Special Collections - Anteater Antics

Campus Scenes

Truman Capote on Campus in September 1977

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American author Truman Capote (1924-1984) was born Truman Streckfus Persons on September 30, 1924. Capote, best known for Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958),  and In Cold Blood (1966), was on the UCI campus in September 1977, and graciously signed copies of his books at a campus reception.

Truman Capote signing at a reception in 1977.

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Box 131.

Ayala Science Library groundbreaking

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Shovels, hats and an architectural model patiently await the groundbreaking ceremony for the Science Library at UCI.  The James Stirling and Michael Wilford designed building opened in 1994. In April 2010, the Science Library was renamed the Francisco J. Ayala Science Library in recognition of the world-renowned UCI evolutionary biologist’s considerable scientific achievements and contributions to the campus.

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Box 144.

Christopher Reeve and the Reeve-Irvine Research Center

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In January 1996, philanthropist Joan Irvine Smith proposed to actor Christopher Reeve, best known for his film role as Superman, that they collaborate with UCI to launch a fund-raising effort toward the establishment of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, one of the few  spinal cord research centers in the nation. Smith offered to start the effort with a $1 million donation from her foundation. Mr. Reeve, who in 1995 had suffered an equestrian accident that left him paralyzed, agreed to help. On July 20, 1996, the Christopher Reeve Celebrity Polo Classic was held at the Oaks Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park, and benefited the research center. Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana joined Joan Irvine Smith, UCI Chancellor Laurel Wilkening and about 500 other people on September 13, 1996 in dedicating the a new building where the Reeve-Irvine Research Center is housed. On September 14, 1996, at a benefit dinner at Mission San Juan Capistrano, actors/celebrities Robin Williams, Joan Rivers and Jane Seymour were among 560 guests at another fundraiser that was part of a week-long equestrian event, the Oaks International.  Williams directed the auction at the event.

All of these, and other fundraising efforts helped to establish the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is now one of the nation’s leading facilities for spinal cord research. Christopher and Dana Reeve remained committed to helping for the rest of their lives. Christopher Reeve died on October 10, 2004 from complications from his 1995 spinal cord injury. Dana Reeve died on March 6, 2006 from lung cancer.

Christopher and Dana Reeve  [As-061. Box 144]

Joan Irvine Smith and Chancellor Laurel Wilkening (right)  [AS-061. Box 144]

Signed poster for the Christopher Reeve Celebrity Polo Classic on July 20, 1996

Christopher and Dana Reeve on a tour of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center  [AS-061. Box 144]

Robin Williams at a benefit dinner for the Reeve-Irvine Research Center  [AS-061. Box 144]

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Box 144.

Aldrich Park dedicated on June 6, 1984

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When the campus opened on October 4, 1965, the partially completed park in the middle of campus was called Campus Park. It remained Campus Park until 1984 when it was renamed Aldrich Park, in honor of Daniel Aldrich, who retired in 1984 after twenty-two years of service as UCI Chancellor. The renaming of the park was only one of numerous events that took place in the Spring of 1984 in honor of the retirement of our first Chancellor. The dedication of the 21-acre Aldrich Park occurred on June 6, 1984. Below is a photograph of Daniel Aldrich with former Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley (left) at the dedication ceremony.

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Box 144.

Shakespeare inside and outside Langson Library

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Many of us anxiously await the inaugural New Swan Shakespeare Festival, to be staged adjacent to Langson Library on Gateway Plaza, from August 9 – 26. In the meantime, we would like to point out that Shakespeare’s “First Folio,” one of the rarest items in the UCI Libraries, is housed in Special Collections and Archives on the fifth floor of Langson. The first collected edition of the plays of William Shakespeare, commonly known as “The First Folio,” has long ranked among the most treasured publications in the English language. A fine copy of the first edition was donated to the Libraries in 1986 by Dr. Patrick Hanratty (below), a graduate of the UCI doctoral program in Information and Computer Science. Printed in London in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death, the First Folio contains texts of thirty-six of the plays. Half of the plays here had never been printed before and half of the remaining plays appear here in authoritative versions. Only about 240 copies of the First Folio survive today, most held in libraries and other cultural institutions.  Although the 1623 edition of the First Folio is available for viewing by serious researchers in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room on the fifth floor of Langson Library, our collection also includes quality facsimiles of this edition, which may suffice for most research purposes.

Dr. Patrick Hanratty and the Shakespeare First Folio [AS-061, Box 144]

The New Swan Theater, under construction, outside Langson Library. [Photograph by S. MacLeod]

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Box 144 [Hanratty photograph].

UCI Bridges

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Below are photographs of a number of bridges on the UCI campus. Do you recognize them? Are there other campus bridges that are not included here?

AS-061. University Communication Photographs. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.

Rare Aerial Photographs of Campus

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The University Archives has many aerial photographs of the early campus construction in the mid-1960s, before the campus opened in the Fall 1965. However, very few of those are in color. The collection Beth Koch Photographs of the University of California, Irvine, 1963-1984 (AS-056) has a few interesting color photographs.

AS-056. Beth Koch Photographs of the University of California, Irvine, 1963-1984. Special Collections and Archives, the U.C. Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.