Azariah Smith Root's Cane
Title/Subject: Azariah Smith Root's cane
Date: 1884
Type: cane (walking stick)
Medium: ebony, gold alloy, brass, porcelain, photographic print
Format: 33" long x 1" diameter
Collection: Objects Collection (RG 35)
A hand-tinted photographic image, transferred to porcelain and fired, of Azariah Smith Root (1862-1927), graduate of the class of 1884, is embedded in the metal band around this ebony walking stick or cane. The oval mount for the photographic object on the cane originally had a hinged cover. The image has been exposed to the elements for some time, and despite crackling of the support, it remains a clear portrait of the young Root. The inscription on the gold plated head indicates that the stick was given to him on June 25, 1884, presumably Root's graduation day.Azariah Root went on to attain a Master of Arts at Oberlin in 1887. That year he was appointed the College's first librarian at the age of 25. He served in that position for 40 years, until his death in 1927. Root was instrumental in making the Oberlin College Library one of the largest college libraries in the United States. He was a part-time member of the faculty at Western Reserve University's Library School from its inception in 1904 until his death. He also lectured at other library schools, including Columbia, the University of Michigan, and Pratt Institute. During 1916-17 he was acting head of the New York Public Library School. He was a scholar in the history of printing. In 1898-99 he studied Grolier bindings and Costeriana in Germany, and took courses at the University of Gottingen. He learned Dutch and used the summer of 1926 to research archives in Haarlem.
There is a long history of the cane as an accessory for the well-dressed man. This particular stick is clearly decorative as well as functional. It is thirty-three inches tall, giving a clue as to Root's height--he was not a tall man by modern standards. As stated in the finding guide for the Azariah Smith Root Papers, Root was a campus leader and the quintessential man-about-town. He pursued a wide range of social, political and religious interests both for the College and the community. In 1893 Root helped to found the Anti-Saloon League, along with Howard Hyde Russell (1855-1926, B.D. 1888, D.D. 1921).
It is a tradition of the Oberlin College Library to ceremoniously confer Root's cane to each successive library director for use at the College. For some years the ferrule or protective tip of the cane was missing. In 2016-17 the Intermuseum Conservation Association fabricated a new one of brass, and designed and built a case for the Library's historic object. The case complements the oak interior trim in the Brutalist Mudd Center which houses the Mary Church Terrell Library (1974).
Sources
Archives Art Files.
Azariah Smith Root Papers (RG 30/57).
Archives Museum Collection (digital).
Related Collections
Oberlin College Library Records (RG 16)