Summer Projects in Special Collections and the Gallery

Classes may be ending, and graduation is on the horizon, but for the University Libraries Special Collections team, the work does not stop. Rather than bringing students into the archives, during the summer they work on the behind-the-scenes projects that make new collections available to the Seton Hall community. Many of these projects are supported by grants. This summer, the Walsh Gallery and Field Archives have been fortunate to receive special funding from diverse institutions to pursue four projects:

• Restoring an important landscape ink painting by renowned calligrapher and poet Bada Shanren, funded by the Essex County Parks Department.
• Digitizing the archive of Italian Tribune newspapers that document Italian American life in Newark during the mid-twentieth century, funded by UNICO.
• Processing the papers of physicist and priest Father Stanley L. Jaki, O.S.B., including translating his letters from Hungarian, funded by the American Institute of Physics.
• Taking a deep dive into the best ways of teaching the history of the book with the specialists at Rare Book School, funded by the library.

The painting, attributed to Chinese artist Bada Shanren, represents a key professional interest of the late Seton Hall professor Wang Fangyu, or Fred Wang. Professor Wang was deeply interested in Bada Shanren, who was an innovative figure in Chinese art. Wang collected many examples of Shanren’s art during his career as a collector, and many of those are now part of the world-famous Freer Gallery in Washington. This example is the only one remaining in Seton Hall’s collections, and this support from Essex County to restore it will provide an opportunity for a specialist to delve into the details of the piece’s construction, enriching our knowledge of the piece while also repairing it so that it may be safely exhibited.

The Italian Tribune newspaper project, a partnership with the Newark Public Library supported by the UNICO foundation, will enable Seton Hall to expand access to this key Newark publication, which documented Italian American life throughout the twentieth century. Currently, people must come in person to see the microfilmed holdings at the Newark Public Library, but once the microfilms are digitized, researchers from anywhere will be able to access them in digital form. OCR will enable keyword searching, which will be particularly valuable for genealogists.

This spring, the American Institute of Physics (AIP) provided support to process the papers of Father Stanley L. Jaki, O.S.B. Father Jaki was a Benedictine priest from Hungary who studied as a physicist with some of the most important figures in the field, such as Victor Hess, and wrote extensively about the history of science and its connections to faith. Professor Jaki won many prizes and lectured worldwide — yet his archives are not yet available to researchers, since they have not been preserved or described. Technical Services Archivist Jacquelyn Deppe identified this collection as a priority, formulated the project plan and successfully applied for funding. With the AIP’s support, these important materials will finally be made available.

Finally, Assistant Dean Sarah Ponichtera, Ph.D., has been admitted to the Rare Book School course “Teaching the History of the Book” taught by renowned rare book historian Michael F. Suarez, S.J. This course will focus not on book history or bibliography itself, but how to connect students with the incredible resources available in rare book collections such as Seton Hall’s. The course will discuss how to incorporate the many amazing digital humanities projects based on rare books into a class on book history.

It will indeed be a busy summer. Special Collections look forward to sharing the results of these projects with the Seton Hall Community next fall.

The Monsignor William Noé Field Archives & Special Collections Center serves as the repository for records created by, for and about Seton Hall University. The Center exists to identify, collect and preserve records of enduring value not only to Seton Hall University, but also to the Archdiocese of Newark and Catholic New Jersey. Through its professional and service-related activities, the Center aims to achieve the goal of advancing the educational and research mission of Seton Hall University and to promote inquiry regarding those who have built and sustained the institution from its founding to the present day.

For more information, please visit here.

Categories: Research