The Steam Engineering School and the Battle of Midway

By Scott Smith, Acquisitions and Collection Development Librarian

A bronze plaque on the Hudson Street side of the Lieb Building recognizes the structure’s being the site of the United States Navy Steam Engineering School. The school, designed to train Navy officers for World War I and staffed entirely with Stevens faculty, opened in 1918 and closed in 1919. 

Lieb Building was constructed by the Navy specifically to house the school and was sold to Stevens after the school closed.  Among the graduates of the Steam Engineering School was an officer who played a key role in the United States’ outwitting the Japanese navy in the World War II Battle of Midway. Joe Rochefort, who had joined the Navy straight out of high school

in 1917, enrolled in the Steam Engineering School at Stevens in 1918. Several years after his training there, Rochefort took a Navy cryptanalysis class. Subsequently, he joined the Navy intelligence department, where he learned Japanese and developed his cryptology skills.

When the U.S. entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rochefort was the Officer in Charge of the Hawaiian intelligence station. His team of analysts, working with British and Dutch codebreakers, helped crack the Japanese navy’s main fleet cipher. This intelligence work revealed plans for an upcoming attack; however, opinions differed concerning where it would take place: some thought the Aleutian Islands, others thought Papua New Guinea, still others thought the west coast of the United States. Rochefort was convinced that it was Midway Atoll.

One of Rochefort’s staff members had an idea to send an unencrypted message with the information that Midway was having troubles with its desalination equipment. As hoped, the Japanese navy intercepted the message, and when the U.S. Navy intercepted and decoded a Japanese message calling for an increase in desalination supplies, they knew that Midway was the target. Further work by Rochefort’s team determined the date of the attack as either June 4 or June 5, 1942. Japan had lost its advantage, and the ensuing U.S. victory at Midway cost Japan its naval supremacy in the Pacific for the remainder of the war.

Two books in the Stevens library tell the story of Midway and Joe Rochefort:

Pacific Crucible : War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll

Joe Rochefort’s War : the Odyssey of the Codebreaker who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway by Elliot Carlson.

Introducing the New Archives and Special Collections Librarian: Leah Loscutoff

Ourida Oubraham, director of the Samuel C. Williams Library, is proud to announce the appointment of Leah Loscutoff as the new Archives and Special Collections Librarian.

Leah comes to the library from the Brooklyn Historical Society, where she worked as the Digitization Archivist and Project Education Coordinator. In this position she supervised the creation of the Brooklyn Visual Heritage website, a collaborative project among the historical society, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Pratt School of Information and Library Science. Prior to that, Leah processed the Woodlawn Cemetery archive for the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts library at Columbia University. She has also held archivist positions at the University of California, Irvine, and the National Park Service in San Francisco.

Originally from California, Leah received her Masters of Library and Information Science, with a concentration in Archives and Records Management, from San Jose State University in 2008, and her B.A. in History from San Francisco State University.

Hoboken Public Library to Celebrate the life of Martha Bayard Stevens

  
On March 20, 6:30 PM, the Hoboken Public Library will be having a  special Women's History Month celebration of the life and contributions of Martha Bayard Stevens, New Jersey Philanthropist and Social Reformer. Library Director, Ourida Oubraham and Assistant Curator Doris Oliver will be attending the event. The Samuel C. Williams Library also provided some archival material for the event.

Who was Martha Bayard Stevens?

From the main Stevens webpage: "Martha Bayard Stevens, the second wife of the University’s founder, Edwin Stevens, was influential in building Stevens into the renowned national research university that it is today. When Edwin provided for the establishment of Stevens in his will, it was Martha – one of three executors of his estate – who insisted that the University be geared toward science and engineering.

"Martha also made significant contributions to the community before her husband’s death. She provided funding for the establishment of the Hoboken library and organized and endowed the Industrial Education Association, which taught young women in Hoboken life skills like home economics and savings. Martha also founded the Martha Institute for training boys in industrial skills and was instrumental in the founding of Church Square Park, Hudson Square Park and Elysian Park."

 You can RSVP for the event on Eventbrite, or via email: hobkref@bccls.org or phone 201-420-2347.

Celebrate International Women's Day!

Today we reflect on the struggle for equal rights and accomplishments in history by and for women.  At the library we wanted to share two items from our collections about Lenore Schupack.  She was not the first woman to attend Stevens but graduate with a degree. Maria Grato was the first in 1971.

Here's the article from The Stute May 3rd Volume 71, Issue 27:

 

And here's the Happy Graduate getting her diploma from The Link:

 

You can see back issues of The Stute Here

Discover the new Media Room and Gifts from Alumni and the 1870 Society

The Samuel C. Williams Library is happy to announce that students can now reserve and use a new Media Room (209). The room and technology is a gift  from the Class of 2010.  The room is fully equipped with an interactive board and over head projector. It is spacious and perfect for collaborative work. Students can reserve the room by inquiring at the Circulation Services Desk and they can pick up the interactive pen, special dry-erase markers and eraser, batteries, etc. The full specs:

• Table seats 10 people
• Interactive board
• Please ask at the Circulation Services Desk for the special dry-erase markers, interactive pen, batteries, and eraser

Students: for same-day reservations, please inquire at the Circulation Services Desk to use this room
for advance reservations, please contact Linda Beninghove, John Cruz, or Nydia Cruz.


Also, a collaboration between students and the Office of Development was recently formed called the 1870 Society.  It has been formed to encourage undergraduate students to make a contribution to Stevens for initiatives that will immediately enrich the University while they are currently enrolled students by making a donation of $18.70.  This past year, the 1870 Society has made available in the library white boards, dry-erase markers & erasers, and power strips, which are available at the Circulation Services Desk.  Students can check them out for in-library use.

Spring Semester is Here! Sign Up for Workshops Now

Intro to Research Tools for Graduate Students

This training workshop will introduce graduate students to the professional and scholarly library research databases available to all Stevens students through the library website which will help you find journal articles, books, and other publications.  This workshop is highly recommended for all graduate students. Thursday, February 7th at
4pm-5pm  RSVP Here

Manage Your References with RefWorks

RefWorks helps you organize and manage your references as you work on a paper or project.  Learn how to move references directly from the databases to your own RefWorks account, cite your sources easily, create bibliographies, and insert references into your research paper as you write it.  This workshop will meet in library. Thursday, February 21st, 4pm-5pm  RSVP Here

 

See a full listing of Spring library workshops here 

Final exam time!

The library is now open 24 hours for the final exam period (12/6 - 12/18). We will close at midnight 12/18. The rest of the holiday schedule is as follows:

12/19 - 12/20:  9am - 9pm
12/21:  9am - 5pm
12/22 - 1/1/13:  Library Closed for Christmas Recess (reopens Jan 2, 2013 at 9am)