On Wednesday, February 17, the 700th archival finding aid from the UM Libraries’ archival collections was loaded into ArchivesUM. ArchivesUM is a database to help researchers locate archival and manuscript collections at the University of Maryland Libraries.
The finding aid in question is the Joe F. Blair Collection, which is located in the University Archives. Joe F. Blair, who chose to refer to himself as “joe blair,” was the University of Maryland sports information director from 1950 until 1962, and the football publicist from 1988 until his death in November 1995. Most prints in this primarily photographic collection cover the 1950s and are football-oriented, including the “Queen’s Game” in 1957; a few photographs are of basketball.
Several images from this collection have been digitized and are available through Digital Collections@UM, including the image below of the 1951 football team, Sugar Bowl champions and Maryland’s first undefeated team.
This week, the Baltimore/Washington region witnessed record-breaking snowfall. Counts at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport place seasonal totals so far at 6 feet, 7 inches, with over 4 feet of that occurring in February. The University of Maryland, College Park, campus has been closed since Friday, February 5.
The University of Maryland Libraries’ University Archives is home to thousands of historic photographs of the campus over the years. A selection of images depicting campus in the snow have been digitized and are available online through Digital Collections.
College Park Campus in the snow
Students Frolicking in the Snow, 1968, has always been one of my favorites.
The previous record-breaking snowfall wasn’t too long ago, it was February, 2003. The 2003 Terrapin yearbook, available online at the Internet Archive, provides a glimpse of that snowy year. The campus was closed for a few days then as well.
University of Maryland Librarians are collaborating in a project to update a Memorial Book, which was published in 1961 and lists students and alumni who were killed in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.
For the complete story, see:
Memorial Book Project Transforms Names into Real People
To facilitate this collaboration, the UM Libraries digitized the Memorial Book, and it is available online through Digital Collections@UM:
Memorial Book, University of Maryland, 1961
