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Main Library Gallery news

Month: January 2022

Jan 25 2022

We Are Hawkeyes: New Main Library Gallery Exhibit Now Open

Posted on January 25, 2022April 8, 2022 by Sara J. Pinkham

The oldest university in the state, the University of Iowa was founded on February 25, 1847. Instruction began in the autumn of 1855 with just 124 students. Every student thereafter has left their mark on the university, and campus life today has been shaped by nearly two centuries of student influence.  

Over the past 175 years, students at the University of Iowa have amplified their causes through protest and advocacy, they have shared their individuality through student publications and the arts, and they have made countless brilliant contributions to the world in which we live. The Spring 2022 Main Library Gallery exhibition, We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa, spotlights some of these experiences. 

A window display is filled with vintage books, games, records, a record player, green and orange shag carpet, and more to evoke a 1970s dorm room feel. The title of the exhibit is in vinyl on the glass window.
Front display window, Main Library Gallery. Photo/Sara J. Pinkham.

The exhibit was curated by Denise Anderson, Aiden Bettine, and David McCartney of the University Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries. The co-curators carefully selected a variety of items and images both old and new from the University Archives and Iowa Women’s Archives to create a representation of student life over the decades, working on the exhibition together throughout 2021 in preparation for the university’s anniversary year.  

“I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight these engaging and diverse student experiences, plucked from the pages of rich University of Iowa history,” said Denise Anderson, archives assistant. 

Several flyers protesting various injustices or issues are included in a display case. Most prominently, a black and white photo shows Steve Smith burning his draft card in the 1960s.
From the “Raising Our Voices” section of the exhibit. Featured items are related to protest on campus over several decades. Photo/Sara J. Pinkham.

“Students are the very core of the University of Iowa. Although students arrive on campus to pursue their higher education, the classroom is only one facet of the student experience,” said Aiden Bettine, community and student life archivist. “Student life on our campus is immersive, enmeshing students in both the Hawkeye community and Iowa City. Some students find their niche when they first step foot on campus and participate in existing student organizations or extracurricular activities. Others have had to carve out space for their identity or their passions.” 

“Students are the lifeblood of a university, and student life shapes and informs those who have had the university or college experience,” said David McCartney, university archivist. “We Are Hawkeyes sets out to illustrate that experience in all its flavors, from athletics to academics, from parties to protest. Coming of age in a university setting brings with it a wide range of accumulated knowledge and lessons for life.” 

The exhibit explores student-led publications from as early as 1881 with Little Tin God on Wheels and as recently as a 2021 edition of The Daily Iowan. A brief history of Iowa Memorial Union and the university’s military traditions are included, as well as samplings of artifacts from Department of Music and Department of Dance records. Visitors will also find an array of photographs celebrating social life on campus, items from fraternity and sorority collections, ephemera from the university’s earliest years, Iowa sports history, a glimpse into scholarship, an abbreviated visual history of protest on campus between 1910 and 2021, and more. A film reel shows footage including clips from commencements, the Hawkeye Marching Band, a University of Iowa newsreel, the Theatre Department, and protests in the 1960s.   

An original black ink drawing of Herky holding various sports equipment.
All-Sports Herky, ca. 1949-1952. Dick Spencer III Collection of Herky Pen and Ink Drawings, University Archives, University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives. Photo/Sara J. Pinkham.

“While not every student’s experience is recounted in this exhibit, we hope visitors to the Main Library Gallery will find something that speaks to their own time on campus – whether during this past year, or generations ago,” said McCartney. 

A 1970s-esque dorm room set spills into the gallery from the front display case. A desk, bright orange chair, and floral loveseat invite visitors to take a seat and flip through vintage student newsletters and yearbooks. A typewriter, record player, crate of books, and a lava lamp add to the nostalgia, while plentiful classic records from McCartney’s own personal collection are artfully arranged throughout. The co-curators hope this section of the exhibition will prompt guests to consider what their must-have items were when packing for their freshman year of college. 

A broad view of the exhibit in the Main Library Gallery. Display cases are seen at a distance.
We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa in the Main Library Gallery, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo/Sara J. Pinkham.

We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa will be on display in the Main Library Gallery until July 3, 2022. Admission to the Gallery is always free. Visit lib.uiowa.edu/gallery for information about open hours and upcoming events. 

Learn more about the University of Iowa’s history and this year’s campus celebrations through the 175th anniversary website: 175.uiowa.edu. 

The University Archives and Iowa Women’s Archives are part of the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives. 

Tagged Main Library Gallery
Jan 06 2022

Local Libraries LIT Welcomes Jennine Capó Crucet – January 26

Posted on January 6, 2022April 8, 2022 by Sara J. Pinkham

Portrait of author Jennine Capó Crucet with text that says Local Libraries Listen, Initiate, Talk.

Local Libraries LIT (Listen, Initiate, Talk) will feature author Jennine Capó Crucet on January 26, 2022 at 7:00 PM. This is the fifth FREE virtual event in the series, which is offered by public libraries in Johnson County as well as the University of Iowa Libraries and Kirkwood Community College Libraries (Iowa City Campus) with support from the Community Foundation of Johnson County and The Tuesday Agency.

As the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Jennine Capó Crucet was the first person in her family to be born in the United States. Her writing is full of biting humor as she ardently depicts her time as a first-generation college student, as well as the immigrant experience.

Book cover for My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education.Jennine is the author of the critically acclaimed Make Your Home Among Strangers, which was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice book and the winner of the 2016 International Latino Book Award. She is a recipient of an O. Henry Prize, the Picador Fellowship, and the Hillsdale Award for the Short Story. Jennine’s story collection, How to Leave Hialeah, won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize, the John Gardner Book Award, and the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award. Jennine’s latest work, My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education, investigates concepts of race, gender, immigration, and the “American dream” since the 2016 election. The Los Angeles Times calls My Time Among the Whites “remarkable,” and Bustle calls it “a must read.”

Jennine is a Contributing Opinion Writer for The New York Times, as well as an associate professor of English and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska. In the years prior to becoming a professor, she worked as a college access counselor at One Voice, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that serves first-generation college students from low-income families.

“Crucet is an essential truth-teller, the whisper in your ear you should listen to, wise and funny as she tries to save your life.” ―Alexander Chee

The goal of Local Libraries LIT is to grow a thriving community which shines with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Open to the public.

Reservations can be made here: tinyurl.com/JennineLIT

Register now via the link above to receive the Zoom link for this event.


News release from Local Libraries LIT (Listen, Initiate, Talk).

Tagged Main Library Gallery

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