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Voices & Vision: A Hispanic American Heritage Month Webinar at UC Berkeley Library

Posted on by Liladhar

All are invited to attend our 2025 Hispanic American Heritage Month webinar that this time focuses on Afro-Latinx heritage.

The webinar will take place on September 16th from 12:45 pm to 2:15 pm PST (3:45 pm to 5:15 pm EST). The webinar is free and open to all with prior registration.

One may register for the webinar here: https://ucberk.li/3KN.

This is a poster-slide for a 2025 National Hispanic American Heritage celebration webinar focuses on Afro-Latinx Heritage

This webinar features three scholars whose work advances understanding of Latin American and Afro-Latinx communities through social policy, culture, and education. In recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the event explores racial and gender justice, ethnoracial legislation, climate ethnography, and Afro-Indigenous knowledge systems. Presenters offer critical insights into how law, environment, heritage, and pedagogy shape the lived experiences of Hispanic and Afro-Latinx communities.

Ukraine War Maps: A picture speaks thousand words!

Posted on by Liladhar

As the war in Ukraine is now in its third year of current military conflict (excluding the takeover of Crimea), it becomes vital for us to provide resources to our students related to the actual war and its progress. For this reason, I wanted to focus on two different platforms that currently offer updates from the field as it evolves on the ground. I hope that the readers of these maps will find them helpful to make their own assessment of the current state of affairs. The first resource is the Deepstate map.

The interface is pretty intuitive, and the map can be displayed in both English and Ukrainian legends. Below is the screenshot that shows the map as of 11:05 am PST on August 25, 2025.

Below is the screenshot of a map of Ukraine that was taken on August 25th at 11 am on the site called deepstate live.

The deepstate live has several different partners that sponsor the project. One of them is Brave1.

Also, there is a blog that is associated with DeepState Live, which can be accessed here.

The second source is hosted by the Institute for the Study of War, which can be accessed here. The resource provides an assessment of the Russian offensive in Ukraine with a cutoff date of August 24, 2025.

Art for the Asking: Check-Out Art From The Graphic Arts Loan Collection At The Morrison Library August 25 to 28

Posted on by Lynn Cunningham

GALCThe Graphic Arts Loan Collection (GALC) at the Morrison Library has been checking out art to UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty since 1958 and it is back again this year!

The purpose of the GALC since its inception has been to put art in the hands of UC Berkeley students (and the best way to appreciate art is to live with it!), so on August 25 and 26, from noon to 4 p.m., and August 27 and 28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., UC Berkeley students can come to the Morrison Library (101 Doe Library) and check-out up to two pieces of art from the GALC’s collection to take home and hang on their walls for the academic year. The prints will be available to students on a first come, first served basis. We will also have our newest prints available, including art by Dave Eggers and Annie Owens.

If you would like to see what we have before you come to the Morrison Library, all the prints are available to browse online at the Graphic Arts Loan Collection website. Not everything in the collection will be available at the Morrison Library on these days, but much of the collection will. Please note that the Graphic Arts Loan Collection will not be available to staff and faculty members during this time, but only available to UC Berkeley students. Starting September 2nd students can reserve prints from the collection through the GALC website, and on September 15th, faculty and staff can begin reserving prints. Any questions about the GALC can be directed to graphicarts-library@berkeley.edu.

 

Follow the Art History/Classics Library on Instagram: @berkeley_art_history_library

Documenting Italian-American Communities in California

Posted on by Claude Potts

 

 

Italians reading war news, North Beach, San Francisco
Photo by Harold Ellwood. Italians reading war news, North Beach, 1935. Fang family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive Negative Files. The Bancroft Library. UC Berkeley. BANC PIC 2006.029–NEG box 625, sleeve 092981_01

The UC Berkeley Library has rich collections pertaining to Italian-American communities in California. An online exhibition Italian Americans in California created in 2007 imparts little known facts about centuries of immigrants to the Golden State and is now archived on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. Here are just a few from this marvelously researched exhibit:

  • Though small in number, Italians were some of the first European explorers and settlers of California. From 1687 to 1711, Father Eusebio Chino (probably pronounced Kee–no) traveled in northern Mexico and Lower California. He was the first person to prove that  Lower California was a peninsula, not an island. Other early Italian visitors to the shores of California were sailors and fishermen.
  • Though we often associate Italians in California with San Francisco, the initial Italian settlers established themselves in such diverse communities as Monterey, Stockton, and San Diego during the years of Spanish Rule. While the majority of Italians settled in the urban centers of the east, many, especially northern Italians came out west. As late as 1890, there were more Italian immigrants on the Pacific coast than in New England.
  • As early as the 1840s, settlers from Genoa began to arrive in the valleys of northern and central California after hearing their Ligurian (the region that includes Genoa) sailing relatives talk about how ideal the valleys were for vinting. Despite the fact that Liguria is not a major wine producing region in Italy, the wine industry in California was mostly built by Genoese.
  • The first significant wave of Italian immigrants came to California during the Gold Rush. Those who came quickly moved to buy land or work in service industries, rather than stay in the mines.
  • The majority of these Italian immigrants to California came from northern Italy. They began building communities, introduced Italian Opera to California in 1851, and founded an Italian language newspaper in San Francisco as early as 1859. Amadeo Giannini founded what became the Bank of America, first known as the Bank of Italy, in 1904 as a way for Italian immigrants to save and borrow small amounts, but the genius of his bank was the first use of branches put in locations closer to his customers.
  • The aftermath of the Gold Rush brought even more northern Italians to California. The ostentatious wealth of those who succeeded during the Gold Rush years brought with it a demand for stone and marble cutters from Italy to work on the mansions of the newly rich. The fishing grounds and warm climate began to attract Sicilian fishermen, especially in the Bay Area and San Diego.
  • San Francisco’s Little Italy bounced back from the 1906 earthquake in better shape than ever. At the same time, Italian immigrants had established themselves as the primary fishermen in the San Francisco Bay, and as a major agricultural force as well. Some children of the first wave of immigrants were coming of age in the 1900s to the 1930s, and these achieved greater success than their parents in law, politics, business, and agriculture, especially wine. 
  • The cultural contributions of generations of Italian Americans in San Francisco in particular is impressive. Writers such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Diane di Prima, Philip Lamantia and others fostered the Beat movement in the post-World War II years, rebelling against the conventions of mainstream American life (consumerism, racism, homophobia, etc.).

From Doe Library’s collection in the Main Stacks and NRLF, here are some noteworthy publications:

At the play [portraits of prominent San Franciscans, California]
Garibaldi, C. G. (active ca. ). At the Play [Portraits of Prominent San Franciscans, California]. Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material. The Bancroft Library. UC Berkeley. BANC PIC 1963.002:0501–E
Select Finding Aids from The Bancroft Library

Early California Italian-American Newspapers in The UC Berkeley Library

  • ll Corriere del Popolo. San Francisco, CA: Pedretti Bros., 1914-1943, 1948-1967 (lacks issues)
  • L’Eco d’Italia. San Francisco, CA: Pierino Mori, 1966-1980.
  • L’Italo-Americano. Los Angeles, CA: Scalabrini Fathers, 1985-2016. Online archive for 2012-present available via UCB only. Former titles: Eco d’Italia and Italo-Americano di Los Angeles
  • La Voce del Popolo. San Francisco, CA, 1868-1939.
Italian fisherman with no crabs at Fisherman's Wharf.
Italian fisherman with no crabs at Fisherman’s Wharf. Fang family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive Negative Files. The Bancroft Library. UC Berkeley. BANC PIC 2006.029–NEG box 644, sleeve 093662_02

See also the website for the Museo Italo Americano in San Francisco.

New ebooks from Editorial Iberoamericana

Posted on by Claude Potts

Just in time for the end of the semester, a couple hundred ebooks have recently flown in from from Spain from publishers like Akal, CSIC, Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, Ediciones Universidad de Cantabria, Plaza y Valdés, Dickinson, Editorial Egales, Trotta Editorial, Ediciones Complutense and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. All are available through the Digitalia Hispánica platform. Below are some highlighted from Iberoamericana Editorial Vervuert available to you wherever you may find yourselves this summer:

New Rare Photography Book Acquisitions from Richard Sun

Posted on by Nina Bayley

Have a look at this selection of rare and out of print photography books.  This is only a part of a recent, generous donation from Richard Sun.  These books are located in the Art History/Classics Library within the Doe Memorial Library.  Click on the titles to view their catalog records in UC Library Search.

Looking for Alice                                                Lost Coast                                                   My Dakota

The Epilogue                                                          Stranger Fruit                                            Silent Book

In Search of Frankenstein                                      Encampment Wyoming                                    Dormant Season

 

Library Trial of Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB)

Posted on by Liladhar
The library has set up a trial of a bibliographic database on Russian Imperial Era periodicals, which will run through the end of this month. The trial can be accessed here:
Upon accessing the database, one will see the landing page. A login button will be in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Please click on it, as no password is required. You will be able to test the database and assess its utility.
Please reach out to your Slavic Studies Librarian with your valuable feedback.
Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB) is a comprehensive research database of periodicals and serials from the time of the Russian Empire, published between 1702 and 1917. It includes publications from within the Russian Empire itself, across its diverse linguistic and cultural regions, as well as from some territories under its influence, and from the Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary), Germany and other countries. The database also covers periodicals published by the empire’s diaspora in various parts of the world, including those by émigrés, political exiles, and immigrant communities, offering a broad, transnational perspective on the era’s printed media.
Russian Imperial Era Periodicals: a Bibliography and Reference Guide (ImPressDB) is a comprehensive research database of periodicals and serials from the time of the Russian Empire, published between 1702 and 1917. It includes publications from within the Russian Empire, across its diverse linguistic and cultural regions, and from some territories under its influence, including the Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary), Germany, and other countries. The database also covers periodicals published by the empire’s diaspora in various parts of the world, including those by émigrés, political exiles, and immigrant communities, offering a broad, transnational perspective on the era’s printed media.

 

"Czołem!" Publication type one-off newspaper Publication dates 1906, July 1 Locality Warsaw Region Warsaw Governorate Country Russian Empire ; Congress Poland Language Polish ID A001391 Persistent URL https://rpdb.impressdb.com/item/A001391
A bibliographic entry for Czołem

Russian Women Writers Project Completed

Posted on by Liladhar

At UC Berkeley Library, with the leadership and guidance from the library’s current acting AUL for Associate University Librarian for Digital Initiatives and Information Technology, Lynne Grigsby, we are excited to report the completion of the Russian Women Writers Collection’s digitization. The collection’s analog items can be searched here.

The digital component of the project can be accessed here.

My predecessor, Dr. Allan Urbanic, was instrumental in helping us with the description of the project, which is as follows, “Russian Women Writers Collection
This project has been created in cooperation with the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. In recent years, scholarship has focused on women’s contributions to the history of Russian literature. It has also been discovered that many of these writers were poorly represented in American libraries’ collections. The project first concentrated on filling in the corpus of women writers at the beginning of the 19th century. As the project moved forward, the works of Russian women authors of the later 19th century and the 20th century have been added.”

Maklakova, Lidii͡a Filippovna. Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ. Izd 2-e. Moskva: Tipo-lit. T-va I.N. Kushnerev i Ko., 1894. Terms governing use and reproduction Researchers may make free and open use of the UC Berkeley Library’s digitized public domain materials. However, some materials in our online collections may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use (Title 17, U.S.C. § 107) requires permission from the copyright owners. The use or reproduction of some materials may also be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, or trademark law. Responsibility for determining rights status and permissibility of any use or reproduction rests exclusively with the researcher. To learn more or make inquiries, please see our permissions policies (https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies).
Maklakova, Lidii͡a Filippovna. Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ. Izd 2-e. Moskva: Tipo-lit. T-va I.N. Kushnerev i Ko., 1894.

Terms governing use and reproduction
Researchers may freely and openly use the UC Berkeley Library’s digitized public domain materials. However, U.S. copyright law may protect some materials in our online collections (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use (Title 17, U.S.C. § 107) requires permission from the copyright owners. The use or reproduction of some materials may also be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, or trademark law. Responsibility for determining rights status and permissibility of any use or reproduction rests exclusively with the researcher. Please see our permissions policies to learn more or make inquiries (https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies).
Source
Russian Women Writers

One can look at the usage data of the item called Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ as shown below,

Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ's download statistics as a graphical representation
Di͡evochka Lida razskaz dli͡a di͡eteĭ’s usage statistics

Library Trial: Muslim in Russia Online (Brill Database)

Posted on by Liladhar

UC Berkeley Library has set up a trial of Brill’s Muslim in Russia Online Database. The database trial will continue until February 1, 2025. You can access the trial here.

This collection examines the varied Russian Muslim population during the period of 1861-1918. It includes works by and about Muslims, highlighting the significance of this heritage as the history and spirituality of Muslims in Russia are being reexamined. A word of caution: Most of the periodicals in this database have been digitized from microfilms; thus, digitization quality is problematic. The OCR seems unchecked and automated “dirty,” so one has to look at the images.

Please access the database here: https://shorturl.at/M4IyT

Please see the screenshot below:

Title: V mīri͡e musulʹmanstva:ezhenedelʹnai͡a, literaturnai͡a, politicheskai͡a i obshchestvennai͡a gazeta.<br />Date: 1911<br /> Date in Source: [1911-1912]
Title: V mīri͡e musulʹmanstva:ezhenedelʹnai͡a, literaturnai͡a, politicheskai͡a i obshchestvennai͡a gazeta.
Date: 1911
Date in Source: [1911-1912]

Here are the key points about this database are highlighted below:

  • Role in Russian State: Muslims played a crucial role in the creation of the multinational Russian state, completed with the annexation of Central Asia in the 1860s. By 1897, Muslims made up almost 11% of Imperial Russia’s population (14 million).
  • Russian State Policy: Russian policy towards Muslims varied. Initially, there was forced Russification and Christianization. From Ekaterina II onwards, the policy shifted towards legitimizing Muslims. Under Alexander III, discrimination against non-Christians, including Muslims, increased.
  • Early 20th Century: The early 1900s saw a rise in Muslim nationalism, fueled by religious reformism and liberal ideas. The First Russian Revolution (1905-1907) led to significant political changes, including creating the State Duma and civil freedoms.
  • Union of Muslims of Russia: Formed in 1905-1906, this organization became the most powerful political body for Muslims until 1917, with branches across various regions.
  • Intellectual and National Identity: Early 20th century saw more Muslim intellectuals and interest in national identity, heritage, and traditions.
  • 1917 Revolutions: Muslim nationalist movements grew during the February and October Revolutions of 1917. Post-1917, Bolshevik policies negatively impacted Muslims’ religious freedoms.
  • Muslim Press: Until 1905-1907, Muslim issues were poorly reported. The 1905 revolution led to a surge in Muslim publications. These periodicals covered a range of ideological perspectives and helped address Muslim problems.
  • Unique Publications: Publications from 1861-1918 provide insights into Muslim life in the Russian Empire and their leaders’ perspectives. These works are valuable for understanding Muslims’ historical and spiritual heritage in Russia.