New Digital Exhibit Curated by Natalie Branson (M.A. in History with a concentration in Museum Studies)

Natalie Branson, a second-year graduate student working on an M.A. in History with a concentration in Museum Studies, researched and developed an online exhibit focused on the work of the Women's Association for the Betterment of Public Schoolhouses, an organization of women advocating for public education in North Carolina in the first quarter of the 20th century.

You can see Natalie's wonderful exhibit here: http://uncglibraries.com/wabps/exhibits/show/wabps. We also asked Natalie to write a reflection of her time working on this project. You can find that reflection below.

Natalie's work is reflective of the outstanding caliber of students we have at UNC Greensboro. She demonstrated curiosity, self-motivation, and determination - even when the COVID-19 pandemic make everything more chaotic. We in SCUA are always excited for the opportunity to work with our undergraduate and graduate students and to guide them in their research and learning. We thank Natalie for her excellent work this semester!

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A Reflection on My Capstone Experience 

by Natalie Branson, M.A. in History with concentration in Museum Studies Candidate, 2020

My capstone project has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Creating my exhibit with the University Archives has allowed me to take control of a project, from start to finish, for the first time as a public historian. I was empowered to tackle challenges on my own, to determine the narrative that I wanted to tell, and to design the exhibit around what I found to be important. When I began this project in August of 2019, I had never worked in an archive, digitized materials, or created a digital exhibit. Now, in April of 2020, I have gained new skills and experience in archival work, curation, and content creation.

When I met with Erin in August, I was handed the Women’s Betterment Association Collection from the University Archives and given the instructions to create a digital exhibit for the University’s website. The original plan for my exhibit was to tell the story of the Women’s Association for the Betterment of Public Schoolhouses (WABPS), the subject and source of the collection I was digitizing. It was my understanding that the WABPS were an organization created by and for women who were interested in improving the state of public education in North Carolina. As I continued searching through the documents from the WABPS, I found that the organization was nothing like I had expected. This ultimately changed the course of my exhibit, as I continued to discover new and conflicting information. To begin, the reach of the WABPS was far beyond what I had presumed. The original 200 women who began the WABPS in Greensboro quickly disseminated into nearly 100 Local and County Associations, with over 1,000 members, spread across North Carolina. In addition, I found the organization to be more radical that I expected, in that they allowed men to pay to be involved in the WABPS but their “honorary” membership afforded them no vote in the Association’s elections and no say in the purpose or direction of the WABPS. Sue Hollowell, the president of the State Association in Greensboro, at one point quipped about the men’s “honorary” membership, “taxation without representation, if you please.” While they were radical in some regards, they were more predictable in others.

The WABPS operated between 1902 and 1918, in the heart of the Jim Crow South. While I worked to craft the narrative of my exhibit, I grappled with interpreting the implicit prejudice in the Association’s documents. I learned early on that the organization was exclusive to white women (and later white men), as it was stated explicitly in the WABPS Constitution. I was content, at that point, to make that fact clear in the exhibit and move on; however, as I continued through the documents, the narrative continued to become more complicated. I could find no official documents from the Association that stated explicitly that the WABPS excluded black schools from their work, as I had originally assumed. More often than not, their language was vague, using phrases such as “all of God’s children” and “every child” to describe those affected by their work. By December, I was once again ready to write off their language as having implicit prejudice; I had no evidence that the WABPS worked with or for black children.

 When I returned to the archives after winter break, I found reports from the presidents of several County Associations which I hadn’t seen before. Mary Taylor Moore, the recording secretary for the State Association in Greensboro, created them to have a better understanding of the work that the County Associations were doing. The question that intrigued me the most asked, “How many schools in your county have been affected by the work of the Association?” In many cases, the response was just a number: “nine” or “two.” However, some responses were more specific. Some responders used the qualifier “white” to describe the schools affected, but a few responded that “colored” schools in their county had been affected by the Association’s work as well. This was surprising to me, as it was the first time that I had evidence of “Betterment work” in black schools.

After this discovery, I added two new pages to my digital exhibit: “Race and Education” and “Gender in the Progressive Era.” The former expanded the discussion (raised on the first page) on North Carolina Governor Charles Aycock and his racist education policies at the turn of the century. It also introduced the organization’s complicated relationship with race and the difficulties of interpreting historical documents. The latter page, “Gender in the Progressive Era,” addressed the question: how radical were they really? The women certainly had progressive methods of running their organization, but their original goal of “beautifying” school houses and grounds seemed superficial, fitting within the traditional gender roles prescribed to them. The women were challenging the male-dominated sphere of public school administration but they subscribed to contemporaneous notions about class and race.

When the text was written and the photos, documents, and metadata were entered into Omeka, my digital exhibit finally came together. Luckily, Erin Lawrimore (my supervisor and University Archivist) and I had decided to front-load my work for this semester so the project was wrapping up just as COVID-19 shut everything down.

This process has taught me a great deal about public history. Most importantly, I have come to trust my own instincts and accept not having an answer. In the past, I have mulled over a problem and tried my best to solve it despite knowing that there was no good solution. Rather than accept that and move on, I would find a way to avoid addressing the problem altogether. After my capstone experience, I have found a new appreciation for accepting that I don’t have all the answers; I only have what is presented to me. It is not my place to decide what the women of the WABPS were thinking or what they meant in their documents, I can only disseminate that information within the social and political context that I understand.

As I reflect on my work over the last eight months, I believe that nothing summarizes it better than the evolution of my project title. In September, I titled my project, “The Women’s Betterment Association: A Digital Exploration of a Radical Group of Women.” The exhibit was going to present the radical and inspiring story of the WABPS; how the “Betterment workers” of North Carolina challenged the status quo. When I presented at the Digital Humanities Collaborative Institute in March, however, I titled my project, “A Complicated Group of Women: A Digital Exploration of the Women’s Association for the Betterment of Public Schoolhouses.” My exhibit now tells the story of the incredible work that these women did, the lengths they went to in order to achieve their goals, and the standard they set for public schools in North Carolina. It also tells the story of a racist and elitist governor, the poor state of North Carolina’s public schools at the turn of the century, and how segregation and systemic oppression left black students behind. The women of the WABPS were not radical, but they were not conservative: they were complicated, and I had to accept that. I accepted that I did not know the extent to which they were involved in improving black schools or the extent to which they embraced the (white) feminist movement. The narrative of my exhibit changed between September and April, but only for the better. I challenged myself with new questions to try to answer and a new story to tell the public, and I am incredibly grateful to have experienced this process.

New Exhibit!: "UNC Greensboro Back to the Future: The Story of the 1960s"

On March 14, 2019, more than thirty people stopped by Hodges Reading Room for an open house event to celebrate our new student-curated exhibit "UNC Greensboro Back to the Future: The Story of the 1960s." Student curators provided visitors with personalized tours of the exhibit and provided reflections on their experiences researching campus history.

This exhibit was curated by graduate student Erin Blackledge with assistant from undergraduate students Alexis Castorena and Malory Cedeno. Sarah Colonna, Associate Faculty Chair for Grogan College, and Erin Lawrimore, University Archivist and Associate Professor, served as grant coordinators and faculty advisors for the exhibit. Student curator stipends were funded through a grant from the UNC Greensboro Interdisciplinary Collaboration Committee.

"UNC Greensboro Back to the Future" is available for viewing in Hodges Reading Room through June 2019. Hodges Reading Room is on the second floor of Jackson Library. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday between 9am and 5pm.

By combining reflections and poems from current undergraduate students from Grogan Residential College with primary sources from the 1960s, "UNC Greensboro Back to the Future" explores the enormous social changes that arose during this momentous decade and demonstrates how UNCG students today reflect on its past. Topics explored include campus desegregation, civil rights movements, and the transformation from Woman's College to UNCG.

This exhibit is part of UNC Greensboro's year-long celebration "The '60s: Exploring the Limits." You can learn more about the campus's upcoming events and activities to examine and understand this decade at sixties.uncg.edu.

Celebrating 125 Years of Opportunity and Excellence: An Exhibit of UNCG History

As part of the University's celebration of 125 years of opportunity and excellence, the Hodges Reading Room in Jackson Library will feature an exhibit of UNCG history through the end of the academic year. Exhibit materials will rotate throughout the year, with new content added on a bimonthly basis. It will conclude on May 31, 2018.

Currently, the exhibit features materials from the founding years of the State Normal and Industrial School, including an original copy of the 1891 Act of Establishment in which the North Carolina legislature founded the institution, the letter sent to Charles Duncan McIver in June 1891 informing him that he had been named the school's first president, and photographs and other document reflecting the faculty and staff who were instrumental in the Normal's early years. Of particular note, the exhibit also includes the always-popular death mask of founding president Charles Duncan McIver, who passed away in 1906.

A second UNCG-themed exhibit currently in Hodges Reading Room explores the early history of the Alumnae (now Alumni) House, which opened in 1937. It was designed by Penrose V. Stout of Bronxville, New York, and modeled after Homewood in Baltimore, Maryland. Photographs, serving dishes, a guest register, and other items important to the Alumnae House are on display.

In future months as the exhibit contents are rotated, themes including social and political protests on campus, student organizations, and faculty contributions will be explored.

For more information on the University Archives and the University's 125th anniversary celebration, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram.

University Archives Showcased in 125th Anniversary Celebrations

On October 5, 2017, UNCG will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the first ever first day of school. On that day, nearly 200 women from across North Carolina traveled to Greensboro to attend classes at the State Normal and Industrial School. Over the last few weeks, the University Archives has been busy with pop up exhibits across campus to help promote the university's history and the anniversary celebration.

Following Chancellor Gilliam's State of the Campus address on August 8th, the staff of the University Archives presented a "pop up museum" exhibit in celebration of the 125th anniversary of UNCG's opening. Campus Weekly wrote a great summary of the exhibit.

We debuted our new "portable" university history exhibit (a series of five banners) on August 8th.

One exhibit case featured materials related to founding president Charles Duncan McIver and his wife Lula Martin McIver.

A second case highlighted African American staff on campus at State Normal as well as student life.

Textiles and artifacts on display included gym suits, a class jacket, a nursing university, a Neo-Black Society Gospel Choir robe, a typewriter used by JoAnne Smart Drane, and a drum signed by members of the Darlinettes.

On August 15th, the University Archives set up a pop up exhibit on College Avenue as part of Fall Kickoff, an annual event featuring student organizations and student services. And on the afternoon of August 17th, they presented an exhibit in Jackson Library as part of Rawkin' Welcome Week.

University history under the trees at Fall Kickoff

Stay tuned for information on more exhibits and other opportunities to learn about and celebrate our 125 years! You can also find updates on our social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram).

UNCG's Online History: Now in One Convenient Location!

For the last two years, University Archives has been working with the Internet Archive and their Archive-It member service to capture and preserve numerous UNCG-affiliated websites. You can learn more about the beginning of this work in January 2015 in a previous blog post. Now, in addition to seeing the versions of the site that we have archived since 2015, you can view all of the earlier captures of many of these sites done by the Internet Archive in one location.

You can quickly and easily explore how a single department's web presence has changed over the years (and, in many cases, access documents and other information about the department/unit's work that was never available in another format). For example, the Elliott University Center website has been captured 150 times, with the earliest being on August 19, 2000. On that earliest site, you can learn about the EUC Renewal Project which began in 2000.

EUC homepage in 2000

EUC homepage in 2016

The website of the Office of Housing and Residence Life has been captured 232 times, going back to January 19, 2004. Using this site, a researcher could examine the changes in housing rates from 2004 (where the site proudly advertises that "all rooms have ethernet connections for each student!") to 2016.

Unfortunately, many of these earliest crawls can't display some images, and some of the links will not work (particularly if they link to another web domain). And we are still working with the Internet Archive on a few small issues with missing crawls. But, this web archiving work still gives us a great opportunity to explore the changes to UNCG's online presence while also preserving the valuable and often unique information on those sites for current and future researchers.

Geography Department website, 2000

Geography Department website, 2016

If you have any questions about our web archiving work, please feel free to contact us! Also, if you have a UNCG-affiliated site that is currently not being archived (meaning the domain can't be found in a search of this site), let us know. This includes websites that belong to departments, centers, student groups, faculty/staff groups, and other UNCG-affiliated organizations.

Happy Founders Day, UNCG!

October 5th is the day we celebrate Founders Day and the opening of the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) in 1892. Here are some fun UNCG Founders Day trivia facts for you!

• On October 12, 1909, the first official Founder's Day was dedicated to the memory of State Normal founder and President Charles Duncan McIver, who had passed away three years prior. Alumnae met in groups across the state, and students placed wreaths on his grave in Green Hill Cemetery. In a letter to alumnae, the Alumnae Association wrote, "We hope that such a day may help the students to understand and appreciate the life work of Dr. Charles D. McIver, the founder and first president of our college. This day will also help impress upon them their relation to the state. For the opportunities offered at a State's College they must as good and useful citizens give their best efforts and services to the state."
• In 1911, the date of the event was moved to October 5th in celebration of the day in which classes first began at State Normal in 1892.

Wreath laying at McIver grave site in Green Hill Cemetery in 1939

• In 1912, the McIver Statue was dedicated on Founder's Day. It originally stood in front of the McIver Memorial Building [site of the current McIver Building], but was moved to its current location in front of Jackson Library in the late 1950s.
• In 1942, during the 50th anniversary celebration, the Litany of Commemoration for Founders Day by Josephine Hege was first introduced.
• The 1948 Founder's Day ceremony was the first to be broadcast on the radio. Other programs throughout the 1950s were also carried and distributed statewide by local radio station WFMY.
• 1955 is the first reference we can find in the archives to the Founder's Day ceremony being televised. L. Richardson Preyer delivered the annual Founder's Day address, and it was televised live on WUNC-TV.
• 1955 is also the first year that a wreath was placed at the McIver statue. Previously, the wreath-laying ceremony was only at the McIver grave site in Green Hill Cemetery.

Wreath laying at McIver statue on campus in 1957

• In 1958, the address given as part of the Founder's Day ceremony was officially named the McIver Lecture. Dr. Frank Porter Graham, first president of the UNC Consolidated System and, at the time, U.N. Representative for Pakistan and India, delivered the first McIver Lecture.
• On Founder's Day in 1959, a cornerstone from the previous McIver Memorial Building (razed in 1958) was laid to start construction on the new (current) McIver Building.
• In the early 1970s, Founder's Day was encompassed within a larger "Falderal" celebration. Falderal also included a campus-wide lunch, a soccer game, celebrations on the Quad, and fireworks.
• The 1973 Founder's Day celebration featured a 48-foot long cake that weighed in at 900 pounds (300 pounds of icing alone!). There was also a hula hoop contest, a live band, and other activities.

Serving of the giant cake at Founder's Day in 1973

• In 1977, the Alumni Association launched a McIver Conference, usually a two-day conference featuring lectures by faculty, alumni, and other scholars on art, architecture, and history.
• Around 1980, the text for the programs and other references switch from "Founder's Day" (singular) to "Founders' Day" (plural). In University Archives, we have a copy of a program from Founders' Day in 1980 where an alumna circled the apostrophe and wrote "I thought this was a typographical error."
• The McIver Medal was established by the UNCG Board of Trustees in 1983 to recognize "distinguished public service to the state or nation performed by a North Carolinian." It was first awarded in 1985 during the Founders' Day program.
• 1989 is when the apostrophe was dropped and we went from "Founders' Day" to "Founders Day." All official references since have been apostrophe-free.

To learn more about UNCG history, be sure to read the Spartan Stories blog. A new story is published every Monday morning. You can subscribe via email or RSS feed on the blog site (located in the column on the right side of the page when viewing on a desktop browser).

Today is also #AskAnArchivist Day on Twitter, so be sure to follow us (@UNCGArchives) and send us your questions about UNCG history!

Hop into History!

On Thursday, September 15 from 5pm until 7pm, archivists from UNCG will be at Gibb’s Hundred Brewing Company in Downtown Greensboro to launch the new monthly "Hop into History
 series with an exhibit on the local civil rights landscape in the 1950s and 1960s.

Come see the typewriter used by one of the first African American students to enroll at UNCG in Fall 1956, a scrapbook created by Curly Harris (the manager of Woolworth’s during the 1960 sit ins), a flyer distributed by students leading a boycott of segregated businesses on Tate Street in 1963, materials from the Black Power Forum held at UNCG in November 1967, and more.

We’ll also have coloring pages for the kids and even some doggie treats for any visiting history hounds. HISTORY IS FOR EVERYONE! We hope you’ll join us for this great opportunity to learn more about your local history and archives while enjoying your favorite beer! Baconessence food truck will be at the taproom too, so you can plan to have your dinner as well!

For more information and updates, see the Hop into History Event page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/171257499949673/.

SCUA at Reunion Weekend: Welcoming back the Class of 1966!

On Friday, April 15 as part of the University's Reunion Weekend activities, staff of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives set up a large exhibit on University history and the University in the 1960s in the Pre-Function Room of the EUC Auditorium. Members of the Class of 1966 were able to reminisce while looking at photographs of former faculty members, gym suits, yearbooks, scrapbooks, and other items from their time on campus. Materials from members of the Class of 1966 who were veterans were also on display.

Student Researcher positions with University Archives for 2016-2017 academic year!

Beginning in October 2017, UNCG will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the opening of the institution as the State Normal and Industrial School. In anticipation of this year-long celebration, many departments and units across campus will be researching their organizational histories and using the resources in University Archives to plan and promote their commemorative events. To assist with these efforts, we will be hiring six student researchers in University Archives during the 2016-2017 academic year.

These positions are only open to undergraduate and graduate students who will be enrolled at UNCG during the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters. Each student researcher will be expected to work 10-12 hours during the academic year (pay rate is $10 per hour). Preference will be given to students who are able to work the complete academic year (as opposed to just the Fall 2016 semester).

Available positions are:

Archives Researcher (2 positions available; upper level undergraduate or graduate students preferred). The archives researchers will work with departments and units across campus to conduct historical research, add entries to our online encyclopedia, write blog posts on key subjects in university history, select and scan photos for use in other publications/websites, etc. Previous research experience in an archives is welcomed, but not required. A demonstrated interest in history, strong research and writing skills, and the ability to learn quickly are the biggest requirements.

Oral History Researcher (2 positions available; graduate students preferred but upper level undergraduates with an interest in oral history will be considered). The oral history researchers will conduct oral history interviews with key individuals in UNCG's history. These researchers will also conduct preliminary archival research, create transcriptions of interviews, work on indexing existing interviews to enhance access (using OHMS), and create snippets of interviews for use in promotional videos and websites. Previous experience conducting oral history interviews or archival research is strongly desired, but we would consider training the right person. We definitely want these people to have strong communications skills (oral and written) and a keen attention to detail. This person should also be comfortable with learning new technologies.

Exhibits Designer (1 position available; graduate/undergraduate student with an interest in history or exhibits design). The exhibits designer will work with the SCUA staff as well as the other student researchers to develop online and physical exhibits focused on university history. We would strongly prefer a student who is familiar with Photoshop and basic HTML. Previous experience with archival research would be nice, but not required. This position is one that will be collaborating with many others, so an ability to juggle tasks and communicate effectively is necessary.

Marketing and Events Planner (1 position available; graduate/undergraduate student with an interest in communications and marketing). The marketing and events planner will coordinate events and activities aimed at educating current students about university history in fun and innovative ways. This may include working with Student Affairs and other student groups to incorporate university history in existing events. This person will also assist in coordinating social media efforts in University Archives. This position requires strong communications skills (written and oral), strong organizational skills, and an ability to think creatively in order to reach desired groups.


If you are interested in working as a student researcher in the University Archives during the 125th anniversary celebration, email SCUA@uncg.edu, including your resume along with a cover letter that addresses why you are interested in the job. Please be sure to indicate which of the student researcher position or positions you are interested in. Initial application reviews and interviews will take place in late March/early April.

Act of Establishment Creating UNCG -- 125 Years Ago Today!!

Today marks the 125th anniversary of the passage of the bill that established the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG). On February 18, 1891, the General Assembly of North Carolina agreed to fund a "normal" (teaching) school for women. The act appropriated $10,000 per year for maintenance of the school, but did not include any money to support contribution, land, or other facilities costs. In fact, the act stated that "the institution shall be located ... at some suitable place where the citizens thereof shall furnish the necessary buildings of money sufficient to erect them."

Class of 1893, the first graduating class of State Normal

In June 1891, Greensboro was selected as the official site for this new school, making a bid of $30,000 plus a site location. The chairman of the school's founding Board of Directors, Major S.M. Finger, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, stated, "I congratulate Greensboro on the result. I believe this is the proper place for [the school]. The Piedmont is the coming part of the State."

Stop by Jackson Library between 1pm and 3pm to see a pop-up exhibit featuring the actual charter, the letter received by Charles Duncan McIver naming his as the first president of the school, and many more photographs and other records from the earliest years of UNCG.

New Online Exhibit on African Americans at UNCG: A Collaboration between the University Libraries and Google

Starting today, over 200 records from UNCG's University Archives can be viewed online by people around the world due to a new partnership between the Google Cultural Institute and the UNCG University Libraries. Staff in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives and the Libraries' Electronic Resources and Information Technologies departments uploaded the records and built the online exhibit "African Americans at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1892-1971."

Pete [last name unknown] and Ezekiel Robinson, early 1890s

This exhibit traces the history of African American faculty, staff, and students at UNCG, from its opening as the State Normal and Industrial School in 1892 until 1971. Through digitized photographs and documents as well as audio clips from oral history interviews conducted as part of the African American Institutional Memory Project, viewers can learn more about African American employees on campus prior to desegregation, Jim Crow-era debates over the use of facilities by African Americans, the fight to integrate the student body, student involvements in the sit ins and protest movements of the early 1960s, the founding of the Neo-Black Society in 1968, and the hiring of the first African American faculty members.

JoAnne Smart and Bettye Tillman, 1956

The Google Cultural Institute and its partners are putting the world’s cultural treasures at the fingertips of Internet users and are building tools that allow the cultural sector to share more of its diverse heritage online. The Google Cultural Institute has partnered with more than 1,000 institutions giving a platform to over 250,000 thousand artworks and a total of 6 million photos, videos, manuscripts and other documents of art, culture and history. You can learn more about the broader project in this article.

Students in the Neo-Black Society Lounge, 1971

If you have questions about the exhibit, please contact Erin Lawrimore, University Archivist, at scua@uncg.edu.

New Exhibit: African American Staff at State Normal, 1892-1919

A new exhibit titled "African American Staff at State Normal, 1892-1919" is now on display in the case in the Elliott Center University connector. This exhibit features photographs of many of the African Americans who worked on the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) campus during its earliest years.

While the student body of the State Normal was limited to white women, nearly all of the support staff (cooks, maids, janitors, handymen, etc.) were African American. There were at least 21 African American support staff employees at State Normal during its opening year (1892-1893). Two years later, that number had doubled to 42. These African American employees were essential to the operations of the campus, ensuring that the lights operated, the buildings and grounds were clean, the students and faculty were fed, and the general operations proceeded smoothly and did not disrupt the school's educational mission. But sadly many of their stories -- and some of their names -- have been lost to history.

Housekeeping Staff, late 1890s

One person featured in the exhibit is Ezekiel "Zeke" Robinson. Robinson was hired by State Normal's founding president Charles Duncan McIver soon after the school opened. In addition to managing the African American support staff, Robinson performed numerous tasks that were critical to the function of the school, including ringing the campus bell, waiting table at state dinners, delivering the mail, and serving as porter for three college presidents. Ill health forced Robinson to retire in 1944 after a 52-year career. During his time on campus, he saw the transition from horses to automobiles, from oil lamps to electricity, from fireplaces to central heating, and from wells and pumps to running water. He saw the acreage of campus increase tenfold, and saw the student body grow from 200 to over 2200. On December 1, 1960, Ezekiel Robinson died at a local nursing home at the age of 93. He was the last surviving member of the faculty and staff from the first year of State Normal.

Ezekiel "Zeke" Robinson

Please stop by the exhibit to learn more about this important part of UNCG's history. The exhibit will be available through March 1, 2016.

What’s Cookin', Good Lookin'? Becoming a Domestic Goddess at Woman’s College

Student baking during a
Department of Home Economics class, 1947

As the State Normal and Industrial School was founded with the mission of producing teachers and educating women to assist in the recovery of the post Civil War South, classes needed to support the three concentrations of study: teaching, home economics, and business. The early administration of the school did not view these programs as mutually exclusive, insisting, “a model woman, as the mistress of a model home, ought to know something of business, and above all things, ought to be an intelligent teacher.” In the 1930s, what was then the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, provided the opportunity for students to earn valuable practical experience in household management by working in one of the campus’ Home Management Houses. By the 1940s, the Department of Home Economics offered seven specialized focuses of study, including course concentration in Foods and Nutrition, an invaluable area of knowledge as the United States implemented food rationing initiatives during World War II.

“What’s Cookin’, Good Lookin’?: Becoming a Domestic Goddess at the Woman’s College” features photographs and artifacts reflecting the Department of Home Economics curriculum, as well as excerpts from the Special Collections and University Archives’ Home Economics Pamphlets Collection. The exhibit can be viewed from September 25th - November 2nd, 2015.

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.

 

New Exhibit on the History of Physical Education and Athletics at UNCG

A new exhibit in Jackson Library explores the history of physical education and athletics at UNCG, from the 1890s until today. Gym suits from the 1900s, 1930s, and 1950s; photographs of intramural and intercollegiate athletics teams; and much more are on display in the exhibit cases across from the Jackson Library Reference Desk.

 

The exhibit will be available for viewing until the end of June 2015. To learn more about these topics and the associated resources available in SCUA, please see our research guides on physical education and athletics.

University Archives Completes Grant to Enhance Oral History Interview Access

University Archives recently completed work on a grant-funded project to provide enhanced access to many of our oral history interviews with African American students who attended Woman's College/UNCG in the 1960s. These oral history interviews, which are part of SCUA's African American Institutional Memory Project, were previously available online only as a PDF transcription. Even with this somewhat limited access, the interviews were frequently used by undergraduate students and others seeking to gain information on the personal experiences of students during this time.

This project, which was supported by the University Libraries' Innovation and Enrichment Grant Program, allowed us to augment access to a total of 27 of our oral history interviews -- two more than the initially-proposed 25. Using the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS), developed by the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries, we indexed the interviews and created time syncs that make it easier to search and move between the written transcription and specific points in the audio recordings. We also established a workflow that will incorporate indexing and syncing via OHMS into the workflow for future University Archives' oral history projects.

For the first time, direct access to the audio recordings of these valuable interviews is available online. You can browse and listen to these enhanced interviews through the Libraries' digital collections portal.

Questions about the project may be directed to University Archivist Erin Lawrimore.

New exhibit! Commencement Time at State Normal

It's almost time for graduation at UNCG, and, to celebrate, SCUA has installed a new exhibit on "Commencement Time at State Normal" in the cases next to the reference desk in Jackson Library. Stop by to check out a marshal dress from 1906, President Foust's academic robe and hood, a copy of the US and NC Constitutions given to State Normal graduates during commencement, and other photos and materials documenting the services and ceremonies of commencements on campus over 100 years ago. The exhibit will run through June 8th.

UNCG Class of 1965's 50th Reunion Weekend Exhibit

On Thursday and Friday, April 9-10, 2015, archivists Beth Ann Koelsch, Erin Lawrimore, and Kathelene Smith created a large exhibit for the Class of 1965's 50th Reunion weekend. The exhibit, which was mounted in the EUC Auditorium's lobby, included photographs, textiles, yearbooks, and other items from University Archives that document the Class of 1965's time at UNCG. Portions of the exhibit highlighted the commercial class, the nursing program, and civil rights activities on campus. Also, uniforms and photographs of members of the Class of 1965 who are part of the Women Veterans Historical Project were also featured.

During the weekend, SCUA also received donations of photographs and other materials from many members of the Class of 1965. If others have photographs or other materials related to their time on campus, please contact SCUA. While we are no longer seeking yearbooks or class jackets from this time, we are interested in unique items related to student life during the 1960s (and later).

Presentation on LGBT Outreach at SNCA

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro enjoys the reputation for supporting an inclusive campus “where there is visible and meaningful representation of the diversity present in the wider community.” During this year’s annual conference of the Society of North Carolina Archivists (SNCA) held in Greenville, NC from March 11th to 13th, Stacey Krim from the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) presented on how the department is contributing to the University’s diversity mission through archival outreach to UNCG’s LGBT community.

In the presentation titled, “Outreach to the Invisible: Archivists as Advocates to the LGBTQ Community,” Krim discussed the benefits of advocacy work as a platform for targeted educational outreach and collection development. A Safe Zone Ally since 2008, she has been heavily involved with training relating to the needs of LGBT students and staff, bringing this initiative with her when she began working in SCUA in 2011. Taking inspiration from University Archive’s UNCG African American history outreach, Krim began the development of a UNCG LGBTQ history presentation.

Finding historical records relating to UNCG’s history on the topic was challenging. Although twelve percent of the UNCG student body self-identifies as not being gender or sex conforming (making them one of the largest minority groups on campus), fear of discrimination has kept the LGBT community virtually invisible in the historical record. In fact, the first officially “out” student at UNCG is not documented until 1992, a century after the opening of the institution. After several months of research, enough information was discovered to present an hour long UNCG LGBT history presentation, the debut of which was at the first meeting of the UNCG LGBT Alumni Group during Homecoming in 2012. Since then, this presentation has been requested several times each semester, with supplementary material posted on the University Archives social media outlets.

The outcome of Krim’s outreach to UNCG’s LGBT students and alumni has been wholly positive. The presentation is a staple for UNCG Safe Zone continuing education. Additionally, Krim has collaborated with UNCG’s Queer Student Union in the recreation of a controversial exhibit from 2002 featuring LGBT African American authors. Most importantly, this outreach raises the visibility of SCUA’s primary source materials and promotes the value University Libraries places on supporting diversity and inclusion on campus.

UNCG Archives trending on Tumblr!

The UNCG Archives Tumblr is currently featured as one of the Trending Blogs on the popular social media site Tumblr. We use our Tumblr to share photos, videos, and other content related to UNCG history and the collections and work of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. In the last three days alone, the UNCG Archives Tumblr has gained 768 new followers.

Our most popular post from the past month was a photograph from the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project. The photo depicts African American WACs (Women’s Army Corps) standing in formation during basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, in April 1943.

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