ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


5 4 8 /C & R L  N e w s  ■ M a y  2001

G r a n t s  a n d  A c q u i s i t i o n s Ann-Christe Young

Pennsylvania State University Libraries
has receiv ed  $755,000 fro m  th e  A n d rew  W. 
Mellon F o u n d a tio n  to  s u p p o rt a n  ex ten siv e 
study o f digital im age delivery. L eading th e 
study, th e  libraries will p a rtn e r w ith  o th e r 
Penn State units, including th e  C enter for E du­
cation T e c h n o lo g y  Services, th e  C en ter for 
Q uality a n d  P la n n in g , L ibrary C o m p u tin g  
Services, a n d  th e  School o f In fo rm atio n  Sci­
ences a n d  T echnology. T he Visual Im age User 
Study (VIUS, p ro n o u n c e d  view s) will e x a m ­
ine th e u s e  o f digital p ictu res at P e n n  State in 
the disciplines o f th e  arts, en v ironm ental stu d ­
ies, an d  th e  h u m anities. Slated to  b e g in  this 
m onth, activities will c o n tin u e  for 26 m onths. 
A su m m ary  o f th e  p ro je c t is a v a ila b le  at 
h ttp ://w w w .lib ra rie s .p s u .e d u /c rs w e b /v iu s .

West Virginia U niversity's (WVU) W ise
Library h as re c e iv e d  a $500,000 gift from  Jim  
and A nn M ilano. H alf o f it w ill b e  u s e d  to 
renovate th e  library’s East Reading Room, a n d  
the rem ain in g  $250,000 will create th e Jam es 
V. a n d  A nn P o zeg a M ilano R eading R oom  
an d  C ollection E n d o w m e n t F und. “W e o w e 
o u r b e g in n in g s to W VU,” said Jim  Milano. 
He re c a lle d  fre q u e n tin g  th e  W ise Library 
m eeting ro o m  a n d  n o ticin g  A nn th e re  sev ­
eral times befo re h e  a sk e d  h e r o u t to a m ovie. 
They said this gift is im p o rta n t to  th e m  b e ­
cause th e re a d in g  ro o m  b e in g  re n o v a te d  is 
the very ro o m  w h e re  th e y  m e t m o re th a n  60 
years ago. Jim  retired  from  Pfizer as a vice 
p resid en t in 1985 a n d  A nn tau g h t in  th e  p u b ­
lic school system  b e fo re  leaving to raise th eir 
four children.

The library at Danville Area Com m unity
College has received a b e q u e st o f $1.2 million 
from Mary B. O ’Neal, a b o o k  lover a n d  g rad u ­
ate o f the University o f Illinois School o f Jo u r­
nalism. T he gift m ay b e  u s e d  to fu n d  e x p a n ­
sion of the hours o f operation, an  increase in 
electronic resources, e x p a n sio n  o f technology

Ed. note: Send y o u r new s to : G rants & A cquisitions, 
C&RL News, 50 E. H u ron  St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; 
e-m ail: ayoung@ ala.org.

a n d  technology su p p o rt services, en h an cem en t 
o f the library’s p rin t collection, a n d  acquisi­
tion o f library eq u ip m e n t a n d  displays.

Elmhurst College has received a $2.7 mil­
lion b e q u e s t from  th e  estate o f G ladys (class 
o f 1940) a n d  Ray R obinson. T h e re c e n t gift, 
to  d a te  th e  largest o n e  e v e r re c e iv e d  b y  th e  
co lle g e , is d e s ig n a te d  to b e n e fit th e  A.C. 
B u eh ler Library o n  th e E lm hurst cam pus. H alf 
o f th e  m o n e y  will p ay  for projects to  e n h a n c e  
th e library a n d  s u p p o rt its m ission. O n e  su c h  
p ro ject will b e  th e  b u ild in g  o f m o re c o llab o ­
rative a n d  w e lc o m in g  w o rk sp a c e s. T h e re ­
m aining $1.35 million will go into the college’s 
e n d o w m e n t, w ith  all in terest specifically e a r­
m a rk e d  for n e w  a n d  fo rw ard -lo o k in g  library 
initiatives. T h e p la n n e d  E lm hurst C ollege li­
b ra ry  w ill sp o tlig h t th re e  areas: instruction, 
re se a rc h  (w ith  its acc o m p a n y in g  o n e -o n -o n e  
c o n su ltatio n ), a n d  read in g . T h e collectio n s 
a n d  th e  phy sical b u ild in g  w ill b o th  b e  e n ­
h a n c e d  to  s u p p o rt th o se  th re e  goals, a n d  to 
s u p p o rt th e c o lle g e ’s liberal arts curriculum .

A c q u i s i t i o n s

The a rch iv e s o f A re n a Stage, a p ro m i­
n e n t th e a te r in W a sh in g to n , D.C., h a v e  b e e n  
ac q u ire d  b y  G eo rg e M ason University libraries. 
T h e collection, w h ic h  in clu d es p ro d u c tio n  
n o te b o o k s , h a n d w r itte n  c o r r e s p o n d e n c e , 
sc ra p b o o k s , scripts, d ire c to r’s n o te s, a n d  
p h o to g ra p h s  g a th e re d  sin ce A ren a Stage 
o p e n e d  in 1950, is h o u s e d  in th e  F enw ick 
Library at th e  u n iv ersity ’s Fairfax C am pus. 
P art o f th e  A ren a S tage C o llectio n  w as 
p rev io u sly  h o u s e d  at H arv ard  University.

The p ap e rs o f B ritish  n o v e list H ilary
M antel h a v e  b e e n  a c q u ire d  b y  th e  H u n tin g to n  
Library. A m ong h e r novels are Fludd, w h ich  
received th e C heltenham  Festival Prize a n d  the 
S outhern Arts Literary Prize; A  Place o f  Great 
Safety, recipient o f th e Sunday Express B ook o f 
th e  Y ear A w ard in 1992; a n d  Eight M o n th s on

http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/vius
mailto:ayoung@ala.org


C&RL News ■ M ay 2001 I  549

G hαzzαh Street, w hich draws on the author’s 
years living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The 
papers include literary drafts, correspondence, 
journals, photographs, and ephemera.

The Henry P. Kendall Collection of Laurens
Papers an d  the rem ainder o f the Kendall Col­
lection o f Early Carolinian, a resource val­
u ed  at about $1.3 million, has b e e n  acquired 
by  the University of South Carolina’s Colum­
bia cam pus. Henry Laurens (1724—92) w as a 
p ro m in en t C harleston-born m erchant and 
planter w h o  was educated in England. At the 
outbreak o f the American Revolution, he led 
the m ovem ent to overthrow  British rule, first 
in South Carolina and later as president of 
the Continental Congress. Kendall acquired 
the W illiam G ilm ore Simms Collection of 
papers o f H enry and Jo h n  Laurens from the 
Long Island Historical Society in the 1950s. 
In 1961, the Massachusetts Institute o f Tech­
nology microfilmed the papers and the mi­
crofilm copies w ere u sed  for th e library’s 
Henry Laurens editorial project. Simms col­
lected the Laurens papers and other materi­
als in the mid-19th century, b ut sold them  to 
the Long Island Historical Society in 1867 
because of financial reverses suffered during 
the Civil War.

Alan Reitman, former associate executive
director of the American Civil Liberties Union 
(ACLU), d o n ated  his collected papers to Spe­
cial Collections an d  University Archives of 
the Rutgers University libraries. Reitman was 
the director o f public relations for the Con­
gress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) p o ­
litical action com m ittee in the late 1940s. He 
joined the national ACLU in 1949 as director 
of public relations and becam e associate ex­
ecutive director in 1957 and retired in 1989. 
After retiring, Reitman served as a consultant 
to the ACLU. As associate national director, 
he d ev elo p ed  ACLU policy on m any matters 
and interpreted issues for ACLU chapters, gov­
ernment officials, other national organizations, 
and m em bers o f the media. Social and politi­
cal issues, such as the battle against racism 
and segregation, McCarthyism an d  the House 
Un-American Activities Committee, and the 
defense of free speech, w ere the prim e fo­
cus of m uch of Reitman’s w ork at the ACLU. 
The seven cubic feet o f materials h e donated 
contains h u ndreds o f ACLU docum ents, tran­

scripts of legislative testimony, public state­
ments, and policy letters, and the text from 
m any o f Reitman’s public speaking engage­
m ents and freelance writings o n  issues re­
lated to the ACLU’s work.

Rutgers was also fortunate to receive U.S. 
Senator from  N ew Jersey Frank Lauten berg’s
2.000 cubic feet of official papers.

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archive
(ALBA) has be e n  acquired by New York Uni­
versity, w ith the help o f a private donor. 
ALBA is a com prehensive archive docum ent­
ing the North American involvem ent o f vol­
unteers in the Spanish Civil War. The collec­
tion com prises the personal p ap ers o f the 
veterans o f the conflict and docum ents the 
w artim e experiences of the volunteers and 
th e story o f their lives, from  their cultural 
an d  political backgrounds to the contribu­
tions they m ade in the decades that followed. 
The archive, w hich contains m ore than 400 
linear feet o f material, contains m ore than
5.000 black-and-w hite photographs, at least
10.000 p a g e s o f letters w ritten  h o m e by 
American volunteers, 200 full-color Spanish 
Civil War posters, 50 cartons o f film an d  vid­
eotapes, m ore than 100 audiotapes, an d  ar­
tifacts such as uniform s and badges.

The papers of Donn Arden, choreogra­
pher, producer, an d  director, have b e e n  ac­
quired by the University o f Nevada, Las Ve­
gas. K now n for his extravagant and flam­
b oyant prod u ctio n  style, Arden w o rk ed  in 
Paris, New York, Las Vegas, and Los Ange­
les, creating dozens of stage show s in a ca­
reer spanning m ore than 50 years. Among 
his m ost fam ous signature show s w ere the 
Lido in Paris (w hich he brought to Las Vegas 
in the 1950s), Hello Hollywood Hello, H alle­
lujah Hollywood, an d  Jubilee. In addition to 
fantastic sets and over-the-top production 
num bers, all show s featured the Arden trade­
mark: d o z e n s o f glam orous show girls in 
spectacular costum es. D ue to A rden’s lo n g ­
standing identification w ith Las Vegas, his 
business partner Walter Craig determ ined that 
the collection o f scrapbooks, photographs, 
costum e an d  set designs, program s, sheet 
music, p ro d u ctio n  notes, contracts, corre­
sp o n d en ce, an d  new s clippings w ere to be 
d o n ated  to the Special Collections D epart­
m ent of the UNLV Libraries. ■