2 3
CONTENTS
6 9 11
Staff Comings . . . and Goings by Jennifer Meehan MARBL News by Randall Burkett, Aaron Goldsman, Erica Farr, Althea Tait, and Pellom McDaniels III
“They Call Me Flannery Here” by Rosemary M. Magee and Sarah Harsh Bobby Jones: The Game of Life by Randy Gue and Kristin Morgan Seeking the Travel Cure in MARBL by Mary Frederickson
13 14
Currey Seminar Affords Undergraduate Archival Research Opportunities by Darren Miller Calendar of Exhibitions
letter from the director In early 1944, Flannery O’Connor, then a student, noted in her daily journal, “Today I am devoted to realism. I will become a realist. I will take note of the things around me—accurately.” Years later she would see herself as a “realist of distances,” a novelist who examines closely what seems far away while observing familiar terrain with an
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altered perspective.
Christeene Alcosiba Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University Atlanta, Georgia 30322 christeene.alcosiba@emory.edu For more information, go to marbl.library.emory.edu.
hours
magazine makes clear, both Bobby Jones and Flannery O’Connor, fellow Georgians,
Spring semester: Monday–Saturday: 9:00 am–5:00 pm
struggled to pursue a kind of perfection in their craft while facing grave challenges.
For exceptions, marbl.library.emory.edu/using/hours.html
Persistence prevailed.
credits Editor: Holly Crenshaw Art Director: Stanis Kodman Photography: Emory Photo/Video, Melanie Dunea Scans: MARBL
Archives, too, have this quality of radical realism.
Thanks to special collections, we obtain a firsthand look at events and ideas that may have occurred many years ago in distant places. Moreover, what we thought we knew because of proximity takes on a new kind of reality due to context.
We also reconsider the lives of extraordinary individuals. As this issue of MARBL
Elsewhere in this issue we notice a similar drive among those who collect archival
materials: Tom Wirth, whose materials span the range of African American art and literature; and Raymond Danowski, whose vast collection has inspired a reading series that brings eminent poets to the Emory campus. Others are dedicated to extending our teaching and research missions—as demonstrated by the recent seminar on black aesthetics, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an undergrad-
Front cover:
uate course on the “travel cure.”
Flannery O’Connor’s “Higher Mathematics I” journal.
MARBL enjoys many such partnerships. We are fully engaged in collaborations
Back cover: Photograph of Flannery O’Connor and one of her letters to literary critic and editor John Crowe Ransom. All materials from the Flannery O’Connor Collection in MARBL.
with the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. We receive, as well, strong support from members of the broader community. Most recently the family of Brad Currey, former chair of Emory’s Board of Trustees, made a generous gift honoring his devotion to a university committed to courageous inquiry and primary evidence.
Literary copyright held by Mary Flannery O’Connor Charitable Trust
Here in MARBL—through our staff, collections, and programs—we sustain the
and used in accordance with the deed.
broader vision of the Woodruff Library in the daily interplay between dreams and reality, both nearby and faraway. This kind of profound encounter is our collective calling. Rosemary M. Magee
STAFF COMINGS . . .
STAFF HONORS . . .
Maggie Baynham, a fellow in Emory’s
Pellom McDaniels will receive the
Business
(BPI)
NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in
Fellows Program, joined MARBL as busi-
Practice
Improvement
2015 for his collegiate and profes-
ness operations manager in September. In
sional achievements as a scholar
this role and as part of her practicum, she
and professor and as faculty cura-
is assisting with the implementation of new
tor of African American Collections.
procedures for collection receiving and
According to the NCAA, “the Silver
acquisition, and is responsible for coordinating all aspects
Anniversary
of MARBL’s collection acquisitions process. Maggie is
distinguished individuals on the
a graduate of Emory, where she majored in environmental stud-
25th anniversary of the conclusion
ies and comparative literature. As a student, she was involved
of their college athletics careers.
with the Office of Sustainability Initiatives. Prior to joining BPI,
Representatives of NCAA member schools and conferences,
she worked on the communications team at Southface, a local
along with a panel of distinguished former student-athletes,
sustainability-focused nonprofit, and served as the sustain-
select each year’s recipients.”
Award
recognizes
ability specialist for Julie Bee’s shoe company. Kevin Young has been named the Charles Howard Candler Carrie Hintz joined MARBL as the new head of Collection
Professor of Creative Writing and English. The Charles
Services in February. In this role, Carrie leads MARBL’s pro-
Howard Candler professorships honor senior scholars who
cessing and cataloging teams, and
have shown outstanding teaching ability and productive
manages operations and programs
scholarship in one or more fields of learning, and who have
for preserving, describing, and pro-
further distinguished themselves through long and substan-
viding access to MARBL’s rare and
tial service to the university
unique materials. Carrie comes
and in furthering the cause
to MARBL from the Rare Book and
of higher education. This
Manuscript Library at Columbia
honor recognizes Kevin’s
University, where she served as
stellar
head of archives processing since
a poet and professor as
2011 and was responsible for lead-
well
achievements as
his
as
significant
ing the development of the unit and overseeing a team of
contributions to scholar-
six professional staff members and all aspects of collection
ship, teaching, and service
management for archival and manuscript collections. Prior
through his work in MARBL
to this, she worked as an archivist in the library and previ-
as curator of the Raymond
ously held assistant positions at the Bentley Historical Library
Danowksi Poetry Library
and Clements Library at University of Michigan. Carrie holds
and of Literary Collections.
a BA in English literature from Kalamazoo College, an MS in information, archives, and records management from the University of Michigan, and an MA in American studies from Columbia. We are very pleased to have Carrie on board to help lead the MARBL collection services unit into a new era.
. . . AND TRANSITIONS After more than 17 years of service as curator, Randall
Courtney Chartier completed her term of service as presi-
Burkett has transitioned to a new role as research cura-
dent of the Society of Georgia Archivists in 2014, and Sarah
tor and will focus on promoting research and scholarship in
Quigley started her term as the new president in 2015.
MARBL’s African American collections. Beginning in January, Pellom McDaniels has assumed the role of curator of African American Collections with primary responsibility for continuing to develop and promote MARBL’s holdings related to African American history and culture.
MARBL spring 2015 page 2
—Jennifer Meehan, MARBL Associate Director
M A R B Lnews Wirth Library Includes Special Concentration on Langston Hughes The Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library has acquired the library of the late Thomas H. Wirth. Wirth was a friend and collaborator with colleagues at Emory, and in the past he loaned many of his rarest items for exhibition in MARBL. His unexpected death in October 2014 came just a few weeks after the bulk of his collection had been transferred to the university. The Wirth library contains several thousand items focusing on 20th-century African American literature, art, and photographica. It encompasses first editions of nearly all fiction by African American authors from 1900 to about 1970, many in the dust jacket, with a special concentration on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. The Langston Hughes material includes not only first editions of all his books, many signed or inscribed, but also manuscripts of unpublished work, sheet music for which Hughes wrote the lyrics, audio recordings, theater programs, correspondence, and a collection of nearly 400 periodicals containing contributions from Hughes (usually the first appearances of this material in print). Especially important items are the yearbooks of Cleveland Central High School from Hughes’s sophomore, junior, and senior
photographic portraits of African Americans and
years there. These contain many photographs of Hughes and autographs of him and his
others by Carl Van Vechten.
friends as well as copies of The Monthly, Central’s literary magazine, in which Hughes’s
At the time of his death, Wirth was editor of the
earliest published writings appeared. A Hughes drawing appears on the cover of one
Countee Cullen Correspondence Online Project of
issue of The Monthly. The only known extant copy of that issue is part of the collection.
the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, a proj-
Also present is the scrapbook of one of Hughes’s Lincoln University fraternity brothers,
ect of profound importance to scholars of the Harlem
which contains a handwritten Hughes poem and other Hughes material.
Renaissance of the 1920s. He was a meticulous and
Aaron Douglas was among the foremost book artists of his time. He designed the
generous scholar who was immensely knowledge-
dust jackets for many Harlem Renaissance and other authors, and the Wirth library holds
able about the black experience in America.
an unparalled collection of Douglas dust jackets and other of his graphic works.
—Randall K. Burkett, MARBL research curator of
Wirth also collected photographic literature by African American photographers
African American collections
and books featuring images of black people. The collection features many original
Collaborations: MARBL and Digital Scholarship Since it launched in 2013, Emory’s Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) has been an active and engaging part-
studied 20th-century literature. While researching her disserta-
ner with MARBL as we continue to develop new services, tools,
of Writing and Activism, she worked with several MARBL col-
and collections. With shared objectives focused on teaching,
lections and comes to Emory already well versed in some of
scholarship, and preservation, ECDS and MARBL have worked
MARBL’s key collecting areas.
tion, Archives of Transnational Modernism: Tracing Networks
together to leverage MARBL’s rich collections of rare and unique
Collaborative initiatives among MARBL, ECDS, and other
materials with the technological and scholarly expertise of
library units already have produced significant scholarly
ECDS. Collaborations in the past year include initiatives such as
projects, including the recent release of a project involving
fellowships, digital projects, and tool development.
MARBL collections and the Emory Finding Aids database. This
This past August, MARBL and ECDS welcomed our
winter, ECDS released Belfast Group Poetry|Networks
first shared Council on Library and Information Resources
(belfastgroup.digitalscholarship.emory.edu), which investi-
Postdoctoral Fellow, Anne Donlon. We designed this fellow-
gates how enhanced library data—from finding aids to elec-
ship to explore natural connections and potential collabora-
tronic text collections—can be put to scholarly uses beyond
tions between MARBL and ECDS, with the intention that the
simply locating materials in our collections. Using the Belfast
Fellow would lead projects that engage MARBL’s collections
Group poets, including Seamus Heaney and Frank Ormsby,
with the emerging technologies found in ECDS. Donlon’s aca-
among others, as a test case, project leads Rebecca Sutton
demic background and digital humanities interests have made
Koeser, senior software engineer, and Brian Croxall, digital
for a strong start to her fellowship work. She recently received
humanities strategist, have developed visualizations for under-
her doctorate from the Graduate Center at CUNY, where she
standing the various relationships among the authors. page 3 spring 2015 MARBL
in Glenavy and DeerTh Park,
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LLV ad ohse a e|nBELFAST, a reCAMPOSE shn AALVARO A DE A he t tr ypdy s LLLV r u i t 1922 ea goafs n VVAAAROi leD a g hat nu g h e n o c k l e n n t d e thaio W ereCaA R ROhi le gE r m t a k h D e e hW il oPfesOsLSEa rd tr nyn l rechooiwlk nd nousfMtth at W teEhChe igantry hOW i lhWhile hWW Da tgreat iv au oc o |n l ad h a e co at ht t e ialeilae a tge E i t a L wsh nAtuMePmsthainpdy se BduEru icts a rla re a r re n to Chat g rth h th n a head nn oieof atg rthe the a ncto eat sLough oen csF at a fO kAi S Tast, 192 sneto e h eadt n te i nn heea hee nAct ga H2e go i ng y SEa rd m o du t tr t dti aadt ea aam uco y | . N n ncok nlegn h t h ctiogoafuMth goan co estand . aPrafOm teoa eisnnucontinues h a e to L ip sentry B fnt h tneto in eonf u es ic n y sh w S oug haomdEuLnFo i l lmr ic hoohir rs m fasmteotam tc o s to tof of s ea haesteto t un raaest a caulk shipyard men e Lan E nrush A Sa ito h i fasstteam nd C a d m he if it sw f Lt a y ou d se| n.sN u cskwin a ha of sh p d t tr r ip u . r . t s n ya d ya nipdy oun d n cok clgnTat,so1n9 a rla re rdgehaomBadEu y e of om non Neoa m ea i l t s i ve a r 2H sa r g se m en L fo le h f n o s n N r n h d . g m o o e l re 2 i F ru t h e N a n cla fod h a t cku dau .se ry un il lom ntdse ae m m Ash th m a ndw icn bu ngga nt . T No dunnock in a choir n n oam N da .seam. S rito d f ri h k a tc d ks w s o & c e t m n h c a o n o u o s i o f u i s o ndur y n n n m wonfod lk n r uo oon o u t i clafT itcalsw ti i al no r u n i n Wo i l l c koucsn sin nn nna h r cl f wla ngcla of odunnocks ming a, 1soo9nf rla ndlf f atcohf g i nd h torelent os f douckwill ri im re kwi ni l ckcskw ao ch a n a p lf f e d 2H due d t hni d afr m e le n ihnilt l re sio claf rim o.C r caaonir i claial r claiming 2 a gore it o ch oon aoocmlenas its w d b a i r is b m e fr h ic hthe t s nlegn afrom i lt a i gti r i f tm n i n t h a nd on rs, l uown ab ill caho dtoonf w l k laon t s itchinlegnas rr r Hfw y n e u o & ui a buW a pgas riave on w suolniw a r hwicd s ooi tonit ce ha ng if t W r la te lo ng b to ard l he d fo ad h i n s.t h land Harlandf f is & htin ll f which do k n th la nht of i n non t . lCf f y r c no H hwric ho n l ri t ra ea e a e n i f l i at T e d w i f go of e s t hHarla n d re ly agni gpsa i atcis&bu nd he a rla ilot. C i r o gnidt l hait . W lo s h wat h t e W d t r sp bu g n gh d. o i m d l o d h a a g lt B e s i l n’ t & is lf n d s l o f i o n a wei n i nbta n ofin chkit aktsfe ren re reolfCatching tiong . Cfa is& buWolff h i ke n t anpgasrivet le W is built. o c ve a l o g l il ng ft ei h an ’tnnaosn t & to l m c t. w r o u d n ri p f f a e g h C a a t e a u s r i n l ow at n w a sai r ch i n b ita rda r i nan ly u n in d e d i h r i f ftec ch in pa ir o i no toan n e . T lyif g itd r iv ofin ag a ri nc m no d itdinto rd pair ofin tongs g gs etsh er d t ch cdliu i nbtane t ha ch it s dfoor du e he m vet inagn l hait . The t in g a r iv , o g fdoor i lva n se onee t o re l k k , ve ic he etshn ba n g an nn ld a r s. e it in duweilnldh ar a r and banging a riftm ein le to at a nitdintord d i k s of asdi e’td a ow efasd ui n av r s, re a uonr ia en Pa r it . d lyi f t ly w Th d l oc n ri ft l e n e s pp f f Bw i lv a a l l t s ho eictah ersah.t he Th m ha endhardly oit be r in er ect nedr ashlow i n o u i ke k s e dwill m r n su w il l it. The dun in dunnock it . T mend ne’t da sh e s a ergr d s Bwat h enf ni t fe s e G g h ly a re h t ofen ahui nse tihn it dfoores i u e u e d , k th t at e du n r ni r le t hnu’tn t tetnf ckh ly to ’v D r o c ro s h roefn a in n do e nal t n th o a r -F s s ve d thhroic l ow fo y h h e y e a n t d h lo g d h u a o e y e w t n l d lv ’tnanll si la n se cne cdlu v y e y o on na nhoig eled. he dnrdi l i f ftc for thdu n allow forethe haevee c icaktsf ofasi th e d ock s hefad e a ner a schk doesn’t ip -i abel n e o sn dash n o k o e e u in t d a it r o a n ’ve u n rducne o v e d i d a c So a n u n as s, d ilfuft Bw i lu in c l nc tit cah in ave it h i se t h r it s hof a rk h n t y s h ow a c r heau easilver d be a nem nh io echr ec on lver du m u t h ch d an inhkits head er n ch o Bwe nfahthers, gc D en d a rsr pe we ere ic k sfeathers. of si and throat at e d ugow av d th oeftnen ey ped os er ee Ten d al ir hkl s a t f rs. one icakt sfew in s s ntet ro se c h n pl n ra n on v re re k l f re a h at k e a h , a c l a r B u Because chicks one clutch fe t e ho -u e o e d fe ri tit h rl , ok n eely y t re hav echau h e at Bwithin ere d lu sh f if fe e d if o p tc herin one id l r e er he nof ks rr i nPa uog d. t er at rlk goito eTn l o av e w B G s. s o re c o , d cl r a h h r t h , St a , n u b G g n . n o k , hnt h t fashave P tc h h ly te often different to i n s t a a r r i py oit le nca rese sta ua m e th d eh ofte fathers, na to ey ’v ourni ducn er s, n nh ig ely . y ’ve eer i n e q i d ow a r ock s nuce ig vy d e arl em n ny duen o ss. p, , q a n r u it D i k ed e at od h ly ar e u a , s w -i t h d m a nr i l be an em t hne u ple e w m d al rk h t hto adnridll s a re le g d W h te at once d lD en d alirke l r e t n-Fe du e k n y a rt hd nu r d-up i n u n re a n uogw nock territorial a h is ev r v ha u nnac e r it dunnocks h ig h are at once st ee Thkonu edly. to rgo La t v du n highly ourn re to go eenhkon ogwh th ipy -i nt h-Fa spse, s old ly te rP er S ele n rtn rehe h i mb f f a na ia m he m le rr kely r eu a b T sh eo n ey le it s li e in e l o u ar likely to go unremarked. l e n r , h o l w ab G ’v ri ke k ng be a n d rk le, n av to d ’ve beeand al ow a nd d. t nc pse, s sss.e o o l d sh y r La g o eaceer vSeo ceye re ass they r rp n kn er PnaG uf e y anr i l ipy of g d d t h heye d n he le ow nthey’ve been d lDee Though d De i oug h to adrill B ho pupp, s Basrs f a ru e ar nlunna f a d i n p. Thknown to d ri , sw eret h rp y n nc re noof ld le t a dm r Par W m t ple i n , id , oew k, pnei i n o en m lenav in Glenavy andllDeer Park, ac-ith deun aose. st a id l rev h i , he pn n e deunnach eq rdem in G s r ra plee tepig ua s wer eth a -F t hess p, ei n lu re er ed ipy at h n ua lr sh het h sk yi ne t v blanu rth n n d sh S n -F u rn -u le, q e t a ip e e g e o e n p o e l e ya d le p i l be t a rsk i n ayr w ve So d rd c here a rrpeaceable s o les ss, sse ow-i t h ss h re up pe, su d i n o m , p t at hr t t t them dunchered shipyard men en s du nare no less an ed . f Bar le i B ro u l e S n u e f ar or hel iyn f a L ist le e l e th o ce su-u rv e no ppp, st ai pew they ac-i n-F es dr ho a ose o a ite b st l le , swe S l i d le g h y ss those ce it t rend a mb a nd , old in swerethan a u rn n peaceth a n th e es s. of Barrow-in-Furness. , st a id le be a Wh eg th in or le wh veble veret h eq ab -up, t re g e u y l d d r le ss al a e a supple, p , n u r u th reve Souped-up, r a m of f supp staid, swerveless, N m p of f U S ou p m elen re in eq a le enu na a L il n LM . , p i , n ce ld W p en lu OO o le of d i n g they hold in equal reverence n h it p nay w ey h he the p ig h LD in th U . t is e tl a nd S sk in of r e an LD sk y sern mp d a MU istle b ta m , ig e r th e h O th e l w i nese L am beg p n r eli n e t ra ey g d ru pe Stat h UL O il e n ny d thelepenny whistle and the plenilunar l n r u ru o e mbe d n r a li N m ar PA the p , a La Wh it b a l it t tt le tr ing off a off a in of Wh it pigskin of a Lambeg drum, amp or e St ar . d ing pigsk y sen li ner be they sending off a White Star eliner . be th le tr a mp or a little tramp. a litt PA U
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The Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series: Celebrating 10 Years of Poetry at Emory University BEL E|
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d gantry a gre n rus d of ile me hea to stan d to caulk choir Wh yar es a the e at k in gor nt the choir con m noc dun l rele ow n a tea d wil gore No t ks the as its lan m.as its own g Har noc of dunnoc a rive a sea min ich k dun ng clai wh of noc a rivet chi on dun Cat from d in lt. is built. lan k rift doesn’t allow forWolff & the dash ofof tongs gs a a rift bui in dunnoc dun of silver in its head and throat feathers. s. a pair it into lff is dunton Because chicksin within one clutch into The it. The of her bangingmend often have different it. r Wo andfathers, g it feat nd . pai gin h hardly & willhighly territorial a dash dunnocks are at once feathers me oat das in for thebanthroat and likely to go unremarked. thr clutch dlyclutch the Though they’ve been known toallow drill and and head one for d and one , l har in Glenavy and Deerdoesn’t Park, in its within w ial of silver chicks wil t fathers, ers hea hin allo the dunchered shipyard men are no less peaceable itor its al wit fath differen Because than those of Barrow-in-Furness. sn’t territori have terr in cks nt Souped-up, staid, swerveless, oftensupple, er doe highly hly ere ll they hold in equal reverence at once silv rked. chi ble ks are unrema diff of auseto drill e hig ed. to dri e go cea known the penny whistle and thedunnoc plenilunar to onc le ark wn hav been likely Bec pigskin of a Lambeg drum, pea em at and Park,n peaceab be they sending off a White Star liner they’ve Deer kno less less unr ofte no are and Though or a little tramp. k, are ks no go been men in Glenavy nocss. ly to r Par n are s. ed shipyard in-Furnesupple, y’ve Dee , duncherof Barrow- dun ss,like the d me nes ple PAULthe MULDOON and swervele and e ugh those y yar Fur , sup than up, staid, reverenc nav ship -in- less Tho ar Souped- in equal Gle row rve hold red plenilun thein they nar and che of Bar swe erence d, whistle drum, liner nilu Star dun se rev Lambeg a White the the penny ple , stai al r of a off n tho -up equ the pigskin sending line tha ped d in m, Sta r be they tramp. e anddru little Sou y hol ite or a istl ON beg a Wh the MULDO ny wh N Lam off PAUL g pen of a OO din LD the skin p. sen y pig L MU the le tram PAU be litt a or
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1922 great While a great Lough a gantry of the sentry at While the head of the Lough headsentry continues at theto stand to stand men rush esmen a team of shipyard rush to caulk
men a seam. rush to caulk No dunnock of dunnocks in a from claimingwill relent choir of land on whichas its own Harland the gore & Wolff is built. in a pair of tongs Catching and a rivet banging will hardly it into a rift mend it. The doesn’t dun in dunnock of silver allow for the Because in its head dash and chicks often within throat feathers. have different one clutch fathers,
dunnocks
a seam. dunnock in a choir team a a No k in of dunnocks will relent from claiming as itsNo owndunnoc the gore relent of land on which Harland a seam. ks will
are at and likely once to go highly Though they’ve unremarked. territorial in Glenavy been known and Deer to drill Park, the dunchered than shipyard those Souped-up, of Barrow-in-Furness. men are no they staid, less hold peaceable in equal swerveless, reverence supple, the penny whistle pigskin be they of a Lambegand the plenilunar sending drum, or a little tramp. off a White Star liner
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PAUL MULDOON
AM ea at t gr PO The Raymond Danowski Poetry Reading ea co he h Library SE t e n a t t i nu a d o g a n t |B ea f EL m e s t o t he r y FAKevin of reading Series began in fall 2005 with a by ST s h s t a n L ou g as , 19 ipy d h e a rd sen 22 of a m . t du No r me y f ro nn d n u Young. The award-winning poetof just ohad beenr unamed curator m c l a c k s n no sh la n
PAUL
MULDOON
l
ck wi to i in ll ca d o min ul ac n w g a s r e le k &W ho h i c i t s nt ir ol f h H ow in f a i a rl n t h a n p a i r s bu a n d e go i lt db of . wi re l l h a n g i t on g C at c hi s a rd ng ng it ly ar do m e i nt o ive e nd ar of sn’t t if it . s a Th t Be i lver l low ed c un o f au s e i n i t s fo r t ten h in h c du h a h ic k e a d e d a s nn ve a h du oc d i f s w i t nd t nn k h h f e i an ren oc n o r oa dl ks t n t fe a ec ik f at Th a re t l h ou e l y h ut er at to in gh c h er s s o , . n g Gl e n t he y o u n c e h av y a ’ve b rem igh l th y ar e nd e t h du n D e e n k ke d t e r r i an no t or . ch er wn So th ere Pa ia l o u rk to , t h ped se o d sh dr ey f i ill ho up, s Ba r r pya r d ld o t a w m i in th e q d , s w -i n - F e n a e ua r pi g p e n l re er ve u r ne e no n le s ve be sk i n y w le s hi ren ss , s s . of th sp s up e t le or aL ce ea p a l y se ce a a le, nd it t nd m b ab le e t le i he t ra ng o g d p r mp u m le n ff a . i , W lu n h it a r eS ta r lin er
of the collection, and his first order of business was to set up a
broadsides printed for the occasion, it occurred to me that the Danowski collection is more than simply a record of the last century of poetry. It is a living,
breathing enterprise just as committed reading series that would serve as a premier venue for contemALVARO DE CAMPOS | BELFAST, 1922 to poetry’s present as it is to its past. porary poetry, bringing some of the most important poets writ-
LM PAU
A little more than three years later, I ing today in the US and around the world to Emory’s campus. As gantry While a great
ULD
at the since head of the amLough lucky enough to work with Young on the record shows, Young achieved his goal. In the 10 years
OON
continues to stand sentry the series, which continues to grow and a team of shipyard men rush to caulk
that first reading, the series has played host to five US poets laureate, a Nobel laureate, an inaugural poet, and winners of
develop as it enters its second decade.
U PA
a seam. in a choir Following a remarkable few years, which every major national honor in poetry from the Pulitzer PrizeNo todunnock of dunnocks will relent saw readings by the likes of Seamus the National Book Award. from claiming as its own the gore Heaney, My own first experience of the series was in October of land2011. on which HarlandSharon Olds, W. S. Merwin, Billy Collins, and Emory’s LM
A newly minted graduate student in Emory’s English U
LD
own Natasha Trethewey, we were excited in February to welcome
O
& WolffThe is built. Carol Catching rivet Britain’s poet laureate, as the first reader of Anna Duffy, Department, I wandered into a reading by D. A. Powell. PA in a pair of tongs UL M our anniversary year. We look forward to another ten years of atmosphere in the roomULwas electric as Powell read DO and poems banging it into a rift ON bringing poetry to nock the Emory community, proving again and from his forthcoming collection, Useless Landscape,will or Ahardly Guidemend it. The dun in dun O
N
for Boys, which would go on to win the National Book Critics
again that this campus, this city, and indeed this country is
doesn’t allow for the dash a place where poetry lives. Circle Award in Poetry the following year. Standing in line at the of silver in its head and throat feathers. Aaron Goldsman, Doctoral Student, Department of English signing after the reading and eyeing the beautiful Because letterpress chicks — within one clutch often have different fathers, dunnocks are at once highly territorial upon the tools and methods developed in the Belfast Group and likely to go unremarked. Though they’ve been known to drillcurator of literary collections and the project. Kevin Young, in Glenavy and Deer Park,
Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, doctoral student Lisa
Chinn, and Brian Croxall have inaugurated Digital Danowski, the dunchered shipyard men are no less peaceable will be a series of digital humanities projects explorthan thosewhich of Barrow-in-Furness. Souped-up,ing staid, supple, theswerveless, library’s extensive holdings. The first project in this they hold in equal reverence series is “Schooling Donald Allen,” which examines the use
“schools” inplenilunar the post-1945 American poetry world by anathe penny of whistle and the pigskin of alyzing Lambeg drum, information about contributors found in the midcenbe they sending off a White Star liner tury literary magazines known as little magazines. In Allen’s or a little tramp. anthology, The New American Poetry (1960), he categorizes PAUL schools. MULDOON poets into particular These categories are still used
In addition to this recent success, staff members in MARBL
to discuss the poetry of that period. The project team will ana-
and ECDS continue to pursue new endeavors and ongoing part-
lyze metadata about the little magazines, editors, poets, and
nerships. Donlon is working with MARBL Research Library Fellow
poems to determine if there are any geographic, stylistic, or
Matthew Strandmark as well as Jay Varner, senior software
social reason for these categories, or if they are arbitrary, and
engineer, and other colleagues to experiment with Open Tour
explore what that tells us about midcentury poetry. Project
Builder, the mobile application developed for the ECDS proj-
partners plan to publish and disseminate findings from this
ect Battle of Atlanta (battleofatlanta.digitalscholarship.emory.
research project by summer of this year.
P r i nted on t he occa sion of t he aut hor ’s read i ng for t he R ay mond Da nowsk i Poet r y L ibra r y Read i ng Ser ies at Emor y Un iver sit y. 22 Febr ua r y 2014. Set in Lustria with Lato for display, and printed in an edition of 150, of which this is no. Bow & A r row P ress | Ha r va rd Un iver sit y
edu/). Donlon and Strandmark have created a curated tour of
With such early successes and promising emerging initia-
Emory’s campus, using artifacts from University Archives, anec-
tives, MARBL and ECDS will continue to pursue innovative
dotes and information from Emory faculty and staff, and other
approaches to making rare and unique collections available
resources, which they plan to release for use by prospective
and to developing dynamic tools that will improve the acces-
students, families, and visitors this spring.
sibility and analysis of primary materials.
Another collaboration involves one of MARBL’s largest collections, the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, and builds
MARBL spring 2015 page 4
— Erika Farr, Head of Digital Archives
M A R B Lnews
Toward a Critical Understanding of Black Aesthetics and African-Centered Cultural Expressions Toward a Critical Understanding of Black Aesthetics and African-Centered Cultural Expressions My role as the curator of African American collections informs the kinds of materials acquired for MARBL, but my work as a historian, visual artist, and scholar provides meaningful interpretations of the collections held within the archives. Rarely have there been opportunities to bring together distinguished
In an era in which much of black culture is
writers, visual artists, playwrights, musicians, and poets to explore the significance
seemingly losing its importance in society,
of our collections related to African American artists and art historians and the future
it is being preserved through MARBL. My first
of such scholarship.
encounter with MARBL proved to be inspira-
In summer 2014, 25 scholars from across the United States were selected
tional, as I found collected material that was
to participate in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)–sponsored
not part of the Library of Congress or some of
Black Aesthetics and African-Centered Cultural Expressions Summer Institute and
the nation’s most prestigious archives housing
Workshop, hosted on the Emory campus. Focused on exploring various questions
African American literary and cultural materi-
related to art produced by people of African descent, the three-week workshop pro-
als. Not only did I find significant research
vided the needed space to discuss, develop, and advance a ‘critical vocabulary’ for
documents, I also discovered materials that
scholars, artists, and laypeople to use in their exploration of the various meanings
reminded me of the reason I do the work
associated with the creative process.
that I do. These collections hold such invalu-
I served as the principal investigator for the NEH grant and co-director of the insti-
able items as written personal notes of black
tute, with the assistance of Candy Tate, assistant director of the Emory College Center
women such as Eppie Mae Ponder, whose
for Creativity & Arts. Our role was to help shape and guide the dialogue among the
narrative surely would have been erased had
scholars, affiliated Emory faculty, and invited community participants from the Atlanta
it not been preserved and housed at MARBL.
area. Presentations by African American Studies core faculty members Dwight Andrews,
Perhaps the greatest treasure I discovered
Michael Harris, Theophus Smith, and Dianne Diakite, and summer institute co-director
in MARBL was the newly acquired collection of
and playwright Paul Carter Harrison challenged the participants to explore several ques-
Mari Evans, a black female poet whose work
tions related to the conceptionalization, execution, and reception of art produced by
has been undervalued. With the recent deaths
people of the African diaspora. In addition to the scheduled presentations and discus-
of Maya Angelou and Amari Baraka, we must
sions, institute participants conducted research in MARBL’s various collections, includ-
have safe spaces to house the works of black
ing those of Alice Walker, Mari Evans, and Camille Billops and James V. Hatch.
writers and cultural scribes such as Evans and
In collaboration with MARBL, the Emory Center for Creativity & Arts, the Department
Ponder, so that their lives and work are main-
of African American Studies, and the Department of Film and Media Studies, the insti-
tained and accessible not only to scholars such
tute also sponsored several public lectures featuring award-winning artists and schol-
as myself but to the general public. Indeed,
ars including photographer Carrie Mae Weems, a MacArthur Prize recipient; Richard
MARBL is not only providing a service but—
J. Powell, professor of art and art history at Duke University; Robert Farris Thompson,
through events such as the Black Aesthetics
professor of African and African American art at Yale University; and Deborah Willis,
and African-Centered Cultural Expressions
professor of photography and imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Summer Institute and Workshop—it is pre-
Not only did these presentations recognize the historical significance of black art as
serving a legacy. —Althea
Tait,
a necessary social, cultural, and political form of self-affirmation and medium of liberaAssistant
tion, they elevated the importance of MARBL collections related to African American life
Professor of African American
and history. This NEH–sponsored institute and seminar added value to our collections,
Literature, SUNY–Brockport,
and the information derived from exploring and interpreting their contents, while simul-
and NEH Summer Scholar
taneously advancing the university’s vision to “discover truth and, by sharing it, ignite in others a passion for its pursuit.” —Pellom McDaniels III, Curator of African American Collections and Assistant Professor of African American Studies page 5 spring 2015 MARBL
“T H E Y C A L L M E F L A N N E RY H E R E” Correspondence, Convergence, Conversation
in a letter to her mother, mary flannery o’Connor revealed her emerging identity as a writer with the simple declaration, “They call me Flannery here.” She would continue to cultivate this identity, alongside her growing independence, in almost daily correspondence home from the University of Iowa. The following year, in fall 1947, she reminded her mother: “Would consider it very generous of you just to call me Flannery.” She signed the letter “MF” in her usual fashion. Then, subsequently: “Consider your effort to call me Flannery admirable.” This handwritten letter bears a remarkably intricate insignia: O’Connor doubles back over the “M” and emphasizes the “F.” With MARBL’s recent acquisition of these unpublished letters and other materials from the Mary Flannery O’Connor Charitable Trust, our eyes now can trace the path toward O’Connor’s developing literary persona. We see the writer’s deeply personal and budding sense of herself as a writer, daughter, woman, Southerner, Catholic, and friend. Following O’Connor on these journeys of self-discovery promises many original discoveries of our own about her life and work. The collection, announced with great enthusiasm and acclaim on October 7, 2014, consists of papers and other items dating from the 1930s: correspondence; drafts; artwork; journals and notebooks; photographs, slides, video, negatives, and scrapbooks; printed material and clippings; ephemera and memorabilia; and awards. The correspondence includes more than 600 previously unpublished letters from Flannery O’Connor to her mother, Regina, as well as letters from O’Connor to family, friends, and other well-known writers. There are early writings by O’Connor and artwork created
MARBL spring 2015 page 6
by Rosemary M. Magee, MARBL Director, and Sarah Harsh, MARBL Research Assistant and Doctoral Student, Department of English
during her time at college, including two boxes of wood-block
book titled The Priceless Works of M. F. O’C offers an early exam-
linotypes of O’Connor’s cartoons. The materials also include
ple of O’Connor’s signature style of assured yet self-deprecat-
unpublished short stories and handwritten notebooks docu-
ing humor. With similar devotion to studying the elements of
menting her time at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and the Yaddo
craft, O’Connor wrote for one school assignment: “I am only
Writers Retreat. One of these notebooks lists possible charac-
14 years old, but I feel that I need to bring literature into being,
ter names (“Opal Hawkes”) and running tallies of short story
I have been told I have a knack for expressing myself and so
acceptances or (overwhelmingly) rejections from national mag-
I turn my hand to writing.” Her love of storytelling and her com-
azines and journals.
mitment to the literary arts are evident in another of her early
These papers tell the story of a life both modest and bold,
projects: a hand-bound book series titled Mistaken Identity,
regional and now global, prayerful and prejudicial, witty and
detailing the misadventures of Herman, a gander who turns out
wondering, intimate and insightful, solemn and sarcastic. Her
to be Henrietta, a goose. Mistaken Identity also demonstrates
sharp wit rises to the surface early, along with her profound
O’Connor’s lifelong fascination with unusual or extraordinary
sense of vocation, strong even at a young age. A hand-bound
fowl, which she would describe as “a passion, a quest.” O’Connor was similarly passionate about her correspondence with friends and family from an early age. Away at college, she would comment on her own letters: “My epistolary powers enthrall me. It’s a pity I can’t receive my own letters. If they produce as much wholehearted approval at their destination as they do at their source, they should keep my memory alive—and healthy!” O’Connor’s playful comments on preserving her own legacy are rendered even more poignant by her early death at age 39. After being diagnosed with lupus at 26, O’Connor’s life was shaped—but not defined—by her illness. Rather, as these materials confirm, her life was built around her unwavering sense of vocation, alternately full of trepidation and
page 7 spring 2015 MARBL
conviction. Paul Engle, her teacher at Iowa, observed that O’Connor stood out even among those dedicated students because, “The will to be a writer was adamant.”
“I am only 14 years old, but I feel that I need to bring literature into being, I have been told I have a knack for expressing myself and so I turn my hand to writing.”
O’Connor expresses such adamant will in the composition book labeled “Higher Mathematics I,”
outward toward the limits of mystery.” Such mysteries seek
the title a reflection of the lofty calculations of self and
exploration in these materials.
soul that the journal contains. The reinvented math note-
The depth of introspection that Flannery O’Connor reveals
book also serves as a companion piece to A Prayer Journal,
in this collection is stunning. At the same time, these materi-
a record of O’Connor’s devotional yearnings as a young
als gesture outwards. We see O’Connor in conversation with
woman, published in 2013 by Farrar Straus & Giroux and
the writers and scholars who took her under their collective
part of this MARBL collection. O’Connor described in “Higher
wings— such as Sally and Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Lowell,
Mathematics” the three pillars that she hoped would struc-
Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Robert Giroux, and
ture her life: art, faith, and love. Her journals, taken together,
Caroline Gordon. O’Connor’s papers are also in dialogue with
display the painstaking process of self-definitionas O’Connor
other materials in MARBL, especially contemporary artists
hones her literary and spiritual identity.
influenced by O’Connor: Alice Walker, Salman Rushdie, Benny
The pathway of the materials coming to Emory involved
and Raymond Andrews, Natasha Trethewey, and many oth-
several MARBL directors, archivists, the Mary Flannery
ers. Alice Walker, who grew up in nearby Eatonton, observed
O’Connor Charitable Trust, and others; it stretched over 50
in her thoughtful essay “Beyond the Peacock” about visiting
years of correspondence, convergence, and conversations.
O’Connor’s home: “The truth of any subject only comes when all
This lasting commitment and the resulting acquisition confirm
sides of the story are put together. . . . For each writer writes the
what we knew about O’Connor while posing further questions
missing parts of the other writer’s story.” Here, in MARBL, this
about her life and relationships, social and racial contexts,
collection pulls together many of those missing parts. Flannery
and her literary aspirations. In one of her essays, O’Connor
O’Connor’s archive invites us into this enduring conversation
discloses how writing “will always be pushing its own limits
about faith, literature, and life.
MARBL spring 2015 page 8
BOBBY JONES the game of life by Randy Gue, Curator of Modern Political and Historical Collections, and Kristin Morgan, Project Archivist
Just who is Bobby Jones? His name pops up often on Emory’s campus. There are MARBL’s distinctive Bobby Jones collections; the prestigious Robert T. Jones scholarships and fellowships; the Laney Graduate School’s innovative Jones Program in Ethics; and, of course, the distinguished alumnus himself. “Bobby Jones: The Game of Life,” a new exhibition at the library’s Schatten Gallery, answers the question by celebrating the life and achievements of Atlanta golfer, attorney, and businessman Robert Tyre Jones Jr. (1902–1971), better known as Bob, or Bobby, Jones. Jones was one of the greatest golfers ever to play the game. In 1930 he captured the sport’s “Grand Slam” by winning all four major championships of his era in a single year, an accomplishment no one had achieved before or has duplicated since. Including the Grand Slam, Jones won 13 major championships and broke records at courses all over
seven years of unprecedented achievement. Jones won at
the United States and the United Kingdom. He did it all as
least one major championship each year, culminating in the
an amateur, not a professional: Jones was never paid to play
Grand Slam. In a remarkable turn, he retired from competi-
championship golf or for his victories.
tive golf that same year but has remained an iconic figure in
Of course, golf was not the only game at which Jones
the golf world for decades. He helped design and sell golf
excelled. The title of the exhibition comes from one of Jones’s
clubs, starred in a popular series of instructional films, wrote
best-known quotes: “Golf is the closest game to the game we
best-selling books, designed new golf courses, and co-
call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good
founded Augusta National Golf Club and its famous Masters
breaks from bad shots—but you have to play the ball where
Tournament. During his battle with syringomyelia, an excru-
it lies.” Take things as they are and make the best of them:
ciatingly painful spinal ailment that progressively paralyzed
no cheating, no do-overs, just striving toward a goal. It was
him during the course of 23 years, Jones showed the same
a perspective gleaned from playing in the crucible of cham-
strength and steadiness he had exhibited on the golf course.
pionship golf and taken beyond the fairways, rough, and
The materials in the exhibition, drawn primarily from
greens. These insights were hard-won, the product of years
MARBL’s collections, recount Jones’s life and the lessons he
of struggle.
learned both on and off the course. The materials include one
Jones played in his first national championship at age
of the golf shoes he wore when he defeated Eugene Homans
14, but a violent temper—“my turbulent disposition,” he
in the finals of the US Amateur Championship in 1930, clinch-
called it—kept him from fulfilling expectations for his suc-
ing the Grand Slam. It was bronzed to commemorate the vic-
cess. Learning to steel his mind to the rigors of champion-
tory and came to MARBL in 1967 as part of the Bobby Jones
ship golf took seven years of struggle, introspection, and
collection, which also features photographs, his writings,
inquiry. These years of self-examination were followed by
mementos, memorabilia, artwork, and audiovisual materials.
page 9 spring 2015 MARBL
“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots —but you have to play the ball where it lies.” Also on display is an image of the June 7, 1924, issue of Liberty magazine, a mass-circulated, general-interest periodical. The cover features a color illustration of Jones losing
“Bobby Jones: The Game of Life”
his temper on a golf course, club poised high and menacing over his head and a gri-
is now on view in the Schatten
mace on his face. This image is the only visual representation of Jones losing his temper.
Gallery, located on Level 3 of the
No photographs exist of Jones throwing his clubs or stomping up a fairway after a poor
Robert W. Woodruff Library.
shot. This striking issue of Liberty came from MARBL’s other Bobby Jones collection, the
For hours, parking, and more informa-
Sidney L. Matthew Bobby Jones collection and research files. Matthew is the most accom-
tion, visit web.library.emory.edu/
plished living historian of Jones and his collection consists of photographs, printed
news-events/exhibitions/
material, memorabilia, audiovisual materials (including material related to Matthew’s
index.
documentary, The Life and Times of Bobby Jones), and his own papers and research files. “As a young man, when he was showered with the best things in life, he was able to stand up to it, which is not easy,” acclaimed golf writer Herbert Warren Wind said about Jones. “During the last 20-odd years, when he was afflicted with some of the cruelest things that life can hurl at you, he was able to stand up to them no less firmly.” Jones was well known for his perseverance or, as he would say, “playing the ball where it lies.” It’s an important lesson that we can all learn about the game of life.
MARBL spring 2015 page 10
voices from the classroom
SEEKING THE TRAVEL CURE in MARBL Last year, the 20 Emory undergraduates enrolled in The Travel Cure: Americans and the Transnational Search for Good Health immersed
from Antarctica to Asia, from Iceland to India. Most of the
themselves in the letters, diaries, and other works written by
albeit unusual, type of “cure.” Many of the students were
American travelers who left the United States in order to alle-
good writers, but others felt about writing the way some
viate a broad range of physical and emotional diseases, from
humanities majors do about math. Probing these collections
students in the course were science majors pursuing a premed curriculum. They liked the idea of studying a specific,
tuberculosis to neurasthenia, from pleurisy to melancholia. The length of time these sojourners spent overseas ranged from days to decades. After six weeks of intensive reading about men and women who had traveled abroad on quests to improve their health, the class visited MARBL, where archivist Gabrielle Dudley had filled five tables with boxes of manuscript materials. After a review of the rules for researchers, she encouraged the students, four at each table, to begin reading through James Baldwin’s correspondence from Paris in the 1950s; a series of diaries kept by Emory undergraduate student Sharon Carr, who died of a brain tumor in the 1990s; the letters Warren Akin Candler wrote home when he traveled to Asia on a yearlong missionary trip; and the anguished letters home written by siblings Thomas and Rosine Raoul, who left Atlanta in the early 20th century seeking a cure for their tubercular lungs in North Carolina, California, Mexico, Switzerland, and Germany. As students carefully removed one manila file folder at a time and began to read, a hush fell over the room. Who knew there were so many MARBL collections that included the papers of men, women, and entire families who had sought to cure illness through travel? During the following weeks students combed the finding aids in search of subjects for their research projects and spent endless hours in the archives. Was this onerous work? Yes and no. Early on, several students described themselves as “hooked” by the narratives they were discovering in letters they struggled to read in 19thcentury cursive script penned in faded ink on fragile paper. When I asked one student how her research was going, she said it “was very difficult.” When asked what made it so hard,
took students on a new type of trip, to different times and
she replied that the letters and diaries written by the seriously
places. They quickly confirmed the adage that “the past is a
ill Sharon Carr were so heartbreaking and moving that she
foreign country—they do things differently there.” Working
could barely get through them. Other students related chal-
to get inside the minds of these travelers proved both
lenging quests to uncover connections between the physical
challenging and intriguing, whether it was Nell Hodgson
and psychological ground their travelers had covered.
Woodruff, whose dedication to nursing began in World
All of the students who signed up for The Travel Cure love
War I, or the Rev. Thomas Ellis Reeve, who served as a mis-
to travel. Collectively they have covered much of the globe,
sionary to the Belgian Congo for more than 13 years. Complex
page 11 spring 2015 MARBL
As students carefully removed one manila file folder at a time and began to read, a hush fell over the room. Who knew there were so many MARBL collections that included the papers of men, women, and entire families who had sought to cure illness through travel? issues emerged from the written materials these individu-
contextualized their primary research in the secondary lit-
als left behind. New questions kept arising. When enough
erature on travel, health, and disease, they kept returning
evidence to support one hypothesis could not be found, a
to the archives. Lively class discussions focused on specific
revised thesis began to take shape.
research issues—the close reading of texts, the meaning of
Research in the manuscript collections in MARBL proved the high point of the course. As one student put it, “I liked
evidence, medical history, and modes of travel that varied by time and place.
working in the archives. It was a unique opportunity that
As we came together for our final class meeting, many
helped me apply all the principles learned in the course.”
wished the work could continue. Students shared that
Another said, “Doing work in MARBL introduced me to new
they now thought of travel and health in “completely new
ways of thinking.” A third confided, “I never thought I would
and different ways.” One junior student—possibly a future
work with old manuscript materials, but they are surpris-
archivist—summed up her experience, saying, “Even if we
ingly relevant and cool.” Yet another wrote, “The work in
didn’t have a paper due regarding our research in MARBL,
MARBL put me in a situation I wasn’t used to.” As students
I would still do some kind of research there.”
by Mary Frederickson Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts
MARBL spring 2015 page 12
Currey Seminar affords undergrad
archival research opportunities
by Darren Miller, senior editor, development communications
When Fred and Marjorie Currey decided to honor Fred’s older brother, Bradley Currey Jr., they had
contact archivists and ask the right questions, navigate archives,
to make a choice: contribute to Princeton University, his alma
Chartier, head of research services at MARBL, says the care
mater, or Emory University, where he served on the Board of
and handling portion of sessions is both fun and enlightening
Trustees from 1980 to 2000, including six years as chair.
for the students. “When using archives, you often are dealing
create a research plan, and handle rare materials. Courtney
The decision came easily. “He has trustee written on his forehead,” says Marjorie Currey. “He was a superb trustee for Emory, dedicated to Atlanta and Emory’s role in the community.”
with fragile or difficult items,” she says. “They require patience
Through a generous gift to Emory
War letter. “It’s not as easy as it might sound,” Chartier says,
Libraries, which Brad Currey considered
adding that the text is small and the writing unclear. “Reading
the heart of the university, the couple
a 19th-century letter with a magnifying glass takes a lot longer
worked closely with MARBL Director
than reading a 21st-century email.”
Rosemary M. Magee to establish the Currey
my admiration and affection for Brad,
After students successfully complete the training, they are awarded grants to cover the costs of visiting other institutions to access necessary collections—something Chartier says wouldn’t be possible without the generous contribution from the Curreys. “Students will continue to use MARBL,”
who has done so much to deepen Emory’s
she says, “and we encourage them to.” “But if our collections
academic profile and the intellectual
do not meet the needs of undergraduate students’ original
engagement of students and scholars,”
research, we want to make sure they can get to and access
Seminar. “The conversations with Fred and Marjorie about the Currey Seminar have been particularly meaningful to me given
and time.” For example, students are tasked with finding a specific paragraph in a rare, tiny, and tightly bound book from the 17th century. Another exercise, which Chartier says reveals the importance of time management and prioritizing when visiting an archival repository, is transcribing the first sentence of a Civil
collections that do.” After the workshops, students will have opportunities to check in with a MARBL archivist to troubleshoot any issues as they prepare to visit other institutions and conduct research. The undergraduate scholars are required to submit an article detailing their archival research experiences for inclusion in a MARBL publication. The Currey Seminar supports Emory University’s Quality Enhancement Plan, The Nature of Evidence, by empowering undergraduate students as independent scholars with opportunities to evaluate and analyze differ-
Magee says. “It is a very natural, fitting extension of the values the Curreys bring to everything they do. I am profoundly grateful for their generosity of spirit.”
ent forms of evidence, including primary sources. “There’s an emotional con-
The new program offers outstanding
nection when it’s right there in front of you or in your hands,” says Marjorie Currey, who serves on the board of
undergraduates in Emory College of Arts
Southern Methodist University Libraries
and Sciences unique opportunities to
and has long held an interest in libraries.
conduct original research using primary
“Studying these sources up close helps
resources. Applicants are required to sub-
them understand the past in a different
mit a research proposal and a letter of support from a faculty
way, and it helps them grasp that they’re not the first students
member, librarian, or archivist. Up to six students are selected
and are standing on the shoulders of others.”
to participate in two intensive instructional sessions in concert with MARBL programs for graduate students and faculty. The Currey Seminar covers the various aspects of using
To invest in MARBL, contact Alex Wan at 404.727.5386 or alex.wan@emory.edu.
an archival repository: how to locate and access collections,
page 13 spring 2015 MARBL
CALENDAR
EXHIBITIONS WOODRUFF LIBRARY Now on view Bobby Jones: The Game of Life The exhibition presents the story of legendary golfer and Atlanta native Robert (“Bobby”) Tyre Jones, based on materials drawn from two Jones collections in MARBL. Co-curated by Randy Gue, MARBL’s curator of modern political and historical collections, and project archivist Kristin Morgan, the exhibition explores Jones’s golfing legacy and the values reflected in his personal life. Schatten Gallery, Level 3, Woodruff Library. opening Before Ebola: The U.S. Government’s Role in Controlling Contagious Diseases March 28, 2015 Drawn largely from the Woodruff Library’s Documents Center and other U.S. government sources, this exhibit explores a selection of health emergencies and government responses. Level 2, Woodruff Library. opening In Focus: Evidence of a World Unseen April 3, 2015 This exhibit highlights materials in the Robert Langmuir Photography Collection, which contains more than 12,000 photographs depicting African American life from as early as the 1840s through the 1970s. Pellom McDaniels III, PhD, curator of African American collections and assistant professor of African American Studies, co-curated the exhibit with students in his Introduction to African American Studies course. Level 2, Woodruff Library. opening It’s in the Cards: An Interactive Art Exhibit April 10, 2015 The material basis for It’s in the Cards is several thousand recycled MARBL catalog cards and an old wooden card catalog, now superseded by the library’s online catalog and discarded in preparation for MARBL’s renovation. As MARBL undergoes a physical and technological transformation, the Emory community will have an opportunity to transform old catalog cards into works of art and poetry, which will be exhibited in the Woodruff Library. The goal of the exhibition is to grow from a few small individual works of art and poetry into an aggregate, communal work. Level 2, Woodruff Library.
IN OTHER LIBRARIES Also on view A Keeping of Records: The Life and Art of Alice Walker Selections from the popular exhibition that ran at the Schatten Gallery in 2009. The Oxford exhibit features photographs, drafts of her poetry and novels, correspondence, and other materials from Walker’s papers, which were acquired by MARBL in 2007. Selections will focus on Walker’s college years and her life as a novelist, poet, and activist. Oxford College Library and Academic Commons, 134 Few Circle, Oxford, Georgia 30054. opening April 10, 2015
But above All, a Good Doctor But above All, a Good Doctor focuses on the life of Daniel C. Elkin, dean of the Emory School of Medicine and one of the world’s most distinguished vascular surgeons of the early and mid-20th century. The exhibit draws on collections from the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Library to interpret Elkin’s significant impact on medical education and his contributions to the advancement of vascular surgery, especially during World War II. Among the materials that will be displayed are instruments that Elkin used, publications he authored, and photographs of him with his patients. Level 1, Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library.
For up-to-date information on exhibitions and events, please visit: web.library.emory.edu
Annual gifts enable the Emory Libraries to serve a vital role in the academic and cultural life of the campus. They help build unique special collections and allow MARBL to acquire exciting new materials. They fund digital innovations that lead to groundbreaking scholarship. And they support an engaging array of public programs and exhibitions that enliven the community. Make a gift today and join the community of annual donors who are making a difference at Emory Libraries. For more information on giving, contact Alex Wan, Director of Development and Alumni Relations for Emory Libraries, at 404.727.5386 or alex.wan@emory.edu. MARBL Blog: marbl.library.emory.edu/blog connect Facebook
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Emory University Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University 540 Asbury Circle Atlanta, Georgia 30322