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An Adelphi trading card sold with Murad Cigarettes, starting in 1914.

By Janine Perez 鈥�14

As an Adelphi tour guide, it is my job to learn as much as possible about our University听to answer even the most obscure questions from families. I鈥檝e given more than 100听campus tours and am rarely stumped. In addition to giving tours, I also write press听releases as a student writer in Adelphi鈥檚 Office of Public Affairs. So I know a lot about听Adelphi.

Or, I thought I did until one day last spring when my manager in the public affairs office听asked me to go to the Adelphi University Archives to do research for an assignment.听I had no idea that Adelphi even had an archive, let alone where it was. Imagine my听embarrassment.

Bemused by my stammering shock, my manager kindly escorted me to Residence听Hall A and showed me the sign above a side entrance that prominently reads 鈥淎delphi听University Archives.鈥� I felt silly. I must have walked by that sign hundreds of times and听never noticed it.

Humbled, I activated the intercom beside the large steel door to gain access to the听subterranean trove. Pamela Griffin, the administrative assistant, ushered me in. I was听there to find some specific material for an article, but I quickly became fascinated with听the mysterious books, papers and objects crammed into drawers and shelves.听Professor Eugene Neely and his fellow archives and special collections faculty and staff听know a great deal about the scores of materials they curate and are more than willing to听share their knowledge with anyone seeking it. After poking around a few times (with the听experts鈥� help, of course) I learned so many odd and entertaining tidbits about Adelphi, I听just knew I had to share some of the finds.

One collection that piqued my interest was a group of miniature trading cards, each听one approximately 2 inches long鈥攁bout the length of my index finger. The cards were听part of the Murad Cigarettes College Series 51鈥�75 issued in 1914. Originally, there听were 150 cards representing athletics at various colleges. Of all the colleges in the听country, Adelphi鈥攖hen a college based in Brooklyn鈥攚as one of the ones selected听to be featured in the deck. In the archives is a collection of 21 of the cards, including听the Adelphi card with a white-clad tennis player and others that showcase Vanderbilt听University and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

Far more shocking than an Adelphi trading card sold with a pack of cigarettes was an听item that I never thought I would see on this campus鈥攁 football. I knew that Adelphi听once had a football team, but a pigskin was the last thing I was expecting to see in the听University Archives. This isn鈥檛 just any football; it鈥檚 a winning one. Literally bursting at听the seam from being thrown, kicked and tackled, it is a symbol of Adelphi鈥檚 1948 win听against Hofstra University. It鈥檚 nice to know that even in 鈥�48 we had a rivalry strong听enough to entice us to keep the football even after we got rid of the football team.听The third item that caught my eye was positively otherworldly and wholly unexpected.听It鈥檚 a souvenir-sized model of the 1969 Grumman Lunar Landing Module from Apollo听11. Apparently, these now-rare models are coveted by collectors, and it鈥檚 easy to听see why. The miniaturized version of that famed spacecraft intrigued me. The reason听Adelphi has this is linked to Swirbul Library. Leon Swirbul 鈥�59 (Hon.), the former听president and one of the six founders of the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation,听served on Adelphi鈥檚 Board of Trustees for only about two years before he passed听away. After his passing in 1960, the Grumman employee contribution council elected听to donate funds raised from fellow workers to the new Adelphi library, in Mr. Swirbul鈥檚听memory. When the library was completed, Grumman donated this original model to the听University.

We have a bevy of surprising and intriguing items in the archives. I can鈥檛 wait to听discover more of the objects hiding in the shelves beneath Residence Hall A. Make an听appointment and take a look for yourself.