Skip to content

The University of Iowa Libraries

Skip to content
Go to
InfoHawk+
University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries

Main Library Gallery news

Archivist David McCartney sits at a desk and looks toward the camera. He is wearing a face mask.
Mar 11 2022

A Dorm Room, ca. 1975 with David McCartney

Posted on March 11, 2022April 8, 2022 by Sara J. Pinkham

By Sara J. Pinkham

A bright lava lamp in the front display case of the Main Library Gallery serves as a beacon, inviting library patrons to examine the plenitude of nostalgic objects just on the other side of the glass window. Records lean against a speaker and fan out over a record player’s plastic dust cover: Tapestry by Carole King, Live & Well by B.B. King, The Graduate by Simon & Garfunkel, Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles, Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Age of Aquarius by The 5th Dimension, and others. Vintage board games, a bright pink frisbee, a portable transistor radio, and a 7-Up wastepaper basket are arrayed over a classic shag carpet. While flattened from years of use, the vibrant greens, yellows, and oranges are a familiar signal of the 1970s.

A crate is crammed full of both popular books and required reading, such as Catch-22, Watership Down, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Metamorphosis. An empty soda bottle, pop can, and tea mug add comfortable clutter, and a cinder block serves as an economical pedestal for a potted plant. We have stepped back in time to 1975, a year during which We Are Hawkeyes exhibit co-curator and University Archivist Emeritus David McCartney found himself working toward his undergraduate degree.

“I would say that the dorm room replication that we have at this exhibit pretty closely resembles the dorm room I occupied once upon a time, back around 1975,” said McCartney, who spent many hours sourcing era-appropriate objects for the display.

Inspired by his own experience moving away from home for the first time, the dorm room set in We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa naturally includes a desk with a Smith Corona portable typewriter. “We did not have laptops, let alone tabletop computers, in 1975,” he said. 

The desk, located beyond the display case inside the Main Library Gallery, includes a chair, and invites visitors to sit and try their hand at using the typewriter. A vintage couch, on loan from the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts, is a comfortable spot to flip through a Hawkeye Yearbook or duplicate 1970s issues of Light-Eater (“Serving the University of Iowa Residence Halls”), a student-published newsletter. 

“As time-specific as this dorm room is, I think there’s a timelessness to it in terms of how we as students, and later alumni, could identify ourselves,” said McCartney. “And that’s what a dorm room is all about, isn’t it?”

Check out the latest Main Library Gallery video below, in which David McCartney provides a brief tour of the dorm room set from the We Are Hawkeyes exhibit. 

We Are Hawkeyes: Celebrating 175 Years of Student Life at the University of Iowa was curated by David McCartney, Aiden Bettine, and Denise Anderson. It will be on view until July 3, 2022. A virtual tour is also available online.

Learn more about the Main Library Gallery here: lib.uiowa.edu/gallery.

Tagged Main Library Gallery

Post navigation

Virtual Tour Available for ‘We Are Hawkeyes’ Exhibit
Herky: A Brief Origin Story

Recent Posts

  • Main Library Gallery seeking 2025-2026 exhibit proposals
  • Out & About: Queer Life in Iowa City exhibit now open in the Main Library Gallery
  • Local Libraries LIT to welcome author Kevin Wilson for free virtual event
  • Local Libraries LIT welcomes Ann Patchett for free virtual event
  • Celebrating 55 years of international writers at Iowa in the Main Library Gallery

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • October 2022
    • August 2022
    • June 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • November 2019
    • September 2019

    Categories

    • Uncategorized

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Zoia by Automattic.
    University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries
    • Contact the Libraries
    • Library locations & hours
    • News & Events
    • Help using the Libraries
    • Assistance for people with disabilities
    • Our diversity statement
    • Thank a Librarian
    • Web site/page feedback OR general suggestions
    • UI Libraries other links UI Libraries in the Internet Archive Use and reuse of UI Libraries web content - Creative Commons Staff SharePoint (authentication required)
    • UI Libraries on social media UI Libraries on Instagram UI Libraries on Facebook UI Libraries on Twitter UI Libraries on Pinterest UI Libraries on Tumblr UI Libraries on YouTube UI Libraries on Flickr UI Libraries blogs
    • 100 Main Library (LIB)
    • 125 West Washington St.
    • Iowa City, IA 52242-1420
    • 319-335-5299 (Service Desk)
    • ©2019 The University of Iowa
    • Give a gift to the Libraries!