Nevada, 36th U.S. state

145 years ago, on October 31, 1864, Nevada became the 36th U.S. state.
Cultural heritage institutions of Nevada state contributed 14 digital collections to the Opening History aggregation:

Before Gaming . . . Celebrating Las Vegas’ Centennial, 1905-2005 collection,
Early Las Vegas collection,
Great Basin History of Medicine Photo Archives collection,
Historic Aerial Photos of Early Nevada collection,
Images of Lake Tahoe collection,
Just Passin’ Through: The Lincoln and Victory Highways in Nevada collection,
Nevada Agricultural Publications collection,
Nevada in Maps collection,
Nevada Test Site Oral History Project collection,
Sagebrush Vernacular: Architecture of Rural Nevada collection,
Showgirls Collection,
Southern Nevada and Las Vegas History in Maps collection,
Special Collections Photograph Collections, University of Nevada at Reno, and
University of Nevada, Reno, Campus Images collection.

This photograph, created in ca. 1865, courtesy of Images of Lake Tahoe collection, shows Swift’s Station, Carson and Lake Bigler Road, eastern summit of Sierra Nevada Mountains, in the region of Lake Tahoe. This lake is the largest alpine freshwater lake in North America, located in the Sierra Nevada mountains, along the border between Nevada and California, west of Carson City, Nevada.

Swift's Station, Carson and Lake Bigler Road, eastern summit of Sierra Nevada Mountains

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First IMLS DCC/Opening History digital collection on Flickr

We are happy to announce that IMLS DCC has joined Flickr! Our first set of photographs — from Flora (IL) Public Library’s Charles Overstreet Collection — has been uploaded to the photosharing portal as part of the Flickr Feasibility Study (pdf), an IMLS DCC initiative that began this summer with the goal of increasing the availability and exposure of the rare, historical photos in our collections. We will continue with regular uploads of photographs from a variety of collections, so keep checking our photostream; we welcome tags and comments.

The photograph below, included in our initial Flickr upload set, courtesy of the Charles Overstreet Collection, shows soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 252nd Field Artillery Battalion stationed in Marseille, France, in 1945, exploring the city.

Marseille, France

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Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th U.S. President, was born in New York City on October 27, 1858.

The photograph below, courtesy of Lake County Discovery Museum digital collection, part of a larger Digital Past collection, pictures Theodore Roosevelt seated on a platform with other officials during his visit to US Army’s mobilization, training, and administrative center of Fort Sheridan, in Illinois, during the World War I.

Theodore Roosevelt Visit to Fort Sheridan (1914?)

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Black Thursday and tuition payments

80 years ago, on October 24, 1929, the “Black Thursday” — the 1st day in series of stock market crashes on Wall Street — occurred. The Great Depression followed and spread worldwide, lasting until the outbreak of World War II.
Students often paid their tuition with produce, but during the Great Depression, even payment-in-kind became difficult. The photograph below, courtesy of History of Weber State University digital collection, shows student’s tuition payment to Weber State University, Utah.

Students Tuition Payment

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Dizzy Gillespie

American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993) was born on October 21, 1917, in Cheraw, South Carolina. Dizzy Gillespie became one of the major figures in the development of bebop and modern jazz. The portrait of Dizzy Gillespie below courtesy of Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection.

Dizzy Gillespie

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Alaska Day

On October 18, 1867, United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. This day is celebrated annually as Alaska Day.

Two men seated on shore in front of Russian Orthodox church, Unalaska, ca. 1899

The photograph above, courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, King County Snapshots digital collection, pictures Alaskan city Unalaska in 1899. On this photograph, two men are sitting on shore in front of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension of Christ built in 1825. Another photograph (below), courtesy of Western Waters Digital Library collection, pictures Russian and Eskimo kids in 1906 in Karluk, Alaska.

Russian and Native boys leaning up against a barabara, Karluk, Alaska, June 1906

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Yale University

Yale University was founded 308 years ago, on October 16, 1701, in Killingworth, Connecticut, under the name of Collegiate School of Connecticut. The school moved to New Haven in 1716. Two years later, the name was changed to Yale College to honor Elihu Yale, a philanthropist. In 1886, it became Yale University. The photograph below, courtesy of Connecticut History Online digital collection, shows how the room of Yale student looked in 1898.

Room of a Yale College student, New Haven (ca. 1898)

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Martin Luther King’s Nobel Peace Prize

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1961)

45 years ago, on October 14, 1964, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He donated the $54,000 in prize money to the civil rights movement.
On the photographic portrait above, courtesy of Utah State Historical Society Classified Photograph Collection, Martin Luther King is pictured 3 years before receiving the Nobel Prize, during his visit to Salt Lake City in January 1961.

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World Post Day

October 9 is celebrated as a World Post Day. On this day 135 years ago, in 1874, the Universal Postal Union was established in the Swiss Capital, Bern, as a result of the Treaty of Bern.

The purpose of the treaty was to unify disparate postal services and regulations so that international mail could be exchanged freely, for example between the two post offices featured on the photographs below. Photographs courtesy of Brigham Young University’s William Henry Jackson Collection and Connecticut History Online digital collection.

Post Station Schnirzhensky near Irkutsk, Russia (1890s)

Postal workers in front of the post office, Norwich, Connecticut (1900)

One of the digital collections recently added to the Opening History aggregation — Arizona Territorial Post Offices collection — entirely focuses on the history of postal service.

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Westinghouse

Famous American engineer and inventor George Westinghouse was born on October 6, 1846, in Central Bridge, New York. In 1886, George Westinghouse founded a Westinghouse Electric Company, which remains one of the major companies in U.S. industry. Production of household appliances, including washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc. has been among Westinghouse Company’s many areas of activity. One of the company’s early models of washing machines — Snowball — is featured on this 1913 photograph, courtesy of Utah State Historical Society, Shipler Photograph Collection:

Washing Machine, Westinghouse Electric Company (1913)

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