Special Collections and Archives blog

The fall semester is upon us! As students and faculty begin returning to campus, there’s an ambiance of excitement, apprehension, and hope that the upcoming year will be fruitful. For freshmen, it is the beginning of a new chapter of their lives. For seniors, it is the end of that chapter.

Katie Lee, who went by Kay in college, helps with costume design. Katie is in the forefront.

For the next installment of my work processing Katie Lee’s collection, I want to share some highlights of Katie’s attendance at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She graduated in 1943 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. In her collection are two University of Arizona yearbooks from 1941 and 1942. These are fun time capsules and provide insight into university life in the 1940’s, as well as the atmosphere surrounding World War II.

Katie is shown here as a peasant girl in “Don Juan.”

Highlights from the yearbook include the fashions of the year for men and women, sports, clubs, and extracurricular events. Katie is featured in the pages describing the Drama Department, where she is both assisting with plays and participating in them, and in the Wings Club, where she is pictured learning about airplanes.

Katie was part of Wings while at the University of Arizona where she learned about airplanes.

Katie Lee was born in 1919. She grew up in Tucson and attended the University of Arizona. After her career as an actress in Hollywood and a singer, she settled in Jerome, Arizona. Her deep love of Glen Canyon and the hatred of the dam there led her to become an avid advocate for its destruction. Katie continued to sing, write, and advocate into her older years. She passed away peacefully in 2017.

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of John Running, who died in the early morning hours of Sunday, January 7. John was an internationally-renowned commercial photographer in Flagstaff for several decades; along with his partner Sue Bennett, they helped to develop the local photography community, mentoring many individuals who would also go on to find success as professional photographers. Running was an alum of NAU, having graduated in 1969 with a degree in anthropology. Special Collections and Archives (SCA) began working with Running while creating the 2012 exhibit focused on the Flagstaff All-Indian Pow Wow, where his loaned images featured prominently. But it wasn’t until the following year, when Running expressed interest in donating his life’s work to SCA, that his relationship with Cline Library really grew. In Spring 2014, both his and Sue Bennett’s collections were donated, and an exhibit of his life and work installed in September of that year. Over the past few years, John became much more than a donor; he was an advocate; a collaborator; a mentor; and a friend. His voice was integral to our interpretation of Sue Bennett when creating her exhibit in 2017. He is very much missed by his friends, family, and all of us here at Cline Library. In addition to his exhibit, more can be learned about John Running by reviewing his finding guide and a selection of his images in the digital archives.

John Running and Jeri Ah-be Hill in Special Collections and Archives, 2015

Marble Canyon, Bridge of Sighs, Boaters. Photo Courtesy of Emery Kolb Collection.The Cline Library at Northern Arizona University invites applications for the 2018 Elizabeth M. and P.T. Reilly Internship.

The 2018 Reilly intern will work closely with Cline Library’s Special Collections and Archives staff to develop physical and virtual exhibits that celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Grand Canyon as a national park. The library is seeking a highly motivated and organized student to work in collaboration with Special Collections and Archives staff to develop the exhibits. The intern will draw on the vast and rich resources housed in the Cline Library Special Collections and Archives.

The Cline Library Special Collections and Archives contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau history in the world. The department has over 200 collections, containing millions of photographs, correspondence, journals, maps, films, and oral histories, that document the human and natural history of the Grand Canyon from a wide variety of perspectives from the 19^th century to the present. Collections of note include the collections of Emery Kolb, Plez Talmadge Reilly, Martin Litton, the Fred Harvey Company, William Wallace Bass, Bill Belknap, Edwin McKee, the Verkamp Family, and many others.

Tad Nichols, Red Wall Cavern. Photo Courtesy of PT Reilly Collection.

The library envisions the exhibit as a retrospective examination of the human and natural history of the Grand Canyon from the late 19^th century prior to it becoming a national park, to its designation as a national park in 1919 and the subsequent 100 years as a national park. We will be particularly focused on the areas of park administration, exploration, land use, tourism, politics, and economics within the above noted period.

Duties and Opportunities: The 2018 Reilly intern will assume primary responsibility for the virtual (web-based) exhibit.  The intern will also provide significant support for development of the physical exhibit, from its interpretive text to design and fabrication.

The internship offers the opportunity to gain practical experience in:

• Research
  • Synthesis of primary and published sources
• Exhibit Planning (team-based)
  • Storyline development and content interpretation
  • Web page design, creation, and digital storytelling
• Public speaking (presentation to library staff upon completion of the internship)

The Reilly intern will work 40 hours per week for ten consecutive weeks.  The successful candidate will select a ten-week block between May 14 – August 10, 2018.  The workweek schedule offers some flexibility.

Clouds over Grand Canyon. Photo Courtesy of Emery Kolb Collection.

Stipend and Housing:  $4,500 (no benefits included) total.  The Reilly intern will be paid in bi-weekly installments to reach the total of $4,500.  On-campus housing is subject to availability. For more information, please consult https://nau.edu/Residence-Life/Housing-Options/Summer-Housing/.  Renting a room in the community is also a possibility.  The successful candidate must be willing to relocate to Flagstaff for ten weeks and underwrite his or her own food, lodging, transportation to work, and parking.

Qualifications:  The preferred candidate will be a graduate student in information science or museum studies working toward a career in a library, museum, or archives setting. Graduate students should be currently part of a program with an anticipated completion date of August/September 2018 or later. Undergraduate (junior or senior)  students studying applied indigenous studies, geography, history, forestry, anthropology, parks and recreation management, or other appropriate area are also encouraged to apply.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities Required:

• Strong ability to write creatively while employing advanced research skills
• Demonstrated experience with web design
• Excellent communication skills
• Familiarity with video and audio software tools, HTML editing, and the Adobe Creative Suite products
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities Preferred:

• Knowledge of Colorado Plateau and Southwest history
• Understanding of photographic and print making processes
• Familiarity with archival practice

Application Deadline: February 28, 2018.  To apply, submit the following documents to:  Peter Runge, NAU Cline Library, Box 6022, Flagstaff, AZ  86011-6022:

• Letter of application addressing your qualifications, including hyperlinks to previous online exhibits you have created/designed
• Résumé or vita
• Copy of current transcript
• Names and contact information for three references

For more information, contact Peter Runge via email at peter.runge@nau.edu or phone at (928) 523-6502. The mission of Cline Library’s Special Collections and Archives Department is to collect, preserve, and make available archival materials that document the history and development of the Colorado Plateau.  Interdisciplinary in nature, the collections include 7 million manuscripts, 1 million photographs, 35,000 books, 2,000 maps, and 1,300 oral histories.  Learn more at http://archive.library.nau.edu.

Flagstaff is a city of 67,000 at the base of the San Francisco Peaks surrounded by the Coconino National Forest.  Approximately 80 miles from Grand Canyon and 140 miles from Phoenix, Flagstaff enjoys a four-season climate at an elevation of 7,000 feet.  NAU has a growing diverse student population and is committed to Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.