PAST EXHIBITS:
Nancy Marshall Gallery (Rotunda) and SCRC
CLOSED September 14, 2008
Swem Library at the College of William and Mary presents the exhibit, “From the ’Burg to Berlin and Beyond: World War II at Swem Library.” Using letters, diaries, posters, photographs, sheet music, and other materials from Swem’s Special Collections Research Center, the exhibit provides a general overview of the War, with a special emphasis on the College and Williamsburg. The first four sections of the exhibit are in the Marshall Gallery; the remainder are in the SCRC.
The first section looks at the beginning of World War II in Asia and Europe through Pearl Harbor. Among items on display are photos and papers relating to Albert Raymond, an American in Paris who volunteered as an ambulance driver after Germany invaded France. The attack on Pearl Harbor is recalled through the reminiscences of William and Mary alumni who were on campus at the time. A scroll contains Japan’s declaration of war on the U.S. in Japanese characters, with an accompanying English translation.
The next two sections explore the War at the College and in Williamsburg. Photos show naval chaplains and soldiers at the College and on parade on Duke of Gloucester Street, while war ration books and USO materials testify to civilian contributions to the war effort. An issue of the Bee Line, Camp Peary’s newspaper, and letters by Williamsburg residents further illuminate local wartime experiences.
The fourth section focuses on those in uniform. Highlights include letters home by nurses in Burma and Normandy, a photo album and Christmas menu for a hospital commanded by W&M alumnus Colonel Amos Koontz, and telegrams congratulating local hero and W&M alumnus Admiral John Lesslie Hall, Jr., for his successful supervision of the Normandy landings. W&M education professor emeritus Armand Galfo, who served as an airman, is represented by V-mails and a silk map with tiny bombs marking the locations his plane attacked.
The next section examines the end of the War and its aftermath. Photos of President Roosevelt’s funeral are accompanied by a letter lamenting his death written by a Sea Bee at Camp Peary. Other notable items include a photo of Tojo on trial in Tokyo and the prosecution’s opening statement in the Japanese war crime trials, photos of the devastation in Hiroshima and Europe, and a publication created by German civilians interned by the Allies as suspected Nazis.
The final three cases investigate specific issues or events of the war years. One case looks at the internment of Japanese and Japanese-American civilians in the U.S. and an anti-Fifth Column vigilante group operating in Montclair, New Jersey. Another case looks at the Holocaust, with original photographs of the dead at Dachau, letters by people in the United States reacting to news of the camps, and a facsimile of Hitler’s last will, where he still blames the Jews for his problems. The last case recalls a wartime controversy at William and Mary, when Marilyn Kaemmerle, the editor of the student newspaper, called for an end to segregation and was fired.
Front lobby flat case
CLOSED
The College in Song is the new student life exhibit using material from the University Archives in the Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library. Students have been singing at the College of William and Mary for years. The items on display include a selection of fliers, programs, CDs, t-shirts, props, and other material from student singing groups highlighting the variety of genres and groups currently performing on campus. The University Archives actively collects material in a variety of formats from student groups. We urge current students and organizations to consider giving material to the University Archives to ensure that future students and researchers have access to these rich sources of information about students and student life at the College. The exhibit case is located in the lobby area.
Botetourt Gallery, March 20-May 31
CLOSED
Earth Visions/Visiones Terrestres is an exhibit of original poetry and photography by W&M students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. Contributions bring into dialogue perspectives from the Arts and Sciences on environmental issues in the Americas. The exhibit opens March 20 in the Botetourt Gallery, Earl Gregg Swem Library and runs through May 31, 2008.
Third floor Rotunda Gallery
CLOSED
Little Magazines opened in the Third Floor Rotunda Gallery in September 2007. Little magazines come in all sizes and shapes but have limited print runs. The exhibit features an eclectic collection of little magazines, many with non-mainstream viewpoints. Some of the magazines are from the SCRC; others, from the regular stacks. This exhibit will be open indefinitely.
Front lobby flat case
CLOSED
The annual Commencement exhibit marks the tradition of exercises for graduates of the College of William and Mary first held in 1700 and the awarding of honorary degrees. Honorary degrees were granted by the College sporadically through the mid-19th century before becoming a regular campus tradition and eventually awarded annually since the early 20th century. William and Mary alumni Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and a member of the Class of 1995, and Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and member of the Class of 1969, will receive honorary degrees at the 2008 commencement ceremony. Tomlin will deliver the commencement address. The exhibit case is located in the lobby area.
Front lobby flat cases
CLOSED
In honor of the College of William and Mary's annual Charter Day
Ceremony on February 9, 2008, an exhibit case of material is available
for viewing in an exhibit case at the entrance to Swem Library. Items
on display include the first page of the 1693 Charter granted to the
College by King William III and Queen Mary II reproduced from the
Charter in Swem Library, items from the 1968 Charter Day ceremony, and
information about Charter Day speaker James B. Comey, class of 1982,
and honorary degree recipients Harriet Mayor Fulbright and James C.
Rees, class of 1974.
Front lobby flat cases
CLOSED
"Student Publications, 1990s-2000s" is the first in a series of exhibits about student life at the College of William and Mary using material from the University Archives in the Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library. The exhibit includes a range of publications including humor, literary, political, and news publications published by students at the College in the recent past both officially and unofficially. The oldest student news sheet from the College of William and Mary still extant is The Owl, an unofficial publication with a strong Southern political slant from 1854, while the most recently published items are actively collected by the University Archives today.
Front lobby panels
CLOSED
Swem staff member Sheila Dandridge Brown passed away in 2007. She had been collecting book jackets of books by or about African Americans to create a Black History Month exhibit. In her honor, her colleagues have developed this exhibit, using the materials she had collected. Come and see the stunning images on the book covers and the great variety of topics.
Read-and-Relax and the Nancy Marshall Gallery on the first floor
CLOSED April 15, 2008
Swem Library announces the opening of Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration. Picturing Words is both a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and a complementary exhibit of illustrated books from Swem’s collections.
Today’s culture is very visually-oriented, and modern viewers will find much of interest in the exhibit. Picturing Words explores the use of illustration in natural history, scientific, religious, historical, and commercial books from the earliest illustrated printed volumes to modern publications. Wood engravings, lithography, photography, and other illustration formats contributing to the inspirational, informational, or influential nature of books.
Among the treasures on display is a 1499 edition of St. Augustine’s commentary on the Pauline epistles. Another volume on exhibit is a 1581 edition of I Qvattro Llibri Dell’Architettvra by Andrea Palladio. This architectural classic influenced architects for generations to come, including Christopher Wren. A King James Bible, published in 1613, is open to the family tree of Adam and Eve. Alexander Gardner’s masterpiece of Civil War photography, Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War, is another piece on display. The exhibit also includes the earliest color-illustrated book featuring dogs, the first American color-illustrated book, and many other books with marvelous illustrations. Williamsburg-area residents may be interested to see some early 20th-century ads in the “Influencing Buyers” section of the exhibit.
The Picturing Words traveling exhibit may be viewed in the Read-and-Relax area on Swem’s first floor. The exhibit of Swem’s illustrated books can be found in Read-and-Relax and the nearby Nancy Marshall Gallery. Picturing Words is open whenever Swem Library is open. The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, March 16, 2008. Funding for the exhibit at Swem Library was provided by the Timm Library Endowment and the Christian Vinyard Endowment.
