CSB/SJU Libraries

Happy first day of classes! Stop by Clemens or Alcuin for candy, free highlighters and to check out Clemens newly remodeled space!

Stressed about finals? Come to Alcuin and Clemens libraries on study day May 6th to visit therapy dogs and de-stress!

Spring is slow to arrive on the campuses in 2019, with few opportunities so far to get some sun. Not so in May 1962, when Bennies could lounge around on the roof of Teresa Hall!

There was great sadness at the destructive fire in Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral this week. Coincidentally, St. John’s first Chapel across Lake Sagatagan burned down this same week 116 years ago, on April 17, 1903.

Stella Maris was rebuilt 12 years later (right photo), and has graced the campus for 114 years—and counting.

Link: https://www.csbsju.edu/sju-archives/sjuhistory/sjubuildings/stellamarischapel.

"All Shook Up" is this weekend's production by the CSB/SJU Theater department. In April 1969, 50 years ago, it was "Alice in Wonderland":

…a selection that provided quite a contrast to a visiting theater production on campus. (More on that next Thursday!)

Links:
https://www.csbsju.edu/fine-arts/performances/csbsju-theater-all-shook-up

http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchNews/id/106/rec/5

Yesterday we had two great events for Money Smart Week. A big thank you to Chris Farrell and Louis Johnston for speaking at these events, and to everyone else that came!

This week the students and faculty of CSB/SJU shared a character from a book or movie that they would want to meet.

And that's a wrap on todays first event for Money Smart Week! Join us for our last event of the day featuring Money Smart for Students in Upper Alcuin starting at 3:30pm with Chris Farrell and Louis Johnston!

And the event is underway! Chris Farrell and Louis Johnston kick off Tuesday of Money Smart Week with a Q and A in Br. Willie's Pub!

Join Christopher John Farrell and Louis Johnston in Br. Willie's Pub and Alcuin Library at SJU TOMORROW for Money Smart Week!

Join Christopher John Farrell and Louis Johnston in Br. Willie's Pub and Alcuin Library at SJU on Tuesday, April 2nd for Money Smart Week!

The St. John’s Maple Syrup Festival is this Saturday, March 30! Here’s an historical photo of an earlier Maple Sugar Shack, one that burned down under mysterious circumstances in 1970. Then, as now, it took a lot of wood to boil down the sap into delicious, sweet syrup.

Links:https://www.csbsju.edu/outdooru/events/maplesyrupfestival
http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/SJUArchives/id/1322/rec/19

This week the students and faculty of CSB/SJU shared a song that would be on a soundtrack that represents their lives.

50 years ago, this photo of students touring Europe in a VW bus accompanied an article in the St. Ben’s student newspaper, The Torch:
The Torch March 17, 1969, p. 6

Link: http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchNews/id/243/rec/39

In fall 1969, 15 Bennies and 5 Johnnies were the first group of students to study abroad - in a Luxembourg castle!

Links: https://apps.csbsju.edu/csbarchives/TimeLineDetails.aspx?id=90
http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchNews/id/290

Learn about the beginnings of the CSB/SJU Study Abroad program by visiting the new display outside the SJU Archives in the basement of Alcuin Library.

Due to the warmer weather this week, the students and faculty of CSB/SJU shared their predictions for when they believe the snow will be melted.

Saint Patrick’s Day at St. John’s 100 years ago, in 1919:
“March 17. How did it happen? St. Patrick's Day a free day! Well, the boys had a holiday… and the proud wearers of the Shamrock made it one to be remembered. They displayed some of their fighting spirit early in the day already when they ‘cleaned up’ the Germans in a fast and hotly contested game of basketball by a score of 25-13.” The Record April 1919, p. 185.

Links: http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchNews/id/20157/rec/32
http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/SJUArchives/id/17031/rec/2

Two of the intramural basketball teams pictured in the 1919 yearbook, p.67:

Spring Break here is next week, when many students go on an “ABE” – “Alternative Break Experience.” The first spring break service trip of CSB/SJU students took place in 1964, when theology student Frank Cordaro recruited others to go along to Washington D.C. to witness for peace and serve meals at the Community for Creative Nonviolence soup kitchen.

This week, the students and faculty of CSB/SJU got creative and shared what T.V. show they would like to be a part of.

For this weeks student worker profile, we are highlighting student worker Elise Backer, who works as an Office Assistant for Alcuin.

Like February this year, the snow just kept piling up in March of 1965, and some students went to extremes to enjoy it. Paul Barrow ‘68’s swan dive into a snowbank by Mary Hall was featured on page 1 of the March 15 Record.

Link: http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchNews/id/33536)

For this weeks student worker profile, we are highlighting student worker Hannah Voigt, who works as an Alcuin shelver and for the Inter-library loan.

The February 1941 issue of CSB’s early newspaper, The Handshake, had this to say about St. Valentine’s Day.

Link: http://cdm.csbsju.edu/digital/collection/CSBArchives/id/1695/rec/1

Celebrate Valentine's Day with CSB/SJU Libraries on February 14th. There will be supplies to make crafts and cards for the ones you love and appreciate!

This week the students and faculty of CSB/SJU dreamt of seeing new places and shared a destination that they would like to travel to.

Many Minnesotans have heard of the Armistice Day Blizzard of November, 1940, affecting Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Nebraska with lots of snow, and temps that dropped by up to 50 degrees so rapidly that many, especially hunters, were caught unawares and perished.

But few know that Collegeville had that storm's record snowfall - almost 27 inches, recorded by Fr. Caspar at the St. John's weather station. Learn about it in the archivist’s "history lesson" pdf titled Snowstorms at Saint John’s.

Link: https://apps.csbsju.edu/sjuvignettes/

Despite this past weeks extremely cold temperatures, the students and faculty of CSB/SJU shared some of their favorite outdoor winter activities.

For this weeks student worker profile, we are highlighting student worker Patrick Beech, who works in the Media Center at Alcuin Library.

Last Thursday, Abby Peddle's art was featured in Clemens Library, where they had a reception and artists talks regarding her artistic growth throughout the years. Here are a few pictures of the event to follow-up on a great afternoon and truly inspiring pieces of art.

Abby Peddle is a sophomore chemistry and art major from Cloquet, Minnesota. “Finding Myself” is a refreshing culmination of her original 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works.

This show is a journey of Peddle’s artistic exploration and growth from her high school years to the present through drawings, pottery, and paintings.

The drawings are dark, mysterious, and expressive, and the paintings are vibrant and full of energy.

Each pot is exclusively crafted to be a functional, yet beautiful, work of art.

This exhibition will be located in Clemens Library at the College of St. Benedict, with a reception on Thursday, January 31st from 4:15-6:00PM.

Artist talks will be held at 4:30 and 5:30--there will also be snacks and refreshments. See you there!

Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil rights efforts were the topic of an April 2, 1965 (p. 2) column in the then-new CSB student newspaper, The Torch. Read about it and the students’ March 24, 1965 rally in the Archives’ digital newspapers collection.