Archives and Manuscripts Department, Summary of Holdings

Historical Manuscripts
Literary Manuscripts
University Archives
National Public Broadcasting Archives
Library of American Broadcasting

Historical Manuscripts

Comprising approximately 250 processed groupings, historical manuscript collections range in size from a few folders to over 500 linear feet. Collection strengths include holdings pertaining to the Maryland region, labor union archives, women's history resources and University of Maryland faculty and administrators' papers.

1. Holdings pertaining to the Maryland region. Particular strengths include the papers of Maryland political leaders and various civic organizations, such as U.S. Senator Millard E. Tydings and the League of Women Voters of Maryland; agriculture and land use records; the archives of environmental organizations and leaders, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; papers and records documenting the history of women in Maryland; family papers dating from the colonial era to the twentieth century; and photographs of Maryland locations and individuals (largely post-1865).

2. Maryland Manuscripts Collection: Included in this collection are approximately 5000 individually cataloged letters, diaries, military and court records, ledger books, and printed ephemera (broadsides, handbills, etc.) related to the Maryland region--principally dating from 1750 to 1900.

3. Labor history archives. Available are the records of the Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America; the Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers International Union; the Tobacco Workers International Union; the Cigar Makers International Union; the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America; and the International Union of Siderographers (1860s-present). These archival collections are complemented by several personal and family papers documenting labor history.

4. Women's history. Holdings consist of several significant archival collections documenting the work of women's groups or organizations in which women have played a dominant role. These include the archives of the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA); the Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI); the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW); and the Overseas Educational Fund of the League of Women Voters (OEF International). Also included in this grouping is a significant array of collections documenting the personal lives and careers of women in Maryland.

5. Papers of University of Maryland faculty and administrators. These collections document the careers of many significant individuals who played key roles in the history of the University of Maryland, College Park, campus. Papers of faculty in English and American Studies are available in Literary Manuscripts. The papers of faculty and administrators serve to complement research resources available in the University Archives.

6. Other collections. Additional holdings in Historical Manuscripts include the records of the Cuba Company (a firm engaged in railroading and the sugar industry in pre-Castro Cuba); the National Information Standards Organization (NISO); and the Bureau of Social Science Research (BSSR).

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Literary Manuscripts

Available to researchers are more than forty individual processed collections as well as the Authors and Poets Manuscripts Collection, which contains materials relating to sixty literary figures or subjects. Highlights include:

1. Katherine Anne Porter. The primary archive of the personal papers of this important American author (1890-1980). Includes correspondence, drafts, notes, published material, photographs, and memorabilia. Related collections include Cyrilly Abels, Mary Louis Doherty, Donald Elder, Edna Frederickson, Ann Heintze, Seymour Lawrence, Harry C. Perry, Jr., Paul Porter, E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John A. Price, Grace Delafield Day Spier, Thomas F. Walsh, and George and Toni Willison.
   

2. Djuna Barnes. Large collection of personal papers of the avant-garde novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, and artist (1892-1982). Includes correspondence, drafts, notes, proofs, published material, photographs, memorabilia, and original art work. The Papers of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, of James Stern, of Saxon Barnes, and the Barnes Family Papers also contain Barnes material.

3. Maryland literary figures. Includes papers of Maryland authors and literary figures: Maurice Annenberg, Marion Buchman, Vincent Godfrey Burns, Jack Hoffenberg, Louise Malloy, Mary Carter Roberts, and Naomi Duff Smith.

4. University of Maryland Faculty. Papers of professors from the Departments of English and American Studies: Carl Bode, Jackson Bryer, Morris Freedman, Susan Harman, Lewis Lawson, and Reed Whittemore.

5. British Literature. Processed collections include the papers of Thom Gunn, Edward Lucie-Smith, Lady Ottoline Morrell, Hope Mirrlees, the Poetry Book Society, and the Turret Books Collection. The Authors and Poets Collection contains materials by or relating to more than twenty other literary figures.

6. American Literature. Includes the papers of Laura Riding Jackson, Ferdinand Reyher, Karl Shapiro, as well as the Archives of the Dryad Press and the Albert H. Gross Collection. The Authors and Poets Collection also contains materials by or relating to approximately twenty-five additional individuals or organizations.

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University Archives

1. Administrative Files. These materials (known as "archival record groups") have been transferred to the University Archives from a variety of University of Maryland administrative units, academic departments, research centers, and student groups. Many of these record groups, which span the entire history of the university, are currently available for research. The University Archives is also responsible for selected files documenting the University System, including records of the University of Maryland Board of Regents dating from 1916 to 1988.

2. University Publications. The University Archives attempts to collect any document published on the College Park campus. The university publications collection includes course catalogs, schedules of classes, minutes, annual reports, newsletters, brochures, yearbooks, scientific and technical reports, and student publications. Holdings primarily document the period from the 1970s to the present, but retrospective sets of catalogs, bulletins, and other miscellaneous publications date from the 1850s.

3. Photographs. This collection consists of approximately 500,000 images depicting all aspects of campus life. Included are shots of campus buildings and landscape, sports and other events, student life, and individual and group portraits. They date primarily from the 1930s to the 1970s, although some late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century images are included as well.

4. Audio-Visual Recordings. The University Archives is a rich source of audiovisual materials including about 7,000 pieces of film and videotape. These materials mainly document the university's athletic history and important events on campus. They date primarly from the 1950s to the present.

5. Memorabilia. The University Archives holds approximately 1,000 UM-related objects, such as ceremonial footballs, plaques, trophies, student and sports uniforms, and portraits of past university leaders. A particular highlight of the collection is the mounted diamondback terrapin that was the model for the university mascot, "Testudo." The collection spans more than a century of the history of the UM campus.

National Public Broadcasting Archives

The National Public Broadcasting Archives maintains a rich and growing collection of resources for the study of the history of public broadcasting in the United States.

1. Core collections. Holdings include the archival records of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and National Public Radio (NPR). Other organizations represented are the Airborne Television Instruction Consortium (PSSC), the Midwest Program for Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI), the Agency for Instructional Television (AIT), and Children's Television Workshop (CTW).

2. Personal Papers. Papers of individuals closely associated with the development of educational radio and television, such as William Harley, John F. White, Elizabeth Young, Morris Novik, and John Schwarzwalder are collected and made available for research use.

3. Reference Library. NPBA's reference library contains basic studies of the broadcasting industry, educational broadcasting journals, pamphlets, and articles, plus up-to-date issues of Current, the trade publication for public broadcasting.

4. Audio-visual holdings. Accessioned to date are selected audio and video program tapes and films from national production and support centers (NAEB, PBS, CPB-Annenberg) and from local stations WETA-FM, WAMU-FM, and Maryland Public Television (MPT).

5. Oral histories. Transcripts from the NPR Oral History Project, those assembled by Jim Robertson, and those conducted by National Public Broadcasting Archives staff are also available for research.

The Broadcast Pioneers Library of American Broadcasting is a wide-ranging collection of audio/video recordings, photographs, books, pamphlets, periodicals, manuscript collections, scripts, and vertical files devoted exclusively to the history of broadcasting.

1. Books, periodicals, pamphlets. The Library's extensive book collection includes histories of the industry and individual stations, biographies of broadcasting notables, and the National Association of Broadcasting's library of over 1500 volumes. Over 260 periodical titles, including many that are difficult to find, are available. Among these are the runs of Broadcast Weekly (1930-1936), Radio and Television News (1919-1958), Radio Guide (1931-1943), Sponsor (1946-1964), and Broadcasting and Cable (1931-present). The pamphlet holdings are quite extensive with over 3000 titles, ranging from 1920s-vintage Bell Laboratories radio engineering bulletins to promotional materials and internal studies generated by the broadcast networks.

2. Photographs. The photograph collection contains over 25,000 photos, slides and negatives dating from the 1920s to the present. It offers the researcher a visual history of the evolution of broadcasting in the United States. The photographs are being digitized and cataloged, and in the future, researchers will be able to access them through the World Wide Web.

3. Audio collections. The library's audio holdings chronicle a wide array of broadcasting activity, including advertising, programming, newsgathering and the personal recollections of hundreds of broadcasters. These include the Radio Advertising Bureau Collection, over 2000 discs containing radio commercials for products from the 1950s and 1960s; the "Standard Program Library" Subscription Service consisting of 450 discs sent to subscribing radio stations as supplemental programming in the 1940s and 1950s; and the Westinghouse News collection, 2300 audiotape reels consisting mainly of raw feeds from the Washington bureau with particular emphasis on Vietnam War coverage and the Watergate investigation.

4. Manuscript collections. The library holds the individual collections of Vox Pop, hosted and created by Parks Johnson (1932-48); Helen J. Sioussat, the director of the Talks Department at CBS (1937-58); Edward J. Kirby, the chief of radio branch of the War Department in World War II; and the papers of famous radio announcer Alois Havrilla. Of special note is the WNET/Thirteen Arthur Godfrey Collection, which contains kinescopes, audiotape, transcription discs and wire recordings for hundreds of Godfrey's radio and television programs from 1947-72, as well as business records, musical scores and personal correspondence.

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