New York, Westchester & Boston Railway station at Port Chester, New York, 1930

On August 21, 1937, service ceased on the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway line, which despite its reference to Boston actually ran just from lower Manhattan to Port Chester, New York.  It was incorporated in 1872 (as the New York, Westchester & Boston Railroad) but the charter lay dormant until 1900, when investors formed the New York & Westchester and reorganized in 1904 as the NYW&B Railway.  The line was in direct competition with the omnipresent New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (better known as the New Haven Railroad), which controlled almost all railroad, trolley and steamship traffic in southern New England into New York City from 1872 to 1969, so the New Haven Railroad bought up all of the fledgling company’s stock and made it into a showcase of elegant stations, bridges and viaducts.  Unfortunately such opulence was unsustainable and the line was never able to turn a profit.  It closed in 1937, its property was auctioned off in 1942, and its locomotives and cars were scattered to the four winds.

A fantastic website giving the full history of this line is at http://nywbry.com/index.php.

Archives & Special Collections has Board of Directors minutes and financial records of the NYW&B Ry., as part of the  New York, New Haven & Hartford Records, an enormous collection of administrative, real estate, financial and legal records of the railroad and its predecessor companies.

The Holley Manufacturing Company of Lakeville (Salisbury), Connecticut, produced pocket cutlery and related products, from 1844 until 1946. Founded in 1844 by Alexander Hamilton Holley and George Merwin as Holley and Merwin, the company claimed to be the oldest manufacturer of pocket cutlery in the United States. The company name was later changed to Holley & Company.

In 1854, it was incorporated as the Holley Manufacturing Company, with Alexander H. Holley as president, George B. Burrall, treasurer, and William B. Rudd, secretary. William Rudd’s son, Malcolm D. Rudd, succeeded him as treasurer and general manager, serving in that position until 1942.  Its customers were retailers and small jobbers, mostly in New England, Pennsylvania, and upper New York State. Total annual sales of the company probably did not exceed $50,000 from 1844 to 1925, or $10,000 from 1925 to 1933. When the company’s sales and production declined after 1933 the firm was dissolved in 1946.

On Wednesday, May 12, Curators from Archives & Special Collections of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center conducted a daylong workshop for teachers enrolled in the EASTCONN Teaching American History Grant.  Curators Valerie Love, Betsy Pittman and Laura Smith showed materials from the Alternative Press, Political, and Labor Collections, and the University Archives, concentrating on the topics of post-World War II Communism and the Vietnam War. 

In 2009 EASTCONN, a regional education service center in Hampton, Connecticut, received a three-year federal Teaching American History grant.  The coordinators gathered educational institutions such as the Dodd Research Center, the Connecticut State Library and Archives, the Connecticut Historical Society, Historic New England, and others to be partners in coordinating workshops and other learning experiences for eastern Connecticut teachers who enrolled in the program.  Each of the three years has a theme; this year’s theme is “Freedom, Security and Diversity,”  thus the emphasis on materials for Communism and the Vietnam War.

We brought out many provocative documents to the teachers, including a copy of a letter from Connecticut Senator Thomas J. Dodd, Senator Prescott Bush, and Representative Frank Kowalski to President John F. Kennedy in 1961 urging him to be resolved to fight Communism (http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/research/TAH/1994-0065_ms50.pdf) and a flyer advertising a peace protest during the Vietnam War (http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/research/TAH/1986-0008_ms3.pdf)

As a special bonus to the day, Maureen Croteau, head of UConn’s Department of Journalism, spoke to the teachers about freedom of the press and the First Amendment.  Maureen’s topics sparked a lot of discussion with the group.

Wendell Minor, an award-winning illustrator of books and book jackets, will receive an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Connecticut at the May 9th, 2010 commencement ceremony. On May 20 th the Dodd Research Center will host a Luncheon Reception in the Dodd Center’s Public Lounge from 12:00-1:30 pm, followed by a presentation by Dr. Norman D. Stevens in Konover Auditorium from 1:30-2:00 pm, with a book signing by Mr. Minor in the Public Foyer from 2:00-2:30pm. The Public is invited to all of these events. Please RSVP by Friday, May 14, 2010, to Jean Nelson at jean.nelson@uconn.edu or 860.486.6346.  

A native of Illinois and current resident of Washington, CT, Mr. Minor studied art at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. He has designed the covers of over 2000 works and has illustrated 50 children’s books. Mr. Minor served as President of the Society of Illustrators in New York City in addition to currently serving on the Children’s Book Council. The exhibit pictured here is installed in the John McDonald Reading Room of the Dodd Research Center and is available for viewing Monday-Friday 10am-4pm until the end of May. On display are 22 original works of art for various books and book covers and a selection of his published works. Mr. Minor is generously donating the original art for his newest book, Jean Craighead George’s The Buffalo are back, to the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection.

Minor exhibit in McDonald Reading Room

God Bless the Unemployed, Lea Nicholson & Stan Ellison released on Transatlantic, 1972

Cross the Transatlantic.  At first site it looks like one of those simple maze games that children play.  After half an hour or so you will have changed your mind.  Because this is how it works.  There are two routes through the maze.  The first is the relatively easy direct route; the second is the much more difficult indirect route that goes via the half way house.  You’ll face your first big problem the minute you enter the starting gate: there are five doors to choose from.  When you reach the half-way house, (if you ever reach the half-way house) you’re faced with 15 possible exits.  And don’t rule out the possibility of leaving through the same door you entered.

 View the February Item of the Month.

One of the earliest athletic game films held in Archives & Special Collections is the 1934-1935 football battle between Connecticut State College and rival Rhode Island.  The 1935 Nutmeg reports that “the most thrilling and exciting week-end in Connecticut State College football history embraces the abduction of the Rhody Ram and the traditional battle between Connecticut  and Rhode Island.”  Unfortunately in 1935 the battle ended in a Connecticut defeat (Connecticut 0, Rhode Island 18).  In this footage the battle took place as much on the field as off.  The abducted Rhody Ram is paraded out onto the field for the Connecticut fans, while the marching band plays.  At the end of the game, Rhode Island fans tear down the goal posts and a fight breaks out. 

 View the film (run time 8 min. 52 sec.).  Read the play by play in the 1935 Nutmeg yearbook.

The Dodd Research Center, including the John P. McDonald Reading Room, will be closed on Thursday, November 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday, November 27th for the State mandated furlough day.  We will re-open for our regular hours on Monday, November  30th.

In 2005, Michele Palmer of Storrs, Connecticut, established the Malka Penn Children’s Book Collection on Human Rights as part of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection. Each year, Ms. Palmer donates picture books, young adult novels and non-fiction works published in the previous year that address issues such as the Holocaust, racism and prejudice, war, and survival.  The books this year have some themes in common, such as  music and its curative powers in the face of conflict, and the presentation of the true story, whether through letters and photos or the memories of a young girl imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII.  

Silent music: a story of Baghdad, by James Rumford (New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2008).

The works on exhibit in the John McDonald Reading Room until November 30, 2009, represent twelve of the best books for 2008 chosen by Ms. Palmer, Terri J. Goldich, curator for the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection, and Victoria Pryke, Human Rights Intern for Fall 2009.

Illustration courtesy of Wendell Minor

– Saturday & Sunday, November 14-15, 2009 from 8:30am – 5:00pm
– Rome Commons Ballroom
– Rome Hall, South Campus Complex
– University of Connecticut, Storrs
– Volunteer shifts are usually two or more hours, between 8:30 am and 5 pm.

Volunteers’ responsibilities may include:
* Volunteering at the Breakfast with Clifford
* Working at the information desk or volunteer check-in table
* Working with children’s arts and crafts activities
* Serving as a door greeter or conducting a survey
* Volunteering as a costume character or tour guide for characters
* Volunteer opportunities for musicians/singers to lead 45-minute sing-alongs with children

If you are interested in volunteering at this event, please send an email to j.weinland@gmail.com including your name, home and work phone numbers and your preference for a particular job or requested time period (e.g., 9:30 am-Noon, 1- 2 pm, etc.)

We are always looking for new volunteers. If you know anyone who would like to volunteer at this event, please forward their contact info to j.weinland@gmail.com.

The Book Fair benefits the Northeast Children’s Literature Collections in Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut.

Thank you!

Les Paul, inventor and innovator of the solid body electric guitar, passed away last week.  Paul signed with Gibson Guitar company in 1950 to design and manufacture The Gibson Les Paul model, still available today.  Just as there would be no rock n’ roll without the electric guitar; there would be no Chicago blues without the influence of electrified guitar sound.  Chicago blues in the 1960s was dominated by Muddy Waters, Elmore James and Howlin’ Wolf.  Correspondent Russell Hall has ranked Howlin’ Wolf’s “Spoonful”, released on Chess Records in 1960, as having one of the top 10 great Gibson Les Paul solos.  Wolf’s band included Hubert Sumlin on a Gibson Les Paul for the single.  Have a listen.  You can hear all the bands that have been influenced since then.

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