According to the U.S. Greeting Card Association, approximately 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day one of the most popular card-sending holidays in the country. Continue reading “A Valentine’s Day Greeting”
Capturing and Preserving Engineering’s History
In 1950, Nathan M. Newmark began work on perhaps the most important project of his career—the design and construction of the earthquake-resistant Latino-Americana Tower in Mexico City. This was to be no ordinary building, however, given the difficulties of construction on the city’s unique geological strata prone to seismic activity. As Professor of Civil Engineering, Newmark had been at the University of Illinois since 1930, first as a student and then as a faculty member since 1937. Having a reputation as a brilliant researcher, Newmark’s expansive knowledge of structural engineering earned him many accolades. Shortly after the 43-story building was completed in 1957, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City. Amid the destruction, the Latino-Americana building remained standing and intact, “as a symbol of the value of painstaking attention to detail in aseismic design.”[1] Continue reading “Capturing and Preserving Engineering’s History”
Student Life, 1934
The Louis and Ruth Wright Papers span a mere .5 cubic feet in the Archives, but located within these personal papers are invaluable records of student life in the 1930s. Three amateur silent films give a glimpse of campus during the early Twentieth century.
Until recently, the only way to view these films was to visit the University Archives. Thanks to the Library’s media preservation office, they are now available to anyone with an internet connection.
Food is a Weapon of War
Food production in the United States in 1943 was approximately 32 percent larger than the annual production from 1935-39, the years preceding World War II. Despite labor shortages, inadequate amounts of new machinery and scarcities of other kinds, both farmers and ordinary citizens put forth effort to produce the food needed to meet the country’s need. Continue reading “Food is a Weapon of War”
Working for the University Archives
Hello, my name is Zaynaib Giwa but everyone calls me Ola for short. I just started my stint at the University Archives during the beginning of this fall semester. I was entrusted with the task of organizing and converting the University Board of Trustees (BOT) meetings into PDF/A documents.
Who are BOT? Continue reading “Working for the University Archives”