Photos from the 15th Annual Women Veterans Luncheon!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.   

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.

Women Vets Historical Project on Pinterest!

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

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

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

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.

Dean of University Libraries Records, 1905-2011

            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

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.

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