EAAvesdropping: Woodruff Library

Showing posts with label Woodruff Library. Show all posts

Monday, September 27, 2010

16 bullets from Homecoming

Get out of the way! Run for your lives! It's the Homecoming review blog post!

Now, c'mon ... really. Are you afraid of the Emory Alumni Association's Homecoming float? We were going about 2 miles an hour. Our rockin' red truck, though, was the only thing about the weekend that didn't move fast.

Keep reading for a few more observations about Emory Homecoming Weekend.

Next time I work the beer tent (my job at Saturday's Homecoming carnival), I want a tip jar. I swear with the volume of patrons we had ... at normal tipping rates ... I could have financed a vacation. Emory alumni do know how to have fun. And they're polite and patient. Didn't hear one complaint from our guests about waiting in line.

The Homecoming Hospitality Center on the first floor of the new Emory bookstore was a popular place. Could have been because of the free stuff. More than 2,000 Emory shirts were given away to excited alumni and their children.

For the second year, I got to drive the EAA's float in the Homecoming Parade. For 2010, it was a bright red Chevy truck. The kind of red that, if I was actually driving it on the road, I'd have to pay extra insurance.

I need to work on my Frisbee throwing from behind the wheel. Way too many off-target ducks. Our students and alumni did a great job -- throwing t-shirts and souvenir cups from the bed of the truck. Part of that ineptitude, though, was my concern about running over the We Are Emory walkers immediately in front of me. Walkers in a parade? What's up with that?

Yes, my throwing need a bit of work, but I could have used a better receiving corps, too. On more than one occasion, parade-goers were hit square in the chest by a Frisbee they were blissfully unaware of. And it's not like they were thrown hard. Open your eyes behind those shades, people!

Every year, the Homecoming parade gets better. Several young alumni I spoke with were amazed at the event's growth. For them, during their student days, Homecoming was an afterthought -- a birthday party for the kid no one liked. People may have shown up, and they brought a present, but it wasn't like anyone had any fun. The 2010 parade, though, was a capital-E Event. High-concept floats. Complicated accompanying dance routines. Streamers and balloons and face paint and lots of skeletons. Those young alumni may not have thought much of previous Homecomings, but to a person, they told me they'd come back for the next one and the one after that. And that's what we like to hear.

Random memory ... the song playing on the truck's radio as we cruised through Asbury Circle was Brad Paisley's "Water." As festive a song as any.

One of the best places to watch the parade was the Residence Life reunion at Dobbs Hall. At least that's what we heard. Once the sun went down, the best views were had at the Class of 1970's 40-year reunion atop Woodruff Library.

Kids had a blast at Saturday's festival. The super slide was particularly popular. Every time they got to bottom, they just got back in line. Kind of like the adults in the beer lines.

The Shadowboxers opened Saturday's concert and they were tighter and more polished than 90 percent of the bands touring at this moment. Visit their Facebook and MySpace pages now (their hooky brand of guitar/keyboard-driven rock is reminiscent of Maroon 5). The quartet of Scott Schwartz 11C, Matt Lipkins 11C, Adam Hoffman 11B, and Jamie Reilly 11C clearly have a bright musical future ahead of them.

It was a Homecoming in every sense of the word for the headlining Indigo Girls -- Emily Saliers 85C (who had already participated in several Homecoming events earlier in the weekend, including a creativity conversation with her dad, emeritus professor Don Saliers) and Amy Ray 86C were in great moods. Their stage banter included Emory memories mixed in with favorites both new and old. And they drove their own cars to the show, too.

We don't have a solid concert attendance figure yet, but we ran out of Emory buttons (which doubled as tickets) very early (we had 1,500 to start). Many of the late-comers got "Future Alumni" buttons. I must admit, I chuckled inside whenever I saw a 30-, 40-, or 50-something wearing the button we had originally designed for the kids.

Dooley was all over the place. He visited several reunions, stood in the front row for the 25-year reunion's class picture (and ended up in dozens more personal photos across campus). His favorite, though, was probably the Class of 1995's 15-year shindig. He arrived, hung out for awhile, left, then came back for an encore.

The Class of 1965 was overheard planning for 2015. That's when they celebrate their 50-year reunion and march in Commencement as part of Corpus Cordis Aureum.

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Saturday night's class reunions all ended somewhere between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. The official part anyway. Alumni after parties continued at evening haunts like Johnny's Hideaway, Eclipse di Luna, Loca Luna, Sutra, and, of course, Eagle Row.

The weather throughout Homecoming Weekend was spectacular. Until Sunday. Dreary and rainy all day though it was, a great crowd helped dedicate the Marcus Hillel Center and more than 70 guests turned out for the annual reception for the Emory Travel Program, where our trips for 2011 were introduced. Given the weather, it was a good thing our visitors could see the world without stepping outside.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

Friday, September 10, 2010

Opening today in Woodruff Library ...

If you've browsed Emory Magazine or visited any of Emory's thousands upon thousands of webpages over the past few years, you've seen Bryan Meltz's work.

Meltz is a staff photographer with University Photography; before she came to Emory, she had quite a successful freelance career (which she didn't give up when she joined the University's staff), and she continues to produce exciting work both inside and outside Emory.

Some of Meltz's most affecting images are on display right now in Woodruff Library.

“After: Images from Haiti,” an exhibition of work Meltz created during visits to the devastated Caribbean nation in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake, opens today and will run through September 2011 in the ECIT Gallery on Level 2 of the library. It is free and open to the public during regular library hours.

Meltz first visited Haiti in March of this year on assignment for the Rollins School of Public Health's alumni magazine. Several of her photos ran in the publication, but they represented just a sliver of her work there. Meltz sought a venue to tell a deeper story, and that's how "After: Images from Haiti" came to be.

Images will rotate every three months, so multiple visits would be worthwhile. A good first trip would be Tuesday, October 5, at 6:00 p.m. Meltz will be in Woodruff Library's Jones Room discussing her experiences.

You can read the full press release here.

-- Eric Rangus, director, communications, EAA

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Civil rights at Emory: A tour

Hannah Frankel 12C and I decided to take Emory’s Civil Rights’ Tour on a lovely, HOT afternoon in early July. The tour is part of the newly released Sustainability Map launched by the Office of Sustainability Initiatives this past May.

We began the tour at the Haygood-Hopkins gate and then headed toward Glenn Memorial Auditorium. Soaking in the cool air-conditioning and reading the tour's description regarding Emory’s religious roots, I reflected how I often don't associate Methodist leaders with conflicts regarding slavery. The tour was yet another reminder that slavery permeated all aspects of society during this important time in American history.

On the way to our next stop, Hannah and I discussed the interesting differences in the way Civil War history is taught in various parts of the country today, noting many regional differences and unresolved issues that still exist. One of the things I loved most about Emory was the opportunity to meet students from all parts of the country, as well as the world, and learn about their background. I always found both similarities and differences in comparison to my own.

When we arrived at our next stop, Pitts Theology Library, we were again relieved to escape the 90 degree heat. We introduced ourselves to the students working at the front desk and used the opportunity as an excuse to promote the map.

In addition to its historical connection to the 1969 Black Student Alliance protes t which led to the formation of the Department of African American Studies, Pitts is a sometimes undiscovered study sanctuary. It’s interesting looking back to imagine the juxtaposition of a sit-in protest in this calm, serene space.

The next stop on the tour was all too familiar to me, but in a good way. Being a former history major it is easy to remain fond of the classic Quad landmark that is Bowden Hall. I have many memories of classes held in its dimly lit rooms, chatting with the friendly administrative assistant in the history department and waiting nervously outside the door for an appointment with my thesis adviser.

Yet, despite a large plaque hanging at the entrance of the building, I was unaware as an undergraduate of the important connection between Henry Bowden 32C 34L, the building’s namesake, and the historic Supreme Court of Georgia decision that led to the enrollment of Emory's first black students.

The last two stops on the tour went by quickly, a trip to the top of Woodruff Library for the amazing balcony view of the campus and the surrounding city, followed by the Dooley Statue with its provoking insight about the Spirit of Emory’s complex past.

Heading back toward Emory Village, I felt grateful for the pleasant break from my usual work day, but still craved more history, more stories of Emory's civil rights history. I guess my next visit will have to be to Manuscript and Rare Books Library (MARBL) to look at Emory’s rich civil rights collections.

-- Jessica Levy 08C, intern, Office of Sustainability Initiatives

Photo by Cassandra Young 07C

Monday, April 5, 2010

Field of dreams

Today is Opening Day here in Atlanta for the hometown Braves , who face the Chicago Cubs at 4:10 p.m. at Turner Field. So there's no better time for a baseball post ...

The late W. Clyde “Doc” Partin 50C 51G was a beloved Emory icon for more than 50 years—a teacher, coach, athletics director, and historian known for his remarkable contributions to the athletics program. Now that his family has given his personal papers, books, and sports memorabilia to Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL), he will have a permanent place within the University.

Keep reading for more about the Partin papers. or you can click here for the full story. That is unless you're watching the Cubs/Braves game, which is OK by us ...

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

Partin’s son Clyde Partin Jr. 78C 83M 86MR , an Emory alumnus, physician, and professor who has been a member of the MARBL Literary Collections board for the past 10 years, was instrumental in arranging the gift. He and his mother, Betty Partin, and his two siblings, Keith Partin of Charlotte, N.C., and Betsy Partin Vinsor of Gainesville, Fla., are making the gift as a family.

Partin said the family has been touched by Emory’s welcoming response. “We are incredibly pleased that Emory has shown an interest in preserving the sports collections of my father. He was a keen competitor who was devoted to Emory University, the study of baseball, and the history of athletics.”

The archive includes essays Doc Partin wrote about baseball Hall of Famers such as Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, and Frank Robinson, as well as drafts and research notes for those essays. It also includes posters, documents, and baseballs signed by Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Buck O’Neill, and many other legendary players, along with a substantial collection of books related to African American athletes.

These materials will form the nucleus of what the Partin family hopes will evolve into a major collection exploring the role of African Americans in sports and the role of athletics in the struggle for human and civil rights.

“Doc Partin had a hand in nearly every major athletic development in Atlanta for years, from the Atlanta Braves to the Olympics,” said Randall Burkett, curator of MARBL’s African American collections. “One of the lesser known but profoundly important aspects of Partin’s career was his eagerness to break down barriers to the success of African American athletes in sports at every level.”

The Partin archive also includes extensive records related to the Atlanta Chiefs, the soccer team from the late 1960s that was the brainchild of Partin’s close friend Richard Cecil, a former executive with the Atlanta Braves. Cecil played a key role in conceiving the idea of a sports archive at Emory.

Partin earned a bachelor’s degree from Emory in 1950 and a master’s in education in 1951. During his tenure as athletics director from 1966 until 1983, Emory athletics saw unprecedented growth that culminated in the construction of the Woodruff P.E. Center, which opened in 1983. He expanded the number of intercollegiate sports, particularly for female students, with women’s tennis being added in 1975 followed by women’s cross-country and track and field in the early 1980s. Partin also founded the Emory Sports Fitness Camp, now in its 45th year.

From 1986 until his retirement in 2002, Partin was a professor of physical education. Over the course of his career, he mentored hundreds of young student athletes. Even after his retirement, he kept an office on campus and often manned the press box, announcing during Emory baseball games. Partin’s book on the history of Emory athletics, Athletics for All: The History of Sports at Emory, was released in 2006. He passed away in June 2009.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Photo of the Day: White Board

One of the newest features of Robert W. Woodruff Library's Level 1 are the broad strips of whiteboard paint on the main wall facing Jazzman's Cafe. The boards are ostensibly for student notetaking during group meetings, scribbled event invitations, and the like. Occasionally, though, they are used for other purposes. Like this artistic homage to Audrey Hepburn.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

If U2 came to Emory ...

So it's U2Tuesday (I think that's how that marketing gimmick is spelled) in Atlanta. In just a few hours, the band will be taking the stage at the Georgia Dome as its 360° Tour rolls into our fair city.

The concert is pretty big news among my friends (as well as a lot of Emory staff members and students). Many of them are going to the show, at least if their braggy Facebook status updates are to be believed. (Full disclosure, I'm going, too, and I made sure all my Facebook friends know it ... I claim no moral high ground).

Anyway, it got me thinking. Is there a way to tell Emory's story using only U2 song titles?

Of course there is. Take a look at our collection below. Feel free to add any new ones.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

A Sort of Homecoming = I love a parade

Acrobat = Enquérir

Bad = These guys. And not in a good way

Beautiful Day = Commencement

City of Blinding Lights = Emory's hometown

Discotheque = This great program

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For = Parking on campus

I Will Follow = Dooley's Entourage

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight = Dooley's Bal l

In God's Country = Cannon Chapel

Magnificent = What do you think?

New Year's Day = Freshman move-in

Numb = Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine

October = The Quadrangle

One = Emory volleyball

Pride (In The Name Of Love) = King Week

Staring At The Sun = Emory planetarium

Stay (Faraway, So Close) = The dearly departed Turman Residential Center

Ultra Violet (Light My Way) = Emory lantern

Two Hearts Beat As One = This story

Vertigo = Jones Room, Woodruff Library

Walk On = This tour

Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses? = Emory Equestrian

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Goodbye Alice

Since December 2007, Emory has been home to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker’s archives, and since April of this year much of it has been beautifully displayed in the Schatten Gallery of Woodruff Library.

The exhibition, A Keeping of the Records: the Art and Life of Alice Walker, contains 200 items, including manuscripts, letters, notebooks, photographs, and memorabilia. Saturday, September 26, I had the privilege of attending the Alice Walker presentation and guided tour as a part of Emory Homecoming Weekend.

I arrived a few minutes early, met the presenters and hosts, and soon learned that the Walker exhibit was actually coming down the next day, after having been on display for five months. I had not yet visited this exhibit, and felt very lucky to have this last opportunity to see it. The guided tour by exhibit curator Rudolph Byrd, Goodrich C. White Professor of English and founding director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute, Elizabeth Russey, manuscript archivist, Julie Delliquanti, associate curator, and Ginger Cain 77C 82G, director, library public programs, was a tremendous bonus.

Before entering the exhibition, Dr. Byrd gave the group some fascinating background on Walker, how her archives came to arrive at Emory, and what it has meant to the University. Russey told us about her experiences with Walker, packing up her archives and bringing them to Emory, as well as the process of organizing and preserving the materials. Delliquanti, director of the exhibit in the Schatten Gallery, provided some insight into the framework and creation of the exhibit.

After hearing the presentations, we made our way into the gallery. Our presenters explained the overall concept and took us around to some of the key displays. I learned so much, not only about Walker’s life, but things about art that I didn’t know before. Palimpsest (an image seen here) was one of the organizing principles for the exhibition and was beautifully done throughout the gallery to portray Walker’s work and life.

It wasn't easy to soak all of it in at once, especially in one afternoon, but even though the exhibit is coming down, guests are encouraged to visit the Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL) at Woodruff Library to see some of the archives. I highly recommend it, and here are some tips before you go.

-- Lindsay Topping, assistant director, Emory Annual Fund

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The EAA's Can't Miss List of Homecoming Highlights

Updated Saturday morning, 9:25 a.m.

Emory Homecoming Weekend continues ... Highlights follow.

Saturday, Sept. 26:
12:01 a.m. Spirit Day, Everywhere. Put on your Emory shirt and hat! Go outside as much as possible. If for some awful reason you don’t have one, pick up a free shirt at the DUC or during the Homecoming parade.

9:00 a.m. 5K Run Through Lullwater, Lullwater Park. The 5K times really dropped after we added the Lullwater Park Monster to the lake. That’s not really true, but you’re thinking about it now, aren’t you?

10:30 a.m. Celebrating 50 Years of Sorority Life, DUC, Winship Ballroom. 50 years minus that Tuesday after Rush in 1988. You know the day we mean. Not much to celebrate that day.

10:30 a.m. Blue Jean Brunch, Woodruff Library, MARBL. Annual social sponsored by GALA (Emory Gay and Lesbian Alumni). Levi’s are cool; Toughskins, not so much.

To see the entire Can't Miss List of Homecoming Highlights, visit the October 2009 issue of EmoryWire.

-- Eric Rangus, director of communications, EAA

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Letter from home

I graduated from the Emory College of Arts and Sciences in 2007 and moved to Washington, DC last summer. My work schedule there didn't allow me to buy a plane ticket back to Atlanta until this past weekend, but I will tell you right now that it was well worth the very long wait.

As soon as I landed, my lovely host and longtime friend Cassandra Young 07C of the EAA took me down the winding roads of the Druid Hills neighborhood straight to Emory. It was only appropriate that my first stop back in Atlanta be Emory's campus—after all, it was my home for four amazing years. I told Cassie that I wanted to explore Emory again, this time, my first, as an alumna. So we headed down Clifton Road and turned onto Asbury Circle, filled with curiosity and excitement.

Stepping onto campus brought back so many memories—I felt right back at home. I also felt like a student all over again, especially since I was hauling around my laptop and old book bag while walking past my freshman and sophomore dorms (McTyeire Hall and Woodruff Residential Center, respectively).

Classes were in session and campus was alive. Students were mingling at the poster sale at the DUC, walking in and out of Cox Hall ... a few were busy endorsing Emory Crew on the sidewalks with colorful chalk, and others were taking advantage of a beautiful day by studying on the Quad.

I took my little tour of campus into the Robert W. Woodruff Library, bought myself an iced coffee from Jazzman's Cafe, and headed straight to the little desk I studied at during finals. I noticed improvements all over the library: newer computers, expanded seating area, interactive walls where students could write notes, and so much more.

I left the library to go explore some more. While walking around, the only thing that came to my mind was how gorgeous our campus is. The new infrastructure was just breathtaking—the brand new Psychology Building at the bottom of the hill at the corner of Dowman and Dickey Drives all the way up to the new freshman dorms adjacent to Eagle Row. Emory students are lucky: they get to experience the beauty of our campus while taking advantage of the state-of-the-art facilities.

I'm proud to be an Emory alumna and was so thrilled to be back on the campus that provided me with an excellent education and memories that I will cherish for life.

--Monica Samanta 07C, Arlington, VA

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Photo of the Day: Jones Room balcony

The Robert W. Woodruff Library's Jones Room, which the EAA recently visited for a discussion of the Alice Walker exhibit, comes complete with a balcony that overlooks the heart of Emory's campus. This secluded hangout is a popular lunch spot among Emory employees (and a handy procrastination station for undergraduates, when it's open).

Photo by Cassandra Young 07C

Friday, July 24, 2009

Rummaging through other people's things: on Alice Walker

“People are known by the records they keep. If it isn’t in the records it will be said it didn’t happen. That is what history is: a keeping of records.”

Rudolph Byrd, the director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute and the curator of the Alice Walker exhibit at Emory, began his remarks by reminding us of this quotation from Walker—a quotation that was found scribbled on a piece of scrap paper in her basement and which inspired the exhibit’s title, “A Keeping of Records.”

Byrd, who is also a professor of African-American studies at Emory, was speaking to 27 members of “4EU” (Emory-Educated, Emory-Employed), who visited the Schatten Gallery in Woodruff Library this past Thursday, July 23, for a guided tour of the Walker exhibit (and a delicious lunch from Alon’s!). A personal friend of Walker’s, Byrd called her archive a “national treasure” and drew upon the idea of a palimpsest—evocative of layering, complexity, the passage of time—as descriptive of the gallery.

As an English major myself, I was thrilled to be spending part of a workday learning about the

behind-the-scenes work that went into assembling the archive of one of the most important figures in contemporary American literature. Elizabeth Russey, manuscript processing archivist and director of the gallery, told fascinating anecdotes about her experience working on the project, which she called “probably the greatest privilege of my life thus far.”

Russey flew out to Walker’s home in Berkeley, CA to pack and ship 125 boxes of papers and other personal belongings to Emory in December 2007.

“Let me tell you something,” she said, “it’s a bit of an odd experience. You are invading their space. It’s their stuff. And you start rummaging through their things.”

One of the first things Russey found in the house was a letter to Walker from Gloria Steinem, written on an airplane after Steinem read a draft of The Color Purple: “It reads, ‘I just finished reading The Color Purple. Alice, it is wonderful. I mean, full of wonder. You wrote the people

straight off the page. I believe you are a medium, but only a complicated, magical medium, bringing forth complicated, magical people.’ So this—literally, I’m not making this up!—this is one of the first things that I saw.”

Items on display include everything from a wedding card from Langston Hughes to the quilt that Walker made while she was writing The Color Purple. I spent about half an hour in the gallery and saw only a fraction of the “shrouds of her life,” as Walker calls them—and the gallery is only a fraction of what’s contained in the archive up in the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Books Library (MARBL)! If you’re in the Atlanta area, you can still catch the exhibit through Sept. 27. If not, check out the archive’s site, where you can view some of the more interesting memorabilia from Walker’s life and literary career.

-- Erin Crews 09C 09G, communications intern, EAA

Friday, July 17, 2009

Photo of the Day: View from Woodruff Library

In addition to housing the Manuscript and Rare Books Library (MARBL), the 10th floor of the Robert W. Woodruff Library affords visitors an impressive view of Emory's campus...and the radio towers beyond.