indicommons

Mary Morris, Llandovery

Nina — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

creator: John Thomas (1838-1905)
Mary Morris, Llandovery,
creation date: [ca. 1885]
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales: 3362645

view + comment on Flickr

Congratulations, National Library of Ireland on Flickr Commons!

Penny — Sun, 06 May 2012 13:44:10 +0000

AH Poole Studio
Winning Team, c1897
National Library of Ireland: P_WP_0166b

Happy news on the Flickr stream from Carol of the National Library of Ireland:

We received this Ireland eGovernment Award on Wednesday for our Social Media programme, and Flickr is a huge part of that.

I’d just like to thank all of you for making our Flickr Commons stream so successful. Thank you for all your information and input, your research and painstaking detective work, the way you all so generously share your knowledge and expertise to help us find out more about the amazing photos we’re privileged to look after here at the National Library of Ireland. (And thank you too for all the fun, bad jokes and general shenanigans that go on here as well!)

Crowdsourcing projects can develop their own tone and rhythm over time. The National Library of Ireland stands out in Flickr Commons for posting daily, for their toleration and encouragement of funny, ribald, or off-topic comments, and for a high level of engagement with commenters. In return, they have a cadre of loyal commenters busily researching locations, family histories, military insignia, bicycle models, school uniform policies, clock manufacturers, and much else that can lend valuable insights into the diverse images posted. Indicommons joins in the huzzahs for this well-deserved honor.

The Long Room

Nina — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:36:08 +0000

creator: unknown
The Long Room,
creation date: Circa 1885
National Library of Ireland: L_CAB_01200

Come, let’s goe a Maying…*

Penny — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:27:13 +0000

Geoff Charles (1909-2002)
Llanfyllin carnival and maypole/Carnifal a bedwen Fai Llanfyllin, May 1, 1941
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales: 3473127

view + comment on Flickr

*See Corinna’s going a Maying by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).

Want more? See the new Gallery, “Maypoles across the Commons.”

April 23: Shakespeare, Across the Commons

Penny — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:21:56 +0000

Today marks the traditional birthday (and definite deathday) of William Shakespeare, who was baptized April 26, 1564, and died April 23, 1616. Any Shakespeare-related content in the Commons? Of course there is!

William Shakespeare watches over a rehearsal at the Futurist Play House, c1910s

Library of Congress

Shakespeare’s “Richard the Third” as a metaphor in an American political cartoon, 1834

Cornell University Library

Macbeth Drinking Scene at Oregon State University

OSU Special Collections & Archives

A group of Elizabethan Ladies, 11 August 1909, at the Builth Wells Historical Pageant

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

Deathbed Scene from “Othello,” played by two British men in France during WWI

National Library of Scotland

Titanic 1912: Faces in the Commons

Penny — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 02:05:05 +0000

On 15 April 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and quickly sunk, with many lost lives. The event catches many of the Commons collections at their richest, so it’s no surprise that the Titanic can be found across the Commons (in fact, we’ve visited the topic before on indicommons). A few survivors and not-so-lucky souls from the Commons…

Estelle Stead’s father died in the Titanic disaster; she sought contact with her father’s spirit for many years after that, and wrote about her experiences in seances and with mediums.

Library of Congress

Francis David Millet (1846-1912) was an American artist, in charge of decorations at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, 1893; he died on the Titanic.

Smithsonian Institution

Madeleine Force Astor (1893-1940) was a Titanic passenger; she survived, but her husband John Jacob Astor IV perished; soon after the disaster, she delivered her son, John Jacob Astor VI.

Library of Congress

R. Norris Williams (1891-1968) was an American tennis player who was traveling on the Titanic; he survived the sinking. This photo was taken the next year, while he was practicing for the Davis Cup.

Library of Congress

Young Michel and Edmond Navratil boarded the Titanic with their father, who died in the sinking; they survived, and are shown here in their mother’s arms.

Library of Congress

April 2: Eugen Sandow (1867-1925)

Penny — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:11:57 +0000

B. J. Falk
Eugen Sandow, ca. 1895
George Eastman House: 1982:0816:0001

Eugen Sandow, “The Father of Modern Body Building,” was born 2 April 1867, as Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, in Königsberg, Prussia.

Adelina Hagerup Knits, and Knits, and… Knits?

Penny — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:13:01 +0000

Adelina Werligh Hagerup was a celebrated Danish actress, and a relative of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (his aunt, and also his mother-in-law; it was a complicated family). The Edvard Grieg photos in the Bergen Public Library uploads to Flickr Commons are full of family photos, portraits of colleagues, musicians and singers. So there are several images of Adelina Hagerup. Here’s one portrait:

Bergen Public Library

She’s clearly holding her knitting, which is not so unusual in portraits of the time. Here’s another portrait of Adelina Hagerup:

Bergen Public Library

It’s more subtle this time, but she’s definitely holding a piece of knitting in progress; the trailing wool down her gown is the giveaway. Now here, Adelina Hagerup appears in a group photo, from an 1896 gathering of Grieg family and friends to celebrate the composer’s birthday:

Bergen Public Library

Do you see her? Click through for a closer look. She’s sitting next to Edvard, and her hands are visible next to the head of the woman in front. And her hands are in the telltale position of… a knitter. I don’t see the needles or the wool, and maybe that was just her resting hand position, from habit; but from the other photographs, we know that Adelina Hagerup wasn’t one to put down a row for the sake of a photo.

100 Years of Girl Scouting

Penny — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:54:33 +0000

On 12 March 1912, Juliette Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout troop, in Savannah, Georgia, with eighteen girls attending. In a century of fun, learning, and service, of course the Girl Scouts have tromped through the Commons collections, so come back through time with the Girl Scouts, and Flickr Commons:

Keep America Beautiful Day, 05/1972

The U.S. National Archives

Julie Nixon Eisenhower with a group of Girl Scouts, 06/26/1969

The U.S. National Archives

Girl Scouts, 1958

Library of Virginia

Eighth Methodist Oswestry Girl Guides Company, 1956

LlGC ~ NLW

Emanuel Cohen Girl Scout Troop 140

Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest

North High School Girl Scout troop, 1928

Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest

Flickr Commons Meetup, National Maritime Museum, London

Penny — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:41:18 +0000

Torpedomen of the light cruiser HMS Jamaica, National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is organizing a Flickr Commons Meetup–but don’t worry, you probably won’t need a helmet and wet-weather gear like the fellows above. They’re looking to recruit Flickr members to participate in “an exciting co-curation project to choose photos from the Museum’s collection” to be displayed. “We’re keen to understand what interests and motivates Flickr Commons members,” notes the organizer, Bronwen Colquhoun.

At the meetup, participants will have a “behind-the-scenes” look at the Museum and how displays are built. The workshops, scheduled for Saturday 14 April and the weekend of 12-13 May, from 10am to 4pm, are part of a PhD research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the National Maritime Museum.

Interested? Places are limited and participants must be able to attend all of the stated sessions. Lunch will be provided but there is no other stipend or fee offered. Contact Bronwen Colquhoun if you have further questions or would like to reserve a place in this workshop.