Quick Takes on Events and News — June 2017

Don Quixote sculpture outside Carr Library

An Unexpected Visit

Last month, Carr Library received an unexpected visit from artist Katya Silis, whose father Nikolai is the sculptor of Don Quixote with a Flower, the statue that sits adjacent to the walkway leading to the entrance of the library. Katya, who traveled from New York with a friend just to see and photograph the sculpture, was delighted to see its prominent location on campus and expressed her gratitude to Carr Library associate Grace McGarty.

Ankita (l) and Bela (r) Gupta

Mother and Daughter: Both Graduates

Congratulations are in order for Bela Gupta, library associate in the Monographs Cataloging Section of Central Technical Services, and her daughter Ankita, who both graduated in May. Bela received her master’s degree summa cum laude in library and information science from the School of Communication and Information, while Ankita, who hopes to become a veterinarian, received her bachelor’s in animal science from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, where she was on the dean’s list and in the General Honors Program. The happy graduates were also featured in the latest issue of the SEBS Explorations magazine.

Exhibit in Memoriam of a Beloved Colleague

On May 24, Dana Library celebrated the opening of Art and Jazz: A Tribute to Ed Berger. The exhibit, curated by Joanne Leone, features the works of over 50 students at Arts High School in Newark who had worked with Leone to learn how to express the experience of listening to jazz in their art. Ed Berger, former Institute of Jazz Studies associate director and special projects librarian, had been planning the exhibition with Leone when he passed away suddenly earlier this year, and Leone carried on with the plans in his memory. The opening reception featured a performance by the Arts High Jazz Band as well as many touching remarks delivered by Ed’s friends and colleagues. The exhibition will remain in the Dana Room Gallery through August 26 with selected works remaining on view through the fall.

Arts High School Jazz Band Performs at Art and Jazz opening reception. Video: Nancy McMurrer.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Visits Paul Robeson Library

Dr. Carla Hayden meets Katie Anderson and Krisellen Maloney.

This year, Rutgers University–Camden welcomed Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, as their commencement speaker. Dr. Hayden has broken new ground as both the first woman and the first African American to hold this position. So, you can imagine how excited the faculty and staff at Paul Robeson Library were to meet her when she stopped by earlier this week before addressing our 2017 graduates and receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

We were delighted to give her a tour of the Library and to present her with a tote bag full of Rutgers goodies.

SCUA Archivists to Talk Rutgers’ Slave-Holding History

The Old Dutch Parsonage in Somerville. Photo: Hillary Murtha via NJ.com.

University archivist Tom Frusciano and public services and outreach archivist Helene Van Rossum will take part in a presentation on the slave-holding history of Rutgers’ founders at the Old Dutch Parsonage in Somerville on June 17 at 2:30 p.m. Topics to be explored include stories of early slave-holding leaders of Rutgers College–including the relationship between the Hardenbergh family and Sojourner Truth–and connections between Rutgers and the Dutch Reformed Church during the Revolutionary War years. There is a suggested donation of $5 and advance registration is recommended. Click here for more information on the program.

The Garden State through the Eyes of Its Beholders

Jersey Collective: The First Two Years is on display at the Paul Robeson Library now through June 15.

Jersey Collective is a collaborative Instagram project that showcases the beauty of New Jersey and the talent of photographers who live here. Over 100 diverse people from all over the state have been featured, from as young as age 13 to over 50. Each week, a different person takes over the Instagram account, treating followers to their unique style and point of view while sharing their favorite parts of the Garden State.

The images displayed in the exhibit are a selection from the first and second years of the project, spanning from March 2014 to March 2016.

New Resources in Women’s and Gender Studies

Two new resources for women’s and gender studies were recently announced: Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History: Women’s Travel Diaries and Correspondence from the Radcliffe Institute for Advance Study, Harvard University and Women in the National Archives (UK). The former includes unique manuscripts, diaries, travel journals, correspondence, photographs, postcards, and ephemera created by women travelers from circa 1835 to 1976, while the latter includes a finding aid to women’s studies resources in the National Archives of the United Kingdom as well as original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, 1903–1928, and the granting of women’s suffrage in the colonial territories, 1930–1962. For more information, click here.

Matt Badessa