Tag: oldevents

Archives’ April exhibit: Letter from Governor John A. Andrew to MIT’s founder, William Barton Rogers, March 9, 1861

By on April 1, 2008

Page 1 of Andrew’s letterInterest was high in 1861 as the proposed Institute of Technology moved through the Massachusetts legislative process. But among those opposed was the secretary of the Board of Education. In March, Governor John A. Andrew invited William Barton Rogers to a meeting of the board to persuade them of its advantages for education and industry. “Be thou the advocate,” wrote Massachusetts Governor Andrew in a letter exhibited as the Object of the Month by the Institute Archives and Special Collections. The proposal was finally approved by the Massachusetts legislature, and on April 10, 1861, Governor Andrew signed the Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Celebrate MIT’s anniversary month, and the countdown to MIT’s sesquicentennial in 2011, by learning more about the Institute’s beginnings and William Barton Rogers, the extraordinary man whose vision made it happen. Rogers’s papers and many documents concerning MIT’s early years are available for research in the Institute Archives, 14N-118, Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Sofia Ponte’s “Dreaming Lounge” presentation Friday, April 11

By on March 28, 2008

Sofia Ponte will be giving a brief presentation in the Reading Room from 12:00 to 1:00 Friday, April 11.

Dreaming Lounge - Sofia Ponte

The Dreaming Lounge is displayed at Barker Engineering Library from December 2007 to April 2008. It is a device created for resting and studying in libraries reading rooms while creating a performative space for day-dreaming. It brings evidence to a day-sleep situation while discussing ways for humanizing the experience of relief, rest and survival in the public domain. Libraries reading rooms are places where we often see communal resting, sleeping and dreaming, all mental conditions that affect and influence our behavior in the private and public sphere. The Dreaming Lounge encourages this situation in public as a way to generate a social space for reflection. After resting, one is more able to recognize changes, to continue to relate ideas, and to learn more about them. Barker reading room is situated under the MIT dome, which has served as a reading room since 1916. The design of the Dreaming Lounge blends into the landscape of this room while creating a self-discovery experience for the user and its relation to this space.

6th annual Prokopoff violin music concert April 18

By on March 21, 2008

violinSave the date! The 6th annual Prokopoff violin music concert will be held from noon-1 pm on Friday, April 18th, 2008 in the Lewis Music Library (Bldg. 14E-109). This annual event honors the extraordinary collection of violin music collected by Stephen Prokopoff and donated to the library in 2001 by Lois Craig, former Associate Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. This year’s concert will feature several pieces from the collection including Fritz Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois, Navarra by Pablo de Sarasate, Concerto for 2 violins in D minor by J. S. Bach, and other favorites performed by some of MIT’s finest student musicians.

The Lewis Music Library is located in Bldg. 14E-109 and the concert is free and open to the public. The opening celebration for the MIT Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery follows this concert.

Opening celebration for MIT Libraries’ Maihaugen Gallery

By on March 17, 2008

exhibit1.jpgOn Friday, April 18, from 1-3pm the MIT Libraries will host a community celebration in honor of the opening of the Maihaugen Gallery. The newly constructed exhibit space will showcase some of the extraordinary items from the MIT Libraries’ collections.

The first exhibit: A Celebration of Gifts will feature rare and unique items donated to the Libraries by MIT alumni, faculty, and friends. Among the treasures that will be exhibited to the public for the first time are items from the collection of the Institute’s founder, William Barton Rogers. The exhibit will also include original notebooks from Harold “Doc” Edgerton, several rare books including a first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and a book of illustrations from the 1553 volume Historiae animalium by Konrad Gesner. Also featured will be items from the personal library of architect Charles Bulfinch, balloon prints from the Vail Collection, books by architect Santiago Calatrava with original artwork, works from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, and other items given to the Libraries.

The new facility is located adjacent to the Institute Archives (14N-118). The celebration will begin at 1pm with remarks by Ann Wolpert, director of the Libraries. Refreshments will be served. Please join us!

Photos by: L. Barry Hetherington, Bottom photo: Copyright Harold E. Edgerton 1992 Trust

MIT’s wind tunnels chronicled in Archives’ March exhibit

By on March 3, 2008

MIT Wind Tunnel, ca. 1914The subject of the Archives’ March Object of the Month exhibit is MIT’s wind tunnels, beginning with an early improvisation in 1896. The focus of the exhibit is a photograph and description of a wind tunnel in use from 1914 to 1921, which was built on Vassar Street in Cambridge two years before MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge.

The photograph is from the MIT Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel Records (1914-1963) in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. These and other records concerning aeronautics and aeronautical engineering are available for research in the Archives in Building 14N-118.

Libraries’ Puzzle Challenge continues with fourth puzzle

By on February 25, 2008

puzzle-piece-and-amounts-uid.jpgThe MIT Libraries have launched the fourth puzzle in a series of puzzles that can be solved using Libraries’ resources. The current puzzle can be seen in the Tech, on a poster in Lobby 7, and elsewhere around campus.

MIT students can view the puzzle and submit their answers online at //libraries.mit.edu/puzzle.

Correct answers submitted by the deadline will be entered into a drawing for an Apple iPod Nano. The deadline for entries for the fourth puzzle is March 3, 2008.

Join us for EndNote training: Monday, 3/10

By on February 22, 2008

EndNote X1 logo

Donna Kirking, a representative from EndNote, will offer basic-intermediate training on building a library and using Word with EndNote. All members of the MIT community are welcome to attend one or both sessions, and no sign up is necessary.

2:00-3:30: Building an EndNote Library

3:45-5:00: Using EndNote in Word

Training will be held in the Libraries’ Digital Instruction Resource Center (DIRC), in 14N-132. If you have EndNote installed on a laptop, you’re welcome to bring it and follow along. If you’re already an EndNote user, feel free to come with questions.

Questions? Contact cite-help@mit.edu.

If you’re unable to attend the training, you may want to check out our guide on EndNote at MIT, or the Overview of Bibliographic Software.

President’s Day Weekend Bookmobile

By on February 14, 2008

Bookmobile graphic

Come see, and check out, highlights from The Humanities Library‘s book and DVD collections, and The Lewis Music Library‘s music collections.  Items have been selected in honor of the upcoming President’s Day holiday.

Details:

  • Date: Friday February 15th, 2008
  • Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM
  • Where: Lobby 10
  • Cost: FREE!!!

Archives February exhibit: Boston’s Mayor Curley and MIT President Compton on snow removal methods, 1948

By on February 1, 2008

Snowflakes on black backgroundFor its February Object of the Month the Institute Archives and Special Collections focuses on snow removal, exhibiting a 1948 letter from Mayor James M. Curley to MIT President Karl T. Compton, and Compton’s reply. Curley communicates his concern about snow removal and possible spring floods, makes a few tentative suggestions on methods, and expresses his hope that Institute researchers will tackle the problem.

The letters exhibited are from the Records of the Office of the President, 1930-1959 (AC 4) which span the tenures of Karl T. Compton and James R. Killian, a period of enormous change at the Institute and in the world. The subjects documented in this rich collection range from MIT administrative history, through scientific research during World War II and the postwar period, to science policy. The records are available for research in the MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections, Building 14N-118, Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.