UNCG Special Collections & University Archives

A Student's Perspective: Behind the Stacks in Manuscripts and Archives

2013-06-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

I started in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) as a volunteer during the fall semester of my freshman year at UNCG (2010). I had emailed someone (I can’t remember who now) in the library and asked if there was any need for volunteers in the library. I thought I’d be checking out books or reshelving things. The person replied and told me that there was no need for help in the main part of the library and suggested that I email Kathelene Smith in Archives. I did, and a week later I started as a volunteer. I mentioned this to my older brother, Dr. Joe Sanders, who is a faculty member at Kansas State University. He was surprised to hear this; he had just given a lecture on some research that he had done at SCUA. This was a nice surprise and made me even more interested in the work that goes on here.

Throughout my first year at SCUA, I worked on many different projects. The most extensive was some cataloguing with the State Normal Magazine that I did for Hermann Trojanowski, one of the archivists here. Hermann was a great sport and taught me a LOT about many aspects of archives. I also worked on organizing some photographs, supervised by Kathelene and Hermann. As it turns out, I knew less than I thought I did because after proudly presenting the results of my photograph organizing, Hermann gently pointed out that I had done the notes on the back of the photographs upside

down! Regardless of my stumbling during the first year, Keith Gorman and Kathelene pulled me aside and told me that if I wanted to return the next year, they would allow me to do so as a paid departmental student employee!

During the fall 2012 semester, I had to do a class project. It was a biography of a student who had gone to UNCG when it was still the State Normal and Industrial School, and we were required to use the archives to do it. It was great fun to experience SCUA from a researcher’s point of view, and I definitely had a head start because of my experiences and knowledge of what the archives contain. But I was surprised at how many more resources exist – it never ends!

Over the course of the last two years, I've learned about an amazing world of processing, administration, and project planning that I had no idea even existed. I absolutely love what I do; there are so many great things about working at SCUA. I've worked on some projects with nearly every staff member here and gotten to know them fairly well. I can honestly say that I have never worked with a group of people who are this kind and understanding and hilarious to be with. Every day there is something new to explore within the projects that I’m doing, and every day I learn more about UNCG – an entire history that I never would have guessed was there.

Rachel Sanders

President

UNCG Historical Society

Chairperson

Student Libraries' Advisory Council

Peer Career Ambassador

UNCG Career Services Center

Kappa Delta Pi - Education Honor Society

A Student's Perspective : Behind the Stacks in Archives and Manuscripts

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

When I first started my graduate career at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), I decided to look for a job with the University Libraries. Directed to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives department, I learned that they only had a volunteer position available, for which I promptly interviewed.

In the fall of 2011, I began working as a volunteer in the University Archives for a relatively modest ten hours each week. My first exposure to history at UNCG’s Archives came through the personal recollections of prominent local Rotarians through working with the Preserving the Past: The Rotary Club of Greensboro Oral History Project. I proofread transcripts, drafted abstracts, and organized the digital interviews. I was captivated by their first-hand recollections of the history of Greensboro, the Civil Rights Movement, World War II, and the changing economics of the United States. My first few months working with the Project showed me the importance of preserving these valuable memories, which would otherwise be lost.

I enjoyed my experience in the department and found the entire concept of an archive fascinating. While I had experience with using archival resources, I had never really given the academic archive serious consideration. Nestled away in libraries across the country, archivists and librarians were preserving the past – of both institutions and individuals – for future generations.

After a semester as a volunteer, I was offered a student assistant position in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. With this new position, I began to tackle more varied and difficult projects. I began processing the records of the International Double Reed Society and the University’s historical photographs and postcards collections. Each new challenge and experience made me more assured that I wanted to pursue a career in archives.

Although I had entertained thoughts of obtaining a Ph.D. in English, my time in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives showed me that I was better suited to a career as an archivist. I would still be able to teach, assist students and researchers, and maintain a connection to literature within this one wonderful field. Encouraged by my supervisors, I applied to several schools’ Library Science graduate programs, settling on UNC-Chapel Hill’s SILS program which I will begin in the fall of 2013.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment or experience that altered my life and career plans. Whatever it was, I am remarkably pleased that my family encouraged me to volunteer at the library and that I found such an enjoyable career path.

After personally experiencing the numerous emotional, touching, comical, and just plain outrageous things you can stumble across in University Archives, I would encourage everyone to make a trip to an archive!

Patrick Dollar

New Exhibits on Campus Literary Societies

2013-05-02T12:07:00.001-07:00

In the second year of its existence, the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) created two campus literary societies that were intended to provide a social and communal atmosphere for students. All students were inducted into either the Adelphian or Cornelian Literary Society; no one was excluded. These groups hosted many of the events on campus, including plays, debates, socials, and dances. Two additional literary societies were founded as the school grew -- the Dikean Literary Society in 1918 and the Aletheian Literary Society in 1923. These organization served as key sources of entertainment and extracurricular learning from 1893 until they were disbanded in 1953.

Adelphian Society performance of "The Rivals," 1913

To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the founding of these Societies, Kristen Thomas has created both a physical and online exhibit to highlight the activities and development of these groups. Kristen, a senior History major, interned with SCUA during the Spring 2013 semester. During her internship, she conducted research in University Archives and Manuscripts collections, wrote exhibit text, fabricated exhibit materials, and selected and scanned images for online display.

Presidents and InterSociety Representatives
from the four campus literary societies, 1937

The physical exhibit is housed next to the reference desk on the main level of Jackson Library, and will run through the end of June. It features photographs, publications, and ephemera documenting the 60 years history of the literary societies.

The online exhibit can be accessed at http://library.uncg.edu/collection/exhibits/Campus_Literary_Societies.aspx.

Additionally, on May 27th, the Spartan Stories blog will feature a guest post from Kristen with additional information on the literary societies.

“A Fine Suit of Clothes” Exhibit about Book Bindings Opens in Jackson Library: Noted Book Artist and Historian to Speak April 16

2013-04-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

When the anonymous author of Commercial Bookbindings, a historical sketch and description of an exhibition at the Grolier Club, New York, wrote in 1894, “Nobody thought of expecting the publisher to throw in a fine suit of clothes with the book,” he was commenting on the early years of what was to be the golden age of American book cover design. The period from 1880-1920 saw the rise and decline in the use of artist/designers, and the astonishing results they could achieve with colored cloth, a few colors of ink, gold and silver, and a canvas the size of a book cover. The Charles Adams American Trade Binding Collection at the University Libraries has a large selection of bindings concentrating on this period and particularly its zenith, from 1890-1910.

To celebrate its collection and to accompany the new exhibit entitled "A Fine Suit of Clothes: American Publishers' Bindings, 1880-1920: A Progressive Exhibition," the University Libraries are sponsoring a presentation by Richard Minsky on the art and commerce of 19th and 20th century American trade bindings. The presentation will be held in the Hodges Reading Room (on the second floor of Jackson Library) on April 16 at 4 PM. The talk and reception following are both free and open to the public.

Richard Minsky is an internationally known book artist, author, historian, curator, and bibliographer. Minsky is the author of American Decorated Publishers' Bindings 1872-1929, The Art of American Book Covers 1875-1930, The Art of the American Book, The Golden Age of American Book Design, and The Book Cover Art of Thomas Watson Ball. In 1974 he founded the Center for Book Arts in New York City, the first organization of its kind.

The exhibit will run from March 18 through August 30. It is open to the public, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. Bindings on display will change throughout the exhibition period.

-Barry Miller

What They Were Wearing While They Were Reading: 1940s

2013-04-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

The events of the 1940s utterly transformed the foundations of American society. Impelled by World War II, the influx of immigrants fleeing Europe and the relocation of American soldiers to European and Asian war fronts led to the dissemination of new ideas, encouraged technological innovation, and altered traditional gender roles within American culture.

Forcing the United States from isolationism on to the world stage, WWII motivated the advancements of science and technology to support the war effort, both in terms of enhanced weaponry and modernized medicine. On the home front, the availability of automated home appliances liberated women to fill jobs previously only performed by men who had left to war, subsequently changing the overall structure of the American family.

With the return of service personnel at the end of the war, the repercussions of these changes were not fully understood. As the population began to recognize it could not restore its pre-war way of life, the conflict arising from the realization continued into the following decades.

A collaborative exhibit presented by Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives and Dr. James V. Carmichael, Library and Information Studies Depratment, UNCG.

New Exhibit! Spartan Evolution: A History of Basketball on the UNCG Campus from the 1890s to Today

2013-02-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Woman's College versus Guilford College, 1963

Just in time for March Madness, the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives presents "Spartan Evolution: A History of Basketball on the UNCG Campus from the 1890s to Today." This exhibit is housed next to the reference desk on the main level of Jackson Library, and will run through April. Featuring images ranging from the women of the Athletic Association in 1900 to current head coaches Wes Miller and Wendy Palmer, this exhibit highlights key events and people in the development of intramural and intercollegiate basketball on campus.

An online exhibit also features a number of images used in the exhibit: http://library.uncg.edu/collection/exhibits/History_of_Basketball_at_UNCG.aspx.

And, stay tuned to Spartan Stories! The March 4th post will also delve deeper into UNCG basketball history.

A Few Items of Romance from the Cello Music Collections

2013-02-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Cello Music Collections at UNCG are filled with classical masterpieces of music that can woo the most frigid heart, but we also preserve manuscripts and artifacts equally stirring, though of a more personal nature. On this Valentine's Day, we would like to share with you a few of the more romantic items from the Janos Scholz Cello Music and Personal Papers Collection.

Above is the diary of Therese Russ (picture on the left from the front of the diary). Written on pink paper, the journal covers the daily accounts of her life in the Austro-Hungarian Empire before her marriage. The lock of her hair was given to her husband, as was the common courting practice at that time. The journal dates from some time in the late 1800s and was to be buried with Therese, but it was lost in the family papers. As the family story goes, the maternal line of Janos Scholz' lineage was of inspiration to many composers of their day, including Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt, and Karl Goldmark.

In processing archival collections, we read a lot of mail, and love letters always rouse the imagination (especially since we only see one side of the conversation). To the left we have two letters, the first letter, undated but signed by "Alice" begins, "Your departure from this section of the country left a great void - I can't find words to describe it." The second is an excerpt of a text reminiscent of Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." The first part of the Scholz letter reads, "Gather the roses bravely. God has given them to you so as to delight your heart and mind..." We do not know who the admirer is, as the letter is unsigned, but included within the envelope is a pressed rose.

Of course, this being an archival music collection, we must leave you with this very special Valentine message. Composed for voice and piano, the title of this short piece is "A Valentine," and it appears to be written in the hand of Janos Scholz. The song verse is as follows:

"Little Love sat sobbing, sighing,

Bitter winds about him flying.

'I have come a weary way,

Not a rose bud blooms this day'!

Good old Winter heard him crying,

Smoothed his curls and smiled replying:

'Gather up my snowflake showers.

They are ghosts of true love's flowers.'"

If you would like to find out more about UNCG's Cello Music Collection, visit our website or email us. Happy Valentine's Day!

WVHP Photographs in Action

2013-02-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

On January 24, 2013, the WVHP curator was contacted by The New Yorker. They asked to use some of the images of "our" veterans in an online slide show that illustrated a story discussing the Pentagon's decision to end the ban on women in combat. 9 of the 11 images are of WVHP vets. These women's service eras ranged from WWII to the Iraq War.

You can see the slide show here: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/01/slide-show-an-army-of-women-and-the-end-of-the-combat-ban.html#slide_ss_0=8

This year's UNCG Libraries' travel grant recipient, Andi Gustavson, spent a week looking at ALMOST ALL of the WVHP collections for research for her dissertation.

Story here: http://www.uncgfol.blogspot.com/2013/01/photos-in-women-veterans-historical.html

Art Exhibit on Joanne Smart Drane and Bettye Tillman

2013-02-06T08:19:00.002-08:00

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives invites students, faculty, and researchers to view an artistic exhibit created as a tribute to Joanne Smart Drane and Bettye Tillman, the first two African American women to graduate from UNCG. Using 1956 original photographs from the archives, art student Rachel Propst created her own unique images through the process of cyanotype, which uses ultra violet light to create the image.

This exhibit will be on display in the Multicultural Resource Center located on the bottom floor of the Elliot University Center from January 11-March 8, 2013.

There will be artist talk on Wednesday, February 06, 2013 from 3-4pm.

Tragedies on Campus: The Early Years, 1892-1932

2013-02-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives invites students, faculty, and researchers to learn more about the various tragic events that occurred on the campus of The State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) from its opening in 1892 to 1932 by viewing the recently installed exhibit “Tragedies on Campus: The Early Years, 1892-1932.” Using archival documents and photographs, the exhibit explores the fires in the Brick Dormitory, the Carnegie Library, and in the Curry Building. In addition, there is a focus on the typhoid epidemic of 1899 which killed 13 students and the sudden passing of founding President Charles Duncan McIver in 1906.

The archives also encourages you to learn more about these and other tragic events that happened throughout the university’s history by visiting our Research Guide, available at: http://uncg.libguides.com/scua_campus_tragedies

This exhibit will be on display in the vertical display case between the EUC and the library from January 22, 2012 – April 10, 2013.

Brick Dormitory after the fire, 1904

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is open Monday through Friday, 9am until 5pm. For questions or comments, please contact the exhibit curator, Sean Mulligan at 336-334-5763 or at Sean_Mulligan@uncg.edu.

Celebrating African American History at UNCG

2013-02-05T09:12:00.002-08:00

This month, SCUA's Spartan Stories blog will celebrate African American Month with a series of posts highlighting key events in African American history on campus. The first post focuses on the February 1960 sit ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, particularly Woman's College (now UNCG) students who participated. Future posts will feature stories about the desegregation of Woman's College, the early years of the Neo Black Society, and a history of African American Studies on campus.

The F. W. Woolworth Company building in Greensboro, NC six months before the
lunch counter sit-ins protesting business segregation

Spartan Stories features weekly posts telling tales from the history of the institution now known as The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. All of these stories are drawn from our rich collections of historical records in University Archives. New stories are posted every Monday morning. You can subscribe to receive notifications of updates to the blog via email or RSS feed using the options on the right side of the blog page.

Photos from the 15th Annual Women Veterans Luncheon!

2012-11-29T13:11:00.001-08:00

The annual women veteran luncheon was held on Saturday, November 10th and featured a fascinating panel discussion: “Making a Difference: Advocating for Military Women.” Thank you to all who attended!

I've posted photos from the luncheon on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncgspecial/sets/72157632132669290/with/8229325549/

And some other good news:
UNC-Greensboro Named Among “Best For Vets.” School Among 68 Ranked. The Greater Triad Area Business Journal (11/26, Evans, Subscription Publication, 7K) reports, “UNC-Greensboro is the only public university in North Carolina to be named among the “Best for Vets” in the latest ranking by Military Times Edge magazine. UNCG ranked No. 61 among 68 ranked four-year schools.” Altogether, “about 650 schools applied for ranking in categories including four-year schools, two-year schools, online schools and technical schools.”

Thanks for your support!

The Carter-Greenhouse Legacy: Reinventing Cello Music in the Twentieth Century

2012-11-08T07:18:00.003-08:00

Revolutionary composer, Elliott Carter (1908-2012), passed away November 5th, ending an award-winning career as an icon of modern orchestral music. As a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning composer, his contribution to the world of American musical composition is undeniable, but cello music shares a special relationship in the Carter legacy.

Elliott Carter’s debut into the realm of modern American composition initiated with “Sonata for Violoncello and Piano” (1948), inspired by and written for cellist, Bernard Greenhouse. At the time of the score’s conception, the standard of cello music was based upon (and still is to some extent) the celebrities of the Classical Era: Bach, Beethoven, and Haydn— just to name a few. Carter, influenced by the avant-garde rhythms of jazz, imagined cello music with a different attitude, but he would need to find a singular musician to give life to his music. Carter found such a musician in Bernard Greenhouse (1916-2011).

Elliott Carter and Bernard Greenhouse’s collaboration emerged from the music scene of 1940s New York. Greenhouse, a young and rising cellist, was introduced to Carter and discussed his interest in performing an original composition for cello by Carter. Having attended performances by Greenhouse, Carter was familiar with the cellist’s talent and style. Carter composed “Sonata for ‘Cello and Piano” for Greenhouse, and over a four month period, they collaborated in arranging for the piece’s first performance.

The composition proved demanding technically and physically, but Carter’s trust in Greenhouse’s musical talent was well-founded. By 1951, Greenhouse was performing the work in concert, and the “Sonata” established Elliott Carter’s reputation as a modern composer while introducing Bernard Greenhouse as a world-class cellist.

Elliott Carter’s contribution to the cello music world is preserved in the Bernard Greenhouse Cello Music Collection, which holds an original manuscript of “Sonata for Violoncello and Piano” in the hand of Carter with annotations by Bernard Greenhouse. The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is proud to keep the Carter-Greenhouse Legacy alive by providing research access to the piece as well as preserving the score for future generations of musicians.

For more information
Bernard Greenhouse Digital Collection
Cello Music Collections at University Libraries, UNCG

Spartan Stories: A New University History Blog

2012-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Learn more about UNCG campus history at Spartan Stories, a new blog from the staff of University Archives. The blog officially launched on October 1, with a post about classes during the first year of the school's existence -- 120 years ago. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for posts focused on the 1967 Black Power Forum, the founding of the campus Athletic Association, the 1899 Typhoid Epidemic, and (everyone's favorite) the ghosts that haunt the campus.

Edwin Alderman, Charles Duncan McIver and the Class of 1893

New stories will be posted every Monday morning. From its founding in 1891 as a publicly-funded school for women's higher education to its current standing as a learner-centered public research university, UNCG has a rich and unique history filled with interesting stories. Through Spartan Stories, we look forward to sharing these tales with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others who wish to learn more about how our university became - and, in many ways, has always been - a source of innovation and leadership within North Carolina and beyond.

SCUA Open House

2012-10-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, October 17, SCUA hosted an open house for the staff of the University Libraries. We discussed many of our department's major initiatives, including management of the University's digital records, classroom instruction, outreach to veterans groups, digitization of SCUA materials, oral history projects, and new digital projects (including the new North Carolina Literary Map and work to enhance the existing campus map with historical images). We also exhibited a number of our newest acquisitions, including a UNCG man's class jacket and materials from the Lois Lenski and Bernard Greenhouse collections.

Before and after the presentation, we also ran a slideshow of historical photographs from University Archives. These images cover 120 years of University history, from the beginning of classes in 1892 through the renovation of the Quad in 2012. You can view the slide show here.

The SCUA researcher room, filled with students learning more
about the history of the University.

Thank you to all of the University Libraries staff who attended! To further promote SCUA collections and initiatives, we look forward to doing more of these open houses in the future.

"The Quad at UNCG: Past, Present, and Future" exhibit

2012-10-16T05:48:00.003-07:00

The Quad under construction in the 1920s

Learn more about the history of UNCG’s Quad in a new exhibit from SCUA. “The Quad at UNCG: Past, Present, and Future” exhibit will be featured in Jackson Library in exhibit cases beside the reference desk from October 15-November 5, 2012.

Under the leadership of its second president, Julius I. Foust, the college now known as UNCG saw one its greatest periods of growth in the 1920s. Enrollment doubled and the number of buildings on campus grew by 21 between 1920 and 1929. This construction boom began with the building of a dormitory, named for woman’s suffrage leader Anna Howard Shaw. Six others followed by 1923, forming the dormitory quadrangle: Gray, Hinshaw, Bailey, Cotton, Jamison, and Coit. Finally, in 1939, the empty north end of the Quad was filled with the construction of Winfield and Weil Halls.

All seven buildings on the UNCG Quad were designed by Harry Barton, a prominent Greensboro architect. Barton drew up plans for a number of other UNCG buildings, including Aycock Auditorium, Brown Building, the Curry School Building, Mary Foust Residence Hall, and Guilford Residence Hall.

In 2009, campus administrators held open forums to discuss the future of the Quad. The buildings were approximately $32 million behind in deferred maintenance and lacked air conditioning, fire sprinklers, and handicapped access. Some argued that it would be cheaper and easier to demolish and replace them. Others wanted to see the buildings renovated rather than destroyed. Ultimately, administrators decided to renovate and modernize the Quad.

Renovation work began on May 7, 2011, with renovations estimated to cost $52.5 million. Gifts from alumni and friends of the University were key in funding the renovation. The buildings were made ADA compliant and energy efficient air conditioning was added. The Quad residence halls officially reopened to student residents in August 2012.

The Quad today

Transitions in Special Collections & University Archives

2012-10-09T09:54:00.002-07:00

Dr. Bill Finley

With mixed emotions, we would like to report on several staffing changes within the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA). On August 1, 2012, Dr. William “Bill” Finley stepped down as Head of Special Collections and University Archives to begin his phased retirement at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Stepping in to assist with this transition, Dr. Keith Gorman has been appointed interim head of the department. During the coming year, Bill Finley will work as the Special Collections Librarian on a part-time basis as well as teach several courses for the Department of Library & Information Studies at UNCG.

Upon his arrival at UNCG in 1998, Bill Finley became Head of the Special Collections and University Archives Department where he has not only served as head of the department, but also as the Special Collections Librarian. In his fourteen years at the University, Dr. Finley has overseen the expansion of the department’s instructional services and collections. Bill has noted on more than one occasion that one of his greatest joys is finding just the right rare book to enhance one of the many collections housed in SCUA.

Dr. Finley received his BA from the College of William and Mary, MA in English from The University of Kentucky, PhD in English from Duke University, and MLS from The University of South Carolina. He began his academic career as an English professor at Old Dominion University in 1970 and held similar positions at Duke University from 1973 to 1976 and Concord College from 1976 to 1987. From 1988 to 1992, he was an archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Bill also served as Head of Special Collections at the College of Charleston from 1992 to 1998.

Dr. Keith Gorman

Dr. Keith Gorman takes the helm of SCUA with a rich and varied experience in history, teaching, and archival and museum management. Prior to joining SCUA as assistant head in April 2010, he served as the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown, Massachusetts. Along with his museum work, Dr. Gorman has worked in a number of archives from private repositories to the Smithsonian Institution Archives in Washington, DC. During his teaching career, he taught European history at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. Gorman has a BA in history from Loyola University in Chicago, MA and PhD in European history from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a MLS from Simmons College. He also taught courses in archival theory and research methods at Simmons’ Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

During his time at UNCG, Gorman has helped oversee an eighteen month construction project and the relocation of staff and collections. Keith also directed his energy to enhancing the department’s reference and instructional services, the processing of hidden collections, and expanding of the number of digital projects. Asked about his new position, he expressed great excitement about the department’s plans and admiration for its staff. For the coming year, he noted that SCUA established a robust set of objectives that include reviewing collection development policies, broadening community outreach, employing MPLP processing, as well as adopting tools and policies to collect and preserve born digital records. Gorman’s research interests range from the role archives play in a community’s collective memory to the growth of digital humanities and its impact on research.

Invitation to the Women Veterans Historical Project Luncheon

2012-10-01T13:34:00.002-07:00

The 15th annual women veterans luncheon will be held on Saturday, 10th November from 11:30-2 at the Elliott University Center at UNCG. The luncheon will feature a panel discussion with activists who work on different military-related issues such as student veterans, homelessness,and sexual assault and trauma in the military. The program is open to everyone, with a special focus on veterans, their friends and families.

Tickets will be $12 for all military veterans and $16 for non-veterans. Table sponsorship opportunities to sponsor students will be available for $300. Invitations will be sent in late September.

For more information contact Beth Ann Koelsch at bakoelsc@unc.edu or 336/334-5838.

Campaigns and Elections: The Race for Political Office

2012-09-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives invites students, faculty, and researchers to learn more about the history of political campaigns and elections in the United States by viewing the recently installed exhibit titled “Campaigns and Elections: The Race for Political Office.” The history of political campaigns and elections in the United States can be traced back to 1788 with the ratification of the Constitution. Over the next two centuries, the process of campaigning would evolve from simple word of mouth speeches to the complex and highly technical websites of today. In addition, the right for citizens to vote has greatly expanded. Originally reserved for only white male adult property-owners, voting rights are now available to women, African-Americans, and people of at least 18 years of age.

Using letters, campaign buttons, bumper stickers, yard signs, and other campaign paraphernalia, the exhibit explores the history of presidential, congressional, state gubernatorial, and local elections. Highlights of the exhibit include a signed letter by John F. Kennedy seeking support for his presidential bid, materials related to local Greensboro area Representative Howard Coble, a signed letter by North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, and a letter and materials relating to Al Gore’s failed 1988 presidential bid.

This exhibit will be on display in the Hodges Reading Room from September 1, 2012 – January 7, 2013.

Women Vets Historical Project on Pinterest!

2012-09-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project is on Pinterest!
Please pin away!:

http://pinterest.com/irmaminerva/women-veterans-historical-project/

Records of the Student Government Association, 1912-2010

2012-08-13T07:36:00.001-07:00

The Martha Blakney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives invites researchers to learn more about history of student self-governance at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) by looking through the recently processed records of the Student Government Association (SGA). The first instances of self-government began in 1910 when a student council, comprised of three elected officials from each class, was created to act as an advisory group for student issues. In 1914, school president Julius Foust agreed to the students’ proposal for a more official organization and allowed for the creation of the Self-Government Association. This new organization, consisting of four elected officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) would become the SGA in 1921. Over the next several decades, the SGA would grow into a respected and active organization on campus. This collection helps to document the SGA’s growth and progress by providing a variety of historical materials including correspondence, flyers, memorandums, manuals, meeting minutes, newsletters, notes, reports, and speeches.

More information about the collection can be found though the collection’s finding aid at:

https://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=508

The Martha Blakney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is open Monday through Friday, 9am until 5pm. The collection is open to the public. We encourage researchers to make appointments ahead of time by contacting us at 336-334-5246 or at SCUA@uncg.edu.

New pieces join the Hansen Collection

2012-08-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Costume design for The Duchess of Malfi by Leslie Hurry

Professor Robert Hansen recently donated an additional fifteen pieces of theatrical artwork to the Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection housed at the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives in the Jackson Library.

The Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection dates from 1753 to 2011, with most items dating from the 1800s, and contains programs, heralds, guidebooks and periodicals, playbooks, sheet music and songbooks, correspondence and autographs, original costume designs and scenery designs, posters, photographs, postcards, tradecards, scrapbooks, subject files, and other visual materials and memorabilia which document the history of the performing arts, mainly theatre, in many countries, mainly the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Further geographic foci within the United States include New York City, Minnesota, and North Carolina.

While the majority of the collection focuses on theatre, other performing arts genres represented include circus, concert, dance, film, minstrelsy, opera, and vaudeville.

Some noted 19th century American stage actors/actresses represented in the collection include Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes), Charlotte Cushman, Fanny Davenport, Edwin Forrest, Joseph Jefferson, Julia Marlowe and E.H. Sothern. Famous 19th century European stage actors/actresses represented in the collection include Sarah Bernhardt, Dion Boucicault, Henry Irving, Helena Modjeska, Adelaide Ristori, Tommaso Salvini and Ellen Terry. Other notable personages include theatrical manager and playwright Augustin Daly, costume and set designer Leslie Hurry, and caricaturist Al Freuh.

Theatres, troupes and festivals highlighted in the collection include Minnesota's Guthrie Theatre, the United Kingdom's Royal Shakespeare Company, the Classics in Context and Humana festivals from the Actor's Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky, North Carolina's Shakespeare Festival, and Canada's Shaw Festival and Stratford Festival.

Included in the donation are several large 19th-century theatrical posters and framed broadsides which currently hang in the reference area on the first floor of Jackson Library. Prints and original costume designs make up the remainder of the gift. The Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives is pleased to welcome these additions to this extensive collection.

Mark Your Calendars for the Annual Women Veterans Historical Project Luncheon and Panel Discussion

2012-07-26T12:22:00.003-07:00

Dean of University Libraries Records, 1905-2011

2012-06-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

The Martha Blakney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives invites researchers to come learn about the unique and extensive history of the library at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) by looking through the recently processed records of the Dean of University Libraries. The history of the first library at the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) began in 1892 and was confined to one small room in the Main building (now the Foust building). The collection of the library was relatively small, consisting of only several hundred books. Over the next century, the library would grow dramatically in to a collection of over 1 million volumes. During this time, the library would also transition from a one room operation to a large nine story building.

Jackson Library, 1988

One of the best ways to learn more about the library’s history is reading through official records of the Dean which reflects their duties as the senior administrative officer of the libraries on campus. These records contain material related to a variety of topics including, but not limited to, annual reports, budgets, collection management, computer technology, construction, donations and gifts, equipment, faculty affairs, correspondence with other academic departments on campus, statistics, and students. In addition, there is correspondence to and from the Dean to various departments within the library as well as correspondence with the Provost and outside community. There is also a considerable amount of material related to committees operated within the library and the ones the Dean sat on as part of their university responsibilities. Materials related to the Friends of the Library are also included in the collection. Formats include correspondence, memorandums, minutes, notes, publications, and reports.

More information about the collection can be found though the collection’s finding aid at: https://libapps.uncg.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=490

NC Literary Map Exhibit

2012-05-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

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.