Plastics.
They’re lightweight, durable, flexible, inexpensive. They’re moldable, extrudable, pressable. They’re colored and clear; they’re dinnerware, jewelry, vinyl siding, military supplies, toys and thousands more things. In the early half of the 20th century, the availability of polymers and fossil fuel-based chemicals led to a proliferation of the manufacturing of plastic “things” whose everyday use became enmeshed in America’s social, political and environmental landscapes.
Syracuse University Libraries holds the largest academic library resource on the history of plastic. This includes over 70 archival collections relating to plastics, most of which were obtained after the National Plastic Center and Museum closed in 2008. Housed in the Special Collections Resource Center (SCRC), the materials document the rise of plastics, mainly from a plastics-industry perspective, and include papers from innovators John Wesley Hyatt, Irvin Rubin, Viscoloid Company and Foster Grant. The collection also contains related prototypes, photographs, audio, film, advertisements and blueprints useful for interdisciplinary research, as well as 3,000 objects related to the rise of plastics manufacturing.
Courtney Hicks
Many of these materials are now on display at Bird Library as part of the SCRC exhibit “Plasticized: The Proliferation of Plastics in the 20th Century.” To highlight the exhibit, a panel discussion and reception will be held on Earth Day, Monday, April 22. (See details below.)
Courtney Hicks, SCRC lead curator and curator of plastics and historical artifacts, spoke about the exhibit and some of the fascinating facts to uncover from the collection’s historical documents and artifacts displays.
These artifacts offer a glimpse of the impact—and ubiquity—plastics had on American life. They reveal its presence in fashion, the built environment, art and design, domestic products and more. These everyday objects also illuminate how products were initially designed with more longevity in form and function and reveal design trends toward single-use products.
The archival material holds crucial evidence of how plastic manufacturing was advertised, marketed, designed, manufactured, tested and analyzed. It also sheds light on how consultants, the plastics industry and engineers engaged in research related to product viability in markets.
Items in the Plastic Collection include these everyday items from earlier times in American life. (Photo: Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
This unique and distinctive research collection of primary source materials is an incredible resource for the Syracuse University community, offering fantastic opportunities for scholarship and creative engagement in this subject area. For example, we’ve worked with faculty in Chemistry, the School of Design and History to activate the collection through collaborations in research, as well as instruction sessions centered on the history and technology of plastics.
The “Survival Kit,” an air-felted fiberglass, polyester resin object made to attach to an ejection seat in an airplane. It was contracted for manufacture for use in the Boeing B-52 jet-powered strategic bomber, the Northrop T-38 supersonic jet trainer and the F-5 supersonic light fighter aircraft.
[SCRC Instruction and Education Librarian] Jana Rosinski and I found this 1957-era object so fascinating that we curated an entire educational exhibition around it (“Survival Kit: Provisions for Your Research Journey”) in the Plastics Pioneers Reading Room on the sixth floor of Bird Library. Our discovery process shows how sometimes an artifact can be an object of inquiry in its own right, and other times an artifact can open up another whole world of interest and present histories of its own to be told. That’s what happened here.
The Plastics Collection area gives us a critical historical context for charting a new, more sustainable path forward with plastics. Not only does it provide crucial historical context, but it also has the potential to inspire a more sustainable future with plastics. While everyone has opinions about plastic and life today, we hope the exhibition furthers education and understanding of plastic history while sparking dialogue in our community.
Panel: “The Afterlives of Plastics”
Monday, April 22, 3 to 4:15 p.m.
Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 Bird Library and on Zoom (Register online.)
Panelists:
Lily Baum Pollans, associate professor of urban policy and planning, Hunter College Suzanne Brander, associate professor, College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University
Laura Markley, postdoctoral researcher, Syracuse University Center for Sustainable Community Solutions (CSCS)
Sherri Mason, director of sustainability, Penn State Behrend
Co-moderators: Hicks and Lisa Ruggero, CSCS assistant director of programs
Organizers: Special Collections Research Center, and Syracuse University’s Center for Sustainable Community Solutions and Environmental Finance Center Co-sponsor: Engaged Humanities Network
Exhibit Reception:
4:30 to 6 p.m., Special Collections Research Center, sixth floor, Bird Library
