Darlinettes on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday

On Saturday, May 30, NPR listeners around the country were treated to a story about the Darlinettes, a big band composed of students from Woman's College (now UNCG) in the 1940s and early 1950s. The piece aired as part of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. WFDD's David Ford used resources in University Archives (as well as interviews with Darlinettes members and Steve Haines of UNCG's Jazz Studies Program) to discuss the issues the Darlinettes faced as an all-woman jazz band during the 1940s and 1950s.

You can listen to the NPR piece online at http://www.npr.org/2015/05/30/410531268/a-band-of-their-own. The site also includes some photographs and a link to a recording of the Darlinettes' original song "You Don't Get it from Books."

You can learn even more about the Darlinettes in this Spartan Stories blog post from September 2014: http://uncghistory.blogspot.com/2014/09/darlinettes-and-rhythmettes-big-band.html.

 

University Archives Videos Now on YouTube

University Archives has started posting some video clips to the University Libraries' YouTube account. The clips are digitized from films held in University Archives. A "Films from UNCG University Archives" playlist collates all the University Archives clips in one place. You'll find scenes from past commencement activities, special campus events and visitors, and even a few past promotional videos for UNCG.

This quick tour of campus from 1950 has been particularly well received. Around the 1:50 mark you'll see some shots of Jackson Library in its final construction stages.

Keep an eye on the site for more video clips to come!

Celebrating Women's History Month

To celebrate Women's History Month, the University Archives Twitter feed (@UNCGArchives) will be posting photos throughout the month, highlighting our founding and history as an institution focused on women's education (from 1891 through the arrival of the first male undergraduates in Fall 1964).

As always, you can also learn more on our Spartan Stories blog.

"Votes for Women" rally, 1919

University history (and University Archives materials!) featured in Our State article

The January 2014 issue of Our State features a wonderful article highlighting the history of UNCG. The piece, titled "A Place of Distinction," explores the history of Woman's College through the experiences of alumna and former director of admissions Alice Irby. The article (found on pages 54-63 and at http://www.ourstate.com/womans-college-greensboro/) focuses on campus changes during the 1950s and 1960s, including issues of housing for married students and desegregation.

Associate Editor Sarah Perry conducted much of her research for the article in University Archives in Fall 2013. In addition to incorporating information from our vast oral history collection as well as the records of Charles Duncan McIver and other campus administrators, Perry selected numerous historic photographs to include in an online exhibit that accompanies the printed article. The printed article also contains some wonderful photographs of campus today -- including a picture of Jackson Library on the issue's main contents page.

What’s New in SCUA

Mary Channing Coleman

This month in SCUA, we’re showcasing a painting that we’ve recently acquired from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Kinesiology Department.  The portrait is of Mary Channing Coleman, painted by Albert A. Wilkinson, head of the UNCG News Bureau from 1947-1967. Coleman was a long-time faculty member at Woman’s College; she was both a Professor of Physical Education and later the department head. Born in 1883 in Virginia, she attended the State Female Normal School (Virginia), Wellesley College and Columbia University.  In addition to her work at Woman’s College, Coleman served on the faculty of Winthrop College (South Carolina), Detroit Public Schools (Michigan), Margaret Morrison College of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Pennsylvania), Columbia University (New York), and Toronto (Ontario, Canada).  She also served with the Red Cross Military Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during World War I.

Beyond her academic involvement, Coleman was heavily involved in organizations devoted to the advancement of physical education, including the North Carolina Physical Education Society (president), Southern Physical Association (president), and National Amateur Athletic Association (charter member).  She traveled all over the world studying centers of recreation, including those in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Turkey, Greece, Austria, and Poland.  Coleman wrote articles for several professional journals and other publications.  She died in 1947 at the age of 64.  Coleman Gymnasium, now located on the UNCG campus, is named in her honor.

In an essay written about Ms. Coleman, now located in the University Archives, the author talks about her as being “knowledgeable, stimulating, inspiring, and strict…Her chief concern for the profession was to emphasize that physical education was an integral part of the education of all children.”  We hope that you’ll come by to view the painting of Mary Channing Coleman, and be sure to keep an eye out for our monthly exhibits.  And now you know “What’s New in SCUA.”

Rachel Sanders

Chairperson

Student Libraries' Advisory Council 

Webmaster

UNCG Historical Society 

Peer Career Ambassador

UNCG Career Services Center 

Phi Alpha Theta - History Honor Society

Kappa Delta Pi - Education Honor Society

Article on Woman's College Resources in Segregated North Carolina

If you're interested in learning more about the Library's - and specifically librarian Charles Adams' - struggles in allowing students from Bennett and North Carolina A&T to use Woman's College Library resources, there is an article in the newest issue of North Carolina Libraries focused on the topic. And almost all of the research was done here in UNCG's University Archives! Here is the link and additional information for those who are interested in reading:

Charles Adams and the Controversy over Use of the Woman’s College Library in Segregated North Carolina
Erin Lawrimore
North Carolina Libraries, Vol. 71, No. 1 (2013)

Abstract: In 1951, the Library at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina faced attacks from administrative leaders due to its policy of allowing African-American students from neighboring colleges to access the catalog, borrow books, and use reference resources. Librarian Charles Adams refused to ban these students from the Library's facilities, leading to repeated confrontations with the chancellor and the University of North Carolina Consolidated System's Board of Trustees. In developing guidelines that were applicable to all - not just African Americans - Adams bucked the University's segregationist policies and ensured that information needs were met, regardless of a patron's skin color.

The Sit-Ins: Woman's College Perspective

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-Ins, University Archives has created an exhibit to honor the Woman's College (now UNCG) students who participated in the sit-ins.

Woolworth

On Monday, February 1, 1960, four North Carolina A&T students initiated what would become a nationwide protest when they demanded the right to sit and be served at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro.

Woman’s College students Ann Dearsley, Claudette Graves, Marilyn Lott, and Eugenia Seaman joined the protests later in the week.

Ann Dearsley

Claudette Graves

Marilyn Lott

Eugenia Seaman

The presence of three white women on Thursday, February 4th was particularly noteworthy. The three women felt that it was their “moral obligation” to join the protest in spite of possible reprisals from the gathering white crowd.

The exhibit is on display in the Jackson Library/Elliott University Center Connector from January 12 to March 15, 2010.

The Integration of Woman's College

JoAnne Smart (left) and Bettye Davis Tillman (right)

In recognition of Black History Month, University Archives has installed an exhibit honoring JoAnne Smart and Bettye Davis Tillman who were the first two African-American students to attend the Woman’s College (now UNCG).

Entering on September 13, 1956, the young women were first housed on the first floor of the west wing of Shaw Residence Hall. By the time of their graduation in 1960, there were approximately twenty African-American students attending the Woman’s College.

The parlor of Shaw Residence Hall was named in honor of these two pioneers in 1992; and in 2008, the Smart-Tillman Distinguished Professorship in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance was created.

The exhibit will be on display in the main lobby of Jackson Library from January 12 to March 15, 2010.