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« August 2008 |
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| October 2008 »
September 2008 Archives
The DCA would like to welcome new and returning students to Tufts. The beginning of the academic year is always filled with excitement about the future. It is also fun to look to the past and think about how things were in days gone by.
Did you know that just prior to registration in 1938 a hurricane struck New England? Winds in Somerville topped 100 miles per hour, and 63 trees on the Tufts campus were uprooted. In this picture wind debris frames pre-registration students coming out of Goddard Chapel. You can read more about the hurricane of 1938 in our Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History.
Long before SIS (Tufts online registration system), registration used to take place in Cousens Gymnasium. Students could circulate in the gym and meet faculty who were there to sign them up for their classes. This might look enjoyable or chaotic, depending on your perspective. View more images of registration in our Digital Library
Check out the new exhibit, on display in the Tisch Library, highlighting Tufts Theater History, 1910s-1960s. The exhibit includes production photos, scripts, programs, and artifacts, as well as special features on Pen, Paint and Pretzels and on the Arena Theater.
The Tufts Arena Theater building was originally the Jackson College Gymnasium, constructed in 1909. Athletics and dramatics shared the space until 1948, when the Athletics Department vacated the Jackson College Gym upon completion of the Henry Clay Jackson Gymnasium.
The building was given to the Drama Department and became known as the Tufts Arena Theater. A condemned stage forced the department to use an innovative staging format where plays were performed on a raised oval in the middle of the gym floor. This setup was the first appearance of performances “in the round” in New England and was pioneered by Marston Balch, Professor of Dramatics at Tufts for thirty-seven years.
The Tufts Arena Theater was used until 1991, when it was demolished upon completion of the Aidekman Arts Center. Included in the plans for Aidekman was a new space for the Drama Department, the Balch Arena Theater, named for Professor Marston Balch.
For more information on Drama at Tufts, stop by the DCA on the Ground Floor of Tisch library and ask to see some of the great pictures and artifacts we have available. Information is also available on the Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History.
Special thanks to Laura Cutter and Lauren Miller for their work on this exhibit and their contributions to the text of this blog entry.
Now that the semester is underway for all of Tufts' schools we reach that time of the year when students may be looking for ideas for research papers and faculty may be seeking opportunities to have their students engage in primary source research. We're here to help!
In recent years, students have engaged in original research using DCA collections, including projects examining the history of environmental activism on the Tufts campus, an analysis of the Construction Site Crisis (read more in the Concise Encyclopedia), LGBT history, and women's education.
![[Somerville Police respond to protests at the construction site of Lewis Hall]](http://blogs.uit.tufts.edu/digitalcollectionsandarchives/police_construction.jpg)
But how do you get started? Contact us now to set up a research appointment with one of our archivists. We will be happy to meet with you and discuss your research ideas, help brainstorm sources, and get you on your way to a great original paper. For faculty, we will be happy to host your class (space permitting) for a visit to the archives or come to your classroom to show the opportunities available.
T.J. Anderson is a distinguished and influential composer who taught in the Department of Music at Tufts from 1972 to 1990. Anderson is now Austin Fletcher Professor of Music Emeritus, and he received an honorary Doctor of Music from Tufts in 2007.
Digital Collections and Archives is proud to have a collection of T.J. Anderson’s papers. Our collection includes biographical materials, personal papers, awards, posters, CDs, and most importantly, musical compositions--both scores and working notes written by Anderson.
Next week the Granoff Music Center will host “ Call and Response: A Festival of New Music Honoring T.J Anderson’s 80th Birthday.” If you are at Tufts for this event, why not stop by the Archives and check out the T.J. Anderson collection? Come see for yourself the works of this living legend and memorabilia of his accomplishments.
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