University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine | Page 14
THINGS
UW–Madison Archives
Preserves Important “Firsts”
on Campus
By David Null, University Archivist
Above:
Harry McCard pictured with
Mandolin Club, 1897
Right:
Mary Hinkson / Hinkson, late
1940s/S16295. All images courtesy
of UW–Madison Archives.
14 | LIBRARIES Fall 2015
Staff at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
Archives are often asked about firsts. Who
was the first African-American student? What
was the first Chicano Studies course? Who
was the first female Asian graduate student?
Questions like these are difficult to
answer, however. The problem can be one
of definition—e.g., does an 1890s student
from the Philippines with a Hispanic last
name count? Or, it’s simply a case of the data
never having existed. For many years the
University did not keep statistics on specific
groups, or if it did, it kept aggregate statistics
but not information on individual students.
And “firsts” are often something that most
people don’t think about, or think about
documenting, until well after the fact.
Early admissions papers at the University
did ask for students’ nationality, but not
their race. In later years the UW included a
question about race during the admissions
process, but did not keep much in the way
of statistics until the 1960s, making it very
difficult to identify specific students. For
example, several years ago, one researcher
spent a great deal of time going through
admissions papers from the late 19th and early
20th centuries to identify potentially Jewish
names, which he then verified through other
sources, for a publication on early Jewish life
in Madison.
All of these issues have made it challenging
for the University Archives to document
underrepresented populations on campus.
Fortunately, however, our department has an
Association of Research Libraries/Society of
American Archivists Mosaic fellow, Harvey
Long, turning his attention to this very
problem through the 2015–2016 academic
year. The ARL/SAA Mosaic program “promotes
much-needed diversification of the archives
and special collections professional workforce
by providing financial support, practical work
experience, mentoring, career placement
assistance, and leadership development to
emerging professionals from traditionally
underrepresented racial and ethnic minority
groups.”
Harvey graduated from Winston-Salem
State University in 2014 with a degree
in English and a minor in history. He is
currently enrolled as a graduate student in
the School of Library and Information Studies
and is considering pursuing a Ph.D. in history
or African-American studies. Beginning in
the fall of 2014, he spent ten hours per week
at the University Archives, and another ten
in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library/
Archives Division, working with Michael
Edmonds on the Summer of 1964 audiotape
collection.
For his first Archives project, Harvey
researched the history of African Americans
on campus. While the basic facts are
known—e.