CURRENT EXHIBITS:
Nancy Marshall (Rotunda) Gallery and Special Collections Research Center on the first floor
September 18, 2009-February 7, 2010
A proposal to build a gymnasium on the second floor of the Wren Building? A swimming pool in the basement of the women’s dormitory? Basketball at William & Mary Hall without heat? Stadium expansion controversy? This and much more are to be found in Swem Library’s exhibit “Healthful and Recreative: Fields for Fitness, Courts for Competition, and Arenas for Athletics, 1900-1970.” Concentrating on the buildings and fields opened from 1900 to 1970, the exhibit uses documents, images, and memorabilia from Swem’s Special Collections Research Center to explore how the growth of athletic facilities was key to expanding infrastructure, attracting students, and maintaining alumni interest as the College of William and Mary grew from an all-male college of 200 students to a university of over 5,000 full-time students.
Images of the installed exhibit cases are available from the SCRC on Flickr. Digital companions to the exhibit will be available online via iTunes U and the W@M Digital Archive and on Swem Library's iPods. They include: the song "Ode to Cary Field" written to protest the proposed stadium expansion of 1979-1981; an audio recording from the victory rally after William & Mary defeated the Navy football team in 1967; "College Athletics as Big Business--Where to Now?" from the program Williamsburg Weekly in Spring 1981; the WMBG radio program Information Point: The College Athletic Study in 1974; and more to be added. A timeline following the buildings and fields featured in the exhibit is also available. Finally, the SCRC Wiki provides a great deal of information about campus buildings.
The cases in the Nancy Marshall (Rotunda) Gallery explore current and past athletic buildings on campus from William & Mary’s first gymnasium built in 1900 through William & Mary Hall, which hosted its first basketball game in December 1970. One section relates the story of William & Mary’s first gymnasium at one time proposed for the second floor of the Wren Building. Correspondence between College President Lyon G. Tyler and a member of the Board of Visitors in favor of the plan displays Tyler’s skepticism. Another section highlights the history of Blow Gym from W.A.R. Goodwin’s 1920s fundraising ledger through expansion and improvements until it was renovated into a classroom and administrative building in the 1990s. Another section features the first athletic facilities built specifically for women including a blueprint of Jefferson Hall and games in action on the Barksdale Athletic Fields. The gallery is rounded out with a look at the multiple users of Adair and William & Mary Halls with photographs, tickets, and other material from Adair’s dedication, the first frigid basketball game in William & Mary Hall, and other events.
The exhibit continues in the adjoining Special Collections Research Center with sections about Cary Field and early tennis courts. Notable is the display of a baseball uniform from a member of the class of 1933. One case highlights the early years of Cary Field, which was named in 1909 by the Board of Visitors after several gifts for improving the field by T. Archibald Cary. Despite use by teams for games and practices, the field continued to hold agricultural interest as illustrated through a 1913 letter from a Williamsburg resident requesting access to the field for his cow. Visitors can follow the expansion of Cary Field and stadium construction during the Great Depression, 1980 stadium expansion controversy, the variety of athletic teams formerly based at Cary Field, and the dedication of Zable Stadium through photographs, brochures, tickets, and other material. Another section follows the construction, expansion, and irregular movement of early tennis courts across campus and features a William & Mary student’s tennis racquet. The exhibit concludes with enlarged aerial photographs of campus from the 1920s to the present showcasing the changing footprint of athletic fields and buildings across campus.
“Healthful and Recreative: Fields for Fitness, Courts for Competition, and Arenas for Athletics, 1900-1970” is on display in the Nancy Marshall Gallery and the Special Collections Research Center, located on the first floor of Swem Library. The exhibit will be open through February 7, 2010. The Nancy Marshall Gallery is open whenever Swem Library is open; the Special Collections Research Center is open more limited hours. For details on hours, see the Swem Library and Special Collections Research Center hours.
All material is from the Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library. Curator: Amy Schindler, University Archivist; Exhibit Design and Installation: Chandi Singer, Warren E. Burger Archives Specialist; Installers: Ellen Cloyed, Serials Cataloger, Katie Moore, SCRC student, Lily Rubino, SCRC student; Poster Graphics: Karen McCluney, Swem Graphic Artist; Ticket and Title Graphics: Barbara Gaut, SCRC Volunteer.
Two flat cases in the Read & Relax area on the first floor
November 2009-January 2010
Most people today know Moore’s enchanting tale of the mysterious Christmas Eve visitor, St. Nicholas. Moore, a noted theologian and biblical scholar, wrote this classic more than 180 years ago. Nancy H. Marshall started collecting Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, The Night Before Christmas, over 45 years ago. At first, she bought inexpensive editions to put in her children’s stockings and decorate her home during the Christmas holiday. As time passed, her collection became more comprehensive. She began to take every opportunity to acquire both the rare and scarce early editions and the more contemporary twentieth-century editions. While in retirement, she continues collecting today. As the number of books and other The Night Before Christmas-related items approached one thousand, Marshall realized that it was perhaps one of the largest collections held in private hands. She began to think about its final disposition. Having spent more than a decade as the Dean of University Libraries at the College of William and Mary, she decided to give it to Swem. In 2005, Marshall donated her collection to the Special Collections Research Center in the Swem Library. Today, students, scholars, and visitors young and old enjoy the many treasures of the Nancy H. Marshall A Visit from St. Nicholas Collection. A tradition started in 2005, the Marshall Collection is exhibited before fall finals begin and end after the holiday season and classes resume.
Curator: Carol Frieden, Borrowing Assistant; Exhibit design and installation: Carol Frieden, Borrowing Assistant, Irene Papmaechel, Circulation Assistant, Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.
Swem Library Front Door, First Floor
August-November 2009
It was closer to 2 p.m. than midnight and something not remotely evil was lurking in the Sunken Garden, which was not remotely dark. Students, faculty, and staff of the College of William and Mary gathered to dance on the afternoon of April 19, 2009. Orchestrated by Senior Class President Kevin Dua, the dancers hoped to break the world record for the largest dance of the Michael Jackson hit Thriller. As the first words of Thriller, “It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark,” boomed out of the speakers, some 242 William and Mary people began dancing. After reviewing film of the event, officials from the Guinness Book of World Records notified Dua in May 2009 that all participants complied with the rules and counted in the attempt, so the College officially broke the previous record of 147. With the untimely death of Michael Jackson (1958-2009) in June 2009, the College’s attempt at the record was the last one while Jackson was still alive.
Items featured in the exhibit include clippings of the event from USA Today and The Scotsman, a newspaper in Edinburgh, Scotland; a black hat Dua wore during the event; photos from the record breaking attempt; and the certificate for the record from Guinness World Records. Images from the installed exhibit cases are available from the SCRC's Flickr page.
Curator: Steve Bookman, University Archives Specialist; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.
Flat case near Brown Board Room and Library Administration on the third floor
March 2009-2010
This exhibit marks the centennial of Tucker Hall opening to the public. In May 1909, the College of William and Mary's new library, the building we know today as Tucker Hall, was dedicated. The exhibit explores the history of Tucker Hall from its beginning to today. The exhibit includes photographs, correspondence, programs, and other material from the Special Collections Research Center. An image of the installed exhibit is available at the SCRC's Flickr page.
Curator: Steve Bookman, University Archives Specialist; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.
Third Floor (Rotunda) Gallery
June 2009-
The earliest poster for an athletic event in the Special Collections Research Center, on display in this exhibit, is for the football team from 1926. Records about sports and athletic teams at the university from earlier and to the present in a variety of other formats are also available in the collection. Posters such as these are not only visually interesting and trace printing and advertising in the 20th century, but may also serve as rich sources of information about students and university life as well as other College of William and Mary, local, and world events. The posters on display come from among the over 1,700 in the University Archives Poster Collection.The Special Collections Research Center actively collects material in a variety of formats from students and university departments. We encourage students and organizations to consider donating material to ensure that future students and researchers have access to these rich sources of information about life at William and Mary. Visit or contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information. Images of the posters in this exhibit are available from the department's Flickr page.
Curator: Amy Schindler, University Archivist; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.
Bright Gallery, Second Floor (Rotunda Gallery)
The third of a series of library exhibits of W&M faculty publications opened in Swem Library in the fall of 2008. The exhibit features publications from faculty in the College of William and Mary's Department of Geology. The exhibit is located in the Bright Gallery in the second floor rotunda of the east wing of the library. Visitors will be impressed by the many hours of research and scholarship represented.
Curators: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant, and Linda Morse, Department of Geology; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.
Special Collections Research Center
The SCRC is home to the papers of the late Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. While the collection will not be open to researchers for many years, the SCRC does have an exhibit re-creating the atmosphere of his office. Many objects actually used by Burger are on display in the Burger Office on the first floor of the SCRC. For more information and photographs, please see the Warren E. Burger Online Exhibit.
Special Collections Research Center
The SCRC cares for and displays the College of William and Mary regalia when it is not in use for official university functions including Opening Convocation, Charter Day, and Commencement. The exhibit features the College Mace, Marischal Mace, President's Medallion, Badge and Chain of Office of the Rector of the Board of Visitors, and the Badge and Chain of Office of the Chancellor. For more information, please see more information about each piece at the SCRC Wiki.
