Published by Kent Popular Press and Kent Left Studios Forum in 1980. Cover photo from the Kent State University Archives.

On this day in 1970, the Commons at Kent State University was the place 500+ students gathered to rally against the invasion of Cambodia the day before.  This started a train of events over the next few days that culminated in the death of 4 students and 9 others wounded on what is known as the May 4 massacre.  

What is has become a powerful and pervasive symbol of many things to different people, it is at very least a fascinating event for research.  The strength of the Alternative Press Collection at the Dodd Research Center pertains to the Vietnam era and related unrest with alternative tabloids from the 1960s and early 1970s include Georgia Straight, The Berkeley Barb, and East Village Other.  It’s a great resource to learn more about the anti-war struggle that sparked the events of May 1.  http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/dodda2z/subjectarea.cfm?Area=1

CHPC documentation study done in 2002 of the West Cornwall Covered bridge over the Housatonic River

Have you ever been curious about the architectural and archaeological history of properties in Connecticut? Did you know that the Dodd Research Center is a virtual one-stop-shopping destination for information about thousands of historical properties and of hundreds of archaeological digs in the 169 towns in the state? It’s true! The Connecticut Historic Preservation Collection, a listing of which can be found at http://chpc.lib.uconn.edu, has information about architectural and archaeological studies done by professional archaeologists and historians, located at the Dodd Research Center. We receive them from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism’s Historic Preservation & Museum Division. The studies date back to the 1970s and are current up to the present. Unfortunately, none of the surveys are available online so you’ll have to come visit us at the Dodd Research Center to take a look at them. We look forward to helping you find the properties you’re searching for!

CHPC documentation study done in 1985 of the Israel Putnam School in Putnam, Connecticut

As the first Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection, Attilio Frassinelli would have had many stories to tell. In this case, it would be about a housewife from Connecticut who saw an ad to buy a car for 1,395 bananas and decided to bring the bananas to the dealership. When they didn’t honor the ad, she went to Commissioner Frassinelli for help.

In a dedication cermony this past Sunday, the Frassinelli family donated the papers of the late Attilio “Pop” Frassinelli to the Dodd Research Center. Frassinelli’s biography is full of wonderful and interesting surprises.

A life-long resident of Stafford Spring, he was a mill worker, business owner, President of the Rotary Club, Justice of the Peace, insurance agent, the Connecticut Boxing Guild’s “Boxing Man of the Year”, dancer and First Selectman to name a few. In 1955 he was appointed as the first Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection and later, in 1966, elected Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut.

In the words of his granddaughter Dianne Bilyak, family and friends gathered in the Dodd Center “not just to honor, remember, and celebrate Pop, but also to gather as a family and be reminded of our collective history.” We are pleased that the family has chosen the Dodd Research Center to care for and house this important collection to the history of Connecticut.

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

Although recorded 37 years after the release of Kodachrome 35mm silde film, the song “Kodachrome,” written by Paul Simon captures the feeling many people have about the remarkably stable film stock. “Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day….” Kodachrome slides from the late 30s, 40s and 50s have retained their ture color with no fading or color shifting. If you want to see what University life really looked like in that period, make sure you visit the exhibition The University of Connecticut in Kodachrome, 1939-1959 scheduled to open May 26, 2009 in the HBL Gallery on the Plaza. These photographs make those decades seem like yesterday. It’s cliche to say history will come alive, but it will.

What does a round puzzle of a bowl of popcorn have to do with Herman Wolf?   What about an assortment of brightly colored shapes?

We’re not sure.  Herman Wolf’s earlier years were filled with membership in the Socialist Party and government employment.  During the second World War, Wolf’s governmental employment was extensive.   He directed labor-public relations for the British Mangement-Labor Commission, wrote a war handbook entitled Labor Defends America, and directed a staff for the War Production Board, which supplied  war plant Labor-Management Production Committees with ideas and materials for impoving efficiency.    After the war, Wolf spent two years as Director of the Fuller House, Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, a corporation created to promote the building of R. Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Dwelling Machine (the Fuller House). In 1946, he moved to Connecticut and began Herman Wolf Associates, a public relations firm.  He was involved in politics, serving as chief campaign aide in the successful campaigns of Abe Ribicoff, John Dempsy and Ella Grasso. 

In 1972, Wolf closed down his public relations firm for a brief time to become Executive Vice President of the Design Science Institute of Washington D.C., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the philosophy and works of R. Buckminster Fuller.   

These puzzles are a part of his collection, and could be public relations pieces, architectural designs, or maybe just a hobby.  I think they are examples used for the war plant committees of how a staff spending time doing puzzles can be inefficient (thanks Megan and Dan!)  For more information on Herman Wolf, please see his online finding aid.

For those that keep honey bees, or enjoy reading about those that do, this season of thaw and mud is a busy one spent studying, observing, and nourishing healthy bee activity. And as we learn, much remains unknown about the wonderful world of bees. The latest addition to the large collection of historic books, pamphlets and periodicals on beekeeping and apiculture at the Dodd Research Center is a set of unique, handwritten journals by Connecticut resident Charles Pease. “Charlie” as he was known, was born in 1866 and in 1923 moved his successful printing business to Canaan, where he lived most of life. A naturalist and advocate of self-sufficient homestead living, Charlie grew proficient in keeping bees and goats, educating others about his practices as well as the medical benefits of honey and goatsmilk. Charlie’s journals date from 1919 to 1949 and are a fascinatingly personal document of bee-keeping practices, hive behavior, seasonal observations, and inventiveness.

Charlie Pease's 1946 journal

Charlie Pease's 1927 Journal

Sample the variety of imagery, designs and printmaking techniques available in the latest addition to the Dodd Research Center’s digital collections: bookplates!  These small artworks, produced to uniquely identify books with their owners and their libraries, illustrate etching, engraving, lithography and woodcut techniques of artists and printmakers from around the world.  The bookplates collection is a component of a large collection of resources that document Ex Libris and the book arts available at the Dodd Center.  Browse over 300 images represented in the digital collection currently.  Additions will follow in the coming months.

Bookplate by Gerard Gaudaen for Lou Asperslag

The earliest photographs of UConn, held at the Dodd Research Center, were made by Harry L. Garrigus, UConn class of 1897 and instructor of animal husbandry. 500 of his glass plates dating from the late 1890s are now available online through UConn Libraries’ Digital Mosaic.  To browse the collection, select the Garrigus Photograph Collection and search.  UConn’s agricultural heyday and growth are documented, as well as early administrators, staff and townspeople.  We’re adding new images weekly, so check back with us for more.

Judging sheep, 1912

Fruit trees near poultry buildings, 1897-1912

Glass plate negative