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Washington State University Libraries �� A Newsletter for the Friends of theecordRRThe

V O L U M E 5 9 , N O . 1 , FA L L 2 0 0 0

Arising from a sequenceof random, fortuitousevents, Manuscripts, Ar-chives, and Special Collec-tions (MASC) has recentlybegun to acquire the ar-chives of prominent re-gional artist-craftsmanHarold Balazs. Balazs iswhat the French wouldcall a bricoleur; that is, hemakes interesting objectsfrom heterogeneous mate-rials, in a profusion offormats, by commissionor spontaneously, on alarge and small scale, andin a variety of moods.

Balazs, who resides inMead, Washington withhis wife, Rosemary, embodies theperpetually youthful, intransigenthappiness of someone who is sin-cerely in love with creativity and theefflorescence of the senses. He hasbeen a longtime proponent of thelife of the mind and the imagination.Balazs is therefore that rarest ofindividuals: he is accomplished,

Libraries Acquire Harold Balazs Papers

productive, autonomous, and mod-estly self-sufficient.

Balazs is old-school: he is a “mak-er” of things and curios; his worksare largely public and communal; hisorientation is social and narrative.Thus, his work is shot through withcraftsmanship, mystery, and a curi-ous sense of gravitas, depending on

the particularities of timeand context.

Harold Balazs strivesfor playful adornment. Heobviously enjoys the rigorof aesthetic accomplish-ment. After a brief conver-sation and a charmingluncheon at his house, Iwas invited to examinesome droll sketchbooksdone up in the manner ofthe later Edward Gorey. Inthe course of our talk Ilearned that Balazs is alsoconversant with the workof Lewis Mumford.

Balazs is cursed with aninteresting surname. The1951 Chinook shows a

thumbnail black-and-white picture ofthe young Harold “Balaza.” Since hisgraduation from the State College ofWashington, Balazs has done numer-ous public and private commissions,served on arts and education coun-cils and commissions, and in generalmade a significant contribution tothe cultural scene in the PacificNorthwest and elsewhere.

MASC’s goal is eventually to ac-quire the essential portion of Bal-azs’s non-artifactual archive, chieflyin order to document his creativework over a period of more than 50years. Such a collection should berich in correspondence, miscellanea,and biographical records; hopefully,it will tell an interesting story abouthow this prolific maker of objects,this impresario of whims and whim-sy, engaged his place and time.

— Robert N. MatuozziManuscripts Librarian, MASC

Private financial support comes to theWSU Libraries in many ways and frommany friends of the University. Somedonors make unrestricted gifts that areused for the Libraries’ greatest needs.Others place their gift in an endowmentor make it a current-expenditure gift.You can also support the Librariesthrough a planned gift. This arrange-ment enables you to retain an interest in

your gift, such as the right to receiveincome from it, or to make the gift throughyour estate. The Office of Gift and EstatePlanning staff can help you sort throughthe options and decide on a gift plan thatbest suits your charitable interest andfinancial situation. For more informationabout planned giving to WSU Libraries,please call 1-800-448-2978 or e-mail<gift-planning@wsu.edu>.

PLANNED GIVING TO THE LIBRARY

“Broken Arrow” by Harold Balazs. Gift of Jack and CatherineMinko, is on display in the lobby of Holland New Library

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Dear Friends of the Libraries:Since assuming responsibility as

interim director of the WSU Librar-ies, I have been frequent-ly asked, “How are youholding up?” My answeris usually something like,“I think I’m doing ok.” Tobe honest, I’m honoredand excited to be able tofill this critical role.

Interesting and for-ward-looking things arehappening in the WSULibraries. Having joinedthe Big XII Plus libraryconsortium, we now havea stronger relationship with many ofthe leading research libraries in thecountry. In addition, the WashingtonCooperative Library Project andCASCADE, the public sector bacca-laureate catalogue, are creating acloser working relationship amongthe public university libraries inWashington.

The growing reliance on the appli-cation of technology in library ser-vices is of special interest to me.

Increases in the number of e-jour-nals and e-books, database availabili-ty, including the sharing of cata-

logues, and otherresources as with BigXII Plus and CASCADE,abound. As director ofinformation technologyat WSU, one of my rolesis to assure that net-work infrastructure,security, and supportare able to provide theresources required toenable the Libraries’expanding use of tech-nology. Serving as inter-

im director of the Libraries is givingme a firsthand opportunity to ob-serve and better understand theimportance of a strong relationshipbetween IT and the Libraries.

With a new president and provostand other administrative and organi-zational changes taking place, theseare exciting times at WSU! New vi-sion, new plans, renewed enthusi-asm, and a commitment to qualityare the early indications that WSU

The recent retirement of Universitypresident Sam Smith provides anoccasion to note the place of presi-dential records and files in the Uni-versity archives.

Many decades have passed sincethe files of a University presidentwere regarded as that person’s pa-pers, sent to the archives only uponthe president’s retirement. Instead,the University archives receives thefiles of the President’s Office on anon-going basis as part of the sched-uling process that involves allrecords kept at the University. At

Vision, Enthusiasm, and Commitment toQuality: Exciting Times at WSU

Mary Doyle

present the archives hold the centralcorrespondence files of the Presi-dent’s Office from 1892 through1992—from the administration ofGeorge Lilley through about themid-point of that of President Smith.

The President’ Office files are oneof the more heavily consulted seriesin the archives, with most inquiriesfocusing on the period before about1950. Recent inquiries involvedvarious biographical questions con-cerning former faculty membersand, interestingly, one of the earlybuilding contractors. Other recent

research involved the history ofradio broadcasting.

Inventories of most of the Presi-dent’s Office records have been pre-pared by the employees of Manu-scripts, Archives, and SpecialCollections. These provide the start-ing point for most research inquires.Inventories can now be examined viathe Internet. Check at<www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/>.

— Larry Stark, Assistant ArchivistMASC

will build on its strengths and in-crease its stature among the nation’sresearch universities. Paramount, ofcourse, in reaching these lofty goals,are the strength and vitality of theWSU Libraries.

While serving as interim director, Iwill be committed to working toincrease support for the Libraries—from both University and externalresources—to strengthen our allianc-es, to attract and retain the very bestfaculty and staff, to continue thegrowth of our electronic resources,and to secure the Libraries’ place asa visible center of excellence at WSU.

I’m looking forward to workingtoward these goals with the staff andfaculty of the Libraries, the manyfriends of the Libraries, and theUniversity community.

— Mary Doyle, Interim DirectorWSU Libraries

President’s Office Archives

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New Gifts Come to MASCBill Walter Photographic Collection,1900-1978.Donated by Oliver Walter, son ofthe late photographer, the collection,now stored in 33 boxes, contains theentire stock of negatives and printsfrom the Bill Walter Studio in Colfax.

There are many photographs of greatinterest to scholars and the generalpublic in the collection, includingharvest scenes, the 1948 Colfaxflood, Palouse aerials, dam construc-tion, and studio portraits of Colfaxresidents.

Prof. Paul Brians Contributes Under-ground Comix CollectionProf. Paul Brians, a noted authorityon comics in popular culture, madetwo donations of underground comicbooks and other political ephemera.The donations reflect concerns andviews not reported in the main-stream media and are, therefore,important sources for the study ofpopular culture. His gifts greatlyenhance and expand the HansonComix Collection in MASC. Prof.Brians also donated a rare first edi-tion (1650) of Richard Baxter’s TheSaints Everlasting Rest, printed inLondon by Robert White for ThomasUnderhill and Francis Tyton.

Richard Thompson Lithographs of theOregon TerritoryRichard Thompson, son of the lateWSU dean, donated a collection of 10lithographs of the Oregon Territorycreated by General Sir Henry JamesWarre. General Warre took part in an1845 expedition in connection withthe dispute over the northern borderof the United States. During his trip,he made the sketches from whichthis series of colored lithographswere taken. In 1848, the OregonTerritory still encompassed all of theland that now comprises Oregon andWashington.

These lithographs once decorateda meeting room in the AmericanForeign Service Association acrossthe street from the Department ofState. Thompson, a career diplomatwho grew up in Pullman, thoughtthat the collection, removed to stor-age after a remodel, should come tothe Northwest, where it would beappreciated.

— Compiled by Trevor James Bond,Special Collections Librarian,MASC

In Memoriam: John GuidoJohn Guido, who retired as the headof Manuscripts, Archives, and Spe-cial Collections in 1997, died August29, 2000. John came to Pullman withhis family in 1976 to head MASC. Hereceived degrees in history fromHofstra and from Columbia Universi-ty, and a Master of Library Sciencedegree from Rutgers University.

During John’s tenure at MASC, thelibrary unit underwent tremendousgrowth, both in quantity and quality.Through the assistance of the Uni-versity faculty, staff, and administra-tion, MASC’s growth reflects collec-tions in veterinary history, modernBritish literature, including theBloomsbury authors, small regionalpresses, Pacific Northwest history,photographs, and maps, and manyothers. During the Guido era, MASCreceived the Thomas Foley Papers,Westin Hotel Papers, Moldenhauer

Music Archives, PacificNorthwest Native Amer-ican Music Archive,Christensen HistoricalCollection of Seed andNursery Catalogues, theWildlife and OutdoorCollection, historicphotographic collectionof Hispanics in YakimaValley, and the HansenCollection of Comix andBeatles memorabilia.

No tribute would be completewithout mentioning John’s efforts inthe recovery and return of 300 rarebooks and 3,000 pages of manu-scripts that were stolen from theWSU Libraries by Stephen Blumbergin the 1980s.

John was the first editor of TheRecord, 1977 to 1994, and secretary

to the Friends of the Libraries duringthe same period. Among his manyhonors, he received the emeritusaward from the Northwest ArchivistInc.

Memorials may be sent to MASC, incare of the WSU Foundation.

John Guido (center) with former University detectiveSteve Huntsberry at the return of rare materials stolenfrom MASC.

An image from the Bill WalterPhotographic Collection.

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NOVEMBER 2000 211086

The Record is published three times a year by Washington State University, PO Box 645910, Pullman,Washington 99164-5910, for the WSU Libraries, PO Box 645610, Pullman, Washington 99164-5610.

Presidential Politics, 1824-1992:The Frank and Marty Mullen Political Memorabilia CollectionOctober 30 - December 30, 2000

friends andthrough their in-volvement in poli-tics—coordinatinglocal political cam-paigns for Con-gressman TomFoley and othersand attending the 1976Democratic Party convention. AfterFrank’s death in 1986, Marty didn’tcollect seriously but continued to

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Manuscripts, Archives, and SpecialCollectionsFrank and Marty Mullen begancollecting political campaign buttonsin 1970. Since Frank’s area of speciali-ty in political science was the Ameri-can presidency, the Mullens decidedto concentrate their collecting effortson presidential campaign items. Overthe next 16 years, they bought somebuttons, but mainly accumulatedpolitical items from family and

pick up items at local head-quarters and at the 1988Democratic Party convention.The collection, which hasbeen donated to the ThomasS. Foley Institute at WSU, is,in Marty’s words, “unfo-

cussed, idiosyncratic, and eclec-tic—just what one might expect

from two political junkies who werecollecting, not as an investment, butfor the sheer fun of it.”

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literaturedumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.”

—Barbara Tuchman(1912-1989), Historian

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