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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.