home Events and Exhibits Black History Month – The Missouri Sharecroppers Strike: Black Resistance in Depression Era Exhibit

Black History Month – The Missouri Sharecroppers Strike: Black Resistance in Depression Era Exhibit

On display in Ellis Library colonnade.

In January of 1939 St. Louis Post-Dispatch photojournalist Arthur Witman documented the Missouri Sharecropper’s Strike along Highways 60 and 61 in Southeast Missouri.  The local landowners had been given federal funds by the Depression era Agriculture Adjustment Administration (A.A.A) to leave their farmland fallow, and many of these property holders chose to keep the money for themselves and evict the workers who had farmed their land.  African American labor leader, Rev. Owen Whitfield, organized a strike to protest these evictions, bringing roughly 1500 of the farm workers together in roadside shantytowns that called public attention to their plight. The exhibition of photographs includes images of the strike as well as Witman’s later photos of nearby Cropperville, a village created after the protest where many of the displaced sharecroppers came to live and work communally.

SHSMO Art Curator Joan Stack will present a lecture on the exhibition Feb. 22, 2:30 to 3:30, in Ellis Library.

Exhibition and lecture sponsored by The University of Missouri’s Black History Month Committee, The State Historical Society of Missouri, and MU Libraries

home Events and Exhibits “Picturing Women Inventors” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

“Picturing Women Inventors” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

Picturing Women Inventors is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, and was developed in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and made possible with the support of the Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN Initiative and Ericsson.

This exhibit, which is currently on display in Ellis Library, includes a selection of books about inventions and patents which was drawn from the MU Libraries’ collection. It will be on display until February.

home Events and Exhibits “Provenance: Everywhere in Everything” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

“Provenance: Everywhere in Everything” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

Now on display, “Provenance: Everywhere in Everything” showcases research and creative works completed by students enrolled in the Honors Seminar during Fall 2022, GN_HON 1050H, “Get Real, Go Places! Let Objects Take You There.” The eight-week course takes as its focus the study of material culture, specifically the opportunities for research that objects and artifacts make possible. Students are introduced to the concept of provenance and the practices of interpreting, inspecting, and writing about objects through regular use of a sketchbook journal and weekly syntheses shared with classmates. The course is taught by Dr. Sarah Buchanan of the iSchool at the University of Missouri (in the College of Education and Human Development) and by gallery, library, archive, and museum professionals based on the Mizzou campus who belong to the Material Culture Studies Group, established in 2014.

The expansive idea of provenance was introduced to Honors students as information about an object – its origins, ownership history, and creation contexts. Students’ fact-finding research projects crossed cultures and made innovative use of MU Libraries’ resources to tell, visually and creatively, new stories about cultural public heritage. Our student showcase features 18 art objects created by 12 undergraduate students, each based on the class visit to a particular collection on the Columbia campus. Students created weekly syntheses reflecting on their visit and a culminating analysis of specific objects conducive to continued study.

On display here are tributes to the Francis Quadrangle’s late great pin oak trees in the form of an original piano composition and a full-color garden redesign proposal, collages both of haunted Columbia buildings and a nun’s Book of Hours from ca. 1530, a biography of Armenian-American artist Stephen Sacklarian’s “Reality of Unreality XXIV” painting, digital art about “finding home away from home,” an etymological / theological study of “providence as the fulfillment and completion of provenance,” clay letters and a handmade Processional inspired by an illuminated manuscript, an impression of fiber art shown in “The Things of This World: Works by Sarah Nguyen” in the George Caleb Bingham Gallery, a 3D visualization of chaos depicted in a painting by Bingham, drawings of Greek and Egyptian gods, and visual aids for oil lamps and making papyrus, among other provenance storytellings. For their contributions to the success of the course we gratefully thank: Catherine Armbrust, Jessica Boldt, Chris Daniggelis, Connor Frew for the RISO room, Kelli Hansen, Rachel Harper, Nicole Johnston, Benton Kidd, Andrew Long for Ceramics, Maggie Mayhan, Pete Millier, artist Sarah Nguyen, Candace Sall, Karlan Seville, Joan Stack, and Kenzie Wells and dedicate the exhibit in memory of Chancellor (1978-1987) Barbara Uehling, originator of the Mizzou Botanic Garden.

The course will next be offered in Fall 2023 – join us!

home Events and Exhibits, Special Collections and Archives New Digital Exhibit: Masks, Hells, and Books

New Digital Exhibit: Masks, Hells, and Books

Special Collections has a new digital exhibit: Masks, Hells, and Books: The Nuremberg Schembartlauf (1449-1539), curated by John Henry Adams. The Schembartlauf (literally, “the running of the masked men”) was a traditional Carnival parade held in Nuremberg, Germany. It started as a small honor guard for a troop of dancers but rapidly grew to include giant mechanical parade floats, political commentary, and dozens or hundreds of masked participants. Unfortunately, sometimes the exuberance would also spill over into riots. The most memorable of these riots was probably the one in 1539, when the Schembartlauf was banned, a ban that has yet to be officially revoked.

Masks, Hells, and Books takes the reader through the different aspects of the Schembartlauf: the origins of the parade, the costumes of the runners, the parade floats, the 1539 disaster that resulted in the Schembart’s ban, and the manuscripts that have preserved the memory of this strange festivity. We hope that it inspires you to think about some of our own traditions and how strange they might seem after several centuries of inactivity, though we would like to ask that you not follow the example set by the Schembart in 1507 and 1539. No riots, please!

The exhibit is made possible by the generosity of a private collector who has loaned three medieval manuscripts to Special Collections.

John Henry Adams

John Henry Adams is a librarian in the Special Collections and Rare Books department. He provides instruction and reference for the history of the book in general, but especially for medieval manuscripts, early European printing, the history of cartography, and English and German literature.

home Events and Exhibits Families Welcome at Ellis Library After Homecoming Parade

Families Welcome at Ellis Library After Homecoming Parade

Visit Ellis Library immediately after the Homecoming Parade on Saturday, October 22, for refreshments and family activities. The first 100 kids will receive a free mini pumpkin. This event is free and open to the public.

home Events and Exhibits The Books of 1922 Exhibit

The Books of 1922 Exhibit

“The Books of 1922” celebrates the centennial of some notable works, including James Joyce’s Ulysses, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, Claude McKay’s Harlem Shadows and other books that became 20th-century standouts. The exhibit displays first edition covers and rare illustrations of Ulysses by Matisse, exploring the evolution of texts from manuscripts to beloved library copies bearing annotations by generations of students. This exhibit was created by the team of Associate Professor Frances Dickey and English major Claire Dooley.

home Ellis Library, Events and Exhibits Lisa Bartlett on Display in Bookmark Cafe

Lisa Bartlett on Display in Bookmark Cafe

Artwork from local artist Lisa Bartlett is currently on display in Ellis Library in the Bookmark Cafe. You can see Bartlett’s work throughout the fall semester. See Bartlett’s artist statement below.

“Being of a restless, creative nature, I generally have multiple projects going on at once. I bounce between media, and I love to experiment.

I am interested in those who have suffered and yet persevered. I like to honor cultures that have been marginalized. I do this by showing the joy and vibrancy of peoples through color and vibrant brush strokes.

Sometimes I like to paint on very large canvases and include collage and gold leaf in the composition. I also enjoy working in three dimensions using such found objects as old clock cases, broken ceramics, and Victorian hardware. My work often tells a story, since I’m fascinated by human nature and by what history has to teach us. Old photographs, old letters, and other memorabilia are major sources of inspiration.

I’m always looking for new ideas, new construction techniques, and new projects to get excited about. Anything that involves experimentation, anything complicated, and finally just the act of creation itself—that’s what I love.”

home Events and Exhibits MU Faculty Books on Display in Ellis Library

MU Faculty Books on Display in Ellis Library

Want to see the results of MU faculty research? Visit the Ellis Library colonnade to see some of the latest books published by our faculty. The exhibit will be on display all summer.

home Events and Exhibits, Journalism Library Finals Fun at the Journalism Library

Finals Fun at the Journalism Library

It’s been a hectic semester and now finals are upon us.  It’s enough to stress anyone out! The folks at the Journalism Library want to make your week a little better.

There will be a trail mix bar Tuesday May 10th, 10am-12pm. 

We hope this gives you the chance to take a break and give you much needed energy. Good luck, Tigers!

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.

home Events and Exhibits Congratulations to the 2022 Undergraduate Research Contest Award Winners

Congratulations to the 2022 Undergraduate Research Contest Award Winners

The University Libraries Undergraduate Research Contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by undergraduate students at the University of Missouri.

Kathryn Colvin

This year the winner of the first place prize of a $500 scholarship is Kathryn Colvin, a junior studying English. Her project, “Hamlet and His Solution: ‘How All Occasions’ as Objective Correlative on Page and Screen,” was written for Dr. Kerwin’s Renaissance and 17th Century Literature course. When Dr. Kerwin was notified about Kathryn winning first place they said, “This is great news, and thank you for letting me know! That Kathryn is a very strong student. Normally I wouldn’t be in favor of shipping Missouri money to California, but this is good.”

Zoe Korte

The second place winner and recipient of a $250 scholarship is Zoe Korte, a senior studying English. Her project, “Love Laws: Trauma and Transgression in Morrison and Roy,” was written for Dr. Okonkwo’s Major Authors: Toni Morrison After Jazz course. Dr. Okonkwo said, “What great news! I won’t say that I’m surprised. Zoe is an outstanding student. I’ll be bragging that I know her; that I had the good fortune of having her in my Morrison class. BIG congratulations, Zoe. Well done.”

Kathyn and Zoe’s paper’s will be archived in MOspace, MU’s digital repository. You can see their projects, as well as past winner’s projects, here.

Special thanks to the Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries for their support of this award.

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Taira Meadowcroft

Taira Meadowcroft is the Public Health and Community Engagement Librarian at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Missouri.