over the shoulder
A Home for History –––––––––––
by R O B E R T D U N K E L B E R G E R , U N I V E R S I T Y A R C H I V I S T On the third floor of the Harvey A. Andruss Library, radical labor and political organizations, including the through an archway of Tiffany stained glass, is the Communist Party USA, Socialist Workers Party and the Bloomsburg University Archives, the repository United Mine Workers, and the diary of Hessian officer entrusted with preserving and Johann Ewald dating from the maintaining the institution’s Revolutionary War. historical records and treasures. Among the more unusual Every yearbook and student items in the collection is a large newspaper ever published, marble stone, which members of nearly 50,000 images, films, the Class of 1874 inscribed with trophies, architectural bluetheir year of graduation and prints and maps can be found placed adjacent to BU’s original in the archives. Established in dormitory a year before it the early 1970s, the archives burned. Long forgotten, the contains the official records of stone sunk five feet into the offices and academic departground near the old Waller President Harvey Andruss, left, and Director of Development Boyd ments, personal papers of stuHall only to be uncovered in Buckingham inspect the Class of dents and alumni, and photo 1967 by workers excavating for 1874 stone in September 1967. albums, scrapbooks and homenew utility lines prior to the work assignments dating back more than a century. construction of Scranton Commons. Among the archives’ notable collections are materiOther one-of-a-kind items document the two als documenting alumni careers, including the political distinct careers of artist Ruth Hutton Ancker ’18. A service of Mark Schweiker ’75. Schweiker, who served fashion illustrator for Wanamaker’s department store as Pennsylvania’s governor and who later pursued a career as a freelance illustrator lieutenant governor, chose his and educator, Ancker shifted her focus mid-career alma mater’s archives as the from fashion to fine arts, exhibiting her sculptures in repository of photographs, videoNew York, Paris and Rome. The archives is home to tapes, press releases and artifacts her scrapbooks, photographs, books and research. from his tenure, which included Of local interest are 20,000 negatives from the the rescue of nine coal miners Bloomsburg Morning Press showing the university from Quecreek Mine in July 2002. and Columbia County from 1936 to 1958. Also housed But the Schweiker collection is in the archives are the programs, posters, production not the only political compilation. books and administrative files of the Bloomsburg Special collections available for Theatre Ensemble. Women’s fashion research include The Bloomsburg University Archives and Andruss from 1905 is more than a thouLibrary Special Collections contain a wealth of material illustrated in this pen and ink drawsand publications preserving the history at BU and beyond. To view ing by Ruth Hutton and newsletters of online collections, see www.bloomu.edu/library/Archives. Ancker ’18. 32
B L O O M S B U R G U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y LVA N I A