Posted in Academic Life, Archives, Chemical Rhetoric, Uncategorized

A trip to the Harvard Archives

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Because the Schlesinger Library was under construction, I spent most of my time in the a temporary reading room located in Fay House, which–like the Schlesinger–is housed on Radcliffe Yard.

In mid-May I hopped a plane to Boston and made my way to Cambridge, MA to spend a week searching for archival documents concerning chemistry, women’s history, and reproductive health (not necessarily in that order).

Inside the temporary reading room with my cart of boxes. I spent my days taking photographs of the many different papers and artifacts held in these babies.
The view into the entrance of the reading room. Usually there were 2 to 3 other researchers there with me.
I worked in several other campus archives as well. To access the collections in this one I had to obtain an official Harvard library card, complete with photograph. So I’m basically a Harvard faculty member now, I think. 🙂
I enjoyed taking photos across campus in the rainy weather.
This was the delicious meal I was eating when I spotted Melia Obama walking by!
I took advantage of my quiet hotel room to read some great books and begin preparing for my upcoming trip to the University of Maryland for the RSA Institute seminar on Medical Rhetoric in the Archives . . . stay tuned for more about that adventure.