A shining portion of feminist (recent) history is kept where you’d least expect it — in the back corner of the fourth floor of Kennedy Library, under lock and key, and separated into well kept, archival folders. Special Collections and…
Written by Ella Worley two months ago
Celebrating Women’s History Month with the Women’s Zine Collection
Written by Laura Sorvetti three months ago
The streets of Cal Poly: Take a historical walk
Cali Vance (HIST ’19) is an intern in Special Collections and Archives. During Winter Quarter she is researching Cal Poly history for the upcoming exhibit Building the Cal Poly Campus. This is the second in a series of blog posts in which she shares…
Written by Ella Worley four months ago
Comeback Construction
As a student assistant in Special Collections and Archives, I spend many hours a week scanning correspondence between architect Julia Morgan and client William Randolph Hearst, who wrote approximately 3,700 letters, telegrams, and drawings to each other between 1919 and 1945. I am…
Written by Laura Sorvetti five months ago
Picturing California: A Visual Tour Through the Golden State
Indigenous Californians were the state’s earliest image-makers. Their sacred, ancient rock art includes elaborate depictions of animals and human figures combined with symbols, patterns, and geometric shapes. These stunning markings in paint and chiseled rock are believed to be visual…
Written by Laura Sorvetti six months ago
Cal Poly Alumna Sophie Huchting Cubbison – Creating a Thanksgiving Tradition
This Thanksgiving, as you head down the busy grocery store aisles, keep an eye out for Mrs. Cubbison’s boxed dressings and stuffings. “Mrs. Cubbison” was indeed a real person–and a Cal Poly alumna. Long before women became regulars in the…
Written by Laura Sorvetti nine months ago
Preserving and Sharing President Warren J. Baker’s Legacy
Special Collections and Archives recently completed preparing several University Archives collections that are now available for research. Notably, the Office of the President, Warren J. Baker Collection, which includes approximately 32 linear feet of records and is one of the first…
Written by Jessica Holada two years ago
Cody Architecture Collection Featured in New Exhibit at A+D Museum in L.A.
Special Collections and Archives is delighted to announce the opening of the exhibition Fast Forward: The Architecture of William F. Cody, on display at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum in Downtown Los Angeles. This celebration of Cody’s legacy is long overdue, and…
Written by Alex Thomas two years ago
A Map to Other Days
Alex Thomas is a graduate (Congrats Class of 2016!) of the History Department. Over the past 3 years Alex worked as a Student Assistant in Special Collections and Archives. For his final project, we asked him to recap his senior…
Written by Jessica Holada two years ago
‘Learn By Doing’ Goes Digital
Kennedy, pictured second from right, with the El Mustang staff, 1941. LESSON ONE Creating a learning-by-doing polytechnic school like many a worthy project, may depend originally upon imagination and vision, but making it survive and prosper takes persuasion, persistence, and…