Enjoy this blog post by our awesome student assistant, Mirna Zaher. Mirna is a senior at Kennesaw State University studying International Affairs and Anthropology. Mirna loves working with our collection of historic newspapers. Today, she is discussing her experience working with newspapers from the Revolutionary War era. . .

There are many cool and interesting things here in our collections at KSU. The best collections are always the ones that surprise you and give you a connection to the past that you did not previously have. One such collection for me is our collection of Revolutionary War-era newspapers. The Revolutionary War shaped our nation in the largest of ways and birthed the American principles that we still abide by today. Through our historic newspaper collection, we have the ability to look at events as they unfolded in the same way people living at the time would have done.

From this collection, several newspapers and articles are worth noting. For example, there is a copy of the Connecticut Gazette from the morning of September 28, 1781. For those of you that do not know the significance of this date, it is the first day of the Battle of Yorktown, the battle in which America won the war. Going through this paper, it was clear to see that the battle was about to spark. It references the British Fleet heading to Yorktown, the French fleet located off the coast, and that American troops were in Chesapeake Bay. It is like a scene straight out of Hamilton. Reading about this particular battle allows you to lay out the battle and see the mistakes made by the British that only someone who lives after the fact could do. An interesting thing I spotted in another paper was the famous “Join or Die” propaganda piece we all learn about in high school. This highly influential illustration helped push the colonies to rise up against England. Seeing this illustration first hand rather than in a textbook is almost surreal. Above all, some of the most amazing finds in these newspapers are the many references to our Revolutionary War heroes: George Washington, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Laurens, John Hancock and so on. Reading contemporaneous articles about these individuals is an enlightening experience. Modern-day textbooks tend to focus on their role and importance from a historical sense, but these eighteenth-century newspapers also give us a glimpse into their humanity, which is something that I think, is easy to lose in any discussion about history.

Handling these newspapers and looking through their contents really made me appreciate the large amount of effort that our founders put forth to ensure our freedom. These newspapers are definitely worth exploring if you are interested in America and our amazing history.

As the academic year comes to a close, I asked our two student assistants - Meghan Collins and Mirna Zaher - to reflect on the time they’ve spent working here in the Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books. Here’s Meghan’s story. . .

Meghan Collins, BA Modern Languages and Culture (German with a concentration in Anthropology), Kennesaw State University class of 2017

The time that I have spent as a student assistant at the Museums, Archives, Rare Books and Records Management Department has been full of enriching experiences. Before I knew there was a student position open, I had been in contact with JoyEllen Freeman and Julia Skinner for organizing workshops for some courses I was taking. As a teaching assistant, I reached out to Julia and together we arranged a history instruction session focusing on medieval manuscripts and rare books for my German history course. After that experience, I wanted to do something similar for my world literature course that I was enrolled in. After getting in touch with JoyEllen, she presented a wonderful lesson that gave the students a history of the written word using materials from the Bentley. By cultivating these experiences for my classes, I fell in love with rare books and archives and was eager to pursue it further, I just needed to figure out how. Deciding your career is much easier said than done, and once you are close to graduation, that is the question you are posed most frequently. I tried to picture myself in a position I had already heard of, like a lawyer, doctor or a teacher, but I was never satisfied. I decided to take the opposite direction and ask myself what I like to do and see if that is a job. I realized that I love being around artifacts and thought that it would be the coolest to handle and take care of them. Turns out, that’s a job! About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in Collections Management in museums. At a similar time, I quit my serving job, wanting to start working in my career field. I knew that since I was so close to graduation, I needed crucial experience before getting a job in the field. Since the museum world is a smaller community, it is tremendously easier to get a job with having volunteer and internship experience. In fact, it is nearly impossible to do so without these preliminary involvements. I was referred to this job by a professor here in the history department. She consistently sends job opportunities, and as soon as I saw the open position, I knew that this was the place for me.

Once I started working at the Museums, Archives, Rare Books and Records Management Department, I quickly realized that this job is more than I ever dreamed it would be. As a student assistant, I deal with office management, digitizing, cataloging, organizing, inventory, and assisting with teaching excursions. Every day here I come to work with a smile because I know that what I am doing here is unlike anything I’ve done before. One day I could be perusing through a first edition Paradise Lost, and the next Huckleberry Finn and the next, I could be doing inventory of Chaucer, Dickens, Kipling, and Browning. I honestly feel as though I am in the presence of royalty, all of these works from centuries before and around the globe collectively combined in a little room here on campus. When I am not in the stacks, awe struck by their nobility, I am conducting office work. For example, answering phone calls, arranging appointments, ordering supplies, creating spreadsheets and files for the shared drive and maintaining organization of the common areas. These skills are easily transferable into my future. Personally, I feel as though any job will require this knowledge and responsibility.

The KSU Archives is thrilled to launch a new project to preserve campus history and culture through t-shirts! T-shirts contain information about academic departments, student groups, campus events, and more that might not be captured anywhere else. In addition, they often showcase the creativity of our students and staff. To that end, the KSU Archives is now collecting digital photographs of t-shirts associated with KSU and SPSU for preservation in our Scholarly Online Access Repository.  

Why “Looking Fly?”

The KSU Archives collecting scope encompasses the rich history of two universities, Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University. When the two schools were consolidated in 2015, the KSU Archives assumed the responsibility of preserving and making available the records of both universities. In addition to referencing the fashion and style exhibited by the materials in this collection, this moniker pays homage to our dual mascot history. Since the KSU Owl and the SPSU Hornet are both creatures of flight, this name allows us to meet our mission of inclusivity, preserving the history and culture of both schools in our charge.  

Where can I see this collection?

The Looking Fly Archive is available to the public online through our Scholarly Online Access Repository.  

Can I contribute shirts?

Please! Contact our Outreach Archivist, Helen Thomas at [email protected] for more information. We are accepting loans of shirts to be photographed by our staff or high-quality digital photographs of shirts taken by donors like you.  

Acknowledgements

Women were admitted to the Southern Technical Institute from its beginning in the 1940s, though the student body was overwhelmingly male. However, in the 1970s the school began to see an increase in female enrollment. By 1974, women made up 17% of the student body, and a portion of Howell Hall was renovated to serve as Southern Tech’s first women’s dormitory. By 1980, approximately 200 women were enrolled in classes at the Southern Technical Institute.

On April 30, 1980, Southern Tech held its first Women in Technology Day. The event featured programs “designed to acquaint female students, high school counselors, and teachers with opportunities for women in engineering technology” (The Sting, March 31, 1980). 

According to the 1980 Technician’s Log yearbook, over 500 high school students attended the event, which featured “a panel discussion by [Southern Tech] students and women in technology positions in industry” and “an opportunity to talk with [Southern Tech] department representatives about fields of technology” (The Sting). A browsing session with companies including Southern Bell, Lockheed-Martin, IBM, and Bell Labs allowed participants the opportunity to speak to industrial representatives about career opportunities.

After the success of this inaugural event, Women in Technology Day was repeated in subsequent years on the Southern Technical Institute campus. The tradition of providing support and direction to women pursuing careers in technology, science, and math is continued today by groups such as WIT (Women in Technology) at KSU.  

For more on the history of Southern Tech, KSU’s Scholarly Online Access Repository provides access to the full text of Southern Polytechnic State University: The History, along with the Technician’s Log yearbook and the SPSU Student Newspaper collection.

While it's a familiar sound at commencement and other university events, the KSU Alma Mater has not always been part of campus life. In fact, the school went nearly 20 years without one at all. However, in 1982, incoming President Betty Siegel thought that a school song would be a way to show pride in the achievements of KSC and its students.

“Becoming a four year college was a significant step in Kennesaw's development. Not every two year college can or should become a four year college. Kennesaw chose to do so, and I feel that it was an excellent decision. Accordingly, the College's Alma Mater should reflect that four year status as well as our deep caring for Kennesaw College."

Betty Siegel, excerpt from “Alma Mater Makes Music,” The Sentinel, February 1982.

A committee chaired by Dr. Wayne Gibson (KSU Music Department) chose “Gaudeamus Igitur” as the melody for the Alma Mater, a classical European tune dating back to at least the 18th century which is often used at commencement ceremonies. A contest was then held to choose the lyrics, with Betty Siegel offering a $100 prize to the winning composer. This being a pre-internet era, the committee ensured that everyone had access to the tune by distributing copies on cassette tape, as well as playing it twice a day in the student center to familiarize students with the song. The contest winner was senior Cynthia Parks, and our new Alma Mater debuted at the inauguration of President Betty Siegel in April 1982.

As for Cynthia, she graduated with honors in June of 1982 at the first of many commencement ceremonies to feature her composition.

Sometimes, it feels like a university is its own little world. In fact, it is common for universities to have their own zip codes, area codes, housing structures, recreation centers, publications, and even currency (e.g. students at KSU have Dining Dollars for their meals). Although a university campus can feel like an academic and social bubble, it does not exist in a vacuum. Universities are impacted by local, national, and global events. University students are often the first ones to vocalize opinions about events happening in their world, utilizing freedom of speech to write opinion articles, engage in activism, and lead student coalitions. At Kennesaw State University (KSU), students have always made a point to express their opinions about the world around them. A wide range of opinions has certainly led to a fair share of disagreements and contention; yet these challenges have only made KSU stronger.

We can see the way students viewed the world during a particular moment in time by looking at archives. In particular, our student newspaper collection provides a unique and authentic look at student lives throughout the history of the university. Some people wrongly assume that student newspaper publications only cover university-specific events, but that is not true at all. For example, February 1968 issue of The Sentinel – the student newspaper of KSU – contains an article featuring students’ opinions of the Vietnam War. Likewise, the September 19, 2001, issue of The Sentinel features student opinions about how the United States government should handle the tragic September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. We see this same trend in The Sting – the student newspaper of the former Southern Polytechnic State University. Issues of The Sting from the late 1940s and early 1950s often highlight students and faculty members who served the United States during WWII and how they brought their wartime skills with them to campus.

As the academic year comes to a close, I asked our two student assistants - Meghan Collins and Mirna Zaher - to reflect on the time they’ve spent working here in the Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books. Here’s Mirna’s story…

Mirna Zaher, BA International Affairs with a minor in Anthropology, Kennesaw State University, 2018

This is honestly one of the best jobs in the world. Every day is like an adventure because you never know what you will be doing. The scope of my tasks ranges from inputting data onto spreadsheets to aiding in the reenactment of Romeo and Juliet using an original seventeenth-century Shakespeare folio. I first heard about this job while I was seeking full time employment at the KSU Sturgis Library. I was sad at the time that I did not receive the full time position I had applied for, but now I consider it to be a great turning point in my life that led to me getting the job here. I have been here for a few months now and each day I grow to love it more. The coolest thing about being a student assistant in the MARB department is that you get the chance to do a little bit everything in the archival and rare book world. This includes helping process old materials, digitization, working with very rare and incredible books, and other small scale projects.  One such project we worked on was the Fairbanks project in which we were tasked by the daughter-in-law of the late Hollywood actor, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., to find a pamphlet from our Georgia Marble Collection that highlighted his memorial. After months of fruitless searching we finally located the long sought after pamphlet. Once the item was digitized and sent to Mrs. Fairbanks we were delighted to find that she had personally thanked us all in an email she sent out to our team. This was truly amazing because first off she is kind of famous which is really cool, and second because it showed us just how much our work here really impacts people. The most amazing collection pieces we have in my opinion are the two 4000-year-old cuneiform tablets. These tablets are simply just amazing. They are in pristine condition and are some of the oldest things written by humanity. Being able to see these is seeing history, real history, with your own eyes and it is breathtaking. Our rare book collection is just as amazing. We have part of an original 1611 King James Bible, as in the book that standardized the English language and completely paved history for centuries to come. That is just one of many amazing pieces that we have. This job has given me so much experience in so many different things such as office work and assisting in teaching a class.