#agsl

On the first day of Black History Month, we'd like to honor two women who deserve more recognition for their exploits on the diamond.

Yvonne "Coky" Coker was a first basewoman, shortstop, and outfielder who integrated the American Girls Softball League (based in the New York metro area) in 1945. When the AGSL switched to baseball in 1949, she became the first African-American woman to play in a major women's baseball league.

Betty Chapman soon followed, integrating the Chicago-based National Girls Baseball League (which actually played softball) in 1951. She joined the league in July of '51 and played outfield and catcher for the Music Maids.

UW-Milwaukee Distinctive Collections Online

While access to our collections has become even more limited, we are happy to have over 160,000 photographic images, maps, and books selected from the American Geographical Society Library @agslibrary, Special Collections @uwmspeccoll, Archives, and Curriculum Collection available to us online 24/7.

Thanks to the staff of these departments and especially to the staff of UW-Milwaukee’s Digital Collections and Initiatives, these materials are available for research or just to explore and enjoy during this uncertain time.

Science Saturday: Minerals and Their Uses

Today we are highlighting another book from our sibling department the American Geographical Society Library: British geographer Julian R. Jackson’s Minerals and Their Uses: In a Series of Letters to a Lady published in London in 1849 by J. W. Parker. It features one hand-colored engraving of minerals by Joseph Wilson Lowry.

The title page notes that the author Julian R. Jackson (1790-1853) was a member of the Imperial Mineralogical Society of St. Petersburg. In the preface Jackson writes that the book is based a large number of “bona fide letters, written for the instruction of a young lady” and explains that this is meant to be more serious than an elementary book but not quite a treatise on mineralogy. Jackson goes on to write:

“The lady for whom these letters were composed, was young and well-informed on several subjects, and although eschewing all blue-stockingism, desirous of every kind of knowledge that could enlarge the sphere of her ideas, enable her to take her part in rational conversation, and fit her to be the companion of a man of sense. There are many such young ladies, and it is for their use that this correspondence is now printed.”

From the late 17th to 19th century there was a market for these educational books geared towards affluent young European women meant to prepare them to participate in salons, gatherings where people would engage in polite conversation with the purpose of expanding their knowledge about a variety of subjects. I like to think of these books as an older version of “mansplaining” because the format is always a man, often a male relative like a brother, explaining the world to a young woman. One of the earliest examples of this is Bernard de Fontenelle’s Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, first published in France in 1686. Fontenelle’s work takes the form of dialogue between a male narrator explaining Cartesian natural philosophy to an intelligent female companion. It harkens back to classical Platonic dialogue but invites female participation in polite intellectual society.

UW-Milwaukee Special Collections has several examples of these types of books that we have featured in previous blog posts. Such as John Harris’s Astronomical Dialogues Between a Gentleman and a Lady published in 1719 and Noël Antoine Pluche’s Le Spectacle de la Nature, a popular work of natural history first published in French from 1732-1750. A title that I love that we unfortunately do not have is Francesco Algarotti’s Newtonianism for the Ladies first published in French in 1737 which features a frontispiece that depicts the author engaging in conversation with Émilie du Châtelet.

View other Science Saturday posts.

Science Saturday: Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle

Today we present insect illustrations from our American Geographical Society Library’s set of French natural history books Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle. The books were produced under the direction of Charles d'Orbigny and published in Paris by Renard, Martinet et Cie from 1847-1849 in 13 volumes and 3 illustrated atlases. The set is a compilation of scientific knowledge about the various branches of natural sciences. Our post today features colorful insects, including the common birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera priamus), chief goliath beetle (Goliathus cacicus), atlas moth (Attacus atlas), Death's-head hawkmoth (Acherontia), and several butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and planthoppers (including my favorite family Fulgoridae)!  

The 173-year-old, hand-colored steel engravings are still stunningly vibrant! The drawings were created by many different artists, including Delarue, Vaillant, and Blanchard.

It’s great to highlight a treasure from one of our sibling departments, the American Geographical Society Library, a premier geography research library at UW–Milwaukee. Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle’s atlases are heavily illustrated, so keep a look out for future posts examining other areas of natural history!

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Science Saturday: Reptiles from Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle

Today we explore the diversity found in the animal class Reptilia from our American Geographical Society Library’s set of French natural history books Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle. The books were produced under the direction of Charles d'Orbigny and published in Paris by Renard, Martinet et Cie from 1847-1849 in 13 volumes and 3 illustrated atlases. The set is a compilation of scientific knowledge about the various branches of natural sciences. The 173-year-old, hand-colored steel engravings are still stunningly vibrant! The drawings were created by many different artists.

If you want to look at a digitized version of Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle from the comfort of your home you can browse the set on Biodiversity Heritage Library here. The illustrations are found in the three atlases. You can also check out the other posts we’ve done about the set here!

View other Science Saturday posts.

Science Saturday: The Naturalist’s Library

Today we revisit the mid-19th century series The Naturalist’s Library, published in Edinburgh from 1833-1843 by William Home Lizars and edited by Sir William Jardine. The series is made up of 40 volumes, and each volume covers a topic related to one of four groups: birds, mammals, fish, and insects. Every volume in the series includes a short biography of a prominent naturalist. The rest of the text is dedicated to information about notable species, and features 30-35 hand colored steel engravings. Most of the illustrations were done by the artist James Hope Stewart and engraved by the publisher William Home Lizars. What I love most about this series is that is was meant to have wide appeal and it was very affordable compared to other illustrated natural history works at the time.

Today’s volume is a book about mammals, specifically primates! It includes a portrait and biography of the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.

The introduction of the book reads:

“Natural History of Monkeys: Among the varied races of living beings which inhabit this world, none perhaps have excited so much speculation and general interest, as those to which we have devoted our present little volume. From the shy and retired manners of the animals in a wild state, their habits are of difficult investigation, and would require much patience, and a greater allowance of time, than it is often possible for those individuals who posses the enviable opportunities, to devote to them. The greater portion of the information we possess, is therefore derived from the accounts of travelers, too often collected from hearsay evidence, exaggerated as the fears and superstitions of the natives have been influenced, and which have appeared as ‘dreamy forms.’”

A couple things are notable about this passage. First, that a lot information about animals outside of Europe was coming second hand from explorers to previously unknown places, often made possible by colonialism. It also exhibits the Eurocentric view that indigenous populations were not ‘scientifically’ knowledgeable in their local nature. The animals in these books were often based on specimens brought back to Europe. The editor of The Naturalist’s Library, Sir William Jardine had over 10,000 specimens of birds and other animals in his personal collection. When looking at the last picture of ‘Midas leonina’ [Pygmy marmoset] it seems like an imagined creature! According to the text it was based on a specimen and not a field drawing.

The Naturalist’s Library was found in our sibling department, The American Geographical Society Library, a premier geography research library at UW–Milwaukee. View our first post about it here.

View other Science Saturday posts.

This week for Wayback Wednesday we are sharing an image from our sibling department the American Geographical Society Library @agslibrary​ and the Milwaukee Neighborhoods Digital Collection which presents images of Milwaukee neighborhoods from the Far Northwest Side to the Far South Side.  

The Milwaukee Neighborhoods collection documents the development of the city from the mid-1880s to the early 1990s and includes residential and industrial facilities, local businesses, historic buildings, churces, and numerous Milwaukee parks. 

The image here depicts Brady Street as it was in 1975 and the second image is a 2019 photo of the same view courtesy of Google maps.

The 35mm slide was donated by Florence Mayer, photographer Harold Mayer’s wife. It is part of the Harold Mayer Collection containing images of cities from around the globe.

It’s Map Monday in the Archives!

We are preparing for this month’s Hands-On Pop-Up exhibit. For April we are recognizing Earth Day and celebrating historic conservation efforts. A prominent figure in Wisconsin conservation history is Wilhelmine La Budde (1880-1955). She was a steadfast supporter of the forests, wildlife, and freshwater resources here in Wisconsin.

The Wilhelmine D. La Budde Papers, 1924-1956  contains 11 boxes of correspondence to and from people and organizations from all over the country. Among these was this letter from Mabel Wheeler, the Secretary of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce dated June 11, 1936. On the back of this somewhat simple stationery is a map of the Monterey Bay Region in California.

This rare Map Monday from the Archives is a shout out to the American Geographical Society Library @agslibrary who will be joining in on the April Pop-Up running from April 24-26. There will be materials in the UW-Milwaukee Archives and in the AGS Library that represent local and national historic conservation efforts.