Research Forum
On May 7, Stony Brook University Libraries hosted a Lightning Talk Research Forum. Library faculty presented briefly on their research and Selenay Aytac from Long Island University and Bruce Slutsky from New Jersey Institute of Technology led a discussion on their findings from “Published Librarian Research, 2008 through 2012: Analyses and Perspectives.”
From Special Collections & University Archives
1777 American Revolution-Long Island letter acquired
Special Collections has acquired a letter from December 1777 authored by Samuel Blachley Webb (1753-1807), an aide and secretary to George Washington. Days after this writing, Webb was captured by the British in Setauket and held for over three years. Blachley served during the Battle of Setauket (August 1777), the Battle of Long Island (August 1776), and crossed the Delaware with Washington during the Christmas day battle in 1776. He also wrote Washington’s order to distribute the Declaration of Independence and held the Bible on which Washington took his first oath of office.
Written two weeks before the Continental Army’s encampment at Valley Forge, Webb gives thanks in the letter dated December 5,1777, for his own winter supplies and discusses the failure, for want of troops, to take British-held Long Island. The attack had been delayed after Connecticut’s governor failed to replace troops sent to assist “General Washington” in Pennsylvania. Webb asks incredulously “are we with this handfull to offer Battle to three times our numbers – & they strongly intrenched” before laying out the unused battle plan and hints of future action.
Rare 1897 Map of Long Island acquired
A very rare, perhaps the first, dedicated road map of Long Island from the earliest days of the automobile has been acquired by Special Collections of the University Libraries. Published by Hyde & Company in June 1897, The Standard Road Map of Long Island documents Long Island’s roads at the dawn of the automobile age. Comprised of two sheets, it takes special account of the automobile, as it highlights in blue both major and well-made roads (“macadamized roads, well loamed boulevards and hard dirt roads”). The map includes secondary roads, trolley lines, railroads, and hotels. Barrier islands, including Fire Island, and marshy areas along the southern shore are also rendered with considerable precision. Stony Brook University Libraries has the largest collection of regional maps on Long Island.
Historic 1793 Document conserved
A historic letter regarding the Montauk Point Lighthouse, written in 1793 and housed in Special Collections of the University Libraries, has been conserved. In the letter, dated February 21, 1793, George Clinton, the first Governor of New York, writes to his friend Thomas Jefferson, who would later be elected as Vice President, about the transfer of land in Montauk, Long Island, New York to the United States of America. The Second United States Congress under president George Washington subsequently appropriated $20,000 on March 2, 1793 to build a lighthouse in Montauk.
The condition of the letter was fair when it was acquired. The medium was iron gall ink, which is acidic and can deteriorate paper. To stabilize and ensure its longevity, the document was cleaned, mended, humidified, flattened, and re-housed by the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia, one of the largest nonprofit conservation centers in the country.
Food and China’s Silk Road: Influences to and from the West
“Food and China’s Silk Road: Influences to and from the West,” a sold-out event co-sponsored by the University Libraries, was held Wednesday, May 6, in the Charles B. Wang Center. An engaged and enthused audience of students, faculty/staff, and community members gathered for a spirited lecture by historian Dr. Jacqueline M. Newman and a food tasting. Guests learned about the East-West cultural exchanges that occurred on the Silk Road through the medium of food, and sampled dishes prepared from recipes selected by Dr. Newman. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the annual cultural event.
Dr. Jacqueline M. Newman is professor emerita, Queens College, and the founder and editor of the award-winning magazine Flavor and Fortune, the first and only English-language quarterly about Chinese food and dietary culture. Dr. Newman has donated more than 4,000 Chinese cookbooks, culinary magazines, and related audio-visual materials to Special Collections, Stony Brook University Libraries. It is the largest collection of its type in the world. Dr. Newman has established an endowment for collection care and event programming.
