Treasures of the CSU
San Jose Campus
Collections:
| Edwin Markham Papers | Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies |
John C. Gordon
Collection of Photography |
Martha Heasley
Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies |
Ted Sahl Archives |
John C. Gordon Collection of Photography
This collection, acquired several years ago from the heirs of Gordon, a local commercial photographer, consists of over ten thousand images of San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley in the early- to mid-twentieth century, long before "The Valley of Heart's Delight," as it was known at the time, was transformed from a largely agricultural area to the world-famous location known today as "Silicon Valley." Included are images, many of which are panoramic, of orchards in full blossom, hundreds of square miles of agricultural land, and both exterior and interior views of historical buildings in San Jose and valley communities.
Contact:
Steven D. Groth, Special Collection
Coordinator
408/924-2715
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Web Information:
More description at http://www.sjlibrary.org/research/special/special_coll/archival_sc.htm There are plans to do a collaborative digitization project and website, which will include images from this historical collection.
This collection, recently donated by Ted Sahl, an award-winning independent photojournalist, is a thorough and continuous documentation of the San Jose and Silicon Valley lesbian and gay community from approximately 1976 through 2001. The collection consists of over six thousand images, both print photographs and negatives, as well as newspapers, flyers, ephemera, realia, and over one hundred audiotape interviews with prominent members of the local gay community. The collection is believed to be unique in that one person (Sahl) has created an uninterrupted documentation of the modern gay rights movement in a local urban community, dating from the early post-Stonewall era when such coverage was almost nonexistent. Sahl was careful to photodocument all constituencies of the local gay community, including social as well as political events, and working-class men and women as well as celebrities.
Contact:
Steven D. Groth, Special Collection
Coordinator
408/924-2715
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Web Information:
Basic descriptions is available at http://www.sjlibrary.org/research/special/special_coll/archival_sc.htm
Included are papers, photographs, and a 1915 bust of perhaps the most famous graduate of the San Jose State Normal School, as the University was known in its earliest days. Markham (1852-1940), an 1874 graduate, was an internationally renowned poet of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, most famous for poetry that celebrated the virtues of the common man. Perhaps his two most famous poems were Lincoln, the Man of the People, and The Man with the Hoe ("How will it be with kingdoms and with kings!"), inspired by the 1862 painting of the same title by Jean Francois Millet.
Contact:
Steven D. Groth, Special Collection
Coordinator
408/924-2715
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Web Information:
None available at this time.
Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
The Center is the only institution in North American devoted solely to the life, works, and accomplishments of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and ha the largest collection of Beethoven materials outside of Europe.
Contact:
William Meredith, Director
OR Patricia Stroh, Curator
408/924-4590
Meredith@email.sjsu.edu
pstroh@email.sjsu.edu.
Web Information:
The Center for Beethoven Studies is found at http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/ provides all types of materials relating to Beethoven in books, articles, some of his hair and first and early editions of scores from the Center's collections. A searchable bibliography is at the Beethoven Bibliography Database. A complete inventory of materials is described at http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/description/description.html
Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies
San Jose has the largest Steinbeck archive in the world with over 30,000 items, including manuscripts, original letters, inscribed first editions, secondary works, film memorabilia, films, and photographs. The Center maintains a Card Catalog for non-book materials and an in-house database for the photograph collection. The Center also actively promotes Steinbeck studies through publications and events.
Contact:
Dr. Susan Shillinglaw, Director of the
Center for Steinbeck Studies
408/924-4588
shilling@email.sjsu.edu
Web Information:
This center has a web page at http://www2.sjsu.edu/steinbeck/
Last Update:
02/11/2005 03:08 PM -0800