NC Literary Map Exhibit

Where: Hodges Reading Room

When: May 1 – September 1, 2012

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is hosting an exhibit for the online North Carolina Literary Map (http://library.uncg.edu/dp/nclitmap).   The exhibit includes historic photographs, rare books, manuscripts, and plenty of popular materials such as books by the famous North Carolina author Nicholas Sparks.

The literary map of North Carolina is a database-driven, searchable/browse-able, multi-level, multi-media online research tool created to foster interest in North Carolina's rich literary tradition.  This is a collaborative project between the University Libraries at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the North Carolina Center for the Book, a program of the State Library of North Carolina, Department of Cultural Resources.

Almost any reader or person curious about North Carolina can find something of interest in the exhibit.  Both prominent historical works and popular book titles are on display.  For example, William Bartram’s Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, and East and West Florida from 1793 as well as Margaret Marons’ Up Jumps the Devil can be viewed.

Special thanks to the LIS graduate students who collaborated on putting together an exhibit that highlights some of North Carolina’s best literary features.

McIver Statue Centennial: 1912-2012

 

Charles Duncan McIver, ca. 1895

Charles Duncan McIver was born on September 27, 1860, to Henry McIver and Sarah “Sallie” Harrington McIver in Moore County, North Carolina.
   
McIver entered the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill in 1877 and graduated in 1881.  After graduating from UNC, he accepted the assistant headmaster position at the Presbyterian Male Academy in Durham, North Carolina.  McIver was elected principal of the newly established graded high school in Durham in 1882.  After two years, he resigned his position in Durham for a teaching position at the Winston Graded School in Winston, North Carolina, where he met his future wife, Lula Martin.  They were married on July 29, 1885 and had four children.
   
McIver accepted the position of head of the literary department at Peace Institute, a girl’s school in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1886.   While in Raleigh, he lobbied for a normal or teacher training school for women.
   
In 1889, he and Edwin A. Alderman were chosen by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to conduct a series of teacher institutes to instruct teachers and enlighten the public about the need for a normal school in North Carolina.
   
With an annual salary of $2,500.00, McIver was appointed the first president of the newly established State Normal and Industrial School in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1891.
   
Unfortunately, he died on September 17, 1906, at the age of 45; however, he did see his dream of founding a college to educate women in North Carolina realized – that institution is now known as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
   
Shortly after McIver’s death, a committee was appointed by Governor Robert Glenn to raise funds to erect a statue in McIver’s memory.

 

The eight-foot statue of Dr. Charles Duncan McIver was sculpted by French-born American artist Frederick W. Ruckstuhl in Paris, France, and cast by the Fonderie Nationale des Bronzes in Brussels, Belgium.  Ruckstuhl created two statues.  

The original statue cost $7,000 and was erected on the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina, and dedicated on May 15, 1912.  A duplicated statue cost $1,100 and was erected on the campus of the State Normal and Industrial College now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  

The statue was dedicated on Founders Day, October 5, 1912, and stood in front of the McIver Memorial Building until it was moved to the front lawn of Jackson Library in 1960.

 

The original location of the McIver Statue was on the lawn in front of the McIver Memorial Building, site of the current McIver Building.

 

After the McIver Memorial Building was razed in 1958 and the current McIver Building was erected in 1960, the statue was relocated to the area in front of Jackson Library, a more central location on campus.  Note the Stone Building in the background.

Over the years, students painted and decorated the McIver Statue on numerous occasions such as Easter of 1971, when the statue was painted pink and topped with rabbit ears.  

Photograph courtesy of the Greensboro News-Record Library.

 

Starting in the late 1950s, students began to paint and decorate the statue.  By the 1980s, the statue was in disrepair due to the weather and being periodically cleaned with cleaning solutions.

 

In November 1990, the eight-foot statue was prepared to be shipped to Karkadoulias Bronze Art, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, to be cleaned and restored.

 

In May of 1991, the statue was returned to the campus in time for the university’s centennial celebration. Eleftherios Karkadoulias directed the statue back on its pedestal after being restored by Karkadoulias Bronze Art, Inc.

 

After the restoration, which totaled $7,500, the statue was returned to the university on May 10, 1991— two days before graduation.

Alumni Reunion 2012

On Friday, April 13, 2012, the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) mounted an exhibit of historical items related to the university for the Spartan Expo at the Alumni Reunion.  The exhibit was displayed in the Cone Ballroom of the Elliott University Center.

The exhibit consisted of historic artifacts, photographs, and textiles with particular emphasis on the 1960s as 2012 was the 50th anniversary of the Class of 1962 and the 45th anniversary of the Class of 1967.

The display of vintage textiles was a particular hit with the alumni.  Many had their photographs taken with the 1962 Class Jacket & Skirt and the 1950s Gym Suit on display.

 Display of historic artifacts and photographs.

Class of 1962 alumni chatting with University Archivist Erin Lawrimore.

Class of 1962 viewing the display of historic photographs.

Front row: Edith M. Wiggins '62 and Sheila C. Sims '62.

Back row: Alumni Relations staff member Linda Dunston-Stacy and Mtume Imani '62.

Reunion attendees with vintage textiles in the background.

Scan This Code!

QR Code for SCUA's Research Guide

You've seen these codes popping up everywhere - on newspapers, sales fliers, and paperback books. Now SCUA has a QR code of our own! This will take you to our departmental Research Guide that features our collections - and it looks great on your phone or mobile device! Give it a scan and let us know what you think!

What They Were Wearing While They Were Reading: 1930s

This collaborative exhibit highlights the 1930s featuring campus history, materials from Special Collections and University Archives, and period textiles generously loaned from Dr. James V. Carmichael. The exhibited items will rotate so visit often! Information from the rotating exhibits will be posted here periodically. 

1930s 

After the years of economic prosperity, the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, and the resulting economic depression dominated the entire decade. During this Great Depression, millions of Americans lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes. While banks foreclosed on businesses and farms, families became homeless and unemployed. Many Americans took to the road and the rails, traveling from town to town in search of a job. Shantytowns, known as “Hoovervilles” after President Herbert Hoover, began to spring up on the outskirts of town. Created with scraps of cardboard, newspaper, and anything else that could be picked up on the street, these makeshift towns housed thousand of transient families.

Americans pinned their hopes on the winner of the 1932 presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Upon taking office, Roosevelt began to establish governmental programs known as the “New Deal,” to help Americans pull out of the economic crises. Programs such as the Agricultural Adjustment Administration targeted farmers while the Works Progress Administration helped unemployment by hiring people to work on civic building projects. While these New Deal programs helped ease the hardships of many Americans, the decade continued to be plagued with economic instability.

 It was the entrance of the United States into World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 that ended the Great Depression.

What They Were Wearing While They Were Reading: 1930s 

February 7 - April 1, 2012 Main Lobby, Jackson Library

Windows to the World: The Immortal Works of Charles Dickens

With the possible exception of Shakespeare, no English author is better known than Charles Dickens. Dickens was a household name during his lifetime, and his reputation has not dimmed with the passage of time. This exhibit, which includes twelve of his most popular books—the majority represented in first editions—illustrations from his works, and an assortment of ephemera, celebrates the bicentennial of his birth on February 7, 1812.

Dickens won the admiration and praise of his readers, critics, and fellow authors; and countless books and articles have examined and heralded his life and writings. His grave in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey represents the highest tribute paid to an English author.
This exhibit attempts to allow Dickens’s genius to speak for itself, in his own words about his work and in the words of his immortal characters.

Illustrations—most of them the original illustrations—are included for each book. Dickens was one of the first authors with the power to select his own illustrations, thus giving them a particular significance as interpreters of his characters and events. He worked with some of the most distinguished artists of his day—George Cruikshank, Hablot Browne (“Phiz”), George Cattermole, and Marcus Stone foremost among them.

The many items in the exhibit that carry his name—commemorative plates, medallions, plaques, playing cards, etc.—show that perhaps no author in history has been commercialized more than Dickens. Although Dickens would undoubtedly have railed against this exploitation,it bears testimony to his immense and enduring popularity.

It is difficult to choose a single comment to summarize this great author’s life and work, but the words of his biographer G. K. Chesterton in 1906 ring true:

“The positive argument for the permanence of Dickens comes back to the thing that can only be stated and cannot be discussed. He made things which nobody else can possibly make.”

Thanks are due to Richard Levy, Norman Smith, and Kimberly Lutz for lending items to this exhibit, and to Carolyn Shankle for devoting time to designing this catalogue and the exhibit poster.

-William K. Finley

Exhibit Catalog
Exhibit catalog is in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader

Windows to the World:
Immortal Works of Charles Dickens
January 23 - March 30, 2012
Hodges Reading Room
Second Floor, Main Building
Jackson Library
Hours 9AM - 5 PM, Monday - Friday

Annual Women Veterans Luncheon is on Saturday, November 5th