Walter Orr Roberts (1915-1990) was a renowned astrophysicist whose pioneering work on the sun's corona produced data on the sun's temperature, brightness and atomic makeup, and demonstrated the link between solar flares and weather patterns on Earth. In 1940, as a graduate student at Harvard University, Roberts moved to Colorado's...
The Roger G. Barry Archive at National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has over 50,000 photographs of glaciers. From glass plate negatives taken in 1890 to chromogenic prints taken in 2017. These documents allow for landscape and glacier observations giving scientists opportunities for discovery and analysis. It’s also a...
In 1911, the women of the University of Colorado had decided the time was right for a major campus building of their own, one with parlors, bedrooms, a dining room and a gymnasium. To raise money, the CU Women’s League planned a spring festival called the May Day Fete. A...
Silent Film is more popular now than it has been since before the invention of talkies, and the Front Range is one of the hottest parts of the country for celebrating the tremendous art and music of these treasured parts of cinematic history. We hope you had a chance to...
Yesterday was the anniversary of the national Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women. Pi Beta Phi was founded on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. The 12 founders had the vision to form the first secret society for women patterned after men’s groups at a time when...
Over the years since photography was invented in 1839, the generally accepted date of "practical photography, photographer have used any number of materials to fix an image from salt paper printing to modern day pixels. Many of these experiments have proven to be exceptionally challenging to preserve. Lachlan McLean, for...
Printed in 1555, this book was brought to the Preservation unit for a new enclosure, but, while here, we discovered a beautiful handwritten page in the middle of the binding. Talk about penmanship goals! It’s even more impressive when you consider that the book is only around 5” tall! Want...
This handwritten land deed from the 16th century came through the Preservation unit to have a new custom box created. The 1547 deed for parcels of land in England was sealed with a seal as big as our Conservator’s hand. Want a closer look? Materials like this are available to...
Japan’s relationship with the environment is not as harmonious as many may believe. For one, the island nation’s susceptibility to earthquakes and tsunamis has long set a backdrop for an adversarial relationship with nature. Simultaneously, man made disasters like Minamata disease (mercury poisoning) challenge the idea of a people living...
The CU Boulder Archives are part of a larger department, which includes CU's Special Collections and Preservation units. We work very closely with our wonderful colleagues in the other units and, as part of our ode to Preservation Week, will be featuring a few stories of projects between the units...
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