{"id":30571,"date":"2018-08-15T15:18:02","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T19:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/?post_type=r_cas_magazine&#038;p=30571"},"modified":"2018-10-16T11:48:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-16T15:48:21","slug":"whats-in-mlks-briefcase","status":"publish","type":"r_cas_magazine","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/arts-sciences\/2018\/whats-in-mlks-briefcase\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in MLK\u2019s Briefcase?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style> \n.thumbnails { width:46%; float:left; background: #efefef; padding: 60px 30px 10px 30px; margin: 2%; min-height: 380px; border: 2px solid #ccc;}\n.circle-container {text-align:center; display:inline-block; width:100%; }\n.circle-container span { font-size:12px; color: #e65046; line-height:17px; display:inline-block;}\n.circle-container img { -webkit-border-radius: 50%; -moz-border-radius: 50%; border-radius: 50%; width:150px; height:150px; margin: 0 auto; }\n.thumbnails strong { font-size: 18px; display: block; color: #3E6375; text-transform:uppercase;}\n.journals .thumbnails { width: 100%; margin-left: 20px;}\n.circle-container.journals { float: right; width: 300px;}\n.notable-objects { background-color: #f2e8d9; border: none; width: 100%; text-align: center; display: inline-block; padding-top:50px;}\n.gotlieb { width:46%; float: left; padding: 10px 30px 10px 30px; margin: 2%; min-height: 330px;}\n.gotlieb img { width:150px; margin: 0 auto;}\nspan.gotlieb-caption { font-family: \"Benton\", Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.344px; line-height: 1.6; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #20353f; display: inline-block;}\n.notable-objects > h2 > span { font-size: .75em; border-top: 5px solid black; border-bottom: 5px solid black; vertical-align: text-top;}\n.gotlieb.title { padding-top: 100px;}\n@media only screen and (max-width: 580px) {\n.thumbnails, .circle-container.journals { width:100%; float:none; margin:30px 0px;}\n.journals .thumbnails {margin:0;}\n.gotlieb {width: 100%; float: none; margin: 0; min-height: 0px; padding: 0px 10px 20px 10px;}\n}\n<\/style>\n<p class=\"byline\">BY LARA EHRLICH | Photographs BY MICHAEL D. WILSON<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What\u2019s in MLK\u2019s briefcase?\u201d It\u2019s one of the top five questions school groups ask when they visit BU\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/\">Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center<\/a>, a repository for materials from more than 2,000 individuals and organizations dating back to the Renaissance.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\"> <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Safely sealed in boxes and cases with the Civil Rights icon\u2019s briefcase are prosthetic Vulcan ears donated by <i>Star Trek<\/i> actor <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=158724\">Leonard Nimoy (Hon.\u201912)<\/a>, President <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/archives\/exhibitions\/pastmain\/presidency.html\">Richard Nixon\u2019s<\/a> letter of resignation, a manuscript of <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=121498\">V. C. Andrews\u2019<\/a> gothic romance <i>Flowers in the Attic<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=121530\">Fred Astaire\u2019s<\/a> tap shoes, and a page from the 15th-century <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=550420\">Gutenberg Bible<\/a>, the first book in the Western world printed with movable metal type. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\"> <\/span>Gotlieb, housed on the fifth floor of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/mugar-memorial\/\">Mugar Memorial Library<\/a> since 1966 and named after pioneering BU archivist Howard Gotlieb (Hon.\u201988) who passed away in 2005, is one of the few archives in the world that actively collects from living individuals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArchives are not just about history from 30, 40, 50 years ago,\u201d says Ryan Hendrickson, the center\u2019s assistant director for manuscripts. That\u2019s why Massachusetts poet <a href=\"http:\/\/miriamlevine.com\/\">Miriam Levine (CAS\u201963, GRS\u201965)<\/a> has been donating her letters, manuscripts, and journals to the Gotlieb since 2008, offering the BU community a glimpse into her life and methodology. \u201cWe distill scents, get an essence and preserve it,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, when we open a perfume bottle, there\u2019s the distillation that we then put on ourselves,\u201d much like opening a box that holds someone\u2019s life\u2019s work and drawing knowledge from it.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Gotlieb\u2019s collection spans nine miles of shelves and includes a secured reading room for scholars from across the globe to consult its treasures, it might just be the University\u2019s best kept secret. \u201cMost students at BU have no idea we even exist,\u201d says Christopher Gately, an exhibition, outreach, and art administrator.<\/p>\n<p><span>But, every semester, around 10 CAS students are afforded exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the archives. As they process and catalog donations, mount exhibitions, and research the origins of obscure materials, the students forge personal connections with the people whose belongings they come to know so intimately. Here, three recent CAS interns share their favorite objects.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border: none; background-color: #f2e8db; height: 3px; margin: 50px 0;\" \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment31749\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment31749\" style=\"width: 464px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-454x636.jpg\" alt=\"CAS student Shannyn Schack enjoying access to the Gotleib Archival Center's MLK treasures\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-31749\" width=\"454\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-454x636.jpg 454w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-768x1075.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-731x1024.jpg 731w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-755x1057.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-320x448.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010-620x868.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-010.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment31749\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannyn Schack (CAS<span>\u2019<\/span>20) <span>helped organize and mount the Gotlieb\u2019s 2018 exhibition on the 50th anniversary of MLK\u2019s assassination<\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Shannyn Schack (CAS\u201920)<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #fff; background-color: #e65046;\">MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.\u2019S BRIEFCASE<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, what\u2019s in MLK\u2019s briefcase? As it turns out: nothing. What matters is not what\u2019s inside the briefcase, but what the briefcase represents, Hendrickson says. The <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=11\">Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS\u201955, Hon.\u201959)<\/a> collection\u2014approximately 83,000 items\u2014has always been the Gotlieb\u2019s most frequently consulted, but in the last year the archivists have noted an upsurge in visitors.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re in one of those moments when people are wondering why the world is the way it is and what they can do to make it a better place. People want to know what Martin Luther King, Jr. would do,\u201d Hendrickson says. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 1964, the year he won the Nobel Peace Prize, King \u201cgave us material about the movement he was a part of,\u201d like files from his work with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naacp.org\/\">National Association for the Advancement of Colored People<\/a> (NAACP) and the Congress of Racial Equality, as well as correspondence from notable activists like Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Jackie Robinson. He also donated personal items, like family photos and college exams, and his diary about his 1962 arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"circle-container\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/18-1254-GOTTLEIB-101-150x150.png\" alt=\"Martin Luther King Jr.'s Report Card\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><span><br \/>\n<strong> MLK\u2019S Report Card <\/strong><br \/>\nAt the end of his study at BU in 1955, MLK began to question the meaning of his formal education. Ironically, he earned a C in formal logic.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/18-1254-GOTTLEIB-046-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"MLK's personal copy of The Montgomery Story comic book\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><span><br \/>\n<strong> COMIC BOOK <\/strong><br \/>\nMLK\u2019s personal copy of <em>The Montgomery Story<\/em> comic book, a how-to for peaceful protest based on the work of Gandhi.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cHe wanted people to understand that, collectively, there are ways to take action,\u201d Hendrickson says. \u201cHe called himself a \u2018drum major for justice.\u2019 Drum majors lead the band; they don\u2019t play an instrument. The people who matter are the ones marching behind them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for the strides he helped this country to take, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d have had the opportunities I\u2019ve had,\u201d says Shannyn Schack (CAS\u201920), who helped organize and mount the Gotlieb\u2019s 2018 exhibition on the 50th anniversary of King\u2019s assassination. The history major, whose dream job is a museum curator, confesses she was awed by the opportunity to handle King\u2019s belongings. \u201cOne time, I had to wipe down his briefcase because it was getting a little dusty. It felt forbidden,\u201d says Schack, who was too reverential to open it (that\u2019s not allowed, anyway). \u201cThis is the briefcase he took everywhere with him. I was hoping to get some kind of information through osmosis.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border: none; background-color: #f2e8db; height: 3px; margin: 50px 0;\" \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment31747\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment31747\" style=\"width: 464px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-454x636.jpg\" alt=\"CAS Student Ethan David Pike reviewing an audio reel in the Gotlieb Archival Center\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-31747\" width=\"454\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-454x636.jpg 454w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-768x1075.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-731x1024.jpg 731w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-755x1057.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-320x448.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002-620x868.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/web-18-1455-ASGOTLIEB-002.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment31747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ethan David Pike (CAS<span>\u2019<\/span>19) <span>processed and organized Frederick Brisson\u2019s letters, scripts, and other materials<\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Ethan David Pike (CAS\u201919)<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #fff; background-color: #e65046;\">FREDERICK BRISSON\u2019S LETTERS<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Danish-born theater and film producer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0109900\/\">Frederick Brisson<\/a> often said he\u2019d noticed actress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0751426\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\">Rosalind Russell<\/a> during a voyage across the Atlantic in 1939 when her breakout film,<i> The Women<\/i>, was screened repeatedly on his ship. He thought, \u201cI\u2019m either going to kill that woman, or I\u2019m going to marry her.\u201d He convinced his friend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000026\/?ref_=nv_sr_1\">Cary Grant<\/a>, who was costarring with Russell in <i>His Girl Friday<\/i>, to introduce him to the actress\u2014and Roz and Freddie (as they were known in Hollywood) married in 1941, with Grant as best man. The power couple were married for 35 years and left an indelible mark on the screen and stage. While Tony Award-winner Brisson brought hits like <i>Damn Yankees<\/i> and<i> The Pajama Game<\/i> to Broadway and film, Russell was the better known, lauded for roles like the free-wheeling titular character in 1958\u2019s <i>Auntie Mame<\/i>. In 1973, she received a special Academy Award for her humanitarian work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"circle-container\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/FPO-050718_BU_Gotlieb-Archive14993-FPO-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Brisson's wife, actress Rosalind Russell,\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><br \/>\n<span><strong>PORTRAITS OF A STAR<\/strong><br \/>\nA portrait of Brisson&#8217;s wife, actress Rosalind Russell, one of 12 black and white headshots in the box.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"thumbnails\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/FPO-050718_BU_Gotlieb-Archive14908-FPO-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Audio reel that a playwright sent to Brisson\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><span><br \/>\n<strong>A REALLY BAD PLAY<\/strong><br \/>\nAn audio reel that an aspiring playwright sent to Brisson for review. Brisson\u2019s box includes a letter he wrote to the playwright stating that the play was \u201cnot in my opinion even a little ready for production. I find the book rather pompous and over-conceived; the lyrics are pretentious.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The single 18-inch cardboard box of <a href=\"http:\/\/archives.bu.edu\/collections\/collection?id=121699\">Brisson\u2019s materials<\/a> at the Gotlieb includes glossy portraits of Russell, as well as letters written by her; scripts by playwrights like Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal; programs for Brisson\u2019s productions; and letters he wrote to his mother in Denmark as she was dying. The letters particularly resonated with Ethan David Pike (CAS\u201919), an English and philosophy major who interned at the Gotlieb in preparation for a career in library science and archives. He processed and organized the contents of the box that had lain in storage since they were donated to the archives in 1984. (\u201cThat material came at a time when probably we didn\u2019t have the staff to process it,\u201d Hendrickson says. \u201cThe nice thing about having students like Ethan is that we can dig back into those materials.\u201d) Pike says, \u201cThere is something very raw and moving about reading the letters between a son and his family during a time like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border: none; background-color: #f2e8db; height: 3px; margin: 50px 0;\" \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment32224\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment32224\" style=\"width: 383px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-373x636.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32224\" width=\"373\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-373x636.png 373w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-768x1308.png 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-601x1024.png 601w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-755x1286.png 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-320x545.png 320w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001-620x1056.png 620w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/09\/resize-18-1458-ASGOTLIEB-001.png 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment32224\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amanda Troendle (CAS\u201918 ) organized and logged the contents of three boxes of poet Miriam Levine\u2019s journals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Amanda Troendle (CAS\u201918)<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #fff; background-color: #e65046;\">MIRIAM LEVINE\u2019S JOURNALS<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not a super famous person,\u201d says Miriam Levine, author of three poetry collections, a novel, a memoir, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Guide-Writers-Homes-New-England\/dp\/0918222516\"><em>A Guide to Writers\u2019 Homes in New England<\/em><\/a>. While she may not be a household name, Levine believes the value of archives is not derived from celebrity; students and researchers may find her records significant because they offer a glimpse into a specific time and place\u2014Massachusetts from 1969 to the present\u2014and a personal history, the \u201ctexture of a life,\u201d she says. \u201cI would love people to come away with an understanding of how a writer is connected to other people, to society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among her most personal donations: journals, dating back to 1969, which contain everything from drafts of poetry to ruminations on her marriage to grocery lists. She\u2019d initially held onto her journals because \u201cI\u2019d become attached to them, just the way other people become attached to things like family photographs, clothes, mementoes of the past. Even though these objects are not alive\u2014they don\u2019t have legs and arms, and tails and fur\u2014it\u2019s as if life is in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through Levine\u2019s journals, \u201cyou see how she does her work and how she thinks,\u201d Hendrickson says. \u201cOne of the things students get excited about when they see the Gotlieb\u2019s material is that they\u2019re seeing it unfiltered. They\u2019re seeing the evidence of the way people thought, the decisions they were making, the processes they were going through to get to a finished product,\u201d whether that\u2019s a poem or a social movement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"circle-container journals\">\n<div class=\"thumbnails\"><img src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/FPO-051118_Gotlieb-Archive15792-FPO-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Miriam Levine's Journals\" \/><span><br \/>\n<strong>PERSONAL JOURNALS<\/strong><br \/>\nThe journals \u201cdate back to, I think, the late 1950s,\u201d Levine says. \u201cThey\u2019re literary, they\u2019re personal, they\u2019re political, with information about the Vietnam War and other things. At one point I thought I would burn them all because there are personal things in there about people I really care about. It was actually my husband, John, who encouraged me to send them to BU.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt was intimidating at first because there is just so much\u2014to realize how much a person could write. This is her whole lifetime in written form,\u201d says Amanda Troendle (CAS\u201918) who organized and logged the contents of three boxes of Levine\u2019s journals. As a history and international relations major, Troendle normally studies government documents, \u201cso it was a nice change of pace to read poetry. Something really personal,\u201d she says. She was most struck by Levine\u2019s \u201cpoetry that encapsulated a moment. She talks about sitting in her home and looking out the window and feeling abandonment and sorrow, being alone in the house. That\u2019s something everybody can relate to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we go to archives because we like to look for similarities in someone else\u2019s life,\u201d she adds. \u201cFrom MLK to Miriam Levine, it\u2019s nice to see that they\u2019re still people who have regular lives. They\u2019re not just figures\u2014they\u2019re human beings. I think we like feeling close to other people, and learning about others makes us maybe learn a little bit about ourselves, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<style>blockquote p{font-size: 2em !important;} .sidebar-right{padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0px;} sidebar-right img{width: 50%;} .single-rcasmagazine .sidebar-right{padding-left: 0; padding-right: 0}.single-rcasmagazine .sidebar-right .wp-caption-text { text-align: center; border-left:none !important; width: 300px; margin-left: -6em; font-size: 14px<span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span>; color: #20353f;}<\/style>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"notable-objects\">\n<div class=\"gotlieb title\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10em; line-height: .5em; text-align: center; font-family: serif; color: #3b6377;\">5<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-family: serif; font-size: 2em; line-height: 1em; text-align: center; margin-top: -.75em;\">Notable Objects<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-family: serif; font-size: 2em; line-height: 1em; text-align: center; margin-top: -.75em;\"><span style=\"font-size: .75em; border-top: 5px solid black; border-bottom: 5px solid black; vertical-align: text-top;\">from the<\/span> Gotlieb<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gotlieb\"><img src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/AdeleFred1921-150x150.png\" alt=\"FRED ASTAIRE\u2019S TAP SHOES\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"gotlieb-caption\"><strong>FRED ASTAIRE\u2019S TAP SHOES <\/strong><br \/>\nAlthough Astaire dominated the silver screen, he wasn\u2019t particularly tall, as his size 8 1\/2 shoes attest. At 5&#8217;8&#8243;, he was filmed to look taller, even when dancing with Ginger Rogers (above), who was 5&#8217;5&#8243;. His letters to his first dance partner\u2014his sister, Adele\u2014are also part of the archive.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"gotlieb\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/GettyImages-93682709_594_HR-150x150.png\" alt=\"Robin Williams\" class=\"wp-image-31095 size-thumbnail\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/GettyImages-93682709_594_HR-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/GettyImages-93682709_594_HR-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/GettyImages-93682709_594_HR.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"gotlieb-caption\"><strong>ROBIN WILLIAMS\u2019 STAND-UP SCRIPTS<\/strong><br \/>\nWilliams\u2019 scripts for his stand-up routines were composed of lists of words and phrases in large type, all capitalized. They served as prompts for improvisation so every show would be different.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"gotlieb\"><img src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/JohnAdams_2nd_US_President-150x150.png\" alt=\"John Adams\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"gotlieb-caption\"><strong>LOVING LETTER FROM A PRESIDENT<\/strong><br \/>\nA letter from Founding Father and future US president John Adams to his wife, Abigail, when he was away from home. Adams writes, \u201cSunday is not a Day of Rest to me, unless I am with my Family. Kiss my sweet little Nabby for me.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"gotlieb\"><img src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/Gutenberg_Bible-150x150.png\" alt=\"Gutenberg Bible\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"gotlieb-caption\"><strong>FIRST PRINTED BOOK<\/strong><br \/>\nA page from the Gutenberg Bible\u2014the first book in the Western world printed with movable metal type. Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing process in the 1450s.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"gotlieb\"><img src=\"\/cas\/files\/2018\/08\/wallstreet-150x150.png\" alt=\"Michael Douglas\" \/><br \/>\n<span class=\"gotlieb-caption\"><strong>OSCAR SPEECH<\/strong><br \/>\nMichael Douglas\u2019 handwritten Best Actor acceptance speech for 1987\u2019s <em>Wall Street<\/em>, in which he thanks his father, actor Kirk Douglas, who he says \u201cnever missed one of my college productions,\u201d and also \u201chelped me step out of his shadow\u201d for which he\u2019s \u201ceternally grateful.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And Other Mysteries From BU&#8217;s Archival Research Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30913,"template":"","department":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/30571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/r_cas_magazine"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/30571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33252,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-articles\/30571\/revisions\/33252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"r_cas_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=30571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}