May 15 - August 15, 2009

The exhibit displayed materials that reflect the political and cultural state of the world after the end of World War II. Call numbers or manuscript numbers have been listed where applicable. Topics include:

The Beginning of the Atomic Age, including:

UCSB Library’s Department of Special Collections has recently acquired the papers of author Lou Cannon, former White House correspondent and noted biographer of Ronald Reagan. He has also authored an extensive social history of the Rodney King beatings and the resultant 1992 Los Angeles riots.

"The Ronald Reagan and the Rodney King archives that are now housed in Special Collections at UC Santa Barbara represent my life's work, and I'm pleased they've found such a good home," said Cannon.

February 13 - April 10, 2009

Along with the UC Santa Barbara Library, Professor Harry Reese – of the Department of Art and the College of Creative Studies – and book artist Gunnar Kaldewey presented “Made in Germany,” recent artist books from five contemporary fine arts presses from Germany in an exhibit in Special Collections, 3rd floor, UCSB Library

December 1, 2008 - February 11, 2009

This year’s winter exhibit focused on the African American leaders of Santa Barbara and their legacy of activism for civic improvement, equity, and social justice. Their many decades of selfless dedication contributed to the betterment of Santa Barbara, lifting the quality of life for many of our citizens.

September 2008

Collector and author Darrel Baker and his wife Tina Arth gave the library a generous donation to acquire new cylinders for the library's Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project. The money will be used to purchase recordings that the library would otherwise not be able to acquire. Mr. Baker has had a long interest in early sound recordings, significantly recordings by Scottish entertainer Harry Lauder. With Larry F.

August 2008

This summer, the library was pleased to receive the papers of early 20th century American blackface entertainer Neil O'Brien, leader of "Neil O'Brien's Great American Minstrels," including scripts, music, set designs, photographs, posters, programs, sheet music, and financial documents.

Collection is currently being inventoried and processed. For more information, see the Performing Arts Department page on the collection.

July - October 2008

The collections highlighted in the exhibit were:

Adams [Fred] / Feraferia Collection (ARC Mss 27)

Barnes [Grover] Papers (CEMA 115) 

Bastin [Bruce] / Interstate Music Collection

May 2008

This May, UCSB Library acquired a portion of folklorist Bruce Bastin's record collection, consisting of 10,000 78rpm ethnic and folk recordings from Latin America and Europe. The collection also includes recordings in popular traditions, such as Argentine tangos. Bruce Bastin started Interstate Music in the 1970s to reissue important folk, jazz, country, blues, and ethnic recordings on LP. Over the years, he issued some 850 compilations on LP and CD, featuring music from The Americas and the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

April 15-June 30, 2008

This exhibit recognized some of the legendary music makers whose collections were established in CEMA. It traced the genesis and evolution of Chicano and Latino music through the past seventy years. The Bolero, the Mambo, the Corrido, Swing, Boogie, Tex/Mex - are all woven into the fabric of the Latino cultural heritage.

January 7- March 28, 2008

The exhibit highlights recent artist books published by Gunnar A. Kaldewey.