Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection
Scope and Contents
Most of the Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection is comprised of nearly 10,000 unique, rare postcards and almost 3,000 duplicate postcards dating from the 1890s all the way through the 20th century. They depict YMCA buildings, events and activities in the United States and abroad. The collection provides a unique and valuable understanding of the significance of the YMCA around the world. Within the collection are postcards that represent some of the few remaining images of many YMCA buildings. In addition to architectural history, the collection also addresses such other topics as camping, aquatics, youth work, armed services, fitness and athletics, World War I, African American YMCAs, the City of Springfield Massachusetts, and Springfield College (formerly the International YMCA Training School).
Most of the postcards are blank on one side and have not been mailed or used. There are, though, a number of postcards that have writing or correspondence on the non-image side. In addition, there are several postcards that are larger than a standard postcard and/or are made up of several postcards either attached together or bundled into a set. Some sets or cards include photographs hidden within the postcard. Of particular importance are World War I postcards that were used by US troops to correspond with friends and family. Many of these are larger than normal postcards.
The duplicate postcards have been separated out and put into their own series. Duplicates were determined by being an exact copy of an original card in the collection (including placement of title and any typed information) and by not having any correspondence or distinguishing mark (not including sellers’ marks or prices) anywhere on the postcard.
In addition to the postcards, there are CDs, correspondence, printed materials, memos, and some photographs of events tied to the collections. The original digital scans of The Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection that were completed in 1997 are on a set of 23 Compact Discs within the collection and two CDs that contain databases with historical information created when the original scans were made. The correspondence/memos and other misc. information contained within the collection, mostly deal with the appraisals and donation of the postcards. There are also a small number of photographs showing Cliff Smith and Springfield College Library staff members at the time of donation.
Dates
- Creation: ca. 1880 - 1980
Creator
- Smith, Clifford A. (Collector, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted
Conditions Governing Use
Rights status not fully evaluated.
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Biographical Note
Clifford A. Smith was born and raised on Long Island, New York. He graduated from Springfield College in 1949, earned a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska, and participated in advanced management programs at Southern Methodist University, before going on to devote his career to the YMCA.
Smith was a member of the professional advisory councils for George Williams College in London and Springfield College. He led both, at the time, in record-setting local association campaigns to support YMCA professional leadership. He was recognized by both colleges for his efforts. He later served as president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland (Ohio) YMCA.
Smith helped lead the International Division of the YMCA to several million-dollar efforts to increase funding for international programs. These fund-raising efforts included the successful launch of several YMCAs in the former Soviet Union.
Throughout his life Smith was also an avid collector of postcards, having several extensive collections, including the Cliff Smith YMCA postcard collection at Springfield College and the "Cotton" collection at the South Carolina Cotton Museum. Cliff Smith passed away in March 2014.
Extent
21 Linear Feet (38 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
Abstract
The Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection is comprised of nearly 10,000 unique and rare postcards dating from the 1890s all the way through the 20th century. They depict YMCA buildings, events and activities in the United States and abroad. It provides a unique and valuable understanding of the significance of the YMCA around the world. Within the collection are postcards that represent some of the remaining images of many YMCA buildings. In addition to architectural history, the collection also addresses the topics of camping, aquatics, youth work, armed services, fitness and athletics, World War I, African American YMCAs, the City of Springfield Massachusetts, and Springfield College (formerly the International YMCA Training School).
Organization
The collection is organized into 4 series:
Series 1 - The Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection: postcards
Series 2 - Duplicate postcards: duplicate postcards
Series 3 - Compact Discs: original digital scans completed in 1997
Series 4 - Ephemera and Photographs: donation information, photographs, correspondences and misc. details about Cliff Smith and the postcard collection.
Arrangement Note
Materials were originally digitized and arranged as they were collected and arranged by Cliff Smith and delivered to Babson Library. As new materials were donated, materials were placed at the end of the collection with sequential numbers. Materials may have loosely been organized by location or subject at time of donation, but overall materials were not kept in these groupings.
Beginning in 2011 and ending in the fall of 2016, arrangement of the collection was redone. Duplicates were separated from the main collection and placed into Series 2 and new postcards were placed into any gaps created.
History of Collection: Acquisition History
Most materials donated by Cliff Smith, Class of 1949
Donation occurred from September 1995 through 2010
The first donation and most of the collection was donated in 1995. It consisted of nearly 4,000 postcards. Periodically through 2010 additional postcards were donated, with the largest of those donations given in 1997, 1998 and 2001.
History of Collection: Digitization History
Since the original donation in 1995, multiple projects were undertaken to digitize and provide access to the collection. These are listed below:
- The first digitization project was undertaken in February, 1997. The first database was put on Compact Discs. Cliff Smith provided a sizable donation for the project.
- In 1999, the collection was made available online through the MicroSearch Corporation. This arrangement was discontinued in July, 2001.
- After 2001, the collection was available online through the Babson Library online catalog (Voyager Catalog) through a system plug-in called Image Server. Around 5,000 postcards were eventually digitized and made accessible through this system. After initial outside digitization efforts, postcards were digitized by Library staff using in-house scanners.
- In 2015 access through Voyager was discontinued as Springfield College moved to a new library catalog system.
- From 2015 through 2017, all postcards were digitized (older digital files were discarded) by the Boston Public Library and the entire collection was made available through Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/collections/commonwealth:vm412x26q.
Digitized Materials
Non-postcard Digital Object Searches
Processing History
Since the original donation in 1995, materials and postcards donated or created were processed and organized in different ways. These are listed below:
- Organization of the collection began in 1995 and was based on the original arrangement and organization created by Cliff Smith. All postcards were given numbers that were assigned in the order of this original arrangement, and metadata on individual items were entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Duplicates within the collection were also identified at this time, and a separate spreadsheet was created to link and track all duplicates. Duplicates were left in their original location in the collection and given numbers that fit within this arrangement. Duplicates were not digitized. Additional donations were added to the collection, beginning with the next available number in the numbering scheme. The spreadsheet and metadata was updated as appropriate. Attempts were made to add these additions to the digital collections, though digitization of all items was never accomplished.
- Beginning in 2008, the adding of new postcards from donations to the collections, spreadsheets, and digital collections was discontinued. New donations were held in boxes to await processing.
- A reprocessing of the collection was begun by Andrea Taupier in 2010. All duplicates were removed from the collection and new and unique postcards were added to the collection. The Spreadsheet containing information on the individual postcards were updated. No digitization of the collection was undertaken during this period.
- Completion of the reprocessing, final arrangement of the collections, and coordination of digitization by the Boston Public Library was led by Charles Abel, 2015-2017. Finding Aid was created by Charles Abel, with additions by Jeffrey Monseau, in spring, 2017.
Source
- Smith, Clifford A. (Donor, Person)
Subject
- International Young Men's Christian Association College (Organization)
- International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (Springfield, Mass.) (Organization)
- International Young Men's Christian Association (Organization)
- Springfield College (Organization)
- National Young Men's Christian Association (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Technique
Topical
- Camping
- Gymnasiums
- Physical fitness
- Swimming
- Swimming pools
- World War, 1914-1918
- World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men’s Christian associations
- Youth workers
Uniform Title
- Title
- Cliff Smith YMCA Postcard Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Charles Abel
- Date
- 2017-04
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2017: Additions and revisions done by Jeffrey Monseau.
- 2023-03-24: Transferring information from the original Word document to ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Springfield College
Judd Gymnasia
263 Alden Street
Springfield Massachusetts 01109 U.S.A. US
413-748-3309
jmonseau@springfieldcollege.edu