I have a new book out! The Art and Life of Charles M. Schulz in 100 Objects

*Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects*

It’s hard to believe, but I had a book come out on November 1st! You can get it anywhere good books are sold, but if you buy it from the Charles M. Schulz Museum, it will be signed by none other than Jean Schulz!

Working with Jeannie on the book was a very special experience. I get to work with her quite a bit developing exhibitions for the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, and for Snoopy Museum Tokyo, and she’s always happy to pitch in with research — connecting me to contacts, making ID’s in photos, and sharing memories. But this was different. We got to reflect on Sparky as an entire person together and dig into various parts of his life and personality we’ve not done a lot about at the museum for whatever reasons.

The book is almost like a visit to the Schulz Museum — 100 Objects from the museum’s collections are featured in gorgeous detailed photos, and a bit of history is shared about each, often with other supporting images of other objects that help tell the story. We also asked 50 contributors, from cartoonists, celebrities, politicians, friends, and members of the Schulz family, to share their own stories and remembrances related to these objects.

All of us are very proud of the book, and I hope you will like it, too. It’s out just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, so if you know someone who loves Peanuts (and who doesn’t?), this is something a little different and totally new they will love. If you do buy a copy, be sure to rate and review it wherever you bought it, as it helps other fans find the book. Thank you!

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

30 December 20213 January 2022

What is a Squib? A little newspaper history

Squib — That’s the word I spent a couple of days trying to find. So, what is a newspaper squib?

The word has a few meanings, and according to Webster’s I’m interested in the least meaningful meaning: “a short humorous or satiric writing or speech, a short news item; esp; FILLER.”

This week, while researching something else, I came upon a sort-of cartoon, but didn’t run as a cartoon as such, but was just … filler. What’s wonderful about being able to browse millions of pages of archival newspapers is the access, but there’s a downside — interpretation. I was curious if any scholarship or just collected thought had been put together around these smallest of memes (in the dictionary sense), but wasn’t sure what to call them to find anything. Often unsigned, there were many that seem to have been distributed by syndicates, and no doubt, some newspaper staff were capable of coming up with their own, as well.

A few examples:

MILITANT MARY — Arguably a single-panel comic, and not a squib, but the line of definition between them is hazy at best.

DAILY BIRTHDAY PARTY — “George Horton, the noted American diplomat, who has represented the interests of this country in Greece and Turkey for many years, and who is the author of a great number of very good books …”

“Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote his famous “Rasselas” in the evenings of a single week, to meet the expenses of his mother’s funeral.”

15 May 202015 May 2020

Book Review: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Cover of The Library Book by Susan Orlean

By Benjamin L. Clark

The Library Book by Susan Orlean — This book was on some great end-of-year lists last year and for good reason. I had it on my shelf for a while waiting for “someday,” and, well, someday came. It’s an amazing book. Is it very, very long-form journalism, is it popular history? A twist on True Crime? Where does that line even exist? It doesn’t matter. Deeply, passionately researched, this is a love story. Not simply to the beautiful Central Library in downtown Los Angeles, but to libraries everywhere, to the librarians who made and make them what they are, and most of all to the libraries of our hearts.

Burning the Library

Los Angeles Public Library, courtesy, California Historical Society, CHS2015.1897

The story of the 1986 fire that became one of the largest single-event losses of print culture in human history is the burning hoop that keeps this story together, fueled by the clear-eyed curiosity of Susan Orlean. Orlean is present in the story, but with so much uncertainty around the fire, and around the man who was arrested for it, her voice is the anchor readers need. Harry Peak was arrested for starting the fire, but not charged and eventually released has a slippery historical record, but a fascinating and in the end, sympathetic story. He died in 1993. Though the case remains unsolved, Orlean has done an incredible job taking the scraps and bits, talking to the right people who still remember important things, and puts it all together, not only cohesively and effectively, but in a touching and humane way.

I’ve liked the L.A. Library for a long time, too. I’ve never been there or anything, but I like the architect who designed it, Bertram Goodhue. He also designed the capitol building of my home state of Nebraska. He is an interesting person as well, and his role isn’t ignored either.

What Didn’t I Like?

Nothing. It was an incredible story well told. I’m sure Orlean could have filled four thick volumes of footnotes for all of it, but didn’t need to. I can see some readers may not see the point of going back to the L.A. Public Library’s very genesis, and down through the years along the way, but I found it fascinating! There are several other people who should have a lot more written about them! What we got was not enough! I kept hopping over to Wikipedia to look up more about individuals mentioned, looking for other connections.

Reading Such A Book “In Times Like These”

“Under our current circumstances,” “in these unprecedented times,” whatever your preferred euphemism for sheltering at home during a novel virus pandemic that has already taken 300,000 lives worldwide, it’s a strange time to review a book at all. Especially one about a disaster. But I found this book to be strangely calming. Orlean brings order from an avalanche of charred, damp, broken bits. I also miss my local library. Also, as curator of a museum, I couldn’t help but feel encouraged — we’re going to be OK too.

The book was also a balm for how open-ended our “current circumstances” are. The library fire burned for several hours, but the destruction and unanswered questions lasted for years. I can’t imagine working in the conditions the people there endured for so long. Would the library be rebuilt? Would the institution even survive? Could the city even afford to rebuild if there was political will to do so? Spoiler alert: In the end, the library was restored, expanded, and is thriving.

Who Should Read It?

Bibliophiles of any stripe, anyone interested in the history of Los Angeles. Creative people, people pushing nostalgia for the 1980s. People facing disasters. Survivors. Culture vultures, architecture nerds, the bookish, the lonely, the weird kids. Friends of the Library, Museum, Symphony, Theater, whatever. It’s a great book and you should read it too.

Buy This Book From An Indie Bookshop

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

6 January 2018

Book Review: Dames Fight Harder by M. Ruth Myers

Dames Fight Harder

In this sixth installment of Maggie Sullivan mysteries, Maggie‘s friend Rachel Minsky is accused of killing a man that “had it coming.” Rachel is an independent Jewish woman of means who runs her own construction company in Dayton, Ohio with a private nature. Why has Rachel’s loyal but dangerous right-hand man also disappeared? Why has Rachel kept so many secrets? Can she survive when they unravel around her? Once again, private investigator Maggie Sullivan finds herself surrounded by questions and too few answers.

Historical Fiction for the Historian

I spend a lot of time reading history in my day job so something I look for while reading historical fiction and especially historical mysteries is that the experience is immersive without beating me over the head with historical facts. Ruth Myers does this better and better with each installment. Some writers are justifiably proud of the immense amount of research that goes into writing good historical mysteries, but they are less deft at using that research to create their fictional world. Ruth Myers does this beautifully and that experience is what makes her books among the best of the genre.

Dames Fight Harder takes place in the early spring of 1942, a few months following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States official entry into World War II. The war and its global implications weigh on the minds of every character though this is done in such a realistic manner I only noticed my own mounting sense of dread about some characters in this context and only realized when I finished the book why that was. Uncertainties and enormous cultural upheavals are only beginning to be felt, let alone understood. Meyers does a wonderful job making the characters and the mystery at hand the focus. This isn’t a history lesson, but a strong female-driven mystery set in a fascinating time. As a reader, I felt like I was there on those eerily quiet construction sites or with the elderly lady planting beans in what magazines would come to call Victory Gardens.

New to the series?

Although this is book six of an ongoing series, new readers to the Maggie Sullivan series won’t be lost as Myers writes enough background into each to catch up, though I wouldn’t classify them as stand-alone novels as there are long story and character arcs running through the series as a whole.

See my review of an earlier Maggie Sullivan book, Shamus In A Skirt

…

Book Review: Montaigne in Barn Boots

Philosophy and Humor

Author Michael Perry opens by describing laying on a gurney with a kidney stone and it made him think of Montaigne. Having had a kidney stone or two in my day, I can say I didn’t do much thinking, but any and every distraction was welcome. His book in hand I thought, ‘This is someone I can learn from.’ It also had an image of Montaigne wearing an Elmer Fudd hat on the cover — how could I resist?

Michael Perry is a hick. An NPR listening one, but a bonafide bumpkin from rural Wisconsin. And his approach as a writer is a wonderful blend of Dave Berry-esque humor and E. B. White’s reflective essays on life at his farm in Maine.

But don’t be fooled by Perry’s “Aw shucks” demeanor. He dives deep into not only the works of the 16th Century French nobleman-essayist, but also into his translators, devotees, and critics, flipping through each and finding the humor and wisdom for consideration in each encounter. Honestly, I thought Perry’s book would be a collection of Montaigne’s greatest quotes with a few essays built around them, but it’s much more than that.

One thing I learned, Montaigne was 38-years-old when he started writing his essays, finding wisdom with reflection. It happens to be the birthday I’ll have this year and I probably shouldn’t ignore my own copy of Montaigne on the shelf. Over the years, I’ve read from it a couple times, opening it to dip in and out seeing what I can find. Not like a miner desperately swirling his pan for gold. More like the weird uncle pinching choice bits of meat in the kitchen before the roast goes to the table. Did Horace B. Taylor, the previous owner of my copy as a student at the University of Montana sometime in the 1950s ever open it? Judging by the crispness of the pages and the tightness of the binding, I think not.

Perry follows Montaigne into all parts of life, including Friendship, Marriage, Sex, and yes, Farts (officially funny if you were wondering.) Perry is honest, making himself vulnerable exploring all of these subjects and many more. As a reader I found myself nodding in agreement, appreciating his willingness to not hide behind the page as a writer but to lay life out for all of us, that we can connect over our common humanity. Even if it’s over fart stories.

…

Michael Perry quotes Montaigne that the study philosophy is really a preparation for death. Perry comes to the same conclusions, thinking on experiences of his life, love marriage, children, writing, and working on an ambulance crew. After reading and loving “Montaigne in Barn Boots” is not the preparation for death but appreciate our commonalities and a better appreciation of our lives.

Benjamin L. Clark writes historical mysteries and works as a history museum curator.

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER?

26 October 201729 November 2017

How to know how old anything is

Dating Old Stuff

man cleans old painting — “How you doin’?”

Learning how to date things is both science and art. Of course, I don’t mean engaging in a romantic experience with the objects, but telling how old a thing is.

Like you’ve probably heard about bank tellers, who are trained to spot counterfeit currency by handling a lot of real currency, the same is true for museum and archive professionals. We learn to recognize things for what they are by handling a lot of similar stuff. Well seasoned collectors are the same. Being able to observe characteristics of an object allows us to learn more than is on the surface.

Curators track not only the history of the artifacts they care for in the way the object was used, but also how it is used after it enters a museum’s collections, like if it was studied for a publication, or if it appeared in an exhibit somewhere. This includes keeping an archive of related materials, like news clippings from exhibits. I recently received a news clipping from an exhibit, but there was no date on the clipping, from the newspaper or otherwise (a handwritten date is also great if it’s done). So, I wanted the clipping, but when did it come out?

Clues

On the front of the article, the gentleman on the left (not in the painting) looked all too familiar. No, he’s not me, but he could have been at one time. I remember the mid-1990s well, and that’s exactly how I dressed and most young men dressed at the time. But, what year, exactly? I can’t really tell from the photo if it’s 1993 or 1998. I know the exhibit and museum are in Nebraska (I am too), so I know wearing a flannel shirt and jeans really isn’t a good indicator of the season, so I’m can’t be sure of the month just from this photo. So, on the front of the article, the part I want, there’s not much to tell me the exact date of the article beyond it’s from the mid-1990s. Probably.

Flipping the clipping over, there are a few other bits that may be helpful, but best of all, there’s a movie schedule!

Today, many of these Omaha theaters are now gone, or if they still exist have been bought out. They also probably don’t have records on hand for when they showed which movies. Luckily for us, we have IMDB. I recognized some of these movies but didn’t remember exactly when they came out. (Who could forget Beverly Hills Ninja? Just me? Ok.) Fortunately, there were enough films here to hone in on a date where movies on the way out, and movies that had just debuted overlap. Charting it, we’ve got it down to the last two weeks in January 1997. That’s a pretty narrow window, and frankly good enough for documenting this article for my files.

To get the date even closer I could go through microfilm/digitized copies from those weeks and find the article, but that would take time I just can’t devote when January 1997 is good enough.

…

Curatorial Pipe Dreams

Admittedly, I lucked out on this clipping. I’ve got many others in our archives that just don’t have much to go on at all. In fact, it’s so obscure I can only hope one day someone develops the technology where I can run an image recognition of the scanned clipping and it’ll find the correct article within the digitized newspaper somewhere online. Wouldn’t that me amazing? Maybe someday.

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes historical mysteries and works as a history museum curator.

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER?

8 May 201728 April 2017

Guest Post from Radha Vastal, author of the Kitty Weeks Mysteries

Murder Between the Lines by Radha Vastal

One of the most enjoyable parts of researching …

Delving into the details of the past to create a realistic world and a period-appropriate mystery in which challenges and obstacles arise from the mundane realities of life in New York City during the 1910s, is for me, one of the most enjoyable parts of researching and writing the Kitty Weeks Mystery series. So, for instance, in both A Front Page Affair and Murder Between the Lines the central mystery is connected with little-known actual events that occurred during the time, and these events feed into the plot right down to the day and date that they actually took place.

In Murder Between the Lines, the dead girl at the center of the mystery is known to be a sleepwalker and her sleepwalking is attributed to nervous tension brought on by too much schoolwork. That was a perfectly reasonable causal explanation in the 1910s! The schoolgirl’s death was inspired by a news story from late 1915, which I came across while scanning through the New York Times from November of 1915 to about February of 1916. I knew that was the timeframe in which I wanted to set the second book; about 3 or 4 months would have elapsed since the events in A Front Page Affair, and I wanted to open things up with President Wilson’s second marriage. While flipping through the papers I read about the “Girl Somnambulist Frozen to Death” and immediately knew I had found my crime/possible crime.

Most of my research is done through primary sources: newspapers, career guides, self-help books, medical books, etiquette guides, advertisements and so on… I also look at secondary sources, but then always pivot back to read the sources from the period that are referenced. In terms of writing historical fiction, one of the most interesting things for me is not presenting events as we might understand them today, but trying to understand how the same events were perceived during their time. So, in the case of the sleepwalker found frozen to death, in the 2010s, we would immediately question “too much schoolwork” as a cause, but in the 1910s, that opinion was backed up by doctors and medical books. And in fact, in the course of Kitty’s investigations, she speaks to a “nerve specialist” who tells her that girls who study too hard or work too much (like herself) are prone to all sorts of diseases. She has to get past that in order to solve the mystery.

About the Author:

Radha Vatsal is the author of the Kitty Weeks mystery series. Her latest book, Murder between the Lines (Sourcebooks), was published May 2.

3 May 20171 May 2017

The White House Wedding: A Solve-the-Mystery Blog Tour by Radha Vatsal

The White House Wedding: A Solve-the-Mystery Blog Tour by Radha Vatsal.

At 8:30 PM on Saturday, December 1915, President Woodrow Wilson married Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt. The new Mrs. Wilson would go on to become one of the 20^th Century’s most powerful first ladies and shepherd the United States through turbulent times. In the course of this blog tour, I describe four different aspects of their wedding plan: The Location on Jane Reads, Guest List and Attendants, Ceremony and Officiants, Dress and Flowers. The wedding went off as arranged, except for one significant last-minute change. Your mission is to guess what changed and why. The answer will be revealed in the final blog post. For more on the president and Edith Bolling/Wilson’s relationship, see the Introduction on Katherine’s Chronicle.

BLOG POST #3: GUEST LIST AND ATTENDANTS

The president and Mrs. Galt planned to keep the ceremony simple and limit it to only the two families, devoted staff, Dr. Ruffin—the Bolling family physician, Dr. Grayson—President Wilson’s personal physician, and Altrude Gordon—who was staying with Edith at the time. All three of the president’s daughters attended along with their husbands. No friends or White House aides would be invited, not even Colonel House, heretofore the president’s most trusted friend and advisor. There would be no attendants. No best man, no matron of honor, bridesmaids, flower girls, or pages. No heads of state, foreign dignitaries or cabinet members, except for William Gibbs McAdoo, the Treasury Secretary and Wilson’s son-in-law.

Did the couple stick to this plan? Did Wilson insist that Colonel House who had been his “right-hand” man attend? Did Edith Galt open the event to other friends or White House officials? Was there someone who at the last minute was so offended not to be invited that the couple had to relent?

Next Up: Ceremony and Officiants

The new First Lady and Woodrow Wilson make a dramatic appearance in Murder Between the Lines, the second novel in the Kitty Weeks Mystery series, which features the adventures of bold newswoman Capability “Kitty” Weeks in World War I era New York. For more historical surprises, sign up for the Kitty Weeks newsletter: radhavatsalauthor@gmail.com

3 February 201729 November 2017

Do you have a Journaling Spirit Guide?

George Brown Goode – Curatorial Guardian Spirit

I subscribe to more than my share of email newsletters. I read many of them every week, but one I genuinely look forward to getting is Austin Kleon‘s. Austin is a writer/artist/creative who cheers for us all in our creative efforts (you’ve probably seen his Steal Like An Artist), and he puts out a great weekly newsletter.

So, who is George Brown Goode?

In this week’s newsletter, Austin talks about starting his new notebooks by selecting a “guardian spirit” for it. I love this idea. I always have two notebooks. I keep a notebook for personal stuff, fiction, whatever — *my* stuff. I also keep one for work, officially my Curator’s Log. Now, in personal notebooks I’ll add a “guardian spirit”, but it requires a bit of thought.

For my Curator’s Log, there’s only one choice: George Brown Goode. Wikipedia has a good, though brief, article on him. I found him during my studies in Museum Science back when I was a curator larva. Goode was way ahead of his time on museum theory and understanding, believing that museums were really a place for everyone and not only that museums have a duty to the public. It will likely shock some, but these can be revolutionary ideas even today in many institutions. GBG also basically worked himself to death by the age of 45 — basically by ignoring what we now call ‘self-care,’ something that people who are deeply passionate about their work also need to remember.

So, I made this and pasted it into my Curator’s Log this morning, featuring GBG with one of my favorite quotes from him:

George Brown Goode quote, Museum of the Future.png — “The Future of Museums” by George Brown Goode, 1901.

…

With you while you curate…

So, thank you Austin Kleon for the great idea and George Brown Goode for the inspiration. Do you keep a notebook? Do you have a Spirit Guardians for your passions? I’d love to learn about them! Leave a comment!

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes historical mysteries and works as a history museum curator.

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER?

More About Working In Museums:
VHS is Dead
How to Research History Like a Novelist
T ranslating Historical Research Into Video

Like this? Sign up for my newsletter!

20 December 201623 March 2024

In the Museum: Translating Research to Video

Remember the post IN THE MUSEUM: A JFK AUTOGRAPH MYSTERY? Well, the video produced out of that work is now live, and apparently has been for a while, but I missed it.

Anyway, the gist of the video: A very young, not yet famous John F. Kennedy signed a copy of his book Why England Slept to Father Edward J. Flanagan, founder of Boys Town. We’re not sure when/ how/ where that happened, but it did. I do have a photo of a very young JFK signing a copy of this book to Spencer Tracy dressed as a priest on a movie shoot. Given the timing, Tracy could have been in the middle of shooting the sequel to the movie Boys Town, Men of Boys Town. Maybe, Spencer had JFK sign a copy to Fr. Flanagan. No word from the Tracy estate that he had a signed copy too. Fr. Flanagan was out to California for some shooting at different times, but we don’t know for sure when, so he may be just out of shot on this too. Who knows.

So, this video was a lot of fun to work on with our in-house writers, videographers, and editing people. Our organization is pretty big and focused on child care, so getting to use these amazing resources toward history and the museum, in particular, was a real treat.

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

WHY NOT SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER?

More About Working In Museums:
VHS is Dead
How to Research History Like a Novelist

Tag: history

I have a new book out! The Art and Life of Charles M. Schulz in 100 Objects

What is a Squib? A little newspaper history