Fall commencement is fast approaching, and we sincerely congratulate the graduating class!
Pictured above are photographs from USF’s Spring commencement in 1973. It is absolutely amazing to see just how much USF has evolved in 45 years.
From the University
Archives, University of South Florida Libraries.Cecil Mackey
papers. (1973) Commencement – June 10,
1973. USF University Archives. Box 156, F24.
As we move towards finals week, we recognize the hardworking students of both past and present. Featured above is a 1961 Tampa Tribune article extolling the virtues of the dedicated and wholesome university students who had been overlooked for far too long. These studious individuals stood in grave contrast to the “small minority of hippies and extreme radicals” tainting the image of public education at that time.
November 2018 marks the centennial of the conclusion of World War I. Selections from silhouette artist Noel Wisdom’s collection showcase the artist’s wartime experience as a soldier in the British National Guard. Wisdom served on the French front lines for the duration of the conflict, where he collected inspiration for future sketches and works of art.
From the Noel Wisdom collection, University of South Florida Libraries.
Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago is celebrated as one of the great classics of Russian literature, although the tumultuous story behind the novel’s publication is equally intriguing. Pasternak’s work was banned by Soviet censors who believed it contained a critique of communism and the 1917 Revolution, prompting Pasternak to rely on a foreign network to smuggle out the novel for publication in Italy. Upon its release, the American CIA sought to exploit Soviet ideological reservations about the text as part of Cold War cultural warfare. The CIA printed Russian language editions of Doctor Zhivago to spread across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, intentionally subverting the desires of the Soviet government.
This unique dual Russian and Spanish language book, produced in Cuba, features poems from Doctor Zhivago, composed by the novel’s titular character. The moveable cover unfolds to reveal a portrait of Pasternak, as well as additional citation information.
Pasternak, Boris. Los Poemas de Yuri Zhivago [Stikhotvorenii͡a I͡Urii͡a Zhivago/Стихотворения Юрия Живаго]. Matanzas : Ediciones Vigia, 2001.
From the Tampa Cuban Collection, University of South Florida Libraries
# Doctor Zhivago #Russian literature #history #Cold War #literature
Cryptography—the practice of communication in encoded and secure language—has a long history of military application, which became especially prominent during the World Wars. Encryption and decryption of messages relies on cypher algorithms in order to produce and break codes. This process requires thorough knowledge of mathematics and both native and foreign language competency. This military handbook, published during World War I, details essential methodology for decoding enemy transmissions. The featured tables detail frequent code patterns, such as the substitution and transposition methods.
Hitt, Parker. Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers. Fort Leavenworth: Press of the Army Service Schools, 1916.
From the Memorial Collection, University of South Florida Libraries
#cryptography #history #World War I #military history
May 15th is World Nurse’s Day, which offers a perfect opportunity to showcase our Gordon Keller School of Nursing records. The training program was founded in 1910 and graduated several decades’ worth of nursing classes. Late, the program became affiliated with Hillsborough Community College and Tampa General Hospital.
Pictured is a photograph of the 1948 graduating class, a 1930s syringe, one version of the school’s uniform, a nurse’s cape from the 1950s, and assorted pins and dolls.
From the Gordon Keller School of Nursing records, University of South Florida Libraries
The RMS Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg the previous evening. Story of the Wreck and Sinking of the Titanic: the Ocean’s Greatest Disaster, published later in 1912, traces the history of the passenger liner, from construction to destruction. The 1912 maritime disaster marked the sinking of, what was at the time, the largest ship on water. This volume also remarks on the lives and deaths of crew members and passengers of the Titanic, the sinking of which resulted in over 1,500 casualties.
From the Children’s Literature Collection, University of South Florida Libraries
April 19, 2018, marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising—the largest Jewish revolt during World War II. This armed operation was coordinated by two Jewish resistance groups (Jewish Combat Organization and Jewish Military Union) and two Polish resistance groups (Home Army and People’s Guard) in protest of the Nazi’s plans to transport the remaining population of the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. Although the Nazis finally halted the uprising on May, 16, 1943, the uprising went on to influence similar revolts in Minsk and Treblinka.
These photographs from USF Special Collections’ Holocaust & Genocide Studies Collection provide a glimpse into the living and working conditions experienced by the occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto.
From Warsaw ghetto photographs, 1940-1943, University of South Florida Libraries
In November 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited Tampa. Four days after this photograph was taken, he was assassinated at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. This photograph forms part of the records of Sam Gibbons, who was serving in Congress at the time.
From the Sam Gibbons Collection, University of South Florida Libraries.
The Cold War period was one in which propaganda was widely
utilized by both sides of the ideological divide. The intersection of
purchasing power and political orientation was often a topic of public
information campaigns, as evidenced by this brochure. American consumers were
encouraged to boycott goods sourced from communist countries in an effort to
bolster the strength of American democracy. The Tampa Bay Area consumer, however, received no guidance in this particular brochure on which local stores stocked Communist imports.
From the Sam Gibbons collection, University of South Florida Libraries