Irreverent? I sure am. No, I can’t be reverent to tradition when tradition represents those things that I am totally opposed to”

Margaret “Midge” Costanza was an outspoken feminist, activist, trailblazer, and native Rochesterian. Over the past few months, I have been processing the collection of her papers donated to us by her biographer Doreen Mattingly. The collection contains material spanning much of Costanza’s life, from her early political involvement in Rochester to her time in the White House and her work in California. 

      THE WORLD IS MY COUNTRY- TO DO GOOD IS MY RELIGION  - Isabella Beecher Hooker

Over the last few decades, the study of material culture has blossomed as a means to explore not only the evolution of specific technologies and their usage but also the histories of women, minorities, tradespeople, and others. Nineteenth century publishers’ bindings can be key to these studies: they are vital to researching the history of the book, the rise of literacy, the impact of technological change, the development of the decorative arts, and more. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, publishers’ bindings had become (as they remain) marketing tools.

Ruth T. Watanabe served as the head of the Eastman School of Music’s Sibley Library for thirty-seven years. During her time there, Watanabe devoted herself to expanding Sibley’s collections, developing and hiring staff, creating a rare books department, a conservation laboratory, and a reading room. As the head of the largest music library in the United States, Ruth T. Watanabe was integral to Sibley Library’s growth and success and remains an important figure in University of Rochester history to this day.

As one of the most well-known African American poets, Lucille Clifton’s large collection of work spans decades and countless topic. When reading through her works, political undercurrents clearly run through the poems, discussing the issues of race and gender that Clifton herself so often dealt with as a black woman during the civil rights movement.

Archives are an excellent place to find ghosts.

For Women's History Month, RBSCP is featuring the collection of Mollie Moon, a glittering, tireless spirit in civil rights and social justice history. 

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) is celebrating National Poetry Month in April by highlighting their collections on poetry and publishing houses, one of which is the papers of BOA Editions Limited. Founded in Rochester in 1976 by poet, editor, and translator Al Poulin, BOA is a non-profit publishing house that has published over 300 titles of poetry, poetry-in-translation, and short fiction.

See our fourth cohort of Zero-Cost Heroes (Est. March 2023)

Back in April, RBSCP's social media manager asked if anyone in the department knew any poems in the collections that they'd especially like to share for National Poetry Month.

I responded to the email so fast that if we'd been talking in person I might have jumped to my feet. Yes, I did know exactly the poem. It had been echoing in my head ever since I'd read it while processing gay community leader RJ Alcalá's materials. Actually, I had a picture of it on my phone. And yes, I would gladly write about it.