feb05c.indd


Dawn Mueller G r a n t s  a n d  A c q u i s i t i o n s  

T h e  R y e r s o n  U n i v e r s i t y  L i b r a r y  h a s  
received a $1 million donation from alumnus 
Ronald D. Besse to build the Ronald D. Besse 
Information and Learning Commons, which 
was named in his honor in recognition of his 
donation and ongoing contributions to the 
university. The scope of the renovations on 
the main floor includes the building of the 
Ronald D. Besse Information and Learning 
Commons, a technology­enhanced space 
providing access to approximately 140 com­
puter workstations; the Commons Learning 
Lab, complete with 42 workstations and pre­
sentation technology to facilitate instruction 
and the development of research skills; and 
the Geospatial, Map and Data Centre, which 
houses the map collection and supports access 
to specialized digital materials. The donation 
has also facilitated the relocation of the Writing 
Centre inside the library to allow for better 
partnerships, and the relocation of the Audio 
Visual Collection to a new space to encourage 
access and use. 

The University of California-Santa Cruz 
(UCSC) has received a $1.4 million gift from 
UCSC Foundation trustee Kit Mura­Smith. This 
gift marks the largest single donation ever 
given by an alumnus to the university. It has 
been designated as an irrevocable charitable 
trust to be equally split between enhancing 
the university’s library facilities and providing 
scholarships for re­entry students. Mura­Smith 
credits her time studying at UCSC as an im­
portant milestone in her life, paving the way 
for her future success. 

Stony Brook University Libraries has been 
awarded a three­year grant of $81,000 by the 
Korea Foundation to support a Korean stud­
ies librarian. With matching funds from the 
university, the libraries have hired an East 
Asian specialist who is cataloging a large 

Ed. note: Send your news to: Grants & Acquisitions, 
C&RL News, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; 
e-mail: dmueller@ala.org. 

Korean backlog and building a Korean col­
lection in support of Stony Brook’s Korean 
Studies Center. 

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

The University of Minnesota Libraries has 
received 200 personal letters from award­win­
ning African American poet, E. Ethelbert Miller. 
The letters, written between 1975 and 1999, 
chronicle Miller’s relationship with acclaimed 
poet and political activist June Jordan. Jordan 
and Miller’s relationship began as a profes­
sional one and evolved into a romantic one. By 
the time of Jordan’s death from breast cancer 
in 2002, the two poets considered themselves 
to have a deep, spiritual connection. Staff from 
the University of Minnesota Libraries will ar­
range and describe the correspondence before 
adding an electronic finding aid to the Web 
site for the Archie Givens, Sr., Collection of 
African American Literature. 

S o u t h e r n  M e t h o d i s t  U n i ve r s i t y  ( S M U )  
in Dallas has acquired archives chronicling 
JCPenney’s 100­year history. JCPenney do­
nated the archives to SMU to make them 
more accessible to the public. The collection 
includes more than 36,000 pounds of docu­
ments; more than 20,000 photos, including 
hundreds of photos of James Cash Penney; 
documents describing the origin, growth, 
and operations of the JCPenney Company; 
advertisements from 1903 to late 1990; James 
Cash Penney’s personal correspondence 
(including letters from former presidents 
and other national figures); recordings of 
interviews with James Cash Penney; and Pen­
ney family photographs. The archives were 
compiled after Penney’s death in 1971, and, 
prior to the donation, had been housed at 
the JCPenney headquarters in Plano, Texas. 
The archives receive about 300 requests for 
historical information each year. 

February 2005  139 C&RL News 

mailto:dmueller@ala.org


Brook lyn College Librar y has received 
an extensive collection of art books from 
alumnus Milton Esterow, editor and publisher 
of ARTnews, the world’s largest­circulation 
art magazine. The Milton and Jacqueline 
Esterow collection of art books spans more 
than five decades. It consists of approximately 
7,600 volumes encompasses art making 
from the Renaissance period to the pres­
ent day. Included are catalogues raisonnés, 
monographs, historical surveys, criticism, 
biographies, and catalogues pertaining to 
private collections. Many of the volumes are 
scarce, out­of­print first editions that were 
published clothbound. The collection’s top 
books include individual volumes ranging 
in value from several hundred dollars, such 
as Berenice Abbott’s Changing New York, to 
those priced at several thousand dollars, such 
as the four­volume catalogue raisonné de­
voted to Jackson Pollock. The collection also 
includes the works of master painters, sculp­
tors, draftsmen, print makers, photographers, 
and performance and conceptual artists. 

Burlington College in Vermont has acquired 
a collection of nearly 6,000 books on cinema 
from film scholar Frank Manchel, one of the 
pioneers in the academic study of film. The col­
lection includes complete and sometimes rare 
runs of several scholarly film journals. Manchel 
said he donated the collection “to make Burl­
ington, Vermont a center for serious fi lm study 
with a library that would be available to the 
entire community.” The collection was built 

over a period of 40 years. The Manchel Library 
serves as a resource to Burlington College’s 
Cinema Studies and Film Production program, 
which offers a B.A. upon completion of a bal­
ance of coursework in both disciplines, or a 
Certificate in Film Production for those who 
focus their studies in production technique. 
Manchel, emeritus professor at the University of 
Vermont, has written several books on cinema, 
including Film Study, a four­volume analytical 
bibliography published in 1990. 

Louisiana State University (LSU) Libraries 
Special Collections has acquired the Gurney/ 
Norman Photograph Collection depicting 100 
years of Natchez, Mississippi, from the estate 
of Natchez physician, Dr. Thomas H. Gandy. 
The collection photographically documents 
100 years (1851­1951) of history. It contains 
approximately 20,000 images, including 
wet and dry collodion glass plate negatives, 
film negatives, ferrotypes, and historic and 
modern prints, plus nearly 100 pieces of 
photographic equipment, including a Nor­
man Studio portrait camera and an array of 
late 19th­ and early 20th­century cameras. 
Before coming to LSU, the photographs were 
exhibited in Great Britain, Canada, and across 
the United States. Gandy and his wife also 
edited and had published 6 books based on 
images from the collection. He chose LSU 
because its special collections division is an 
internationally known center for study of 
the region and has the staff and facilities to 
preserve the collection. 

(“Internet Reviews” continued from page 136) 

working papers, reports, conference notes, 
and statements of policy. 

Not only does this site provide historical 
perspective on the women’s international 
peace movement, but it also includes docu­
mentation for current­day activism. Obviously 
WILPF is biased by its antiwar mission, but it 
seems also to offer a measured, albeit idealis­
tic, alternative to more media­oriented peace 
Web sites. In fact, WILPF links neither to nor 
from many sites dealing with similar subject 
matter, such as NonViolence.org, and does 

not even show up on the first several pages 
of a Google search for peace. 

Its deep historical and organizational roots, 
emphasis on women, and non­U.S. origins 
and viewpoints may set WILPF apart. This 
alone makes it a valuable stop for anyone 
studying peace or any aspects of the move­
ment. Once there, users will discover enough 
research on peace and freedom activities 
worldwide, past and present, to satisfy any 
yen.—Barbara Valentine, Linfi eld College, 
bvalen@linfi eld.edu 

C&RL News February 2005  140 

http:NonViolence.org