WSSU memorabilia as well as the October 1965 News Argus article about the Miss WSSU winner.

Below is an image from the exhibit of Miss WSSU 1971-1972.

Basketball Legacy Weekend Leads to Mass Photo Identification Project

On the weekend of January 21st and 22nd, WSSU honored several of its alumni basketball players during “Basketball Legacy Weekend”. On Friday the 21st, the Department of Athletics held a legacy basketball game. The WSSU Archives took the opportunity to set up a photo identification table in the lobby of the Gaines Center.


As the C.E. Gaines collection is being re-processed, it became apparent that many of the images in the collection were unidentified. These images were scanned and printed on paper and included in a binder based on the type of image it was. The images were broken down into six categories. The images fit into one of the following categories, Male or Female and then Action Shots, Individual Portraits, and Team Shots.

The copies of the images were then brought to the legacy game to allow students, staff, families, and former players to view. They were asked to identify, on the images, any information they could remember, whether it be a date, player, or game. The identifications are now being verified by the WSSU Archives using yearbooks and other material.

The process was a great success and as a result we now have a collection of images that are largely identified.

Below is an example of the success of the project. Thanks to the help of several former players, we were able to identify all three WSSU players in the photo quickly and efficiently.

Sunny Riggell (#13), Joe Cunningham (#25), and Willis Bennett (#45)

Snowy View of Old Atkins Hall c.1975

Due to the weather calling for snow in the Winston Salem area today and tomorrow, I thought it might be nice to post an image of WSSU during a previous snow storm.  The photo below is a view of Old Atkins Hall c.1975.  Old Atkins Hall was built in 1915 and served as a dormitory for women.  For more on the building please follow the link below the photograph.

History of Old Atkins Hall