Dedication of University Archives Plaque

Speech Delivered at the Dedication of the University Archives Plaque, April 4, 1992 [Transcription appears exactly as worded in original typescript]

Thank you Gary and Anne...and Sandy and Joan.*

I am flattered by all this attention, grateful for your very generous words, and proud to have my name included on this plaque. It is especially rewarding to be able to share these few hours with family members, old and new friends, and respected colleagues in a place so appropriate for the occasion: The Traditional Reading Room.

As most of you have already noticed, I am the last in a long line of three Archivists whose combined tenure in office spans 34 years. Professor J. Orin Oliphant, the first in this line, was not appointed to office until 1956, 110 years after the founding of the University at Lewisburg in 1846. Professor Robert Gross, his successor, spent 17 years at his tasks, and I completed my term in a decade.

When I look at that list, it seems so final. Indeed, I feel something like that regal female passenger on board the Italian liner Andrea Doria. On the fatal night of Doria's collision with the Swedish ship Gripsholm, off Nantucket in 1956. The lady retired to her cabin and flicked a light switch. Suddenly there was a great crash, and grinding metal, and passengers and crew ran screaming through the passageways. Appalled by what she believed she had done, the lady burst from her cabin and loudly explained to the first person in sight that she must have accidentally set the ship's emergency brake. (Collision Course, A. Moscow, p. 85)

That's ridiculous, of course. I did accidentally trigger the alarm in archives several times and managed to cause some excitement among security officers, but I knew that our line into the light switch isn't of sufficient voltage to put a brake on Bucknell's history. Indeed, however you interpret the longevity of individual Archivists, or their many accomplishments, I am cheered by the fact that University Archives is handsomely ensconced in modern quarters on Lower Level one of this library and continues to be a valuable resource, not only for Bucknell but for this region.

The worth of the materials that make up its holdings will be calculated anew in coming years, but the efforts to preserve them and to make them accessible indicates something about the value now placed upon them. All of these materials are dated, but they never go out of date. They are time- specific, sometimes redundant, sometimes revealing, and always relevant. They contain evidence of change as well as continuity, of failure and accomplishment. To use them requires some interest in the history of this institution and the men and women who made that history. While it may have taken more than a century to formally recognize the need for Archives, much has been accomplished in the past four decades. One could even conclude that the Archivists and Historians listed on this plaque carried out their assignments with skill. I think they did, but many others eased their tasks and supported their efforts in a period of explosive growth at Bucknell.

In 1951, when the original Bertrand Library was dedicated, it was considered spacious. By 1971, President Charles Watts was seeking ways to address the needs for more library space. And, in 1986, when the library was expanded and rededicated, there was cheering for these spacious new quarters. Indeed, the growth of this splendid facility is a reflection of the growth of the university. And, as you might expect, the volume of records and materials on file and in storage has increased enormously. In fact, when the records were reviewed in a search for materials for the university Centennial observance, there were more records than anyone imagined. When the Bertrand Library opened in 1951 and the purpose of the library was expanded to include service to central Pennsylvania, more collections of personal papers and other materials began to accrue. But Harold Hayden, University Librarian from 1938 to 1965, found space for many of these on some library shelves, protecting them within a wire enclosure. He also enlisted the aid of Dean Emeritus Romeyn Rivenburg, who came from his home in Clifford to sit in a vault of Roberts Hall through some very hot and humid days during the summer of 1953 to make a valiant first effort at pruning out the trivial, identifying the valuable, and classifying the abundant records and materials that remained. When fire destroyed the Library Tower in 1960, the need to remodel provided an opportunity to change some uses of space and a room was made available to Archives. Now the records, manuscripts, letters, diaries, student publications, catalogues and some invaluable photographs and films had a place at Bucknell. Other materials were stored in the library vault, in nooks and crannies of the building and in a vault in Roberts Hall. Fortunately, a facility especially designed to provide a proper environment for the preservation of the valuable materials of Special Collections and Archives was incorporated into the addition to Bertrand Library. It was my good fortune to have been the University Archivist when all this occurred and to have worked with George Jenks and Ann de Klerk, both of whom helped to articulate the roles of the library and the Archives in this period of development.

As for those honored by this plaque, I realize that most of you are familiar with Professors Oliphant, Gross, and me. But let me say a few words about my fellow honorees.

Professor Robert Gross, a scrupulous scholar of English literature, strove to preserve the integrity of Archives during his long tenure in office. Beset by problems of space, he sought to clarify the definition of archival holdings and the role of the Archivist. His good work in a period of rapid growth and changing demands eased my labors when I succeeded him upon his retirement in 1981.

That is a brief sketch of Archives and those who directed the efforts to preserve the valuable materials that make up its reason for being. Since I will omit any reference to myself, let me close by telling you a story about my first day as an administrator. It occurred on Saturday, May 1, 1965, Inauguration Day for Charles H. Watts as President. About 8:00 A.M., I parked my car near the stadium and decided to take a long walk to Marts Hall where I was to meet Trennie Eisley. I ended up entering the Vaughan Literature Building on the South end, near what is now the C. Willard Smith Library. There I met two charming ladies who asked if I was a member of the faculty or staff. I confessed that I was an administrator, hoping they would never find out that this was my first day on the job. They informed me that they were members of the Class of 1919, and asked if I could join them in the library so that they could show something to me with which they were quite displeased. I followed them timidly, and they led me to the shelf containing the Loeb Classic Library. Selecting a volume near the middle and extracting it, one of the ladies raised the top of the book to her lips, blew vigorously, and spewed dust toward the other volumes. Then, looking sternly at me, she announced: "Dean Phillips would never have countenanced this!" Yes, she did say countenanced. And she did give me her name and that of her friend, which I wrote as the first entries in my little date book. And she extracted a promise that I would call this to the attention of the new President with her message at my first opportunity. I did just that, writing a memo on Sunday evening so that President Watts could address the problem immediately. Not for some weeks did I learn that she was distressed not by what I assumed was a lack of good housekeeping, but by the fact that this dust was evidence that none of these great books was being read.

That will not be the case in University Archives, for I know that Doris Dysinger would never permit dust to form on any article on the shelves. Indeed, I am confident that new interpretations of the historical development and the worth of the university will be forged from these old materials by future generations whose vision will be enhanced by those who had the wisdom to preserve the records of the past.

William B. Weist, Class of 1950 April 4, 1992

*President Gary Sojka
*Anne de Klerk, Director of Library and Information Services
*Sandy Sojka
*Joan D'Angelo, Administrator, President's Office