SLRC Treasures: Social Science & History Department

The State Library Resource Center’s Social Science and History Department contains a large variety of resources that can assist you with geographic, genealogical, and historical questions. We frequently work with customers attempting to find the village in which one or more of their ancestors were born. Sometimes, a village or town from the 19th century no longer exists and we need to look for it in older sources. For locations in Germany, Meyers’ Orts und Verkehrs Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs, a gazetteer published in 1912, is often helpful. Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas, published in 1906, provides detailed maps for various parts of Europe. Another gazetteer, Ritter’s Geographisch-Statistisches Lexikon, published in 1895, helps in identifying other geographic locales. Obviously, German language sources will be more oriented toward Germany, Austria, and other German-speaking countries.

What else can we offer to researchers? The Nouveau Dictionnaire de Geographie Universelle, a multi-volume source published in 1895, offers another approach to finding older towns and villages. Customers whose ancestors emigrated from the southern part of Italy might find Baedeker’s Southern Italy, a guidebook published in 1900 useful in familiarizing themselves with their ancestral homeland. Looking for a map of Charleston, South Carolina before the Civil War? Colton’s Atlas of the United States and Mexico from 1850 contains a nicely detailed street map. While we’re mentioning maps, don’t miss our digital exhibit of seventeenth and eighteenth century European maps. You’ll find colorful maps of various parts of Europe from 1629 through 1759.

Genealogists and historians aren’t the only audience for these types of resources. Aspiring authors of historical fiction need facts and authenticity to buttress their works. A writer needing to describe fin de siecle Vienna accurately would certainly benefit from perusing a 1900 edition of Baedeker’s Austria. One of the most interesting maps in our general Map Collection is the 1830 map of the former Kingdom of Poland. This huge map displays thousands of towns and cities as well as some topographic details. We have many other kinds of maps in our collection. A Guide to the General Map Collection will provide more information about our maps.

If you would like more information about our atlases, maps, and geographic resources, e-mail us through our Ask A Librarian service or contact the Social Science and History Department.

More SLRC Treasures: Sights & Sounds Department

The Sights and Sounds Department (SAS) just has so many treasures that we had to make it two blog entries! Learn more about the great hidden gems of SAS.

Frederick Wiseman Documentaries: Along with Ken Burns, “cinema verite” devotee Frederick Wiseman is considered one of today’s greatest living documentary filmmakers, but because Wiseman controls his own catalog and sells his films at prices (often several hundred dollars per title) beyond the budget of most institutions, few viewers get to see his critically acclaimed work. Thankfully, SLRC has purchased a number of his best titles over the years, including his groundbreaking Titicut Follies, High School, Hospital, Law and Order, and Near Death. The investment has paid off in terms of customer satisfaction, with the Baltimore City Paper honoring Pratt’s Wiseman collection as “Best of Baltimore” in 2005.

Annenberg/CPB Foreign Language Videos: Like Frederick Wiseman videos, these foreign language videos, funded by Annenberg/CPB (a non-profit dedicated to promoting innovation in schools), are prohibitively expensive for most institutions. But their “total immersion” approach (in which viewers are forced to listen, speak and read only in that foreign language) has been critically acclaimed. SLRC’s Annenberg/CPB series include Destinos (a 52-episode video instructional series for college and high school classrooms and adult learners that teaches speaking, listening, and comprehension skills in Spanish), French in Action (a 52-episode video series using professor Pierre Capretz’s immersion method to increase fluency in French, while introducing French culture), and Connect with English (a 50-episode video series designed to teach English as a second language to high school, college, and adult-aged foreign language speakers).

“Eyes on the Prize” Videos and DVDs: Though now readily available on DVD, this award-winning 14-hour documentary series about the American Civil Rights Movement – originally broadcast in 1987 as a PBS TV mini-series - was long out of circulation (due to copyright issues with its archival footage) until 2006. During those years, SLRC always had the complete historical series available for students and educators, who used it as an essential part of their curriculum. In addition to the original six-hour 1987 series Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, which covered the years 1954-1965, SLRC also owns the complete eight-hour video/DVD series Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads (1990), covering the period from 1965-1985.

SLRC Treasures: Sights & Sounds Department

The Sights & Sounds Department (SAS) of the Central Library/State Library Resource Center houses a collection of audio-visual materials reflecting the general scope of most Pratt subject areas. But there’s more to SAS than just popular and world music CDs, fiction audiobooks (on cassette tape and CD), and educational and popular movies on DVD and video. Some of its lesser-known gems include:

16mm Films: Did you know that SAS maintains a collection of over 2,100 16mm film titles, including many obscure and hard-to-find titles not available in other media formats? There is a concentration in the areas of independently produced films (including many Baltimore Film Festival entries), student films, film history, children's films, animation, experimental and avant-garde shorts, and documentary films. The collection also boasts an impressive number of feature films, including films from the silent era, Hollywood classics and a broad representation of world cinema. And because all of SAS’s 16mm films have "public performance rights" (meaning they can be shown at free public screenings without having to get clearance from the copyright owners), they are frequently used by local film curators, including Station North’s Windup Space, Hexagon/Magic Eye Cinema, and the 14K Cabaret’s Nineteen23 non-theatrical film series. (All 16mm films are stored in the third floor A/V Inspection Room; although this room is not open to the public, staff will bring films down to the Sights & Sounds Department upon patron request.)

Phonograph Records: Long considered a “dead medium” in the era of digital CDs, vinyl records are coming a comeback, with a growing number of popular musicians now releasing their works on 33 1/3 albums (with the vinyl version sometimes more expensive than the CD!). Although SAS no longers adds to its phonograph collection, it boasts an impressive collection of both musical and spoken word records, including many that have never been released on CD. Strengths include ‘50s and ‘60s jazz, obscure children’s records (including a number of hard-to-find titles by electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack), UNESCO’s renowned world/folk library, and its spoken word collection that features famous authors and poets reading their works, like the extremely rare H. L. Mencken Conversing with Donald Howe Kirkley (used copies of this out-of-print 1957 interview conducted by the Baltimore Sun’s Kirkley fetch up to $60 on eBay!). You can even hear world-famous mime Marcel Marceau speak (it’s true!) on his instruction record Marcel Marceau Speaks in English. (Like its 16mm film collection, records are stored in SAS’s third floor A/V Inspection Room; staff will bring records down to the Sights & Sounds Department upon request.)

More SAS treasures to be revealed next week!

SLRC Treasures: Fiction & Young Adult Department

What are some of the hidden treasures of SLRC in the Fiction and Young Adult Department?

With over 250,000 items, the Fiction Department has the largest collection of fiction in the state of Maryland and is one of the largest in the country. The retrospective collection has items dating back to the early 1900’s and is especially strong in American and English novels from the 1930’s on.

The Young Adult Collection spans young adult fiction from the 1940’s to the present. Many of these titles are long out of print and represent the history of young adult literature in the U.S.

SLRC Treasures: Maryland Department

What are some of the hidden treasures of SLRC in the Maryland Department?

There are many collections held in the Maryland Department that are not apparent when one searches the catalog. Since the 1930’s the Department’s staff has been collecting and organizing materials exclusive to Maryland. Some of the interesting collections include:

Maryland Telephone Directories: Phone books dating as far back as the World War I era for every county in the state. Many of these are quite brief but, in addition to telephone listings, contain interesting advertisements from local businesses.

Annual Reports: Business and non-profit organization reports for entities that are not included in the Pratt catalog. The date range of these reports is wide, but some date from the early 19th century.

Music and Theater Programs: Actually, two separate collections that include programs back to 1795. Some contain beautiful cover art and details of famous actors (e.g., Edwin Booth) who played in the area.

Photographs: More than 20,000 black-and-white photos from all over Maryland with emphasis on the Baltimore area. Particularly strong in the 1930’s. Many are available for reproduction. In addition, there are smaller, photographer based collections from A. Aubrey Bodine and M. Robert Rappaport.

Campaign Literature: A growing collection of election advertising in many shapes and sizes for Maryland state elections and national campaigns in Maryland. Material covers mid-19th century to date.

Yearbooks: High school and college yearbooks from educational intuitions in Maryland. Dates vary, but a current list is always available.

Postcards and Stereoscopic Views: Hundreds of postcards from places and points of interest from around the state- many with personal notes. Two hundred stereoscope views of Maryland sites.

Ephemera: Almost 6000 items of material that can be viewed as time sensitive, but provide a fascinating look at life in the past. Menus, programs, invitations, awards, posters, etc. from actual events. Useful for creating displays or exhibiting with other historical material.

Think about these collections as a supplement to other SLRC materials. Since most are composed of primary source documents, they are useful for students and make excellent display material-especially when mixed and matched!

Contact the staff of the Maryland Department to talk about access to these and other collections.