retreat

Summer Retreat at Colby College and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, July 21-22, 2005

Two dozen librarians gathered for a two-day program July 21-22 at Colby College Library Special Collections, Waterville, Maine, and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, in Skowhegan, Maine. Most participants stayed overnight at Colby College's Dana Hall between the two programs. Librarians, a few coming with their significant others, made the four to six hour drive from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, and were joined by librarians attending for one or both days from Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby colleges.

Colby College Special Collections

Introduction

Pat Burdick, Special Collections Librarian at Colby College, welcomed the group over refreshments, gave an overview of Special Collections and led a tour of the rooms comprising Special Collections. The program began in the Edwin Arlington Robinson Room (formerly known as the Treasure Room) of the Miller Library. Special Collections holds the papers of Maine natives such as Edwin Arlington Robinson and Sarah Orne Jewett. We next visited the Alfred King Chapman Room, home to the Colby College archives, dating from the founding of the college in 1813, to the present. Finally, we toured the John and Catherine Healy Memorial Room, containing a collection of works from the Irish Literary Renaissance (1880-1940).This endowed collection was donated by James Augustine Healy. Healy also donated the Connolly Collection. James Brendan Connolly was an Irish American author of sea stories, novels, and nonfiction, as well as a medal-winner in the 1896 Athens Olympics.

Portraits of Colby Women

Maggie Libby, Visual Resources and Manuscripts Librarian, spoke about her recent exhibit, “Where are the Women, Portraits of Colby Women, 1875 – 1904.” As a student and later as an employee of Colby College, Ms. Libby had never seen images of Colby women on campus, despite the fact that two dorms are named after early alumnae. Ms. Libby conducted research on the women and in some cases came across empty or near empty files (often in contrast to the files of male siblings of the female students). She showed slides of portraits she had done of early Colby alumnae, including Marion Thompson Osborne, class of 1900, and daughter of janitor and freed black slave Sam Osborne; Mary Caffrey Low, the first woman to attend Colby College in 1871; and Louise Helen Coburn, who later became the first woman Trustee at Colby College. Lizzie Gorham Hoag, who entered in 1873, wrote an ode to Sigma Kappa sorority (a national sorority founded on the Colby College campus); her portrait includes a song sheet. To read more about this exhibit, see Colby Women Brought to Life Through Art.

Mary Ellen Chase

Karen Gillum, who holds positions in Special Collections and Technical Services, spoke about Mary Ellen Chase (1887-1973), who was a writer, scholar, and educator, born in Blue Hill, Maine. Chase taught in rural Maine schools while pursuing a degree at the University of Maine. Recipient of an honorary degree from Colby (and a PhD at the University of Minnesota), Chase donated her manuscripts, letters, books, and diaries to Colby College. In 1978, Chase's sister-in-law used the collection for a biography of Mary Ellen, and donated the results of her research (including photocopies of materials obtained at Colby and elsewhere) to Colby College. The book, Feminist Convert: A Portrait of Mary Ellen Chase, is heavy on quotations. Chase, who taught at Smith College for thirty years, wrote children's books, novels, literary criticism, biblical studies, essays, and textbooks. Chase wrote of economic changes in Maine from the mid 19th century through the early 20th century, describing the changing from the shipping trade to a fishing economy. Ms. Gillum found Chase to have enthusiasm for everything and enjoyed reading her works as well as her letters and diaries. Karen Gillum especially recommends Edge of Darkness (1957).

There was a brief break, during which library staff conducted tours of the Miller Library, and attendees enjoyed a refreshments in the Miller Library Presidents' Room.

Using the Healy Collection

Jennifer Thorn, Assistant Professor of English at Colby College, has a background in 18th century British literature and culture and Anglo Irish fiction. She talked about her use of the Healy Collection in her courses. She includes non-anthologized woman writers in the Healy Collection on her syllabus so that students use sources not found in traditional anthologies and coursepacks. Instead of pre-sorted and packaged materials, students read original 100 year old play reviews from the Healy newspaper clipping files and used other original sources from the Healy collection in their papers. Her courses include Anglo Irish Women Writers and Modern Irish Drama. In the future she would like to offer courses on Irish Women, Yeats and his Circle (including women) and Bastardy in Irish Literature. Thorn handed out a list of books and an excerpt from September, Chapter 1 of Emily Lawless' Grania, the Story of an Island about children and women in Aran Island literature. Professor Thorn says that the Healy Collection is central to giving her ideas for courses: immigration, labor studies, illegitimacy. The Healy Collection includes important works by these Irish women writers, some celebrated, some less well-known:

Elizabeth Bowen	Ethel Mannin
Maria Edgeworth	Alice Milligan
Maude Gonne	Kate O'Brien
Lady Gregory	Dora Shorter
Nora Hoult	Edith Somerville and Martin Ross
Mary Lavin	Katherine Tynan
Emily Lawless	Elizabeth Yeats

Professor Thorn's suggested readings on Irish women's history and literature are listed below:

The Irish Women's History Reader, ed. by Alan Hayes and Diane Urquhart (Routledge, 2000). Focuses on: women since 1800.
German website (in English): Changing Women's Lives in Ireland by Goretti Horgan (2001). includes sections: on "Family and Famine," "Convent, Emigration, and Permanent Celibacy," "Sex and Childbearing," "Magdalene Laundries and Industrial Schools," "Health and Education," "Resistance," "Backlash," "The Femininization of the Workforce," and "Wages, Childcare, and Abortion."
Wild Irish Women: Extraordinary Lives from History, by Marian Broderick (University of Wisconsin Press,: 2004).
Whoredom in Kimmage: Irish Women Coming of Age, by Rosemary Mahoney (Anchor, 1994).
Territories of the Voice: Contemporary Short Stories by Irish Women Writers, ed. by Kathleen Walsh: D'Arcy, Louise DeSalvo, and Katherine Hogan (Beacon Press, 1989).
Pillars of the House: An Anthology of Verse by Irish Women from 1690 to the Present, ed. by A.A. Kelly: (Wolfhound, 1997).
The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poetry, 1967-2000, ed. Peggy O'Brien (Wake Forest University: Press, 1999).
Changing Ireland: Strategies in Contemporary Women's Fiction, by Christine St. Peter (Palgrave, 2000).
Representing Ireland: Gender, Class, Nationality, by Susan Shaw Sailer (University Press of Florida, 1997).

Professor Thorn and Special Collections Librarian Pat Burdick created the Healey Prize this year, an essay competition with a cash prize for the best academic paper on an Irish subject. The prize encourages the use of the Healy Collection.

Following the program, attendees got settled in their housing at Dana Hall, caught up on their recreational reading, visited the Colby College Museum of Art or the Colby College bookstore, went to a film at the Maine International Film Festival, or joined colleagues for dinner. In the morning, sleepy-eyed librarians trickled into the Dana Hall dining commons for a buffet style breakfast before setting off for Skowhegan for the second day of the retreat.

Margaret Chase Smith Library

The Northwood University Margaret Chase Smith Library, in Skowhegan, some 22 miles from Colby College, was the location of the second day of the Women's Studies Interest Group. "The Northwood University Margaret Chase Smith Library is an archive, museum, educational facility, and public policy center devoted to preserving the legacy of Margaret Chase Smith, promoting research into twentieth-century political history, advancing the ideals of public service, and exploring issues of civic engagement. The library houses the political papers, documents, honors, photographs, and memorabilia stemming from the thirty-two year congressional career of former United States Senator Margaret Chase Smith." Overlooking the Kennebec River, the MCS Library adjoins Senator Smith's home, which she designed and built in 1948. The library was dedicated in 1982 and opened the following year. The library serves as a museum as well. On display are personal and political memorabilia and artifacts (including her home, furnished as she left it), hoods from Senator Smith's honorary degrees, and exhibits illustrating a timeline of Senator Smith's life and achievements.

Overview

We were warmly welcomed by Assistant Director David Richards. We gathered at 9:00 AM over refreshments in the Meeting Room,which also serves as a temporary display area. David gave us an overview of the Margaret Chase Smith Library and its functions.

*Museum

The Museum's 5,000 artifacts include Senator Smith's furnished home, personal belongings, political memorabilia, and more. The Museum maintains a rotating exhibit at the Margaret Chase Smith Gallery of the Dorothy "Bibby" Alfond Visitors Center of Good Will-Hinckley, a home and school for youth in nearby Hinckley, Maine.

*Library

The MCS Library is a Congressional research library documenting the life of Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995) and her 32+ years in the House and Senate. The more than 300,000 documents include correspondence, committee hearings, scrapbooks, speeches, press releases, photographs, Front Office Notes, and more. Constituent letters are a particularly rich resource,as are memos between staffers and the senator.

*Education

Senator Smith left Congress in 1973. From 1973 until her death in 1995, Senator Smith was committed to education and to the schoolchildren of Maine. Childless herself, and never able to attend college, Senator Smith sought to inspire young people to aspire and to serve as she did. She loved children, and enjoyed meeting Maine primary and secondary school student groups who visited her home and library. She always had a candy dish filled with M&Ms for her young visitors, and to this day, there is a filled candy dish in her living room. After her death, visitor statistics plummeted, and David Richards was hired to rebuild the education program and to give visitors a reason to come back to the Library. One of the components of education at the Margaret Chase Smith Library is service work, promoting Senator Smith's ideals of service. School and youth groups undertake service projects and are invited to the Library to talk about their service experiences. A field trip fund allows school children from all over Maine to continue to visit the Library.

*Public Policy

The final function of the MCS Library is Public Policy. The MCS Library holds Maine Town Meeting, an annual

program in which a theme is selected and speakers thrash out issues, in an effort to get Maine citizens involved in public affairs and service. There is at the University of Maine, Orono, the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, a completely separate entity, which does work jointly with the MCS Library on some issues.

We next watched a 20 minute biographical video entitled Margaret Chase Smith: The Voice of Maine, The Conscience of the Senate.

Congressional Papers

Dr, Gregory Gallant, Director, was our next speaker.He spoke about Congressional papers and their importance. Dr. Gallant began by noting that of the 11,752 individuals who have served in Congress, the papers of some 40% of those individuals have disappeared. Congress people in general have very little awareness of the importance of their papers (which remain the property of that individual).

In 1971 Senator Richard Russell, (D-Georgia) died, and his papers were taken by the GSA and gutted. Over a period of ten years the University of Georgia was able to reconstitute his papers. Richard Nixon attempted to gain a substantial tax break by donating his vice presidential papers; Congress said no. The Bicentennial in 1976 raised the awareness of presidential and Congressional papers. In 1974 the Freedom of Information Act had been passed over Gerald Ford's veto. Through the FOIA scholars could gain access to documents. Collections, such as the George Mitchell Papers and the Margaret Chase Smith Library served as a way to get around the FOIA.

The Senate Historical Office was founded in 1975 by Dr. Richard Baker. It is an uphill battle each election cycle, to bring about awareness of the importance of the documents of House and Senate members who are leaving office. In general, members of Congress make little provision for the arrangement of their papers. Even those who do donate their papers to an institution, rarely provide money for the accessioning and preservation of those papers. Recipient institutions are usually strapped for funds; well-off archives such as that of Senator John Heinz at Carnegie-Mellon University, are rare. (George Mitchell's papers did come with funding as well). Archivists are regarded as undertakers of a former politician's political career and it is not uncommon for papers of the former Congress person to be hidden away in garages and attics, or discarded. The Center for Legislative Archives (which was abolished by American Studies PhD Newt Gingrich), provided some grants to conserve Congressional papers; the MCS Library was a recipient of such funding.

The MCS Library works with other libraries and institutions through the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress. The ACSC "supports a wide range of programs designed to inform and educate students, scholars, policy-makers, and members of the general public on the history of Congress, legislative process, and current issues facing Congress. The ACSC encourages the preservation of material that documents the work of Congress, including the papers of representatives and senators, and supports programs that make those materials available for educational and research use." Repositories of Congressional archives are an important resource for scholars. In addition to documenting the work of the individual Senator or Representative, these collections mirror every aspect of American history and society, The MCS Library documents the Cold War, the Space Program, and even the life of Jimmy Stewart. Dr. Gallant noted that many of the Congressional archives in the state of Maine go underused.

Research Room

Angie Stockwell, Collection Specialist, came to the Margaret Chase Smith Library in March of 1983 to serve as Senator Smith's personal secretary. During the Senator's lifetime 95% of Stockwell's job was to take care of correspondence. The Senator received some 60 to 100 letters and cards a day and it was policy to always send a response (in Washington, these were mailed out the same day. Ms. Stockwell and Senator Smith did dictation and correspondence each morning seated in the wicker chairs in the atrium of the home.

Since the death of the Senator in 1995, Ms, Stockwell has been working in the archives with the 300,000 documents comprising the collection. Sen. Smith was a packrat who threw nothing away, although her House career has less documentation than her Senate career.

Types of Records

Records include original Front Office Notes. These records of who called, when, have been copied and put into 108 binders and have been cataloged up to 1957 so far. There are 532 scrapbooks (containing such items as newspaper clippings, White House invitations, and stationary). Scrapbooks have been microfilmed. but not the contents beyond the front page of the entire magazine in one scrapbook sleeve. Red books contain copies of all of Smith's speeches. There are audiotapes of interviews and videotapes of meetings with school groups.

Ms. Stockwell handed out packets containing an Application for Researchers, a Research Request intake form, Policies Governing Use of Library Materials, an alphabetical list of query topics (from Acheson, Dean to World War II, a sample query, and including Feminism, Film Classification, and Clothing/Attire), a list of Case Studies, copies of the Library's newsletter, lists of honorary degrees and awards, several postcards of the Senator and her home, a report of Research Activity in 2004 information on the Ada Leeke Research Fellowship (to conduct research at the MCS Library), and pamphlets reproducing Senator Smith's Declaration of Conscience, My Creed, and This I Believe. We also received a copy of 1994 Congressional Papers Conference: The Preservation, Use, and Accessibility of the Personal Papers of Members of Congress, Sponsored by Northwood University Margaret Chase Smith Library, September 16 & 17, 1994, Portland, Maine.

During two weeks of the summer in June and July, students from Northwood University come for one week and study case studies at the Margaret Chase Smith Library. These are segments of the Senator's career with sizeable material, such as the 1972 Election Campaign, or MCS and the Jimmy Stewart Controversy (she blocked his promotion to brigadier-general because he had not served the requisite Reserve time). These students use copies of case study materials to do 15-minute oral presentation, and then complete their papers back at Northwood University. A second group of Northwood students comes for ten weeks after Labor Day, receiving stipends, living in motels in the area while working with original documents at the Library and completing a paper.