We took the elevator down to the vault, not sure what we'd get to see. But I knew that's where they kept the treasures. I'd even seen a few of them before. F. Scott Fitzgerald's briefcase. The typewriter Joseph Heller used to write Catch-22.
Maybe you're not a geeky person like I am: I get very excited to think that my hand is touching the same thing someone great has touched. That, miles or decades or lifetimes apart though we may be, we are somehow in the same place at the same time.
(The one time I was left alone with the Heller typewriter, it took all the self-control I could muster not to walk over and put my fingers on the keys. Self control, and a healthy fear of hidden security cameras.)
The Fitzgerald Ledger
But if you do ever have that same crazy sense of things, you'll understand why I was so excited. Elizabeth Suddeth, Director of the special collections at the University of South Carolina library, had pulled out F. Scott Fitzgerald's ledger. The one where he'd written every tiny detail of his life, as my old professor and friend Dr. Matthew Bruccoli used to tell us, because Fitzgerald believed one day he'd be famous.
The page I touched in the Fitzgerald ledger.
Go ahead. Touch it.
Could I trust my ears? Had Elizabeth just told us we could put a finger on the ledger.
Didn't we at least need to wear those white cotton gloves?
"Clean hands. Pure hearts," was Elizabeth's response.
Turns out she and the library's archivists believe you take more care with documents and items if you're not wearing gloves. And, of course, we didn't rub our greasy hands all over the thing.
Rare first edition of Phillis Wheatley's poems, the first published book of poetry by an African-American.
The Thomas Cooper Society
One of my favorite volunteer activities is being a board member of the Thomas Cooper Society, an organization that supports these special collections at the university library. And not just because I occasionally get to go to the vault and see things that make my little nerd heart soar.
A more recent acquisition.
This business of collecting books and documents is so incredibly valuable. I know, because I've used some of these resources myself for documentaries I've worked on. As have other researchers, who come to this library from around the world.
You can learn more about the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections here.