On Friday, January 25, the Bank Street Library hosted the “Treasures From the Archives” Library Salon featuring a presentation by Bank Street’s archivist, Brett Dion followed by an audience discussion and sharing of memories.
Dion described the content of the archives, the cataloguing work that has been in progress since 2003, and the scope of future archival work.
After the presentation, the faculty, alumni, and students had the opportunity to view a collection of items pulled from the archives, including an invitation to the 1931 opening of Bank Street as the Cooperative School for Student Teachers and a s social studies reader called Farm and City, which was published in 1944 even when Bank Street’s the Little Golden Books series was delayed due to a wartime paper shortage. With these objects as inspiration, audience members shared personal recollections of their Bank Street experiences and included a former student’s description of her experiences with Lucy Sprague Mitchell while on the Long Trip in the 1930s.
“Brett’s job as archivist is to collect and document the history and evolution of the College so that it is accessible to all,” said Kristin Freda, Director of Library Services. “At this salon, Brett gave us a small peak into our past and laid out an ambitious plan for mapping future materials and digitizing our collections.”
Library Salons are a series of informal lectures and group discussions held after hours on Friday evenings and are open to the public.