The Baltimore Camera Club: 130 Years of Photographic Education and Excellence 

Baltimore Camera Club trophy

Want to learn more about past activities of The Baltimore Camera Club? Have a look at the issues of the Baltimore Camera Club’s publication, Focal Point, dating from the late 1970s into the 1990s.  Or maybe you want to see the types of works that members produced -- well we have that too! The collection contains a number of member-created photographs, including prints by some of the their most famous members, like Edward Bafford and A. Aubrey Bodine, who was also a photographer at the Baltimore Sun for fifty years.

A. Aubrey Bodine self portrait

Feel free to grab a seat by the display of antique cameras in our reading room and spend some time exploring the long and interesting history of The Baltimore Camera Club.  Whether you want to bone up on your history before attending a meeting or just want to learn about the oldest photographic society in the nation, UMBC’s Special Collections department has something for you. 

RPM, Laverne L. Bodaire

More information about the Baltimore Camera Club’s meetings and current activities can be found on their website, www.baltimorecameraclub.org.

Written by former Special Collections Student Assistant Kathleen Foster

"The O'Donnell family papers consists primarily of letters and other documents written to and from the descendants of John O'Donnell (1749-1805) and his wife Sarah Chew Elliott O'Donnell (1768-1855). The most prolific writer among them was Columbus O'Donnell (1792-1873), the eldest surviving son of John and Sarah O'Donnell's sons, whose letters during and immediately after the Civil War provide a glimpse into the social attitudes and economic conditions surrounding that conflict."

Was your childhood filled with the tales of Alice in Virusland?  Ann the Anopheles Mosquito?  Huber the Tuber?  No?

In the early 20th century, long before WebMD and daytime television, it was a struggle to get the word out about public health risks in a way that was both attention-getting and informative.  Using illustrations provided a double advantage- it was an easy way to depict what could not easily be photographed, and it also played off the huge popularity of daily newspaper comic strips at the time.

The American Society for Microbiology Book Collection, part of Special Collections at the Albin O. Kuhn Library, provides several great examples of the innovative use of illustrations and humor to get across some very serious messages.  ASM Archivist Jeff Karr shared three such publications for us to highlight.

Alice in Virusland is a slim volume containing the transcript of an address given in 1938 by Paul F. Clark, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin and president of the Society of American Bacteriologists (the predecessor of the American Society for Microbiology).  Clark borrows heavily from Lewis Carroll’s original work, mimicking many of Carroll’s songs as well as his prose style, in order to lament the dangers of anti-vaccine sentiment.  The book is filled with fantastical illustrations of microbes and viruses in traditional Alice in Wonderland situations, dating from a time when no one was really sure what many of these things looked like.

Printed in 1943, This is Ann is about Ann the Anopheles Mosquito, and the ways in which she and her type spread the dread disease of Malaria.  Produced by the War Department, this helpful little booklet lets soldiers know how Ann operates, and how to avoid her, by sleeping under mosquito nets and making sure their bodies are covered at all times.  The booklet is filled with the uncredited, but distinctive, drawings of one Captain Ted Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss!  Additionally, it was written by Munro Leaf, author of Ferdinand the Bull.

While recovering from the effects of tuberculosis, Harry A. Wilmer, M.D. had quite a bit of time on his hands.  He filled his days by creating the character of Huber the Tuber, a tubercle bacilli who along with his friends, invade and infect Lungland.  Written in 1942 as World War II raged, Huber the Tuber: A Story of Tuberculosis features Wilmer’s Tubers as thinly disguised Nazis, including their leader, Nasty von Sputum.  For a medical doctor, Wilmer shows himself to be quite the talented illustrator, deftly combining medical drawings with cartoonish characters.

Although these three books are not exactly great works of literature,  they do provide a fantastic record of the early 20th century public education efforts of the medical establishment.  You can see them and more in person.  The American Society for Microbiology Book Collection is in the catalog.  You can also stop by the Special Collections Department to access them.  Special Collection is located inside of the Library Gallery, Monday-Friday from 1-4pm, and Thursdays from 1-8pm.  Other hours are available by appointment:  email speccoll@umbc.edu.  

This post was written by former Special Collections student assistant Steve Ammidown.

Related Resources 

American Society for Microbiology

This is Ann from the Navy Department Library

USDA digitized version of This is Ann

Alice in Virusland digitized

9 Things You May Not Know about Dr. Seuss

Want to read some Superman? Jonesing for some Archie? UMBC’s Special Collections department holds over 6,500 comic books! Featuring a variety of genres, from superhero comics to underground comix, this collection will have something for every comic book fan.

With so many comic books, navigating the collection can be a bit daunting. But don’t fret! Special Collections now has a new online comics guide to help you sort through the collection. Now it is easy to find a comic book that fits your interests, from superheroes, to romance, and horror.

You can check out the guide at http://lib.guides.umbc.edu/comics

You can also come to Special Collections to read any of these comics. Although the comics do not circulate (you have to read them in our department) the Special Collections staff will do their best to work with your schedule. Special Collections is open 1 to 4 Monday through Friday, with extended hours from 4 to 8 on Thursday nights, or you can request an appointment. To contact Special Collections, visit their website, email us (speccoll@umbc.edu) or call 410-455-2353.

This post was written by Special Collections Graduate Assistant Johanna Schein.

Please join us on Thursday May 3rd at 12:00 in the Library Gallery for a closing reception for our comics exhibit, "All Lurid, Unsavory, Gruesome Illustrations Shall Be Eliminated." Professor Arnold Blumberg (English) and exhibit Co-Curator, Steve Ammidown, will each give a talk about the exhibit as well as the history of comic book censorship.  Refreshments will be served. This is a great opportunity to see the exhibit before it closes on May 16th!