Previously unknown 16 mm film of Amelia Earhart donated to Purdue University Libraries

July 9th, 2015

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University Libraries’ Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center recently accepted the donation of an original 16 mm film showing Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra as they were being photographed by Albert Bresnik, Earhart’s official photographer.

Earhart, who was a Purdue career counselor and adviser to the Department of Aeronautics from 1935 to 1937, was recruited by then-President Edward Elliott, who was impressed by her spirit of adventure and her message to women. In April 1936 an Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research was created with the Purdue Research Foundation. The fund purchased the $80,000 Lockheed Electra that became known as Earhart’s flying laboratory. With navigator Fred Noonan, Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937, near the tiny Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean while attempting an around-the-world voyage.

The film was donated to Purdue by Douglas Westfall, owner and publisher at The Paragon Agency, which last month released a book, “Amelia Earhart’s Last Photo Shoot,” by Nicole Swinford.

According to Westfall, who acquired the film from John Bresnik Jr., the family believes the film footage was taken by Albert’s brother, John Bresnik. The film is unique in that it captures Earhart posing for publicity photos and interacting with her photographer and others at the Union Air Terminal in Burbank, California (today known as the Bob Hope Airport). The film shows clear and close-up shots of Earhart’s plane before her departure on her world flight attempt.

Purdue University Libraries Archives and Special Collections faculty and staff will take steps to preserve the film and make it accessible to students and researchers interested in scholarship on the many facets of the legacy of Amelia Earhart. The film will join the Amelia Earhart Papers in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives within the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center, Purdue University Libraries.

To learn more about the collection visit http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/flight-and-space/.

Contact: Tracy Grimm, Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration, Purdue University Libraries, 765-496-2941, grimm3@purdue.edu

Related information:

http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/flight-and-space/

Previously unknown 16 mm film of Amelia Earhart donated to Purdue University Libraries

July 9th, 2015

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University Libraries’ Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center recently accepted the donation of an original 16 mm film showing Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra as they were being photographed by Albert Bresnik, Earhart’s official photographer.

Earhart, who was a Purdue career counselor and adviser to the Department of Aeronautics from 1935 to 1937, was recruited by then-President Edward Elliott, who was impressed by her spirit of adventure and her message to women. In April 1936 an Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research was created with the Purdue Research Foundation. The fund purchased the $80,000 Lockheed Electra that became known as Earhart’s flying laboratory. With navigator Fred Noonan, Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937, near the tiny Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean while attempting an around-the-world voyage.

The film was donated to Purdue by Douglas Westfall, owner and publisher at The Paragon Agency, which last month released a book, “Amelia Earhart’s Last Photo Shoot,” by Nicole Swinford.

According to Westfall, who acquired the film from John Bresnik Jr., the family believes the film footage was taken by Albert’s brother, John Bresnik. The film is unique in that it captures Earhart posing for publicity photos and interacting with her photographer and others at the Union Air Terminal in Burbank, California (today known as the Bob Hope Airport). The film shows clear and close-up shots of Earhart’s plane before her departure on her world flight attempt.

Purdue University Libraries Archives and Special Collections faculty and staff will take steps to preserve the film and make it accessible to students and researchers interested in scholarship on the many facets of the legacy of Amelia Earhart. The film will join the Amelia Earhart Papers in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives within the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center, Purdue University Libraries.

To learn more about the collection visit http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/flight-and-space/.

Contact: Tracy Grimm, Barron Hilton Archivist for Flight and Space Exploration, Purdue University Libraries, 765-496-2941, grimm3@purdue.edu

Related information:

http://collections.lib.purdue.edu/flight-and-space/

Purdue University Libraries, Harvard collaborate to coordinate symposium

July 8th, 2015

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Harvard Library and Purdue University Libraries collaborated in hosting a two-day data management symposium at Harvard on June 16-17. The focus of the symposium centered on new roles for libraries as part of data management strategies during all parts of the research cycle. Attendees came from across the country.

The Symposium incorporated visionary ideas, new concepts and inspirational speakers. The purpose was to promote data awareness and integration of library services into the research cycle, and to demonstrate that data management is not simply about compliance but also about building relationships and engaging stakeholders at all levels.

Well-managed data can allow researchers to develop new lines of inquiry that would not have been possible previously and to communicate their work in innovative ways; librarians can contribute to this effort.

“The agreement by Sarah Thomas, my counterpart at Harvard, to have Harvard Library collaborate with Purdue University Libraries on this symposium recognizes the high regard in which Purdue University Libraries is held for its leadership role in data management. I was very proud of the presentations and participation of my Purdue colleagues at the symposium,” said James L. (Jim) Mullins, dean of libraries and Esther Ellis Norton Professor at Purdue.

The symposium was planned by a joint committee made up of Harvard and Purdue individuals; from Purdue Libraries it included: Paul Bracke, associate dean for research and assessment; Scott Brandt, professor of library science and data specialist; and, Michael Witt, associate professor of library science and head, Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2).

Other faculty from Purdue who presented and participated were: Jeffrey T. Bolin, associate vice president for research centers, cores, and research development services and professor of biological sciences, Department of Biological Science; and Sylvie Brouder, professor of agronomy, College of Agriculture.

On June 18, a workshop was held that brought together groups from only Harvard and Purdue to explore in more detail specific challenges facing data management at the two universities. Purdue Libraries faculty and staff who presented at the workshop included: Amy Barton, assistant professor of library science and metadata specialist; Scott Brandt, professor of library science and data specialist; Marianne Stowell Bracke, associate professor of library science and agricultural sciences information specialist; Paul Bracke, associate dean for research and assessment; Nastasha Johnson, assistant professor of library science and physical and mathematical sciences information specialist; Line Pouchard, assistant professor of library science and data specialist and Michael Witt, associate professor of library science and head, Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2).

Contributors to the workshop from Purdue Libraries included: Carly Dearborn, digital preservation and electronic records archivist; Nicole Kong, assistant professor of library science and GIS specialist; Megan Sapp Nelson, associate professor of library science and data information literacy specialist; and Pete Pascuzzi, assistant professor of library science and molecular biosciences information specialist.

Full details on the symposium can be found at: http://library.harvard.edu/harvard-purdue-data

Contact: Shannon Walker, 765-496-9610, walker81@purdue.edu