KRISTINA R. GADDY
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Come in, the stacks are open.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2/14/2017

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I always loved finding old greeting post-cards when I worked at the archive. What better day to share some of my favorites? 

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Classic cupid cherubs are always a good choice for telling your valentine how much you care...
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But then, you can also get more original. These are two of my favorites. I couldn't decide if the one with the Dutch children is poorly translated, or if it is supposed to be wrong, as if they can't quite make their English flirting correct. And I've definitely printed copies of the tickle card. I find it such a great image of how couples had to flirt in the early 1900s. 
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Magical Maps of T.M. Fowler

1/12/2017

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Map held at the Library of Congress.
     When I was working in central West Virginia, I would often see these birds-eye view maps of small towns, like Buckhannon or Elkins. I quickly realized that there was no way the artist - the maps were signed T.M Fowler - could actually have been looking down on the city. There wasn't a hill or mountain at those angles, and he surely wasn't ascending in a balloon to get the right perspective. How did he do it?

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In the Dark, She Comes with Light

12/13/2016

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With candles in her hair, dressed in white with a bright red sash, Lucia comes to bring warmth, light, and goodies in the dark Swedish winter.

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Celebrating Lucia at Koberg in Västergötland, 1848, watercolor by Fritz von Dardel, Nordiska Museet
The story I always heard growing up is that Lucia is the Patron Saint of Light, and she comes on (what used to be) the darkest day of the year, today, December 13th. She is based on St. Lucy, who, in the 3rd century, brought food and aid to hiding and persecuted Christians in the catacombs. She wore candles on her head so that she could see in the dark while carrying food, and her red sash is said to represent the blood from when she was slain. Her martyrdom lead to Sainthood, but this all happened it Italy, so how did she become the figure of a Nordic holiday? It might have to do with witches. Yup, another Swedish holiday with witch connections...)

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Ghosts at the Edge of the World

11/24/2016

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     At the southernmost tip of South America, the Andes mountain range plummets into the ocean and collides with the pampas plains of Argentina. Here, on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the wind whips across the landscape, the Straight of Magellan churns; the beauty of nature collides with the harsh realities of an Antarctic climate. For thousands of years, the Ona tribe called this place home. But as European settlers expanded throughout South America, they took the land the Ona lived on, systematically killed the Ona, and diminished their way of life. Finally, in the 1970s, the last person of full Ona ancestry died.  
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The land of Tierra del Fuego, 2007.
Images above and left from Charles W. Furlong's article on the Ona and Haush from 1915. 
     This Thanksgiving, as Native Americans are fighting for clean water and clean air here in the United States, I wanted to feature images of the Ona, with some historical and cultural context, as a reminder of the cultures and ways of life that have been destroyed because of a lack of understanding and respect for people that are labeled different and other.
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Lost Witch Song from the Wizard of Oz

10/27/2016

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Image of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and Dorothy from the 1902 production of "The Wizard of Oz."

     While searching through the Levy Collection at in the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries Special Collection for witch images, I came across ​"The Witch Behind the Moon," and it was so complex that I thought it deserved it's own post.


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Halloween in the Archive

10/18/2016

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Some spooky photos and objects to get us in the Halloween mood... 

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The skeleton band, playing all your favorite tunes.

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The Witching Hour Arrives...

10/11/2016

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It's October! That means we can start with Halloween-themed posts, right? 

     I was recently made aware of the fact that there are a number of sheet music covers with witches in the Lester S. Levy Collection at the Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries Special Collections. So just in time for Halloween, I'll share some of them here! 
     The Celebrated Witches Dance crops up in sheet music archives across the country, especially this edition transcribed by Wm. Vincent Wallace, and printed in New York City in the 1850s.
      Originally titled "Le Streghe," or The Witches, it was published in 1813 for violin accompanied by piano. (You can hear and see a performance of the original arrangement here.) The flighty staccato notes and quick runs punctuated by longer, more melodic sections definitely evokes what the cover to the right depicts. 
     This edition was published by William Hall & Son in New York City. Hall seems typical of sheet music publishers during the mid 1850s - he not only published this Americanized European classical music, but sold the instruments (pianos, guitars, melodeons, and woodwinds) to play it. 
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The Laserman

9/23/2016

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Read my new article on OZY.com about the Laserman, the Swedish serial killer. 

     At a time when a nationalist, anti-immigrant sentiment was sweeping through Sweden, a political party took advantage. The New Democracy party fed on those fears, and created a space where Swedes could "say what they thought." One result? A man got the idea that it would be OK to shoot immigrants with a laser-sighted rifle. Read the article for more, and if you speak Swedish, check out the Sveriges Radio P3 Dokumentär that informed some of my reporting. 
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A police sketch of the Laserman, courtesy of the Swedish Police Museum.
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The Drunkometer

8/29/2016

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Read my article on OZY.com about the Drunkometer.

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From "Intoxication Tests - Chemical Tests in Action," reprinted from Public Safety Magazine, published by the National Safety Council, 1948. Courtesy of the National Safety Council.

Not everything great can make it into an article, so I've included some more images and documents here on the blog!


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Votes for Women!

8/23/2016

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Friday is Women's Equality Day, and given Hillary's nomination, now seems about as good a time as any to see some images from the women's suffrage movement. 

"The greatest thrills of the campaign came with the street parades.... I marched in one in Baltimore and in the famous one staged in Washington the day before the first inauguration of President Wilson.... The professional women in cap and gown, lawyers, doctors, teachers and students formed a conspicous section of the parade." - Dr. Lillian Welsh, Reminiscences of Thirty Years in Baltimore
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Photograph courtesy of the Goucher College Special Collections.
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Photograph courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society
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Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.

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    Come in, the stacks are open. 

    Away from prying eyes, damaging light, and pilfering hands, the most special collections are kept in closed stacks.  You need an appointment to view the objects, letters, and books that open a door to the past. 

    Here, pieces of material culture are examined in the light. The stacks are open. ​Read the stories behind objects and ephemera found in private collections, archives, and museums. 

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