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Recent Posts

A Taste of the Past

By Victoria Jones, University Archivist(Two pages from Kochrecepte, a hand-written German cookbook) November is the perfect month to highlight historic cookbooks! With the holiday season on the horizon, you can get some food inspiration from the past by trying out cozy and comforting recipes that have stood the test of time. Some people may be surprised to learn that University Archives and Special Collections houses a selection of vintage and historic cookbooks within our Rare Book collection. But it’s true! In the same way that we keep and preserve rare books related to Southwest Florida history, we also keep and preserve cookbooks. Why Keep Cookbooks? While it may seem unusual for us to collect cookbooks, there is a reason! Historic cookbooks can serve as small, delicious time capsules. They highlight the way that agriculture and our relationship with food has changed in a particular area based on the ingredients within the recipe. Vintage cookbooks can also tell the story of technological innovation by documenting the introduction and accessibility to tools like electric stoves, hand mixers and even air fryers. A lot about a community can be understood from what food its members eat, how they eat, and when they eat it. Try Some Vintage Recipes (Cover of Evelyn Luettich Horne’s community cookbook, published by the Estero Historical Society) Below are two traditional recipes from Evelyn Luettich Horne. Born on Mound Key in 1922, Evelyn grew up in Lee County. Her grandmother was a member of the Koreshan Unity, and she lived through and saw the rapid changes to Southwest Florida before her death in 2007. Be sure to let us know if you try one and what you think of it. You can also visit University Archives and Special Collections on the third floor of the Wilson G. Bradshaw Library for more historic cookbooks and vintage recipes! Sauerkraut Casserole This older recipe calls for ingredients that are to be provided in “No. 2” cans. A No. 2 can would contain about 2 ½ cups. 1 No. 2 can sauerkraut 1 No. 2 can apple slices, undrained ½ cup brown sugar, packed 2 tablespoons vinegar ½ cup onion, chopped 1 stick butter Topping: Kielbasa, 2 lengths (about 1 ½ pounds) ½ cup brown sugar, packed 2 teaspoons prepared mustard Instructions Combine sauerkraut and undrained apples with brown sugar, vinegar, and onion. Dot with butter. Lay Kielbasa on top and cover with brown sugar and mustard. Bake uncovered at 400 for 40 minutes. Serves 6. (The Sisters' First Table from the Koreshan Unity Collection) Perfect Pecan Pie 3 eggs 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup melted butter ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup light corn syrup 1 cup pecans, shelled and halved (or chopped) Instructions Beat together all ingredients except the pecans with a hand mixer. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake at 375 for 40 – 45 minutes until set. ...

FGCU Librarians would like to hear your thoughts on AI!

On Monday, Nov. 18 (students), and Thursday, Nov. 21(faculty and staff) from 11 a.m. - noon, we will be hosting virtual town hall meetings that will discuss the ways AI is being used. We’re using this forum to understand what AI is being used for, what people's feelings are about it and what training needs to be done on campus. The information we gather will guide us in establishing future training and discussion opportunities. To inform our discussion, please consider taking the time to fill out the following brief survey: SURVEY. Please register on the library’s website (CLICK HERE). We hope you participate in this discussion, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts! ...

Visit the Photo Booth for Quick Pics!

The photo booth located across from Starbucks in Library East allows users to take passport photos, visa photos, portraits and more all at a low cost. Provided by Passport Photo Booth and DNP Photo Imaging, the photobooth is quick, easy and convenient. After users enter the photo booth and close the curtain for privacy, instructions for each specific photo are provided on the screen in front of them. Retakes are unlimited to ensure that users select a photo they are satisfied with. Payment occurs only after a photo is selected to be printed. All major credit cards, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay and tap-to-pay, are accepted. Users also have the option of purchasing a digital copy of their photo at the time of checkout. Passport and visa photos cost $12.99, portraits cost $5, printing photos from a phone cost 50 cents a piece, and fun photos such as photo strips and cards cost $5. Say goodbye to your trip to the pharmacy or office store and pose, pay and print at the FGCU Library! ...

Halloween Highlights from the Archives

By Emily Murray, Archives CoordinatorCelebrate my personal favorite holiday with me and check out some Halloween highlights from the University Archives and Special Collections! These photographs offer glimpses into decades of festive celebrations, creative costumes, and campus memories! Young children in Halloween costumes from the Lee County Black History Society Collection. The collection consists of photographs, news articles, and various high school memorabilia commemorating Black history in Lee County. The items were digitized as part of the partnership between the FGCU University Archives and Special Collections and the Lee County Black Historical Society. Physical materials included in the Lee County Black History Society digital collection can be found at the Lee County Black History Society, Fort Myers, FL. Charles Ray at a Halloween party with friends from the Charles A. Ray Photojournalism Collection. Photojournalist Charles Ray documented the drama of presidential campaigns, the passion of the civil rights movement, and the adventure and tragedy of NASA's race for space, our nation's growing pains, including the bloody clashes between police and journalists covering the civil rights protests of the 1960s and the tragic end of Camelot. A newspaper comic depicts trick-or-treaters with different types of candy/treats and two parents holding trash bags full of "roadside recyclables, trash and debris" from Doug MacGregor’s Southwest Florida Cartoon Collection. Doug MacGregor has been a cartoonist for over 40 years and has created cartoons for the Fort Myers News-Press from 1988 - 2011. The collection contains sketches spanning MacGregor's career with the Fort Myers News-Press. Volume 5, Issue 10 of Eagle News “Fright Night” article showing FGCU students in costume at Junkanoo’s published on November 3, 2006. Student newspaper from the Eagle News Collection, which contains digitized issues of The Eagle, Eagle News, and special editions including new student guides. Publication dates range from 2001 to 2020. Claude Rahn, Imogene Bubbett (Rahn), and Laurence Bubbet in costumes from the Koreshan Unity Collection. The Koreshan Unity Settlement was a faith-based group founded by Dr. Cyrus Teed, who later translated his name to the Hebrew version, Koresh. This collection consists of publications (notably The Flaming Sword and American Eagle), Koreshan Unity members’ records/personal papers, photographs, correspondence, sheet music, musical instruments, etc. The Koreshan State Park is open to the public and provides guided tours with volunteers and ranger staff. Dr. William R. Maples (1937-1997) was a prominent forensic anthropologist, specializing in bones, who oversaw the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. In addition to helping with local cases, he was often sought after by various institutions to assist with high-profile investigations across the globe. The Maples' Forensic Anthropology Collection includes images and documents pertaining to the Pizarro, Taylor, Merrick, and Romanov cases, as well as field notes, audio/visual material, and administrative records documenting Maples' career as a forensic anthropologist between 1960 and 1997. Zombie Fest: The End Is Near Poster from the Office of University Advancement Collection. The collection consists of documents, photographs, and ephemera regarding Advancement and Communications and Marketing between 1997 to 2020. ...

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