Author: Lee Anne Titangos

“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).

‘Celebrating Mexico: The Grito de Dolores and The Mexican Revolution,’ explores the complex history of Mexico, beginning with Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s 1810 speech that launched Mexico’s fierce fight for independence from Spain, and continuing with the Mexican Revolution against the established order of a century ago. The exhibit also will highlight indigenous rights, land reform, disparities between rich and poor, labor rights, education and press freedom.

A parallel exhibit opens on Sept. 20 at Stanford University’s Cecil H. Green Library. Together, the two events mark the first collaborative exhibition by the two Bay Area universities that each boasts superlative Mexican history collections.

The UC Berkeley exhibit will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Jan. 14, 2011, and Stanford’s through Jan. 16, 2011. Both will be free and open to the public. Details about hours and locations at Berkeley and at Stanford are available online.” – UC Berkeley News

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“The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley is opening its doors this fall semester to the use of personal cameras in the reading room. The trial program, which is implemented at many other institutions around the country, allows students and other patrons to photograph any of the items in the library’s vast collection for personal use.

Susan Snyder, head of public services at The Bancroft, said the move will provide instant gratification to patrons and a more cost-effective approach to getting copies of materials. It also will give users increased access to many rare and often fragile items that cannot be photocopied due to the risk for damage, she said. Patrons’ personal contact with these items will help raise awareness about the library’s expansive collections, she added, and attract more visitors as a result.

Allowing library visitors to take their own photographs also provides more protection for the library’s materials than making photocopies. The Bancroft employs special photocopy machines, but there is always some damage done. According to Snyder, photographs are much more protective.” – Andrea Hicklin, Media Relations

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The Bancroft Reading Room will close at 3:45 pm on Thursday, September 2nd.  Please plan your research accordingly.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

“It’s a busy summer at the University of California, Berkeley’s Bancroft Library for Mark Twain scholars, who are preparing for the release of the never-before-published “Autobiography of Mark Twain” on the 100th anniversary of the author’s death.

The first of three volumes of the autobiography will come out this fall, memorializing the life of author Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, who died in 1910 at the age of 74. Meanwhile, Robert Hirst, general editor of The Bancroft Library’s Mark Twain Papers & Project that is home to six editors working on a comprehensive scholarly edition of all of Clemens’ published works and private papers, says his team continues to chalk up other major successes.

For example, they just celebrated the publication of an expanded, 125th anniversary edition of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” as well as of a 135th anniversary edition of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” And topping that, the project archives recently received a significant addition, by special delivery.

At a Sotheby’s auction in New York City last month, the Mark Twain Papers managed to bid its way to ownership of the original manuscript of “A Family Sketch,” Clemens’  64-page, unpublished tribute to his daughter, Olivia “Susy” Clemens, who died of spinal meningitis at the age of 24.

The manuscript records remarkable details about the entire Clemens household, servants included. Most of the news accounts of the manuscript sale identified Ursus Books of New York as the June 17 buyer, but Ursus acted as the agent for the Mark Twain Papers, bidding according to its instructions, bid limits and overall budget, said Hirst.” – Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations

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Beginning Monday, August 2, Bancroft will join the ranks of libraries that allow patrons to use personal cameras in its reading room.

The Personal Camera Use policy provided at the Refernce Desk must be signed, and there will be a charge of $10 per day.  Camera cell phones and video cameras are prohibited along with the use of flash and other camera equipment.

Please refer to the Personal Camera Use page for further information on The Bancroft Library’s policies.  Do keep in mind that these are trial procedures for the Fall 2010 semester, and that they may be changed at any time.

“One of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish life, culture and history will have a new home at the University of California, Berkeley, starting this fall, campus officials and the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley announced today (Monday, June 21).

The 10,000-piece collection of precious music, art, rare books and historical archives – part of the Magnes Museum since its founding in 1961 – will be transferred to UC Berkeley over the summer. The collaboration will partner a world-class collection with a world-class university, complementing the school’s academic offerings, raising the profile of the Magnes collection, and making it more accessible to scholars …

The Magnes’ Western Jewish History Archives, the world’s largest collection of letters, diaries, photographs and other archival documents relating to the Jewish settlement of the West, will move into The Bancroft Library. Musical manuscripts and sheet music will be located at the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library.” – Jose Rodriguez

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“The disability history program in the Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) has added a new collection of oral histories of leaders in the self-advocacy movement, led by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The collection documents the life stories of 13 self-advocacy leaders across the United States.

“As a whole, the collection is perhaps the most in-depth exploration of the transformative impact and cultural meaning of the self-advocacy movement,” says Tamar Heller, president of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. “Spanning over six decades, the life stories of self advocates document how far we have come as a society, while reminding us how much further we still must go.”

The self-advocacy collection is available online. It includes interview transcripts, as well as captioned video-taped excerpts accessible to individuals who have difficulty reading.” – UC Berkeley News

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“The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, has received a spectacular gift of hundreds of books, drawings, correspondence and other personal communications to and from one of America’s best-known writers, the Armenian-American author and playwright William Saroyan.

The rich collection includes approximately 48 cartons with 1,200 books and other archival materials assembled by his niece, Jacqueline Kazarian, of San Francisco, who also is the founder of the William Saroyan Literary Foundation International.

‘UC Berkeley is such an incredible place of learning and growing and intellectual exploration,” said Kazarian, who earned degrees in communication and decorative arts at UC Berkeley in the early 1950s. “I know that my uncle wanted his library, manuscripts and galleys to go to Berkeley. Students will be inspired by the collection.'” – Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations

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