Creation of a Curatorial Plan for the RIT Archives: A Case Study of the Frans Wildenhain Ceramic Collection- Alexander Nacca, 2015

Abstract:

“Professionals in museums, archives, and libraries have a responsibility to maintain the quality of their collections so that the general public and scholars can enjoy and benefit from them. As such, any institution that holds, or displays objects for any period of time should have a curatorial plan in place that describes the necessary care, conservation, and preservation of those items. Without such a plan, museum professionals and their collections suffer. This thesis recognizes the importance of such documentation. In the absence of a curatorial care plan for the Wildenhain Ceramic Collection, I have created one. This collection is housed in the Wallace Center Archives at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Along with the curatorial care plan, a formalized method of condition reporting was created and implemented for the use in the collection. The Wildenhain Ceramic Collection consists of 330 pieces of contemporary ceramic work, from which a sample of forty pieces were used to assess the overall condition of the collection. After condition reporting and assessing the collection, I created a plan that provides an overview of the types of damage seen, ascribes possible causes, as well as makes recommendations on how to care for the collection. In addition, recommendations on storage and condition reporting are included.”

Link to: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/museumstudies/

Link to: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses/8852/

Link to: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10014&context=theses

Cultural Informatics 2019- RIT Archives Collaboration

The Stories They Tell 6

This exhibit, cultivated from the RIT Archive Collections and the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, seeks to share stories of the RIT community through documents, photographs, yearbooks, memorabilia, and other items. The exhibition is the product of a museum studies course Cultural Informatics (MUSE 359), which fosters an annual collaboration between the Museum Studies Program and the RIT Archives to curate from the collections.

Under the direction of Associate Professor Juilee Decker and Associate Archivist, Jody Sidlauskas, the following students created the display on view on the first and third floors of the Wallace Library: John Adil, Vanesa Chiodo, Neil Cooper, Koda Drake, Tyler Grobman, Tyler Hollinger, Katie Keegan, Taras Lozowy, Blaz Martinez, Rachel Sheehan, Felicia Swartzenberg, Matthew Vivelo, and Brian Zabawa.

Link to: https://ritarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/the-stories-they-tell-6

Cultural Informatics 2018- RIT Archives Collaboration #2

Story of SpiRIT

A project chronicling the efforts of RIT students in 1963 to acquire a living tiger to become the school’s beloved living mascot. Following the sales of “stock” certificates, the baby tiger was brought to campus and cared for by student handlers, as he became a fixture at all events requiring an extra dose of school spirit. Although RIT was only able to spend a short time with SpiRIT, he is permanently memorialized through a life- size bronze sculpture set along the Quarter Mile.

Link to: https://ritarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/spirit-tiger/story-spirit

Cultural Informatics 2018- RIT Archives Collaboration #1

The Stories They Tell 5

This exhibit, cultivated from the RIT Archive Collections and the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, seeks to share stories of the RIT community through documents, photographs, yearbooks, memorabilia, and other items. The exhibition is the product of a museum studies course Cultural Informatics (MUSE 359), which fosters an annual collaboration between the Museum Studies Program and the RIT Archives to curate from the collections. Under the direction of Associate Professor Juilee Decker and Associate Archivist, Jody Sidlauskas, the following students created the display on view in the Wallace Library: Alana Bourgeois, Grace Gallagher, Leah Green, Landyn Hatch, George Herde, Kayla Jackson, Laurie Jean-Francois, Brienna Johnson-Morris, Richa Khanolkar, Karla Mueller, Samantha Perricci, Jacob Pochron, and John Valentine.

Link to: https://ritarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/the-stories-they-tell-5

Cultural Informatics 2017- RIT Archives Collaboration

The Stories They Tell 4

This exhibit, cultivated from the RIT Archive Collections and the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, seeks to share stories of the RIT community through documents, photographs, yearbooks, memorabilia, and other items. The exhibition is the product of a museum studies course Cultural Informatics (MUSE 359), which fosters an annual collaboration between the Museum Studies Program and the RIT Archives to curate from the collections. Under the direction of Associate Professor Juilee Decker and Associate Archivist, Jody Sidlauskas, the following students created the display on view on the first floor of The Wallace Center: Taylor Carpenter, Amber DeStevens, Cameron Forbes, Linzie Fuechtmann, Kate MacLaren, and Patrick Toy. Each student researched, selected, and designed one of the exhibit cases you see here as part of the third such collaboration between Museum Studies and the Archives.

Link to: https://ritarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/the-stories-they-tell-4

Spirit of ’66

Spring 2016 marked the 50th anniversary of the graduation of RIT’s class of 1966. These photographs, clippings, and souvenirs call to mind the good times the class of ‘66 had and embody the Spirit of ‘66.

Link to site: https://library.rit.edu/archives/spirit-66

Operation Hi-Ball

It wasn’t a bird or a plane that Rochesterians were astounded to see flying above their heads on the morning of May 18, 1962. It was a 35 millimeter camera encased in a spherical capsule the size of a small beach ball that was kept aloft by three oversized helium balloons. But this wasn’t a secret government or military surveillance mission– rather a project by RIT photo science students including George Pittman and Mike Geissinger. Its codename? Operation Hi-Ball.

Link to site: https://library.rit.edu/archives/operation-hi-ball

Milton Pearson

In 1958, Milton Pearson was 24 years old, a Navy veteran, and a freshman in the Imaging Sciences program at RIT. Either from fiscal responsibility or an aspiration to later donate this collection to RIT, Pearson kept many of his receipts, bills, grade reports, loan documents, and GI Bill records from 1958-1963, of which a handful are on display. Today, these documents give us the unique opportunity to compare the costs and methods of payment for of college life then and now.

Link to site: https://library.rit.edu/archives/milton-pearson-0

Matt Hamill

Born deaf on October 5, 1976, Matthew Stanley “Matt” Hamill’s love of wrestling would begin in high school, when his step-father, Loveland High School head wrestling coach, Michael Rich, introduced him to the sport. After a standout high school career, he went on to attend Purdue University for one year before transferring to RIT in 1996. While at RIT he was a three-time All-American, a three-time New York State Champion, and a three-time RIT Invitational Champion, with a career record of 89-3. In 1998, he was named the National Deaf Athlete of the Year, and during his senior year he went the entire season without a loss.

After graduating from RIT in 1999, Hamill went on to earn a silver medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling and a gold medal in Freestyle Wrestling at the 2001 Summer Deaflympics. He followed these victories with a highly successful mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting career with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), during which he had 13 wins and eight losses, including the distinction of being the only man to ever defeat two-time UFC champion Jon Jones. He retired from the UFC in 2013, but returned to MMA fighting in 2014, this time under contract with the World Series of Fighting, from which he retired twice, once in 2014, and again in 2015. He has since fought for various independent promotions around the world.

In 2011, Hamill was immortalized in the biographical film “The Hammer,” which covered his early life and college wrestling career, and was filmed in and around Rochester and RIT. The film starred Russell Harvard, a deaf actor best known for his role in 2007’s “There Will Be Blood,” and premiered in RIT’s Clark Gym—the site of many of Hamill’s wrestling bouts—on January 30, 2012.

Link to site: https://library.rit.edu/archives/matt-hamill-0

June Johnson

In four years of fencing competition for the RIT women’s team, June Johnson never lost a dual match. Captain of the squad for three seasons (1955-1957), the outstanding foiler was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1957. Competing in the Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association, Johnson won the individual championship in 1957 and finished second in 1956. In the Amateur Fencers League of America, Johnson registered six firsts, one second and five thirds. During her career, the RIT women’s team went undefeated in dual meet competition. Johnson graduated from RIT in 1957 with a business degree in commerce and soon became engaged to Martin Siebach, a professor of electrical engineering at RIT. They married in 1958, went on to raise 13 children together, and by Johnson’s own admission, she never touched a fencing foil again. However, this did not mean that her achievements were forgotten. In 1974 she was inducted into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame.

Link to site: https://library.rit.edu/archives/june-johnson