Microcosm: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A large black yearbook, “Microcosm”, published by The City College of New York, New York, 1958, owned by General Colin L. Powell. The yearbook has a soft plastic leather-like covering with a large, embossed gold beaver holding a stick, on the bottom half. On the spine in large gold ink text is “1958 / MICROCOSM / CCNY”. On the reverse of the back cover, at the bottom, is a raised publisher’s seal. The inside of the front cover and first page features a large page-to-page drawing of people out and about in New York City. Below the border of the drawing on the first page is “PHOTO BY HANS GESELL ‘58”. The internal pages feature formal black-and-white pictures of City College’s students and their addresses, for the 1958 school year. General Powell’s picture and information are featured on page 205.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1958
• Published by: The City College of the City University of New York, American, founded 1847
• Subject of: General Colin L. Powell, American, 1937 - 2021
• Subject of: United States Armed Forces, American, founded 1775
• Subject of: United States Army, American, founded 1775
• Owned by: General Colin L. Powell, American, 1937 - 2021
• Type: yearbooks
• Type: books
• Medium: ink on photographic paper , plastic and cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (open): 12 5/16 × 18 3/4 × 1 in. (31.2 × 47.6 × 2.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (closed): 12 5/16 × 9 5/16 × 1 in. (31.2 × 23.6 × 2.6 cm)
• Place printed: New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Military
• Object number: A2022.101.1.32
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Alma J. Powell
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © The City College of the City University of New York Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.