The History of Labor in Idaho

Minutes from the first meeting in 1890, From the Boise City Typographical Union Records

Labor Day receives much national attention, but what about the history of labor in Idaho? Special Collections and Archives has several collections that help document this history. 

Boise City Typographical Union Records: In 1890, there were three daily newspapers in Boise, at least two printing shops, and enough individual members of the International Typographical Union working in the city to form the nucleus of a union local. They applied to the ITU for a charter, which was granted in November 1890.

Morrison-Knudsen Company Labor Relations Records: Morrison-Knudsen (also known as M-K) was an engineering and construction firm founded in Boise in 1912. M-K is mostly known for their participation in the construction of the Hoover Dam, San Francisco Bay Bridge, Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center and 153 miles of the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.

Henry K. Doll Correspondence with the Banner Mining and Milling Company: 80 handwritten letters and a few printed documents received by Henry K. Doll between 1909 and 1923 relating to the operation of the Banner Mine, a silver mine in Silver City, Idaho, operated by the Banner Mining and Milling Company of Silver City and Boise.

Several politicians had involvement in labor relations, including U.S. Senator Len Jordan, Idaho Congressman Larry LaRocco, Governor Cecil Andrus, and U.S. Senator Frank Church. We also have collections about Idaho farmworkers, including the Idaho Farmworker Policy Research Project and Patricia K. Ourada Collection on Migrant Workers in Idaho.

For more information about Special Collections and Archives, please visit our website: http://library.boisestate.edu/Special/.

Cheryl Oestreicher,
Head, Special Collections and Archives

Library closed for Labor Day

Photo by Karen Horton 

The library will be closed Monday, September 2nd for Labor Day. Check our library hours page for a complete list of Fall semester hours.

Curious about the Labor Day holiday? Check out FirstGov.gov for additional resources about this holiday.

Welcome to the library! Fall 2013 edition

Welcome to the Albertsons Library! Here are a few things to make your library visit a fun, research-rich experience:

• Bring your laptop or mobile device--the whole building is Wi-Fi enabled
• Access library resources from your portable device via our our mobile-friendly website
• There are over 110 computers with Microsoft Office 2010, Mac and PC laptops and notebooks for checkout
• Scanners, microform readers, and multiple BroncoPrint stations in the first and second floors--all wired to include wireless printing from your laptop
• Check out iPads at the Circulation desk, each with tons of helpful apps
• Need a mobile battery charger, plug-and-play headphones, calculators, or computer cables? We have them at the Circulation desk
• Need to charge your portable device? Find a charging station near Starbucks or on the 2nd floor
• Access thousands of articles from journals and magazines from the A-Z list of databases (most which are mobile-friendly, too.)
• A growing collection of streaming video and music databases on a wide range of subjects--watch online or on your portable device 
• Find an extensive list of subject guides via the library's LibGuides system
• A variety of digital collections from the university's Special Collections and Archives
• Check out the scholarly output of the university via ScholarWorks
• Access a growing eBook collection which you can read books online or download to your portable device
• A brand new media/collaboration room on the first floor, room L109C
• A tutoring room on the second floor, room L205 where you can get help from Advising and Academic Enhancement tutors and Learning Assistants
• Find library hours at our nifty calendar page at http://library.boisestate.edu/about/hours.php

We have more goodies in store for you so if you have questions about research, campus, or anything at all we’re available to help you via our reference chat, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Or you can text us your questions at (208) 546-9982.

Have a great semester!

8/19/13: World Photography Day

2012 World Photography Day submission by Am Renault

"World Photography Day is all about celebrating photography. Whether you see yourself as an Amateur, Hobbyist or Professional, August 19th is a day to embrace your love of photography." So says http://www.worldphotoday.org/ , and if you want to be part of over 4600 photographers who will post on its global online gallery, then head on over to the website and register.

If you find the perfect shot and want to add it to your presentation or paper, learn how to cite it by giving this library guide a shot: http://guides.boisestate.edu/imagesvideos. Here you will find MLA & APA citation style guides for pictures and moving images, as well as links to huge collections of online images and a nifty Google Image Search box. Go take a picture!

August is Water Quality Month

Photo by Oxfam International

The USDA's Water Quality Information Center has lots of great resources on water quality as it relates to agriculture. However, you can also find a variety of research information on the topic which has been produced right here at Boise State through Albertsons Library's ScholarWorks. For example:

• Venkataramana Sridhar (http://works.bepress.com/venkataramana_sridhar/) specializes in hydrology.

• On April 19 and 20, 2005, the Andrus Center for Public Policy and the Idaho Statesman convened a conference, entitled Troubled Water: Exploring Solutions for the Western Water Crisis, on the campus of Boise State University. Its purpose was to explore solutions for the Western water crisis. The conference was organized around the premise that in the 21st Century, water scarcity will reshape the West’s economy, growth, agriculture, environment, and recreation opportunities. In addition, access to clean water will be a global issue of huge importance.

• Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Ground Water from Municipal Lagoon Treatment is a Boise State thesis by Teresa Nicholas, Master of Science in Civil Engineering.

• Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference: Many students have completed projects on water quality.

Find out more about Scholar Works at http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/

Michelle Armstrong and Elizabeth Ramsey,

Librarians

Boise San Inazio Festival

Photo by Joel Mann

The San Inazio Festival begins this week in Boise. This annual event honors the patron saint of the Basques, St. Ignatius of Loyola, with dancers and musicians, picnics, and games of paleta goma. For information about the event, check out the Basque Center of Boise's website, or check out the full schedule of events at http://www.basquecenter.com/San_Inazio_schedule_2013.pdf

If you'll spend some time indoors (to get away from the heat!), the Albertsons Library maintains a Basque Studies library guide at http://guides.boisestate.edu/basque. Here you will find access to article databases, websites, news, and research resources related to the Basque culture in Boise and throughout the world.

Enjoy the festivities! 

New Exhibit: A Look at 40 Years of Special Collections, 1973-2013



A new exhibit in Special Collections & Archives explores the history of the department since its creation in 1973.

Originally a set of rare books kept in a wooden cabinet behind the library's circulation desk, Special Collections & Archives has grown to house more than 300 manuscript collections, the university archives, and a book collection of first editions and signed copies, on state and local history and by Idaho authors, and the oldest book housed by a public institutions in the state, 15th century Historia Scholastica.

A monumental event for Special Collections & Archives was the acquisition of the Frank Church collection in the 1980s. Originally at Stanford University, the collection was transferred to Boise State at the request of Church, a former Senator from Idaho.

The picture above shows the processing team in 1988 that worked to arrange the collection consisting of hundreds of boxes. The collection today has over 800 boxes making it the largest collection in Special Collections & Archives and also the one most frequently used. The exhibit also looks at the history of the library, going back to its beginnings when the university was founded in 1932. The library was first located in the college buildings in downtown Boise, then moved to the Administration building before receiving its own building in 1964.

The library at that time included a smoking room and a typing room where typewriters were available or students could bring in their own. The library was expanded and renamed Albertsons Library in 1995. As the 1965 library handbook states, “Ask questions then. It is the only way to acquire a real education. A good place to start asking questions is the library.” The exhibit will be up through December.

Julia Stringfellow,
Archivist/Librarian and Assistant Professor