Staging the World with Josefina Báez

By Emily Oliveira, Latin American and Iberian Cultures PhD student The challenging thing about processing Josefina Báez’ papers is that processing definitionally requires categorization—and Báez is a person who resists categorization. In no particular order, she is a sui generis Dominican dancer, writer, performer, Mantra Yoga initiate, actress, theorist, and teacher, among a sea of […]

Read More…

Archivist’s Pick: A Glance at the Chinese Republican Era and Beyond

At the RBML, we recently installed a small exhibition in the Archivist’s Pick Cubes on materials related to Chinese history and culture, pertaining to the people of the Chinese Republican era (1912-1949) and beyond. These materials were acquired through Columbia affiliates such as alumni, professors, and their family and friends. Many were Chinese intellectuals, diplomats, […]

Read More…

William H. Donald’s Account of the Xi’an Incident

The Xi’an Incident/西安事變 is also known as one of the most controversial historical events in 20th Century Chinese history. This event led to the united forces between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists in 1936 December prior to the all war against Japan aggression in China during WWII. In the midst of the incident, William […]

Read More…

Extras Between The Sheets

The work of archival and rare book processors is truly fascinating and never-ending. At RBML, we take great pleasure in exploring beyond the obvious and discovering curious and surprising artifacts left behind between pages and amidst letters for years, decades, and even centuries.  These treasures come in varying formats, subjects, and meanings, some of them […]

Read More…

Dan Talbot, a New Yorker and His Love for Independent Films and World Cinema

The Daniel Talbot papers are processed and the finding aid is now available. “I distribute and show films for a living–sometimes precariously. But when I ‘discover’ a new director, I want to sing out to everyone that something new has come along–a work of art that is fresh, different, exciting. The really good stuff makes […]

Read More…