   
Exhibitions on display in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections can be viewed during its regular hours. Displays in the Friedlander Lobby and Great Hall can be viewed whenever Rush Rhees Library is open. Directions to Rush Rhees Library can be found here. |  | Upstate New York and the Women's Rights Movement |  |
| I n 1995, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the passage of the nineteenth amendment giving women the vote, the department of Rare Books and Special Collections mounted an exhibition of letters, books, photographs and ephemera. Mary M. Huth, Assistant Head of Rare Books and Special Collections until her retirement in 2010, curated the physical exhibition. Sometime in 1996 (we believe) the exhibition went online, on the very-new World Wide Web. It can be seen here in a webcapture created in January 1997, by a then-very-new Internet Archive Wayback Machine. The River Campus Libraries is pleased to re-present our "founding online exhibition" in a new, expanded manner, with high resolution scans of the objects and letters.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. |
| Susan B. Anthony: Celebrating "An Heroic Life" | |
|  Susan B. Anthony died on March 13, 1906 having dedicated her life to winning for women their political, civil, economic and educational rights. At Anthony's funeral her close friend and ally in the suffrage movement, Anna Howard Shaw, said of Susan B. Anthony, "Hers was a heroic life." The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections commemorated this heroic life with an exhibition of letters, photographs, printed material and memorabilia drawn from its extensive Anthony and woman suffrage collections. The exhibition opened on the 100th anniversary of Susan B. Anthony's death and continued through August 2006.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. | | Gilbert and Sullivan: From London to America | |
|  The Rare Books and Special Collections Library is pleased to announce the on-line exhibition "Gilbert and Sullivan: From London to America." Originally mounted at the University of Rochester Library in 2004-5, over 200 items on display are drawn from the collection of Dr. Harold Kanthor and focus on the original Gilbert and Sullivan productions (1871-1896) in London and their transfer to New York and other major American cities. Included are autograph letters and drawings by Gilbert and Sullivan, posters, programs and souvenirs from the original productions, presentation copies, cabinet photographs of the original performers, and nineteenth century advertising material demonstrating the wide popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan in America.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. | | Beauty for Commerce: Publishers' Bindings, 1830-1910 | |
|  Early in the 19th century, the need for speed, simplicity, and economy in book production led to the introduction of cloth as a binding material and casing as a binding process. These developments, in conjunction with technological advances in the printing industry, led directly to the rise of the publishers' bookbindings: i.e., bindings designed for and manufactured in quantity for a publisher.
This exhibit chronicles the growth of English and American publishers' binding from its infancy in the 1830s to its decline in the early 20th century. Highlighted are the distinct changes in design that reflected not only technical innovations in the means of book production and decoration but shifting social and cultural trends as well. Viewed as a group, publishers' bindings represent a revolution in the history of the book. Viewed individually, each binding offers an often gilded window to the fashion of its day.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. | | Upstate New York and the Women's Rights Movement | |
| A full report of the woman's rights agitation in the State of New York, would in a measure be the history of the movement. In this State, the preliminary battles in the anti-slavery, temperance, educational, and religious societies were fought; the first Governmental aid given to higher education of woman, and her voice first heard in teachers' associations. Here the first Woman's Rights Convention was held, the first demand made for suffrage, the first society formed for this purpose, and the first legislative efforts made to secure the civil and political rights of women; commanding the attention of leading members of the bar....Here too the pulpit made the first demand for the political rights of woman. Here was the first temperance society formed by women, the first medical college opened to them, and woman first ordained for the ministry.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. | | 150 Treasures from the Libraries |  |
| An exhibition displayed in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rhees Library, as part of the University's sesquicentennial celebration, October 13-15, 2000. The text is accompanied with photographs of the items as they appeared in the exhibition cases.
To view the entire exhibition, click here. | | Rochester's Hope | |
| Founded in 1838, Rochester's historic Mt. Hope Cemetery covers an inspiring natural setting of 196 acres and contains over 350,000 gravestones.
The University of Rochester, founded in 1850, has always maintained close ties with Mt. Hope Cemetery: many faculty and alumni rest there, undisturbed within its deep repose. With the founding of the River Campus, the University now shares both physical and spiritual bonds with its peaceful neighbor.
The exhibit, "Rochester's Hope," explores the connections between Mt. Hope cemetery and the University; it was displayed in 2001 in Rush Rhees Library, and was curated by students from Professor Th. Emil Homerin's "Speaking Stones" course.
To view the entire exhibition, click here.
| | Writings of Consequence:
The Art of John A. Williams | |
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Considered one of the finest writers of his generation, Williams drew particular acclaim for his 1967 novel The Man Who Cried I Am, which painted the realism of 20th-century life for black Americans. In more than 20 published works of fiction and nonfiction from essays and short stories to poetry, his writing confronts racial prejudice and the inevitable problems that result.
The exhibition displays prime documents from his correspondence, manuscript notes and drafts, memorabilia, and photographs that are held at the University of Rochester.
Born in Mississippi in 1925, Williams earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Syracuse University after service in the Pacific during World War II. Starting in the late 1950s, he worked as a correspondent in Europe and Africa for magazines and television. His reputation as a journalist and editor continued to grow and he produced articles in numerous publications through the 1980s.
Williams also developed a significant academic career as a teacher and lecturer. He held positions at many prestigious institutions and from 1979 to 1994 taught English, journalism, and creative writing at Rutgers University. He retired from there as Paul Robeson Professor of English.
Since the 1960s, the author has been recognized with many awards and medals, including the Phillis Wheatley Award for Outstanding Contribution to African-American Culture and the American Book Award for two of his works: !Click Song (1983) and Safari West (1998).
To view the entire exhibition, click here.
| All the School's a Stage:
Student Theater at the University | |
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections proudly presents the newly launched online exhibit of: "All the School's a Stage: Student Theater at the University." From September 2014 – August 2015, the exhibition “All the School’s a Stage” presented programs, photographs, and other materials documenting the history of theater at the University of Rochester. It was curated by David Bates (UR 2014, Take 5). All the items came from collections in the University Archives in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation. To view the exhibition, click here. | Beyond Windmills: Commemorating Cervantes, Representing Don Quixote | |
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is one of the most influential authors of all time. His El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha [The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha] (1605, 1615) has been translated into over 50 languages and has been the subject of thousands of critical studies, the impetus for numerous filmic adaptations, and the basis for the Tony-award winning musical Man of La Mancha. Beyond his novel about a country gentleman driven to seek adventures as a knight errant after voraciously reading chivalric tales, Cervantes wrote poetry, plays, and novellas. Throughout his work he explores themes as varied as gender, history, politics, war, writing, crime, the law, religious and cultural difference, and representation. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death, this exhibit invites a consideration of how Cervantes—through Don Quixote—has stirred visual artists to represent his most famous characters and their “adventures” over the centuries. Each section features images spanning from the 18th to the 20th century from the University’s Rare Books and Special Collections. The students of the “Don Quixote: The Book, The Myth, the Image” course selected and analyzed a main image, which is complemented by another related illustration and displayed alongside a depiction of Cervantes. The chosen images—and the themes they conjure—frame the novel in ways that challenge the reading of Cervantes’ masterpiece as a book solely about a “madman” who dares to dream an impossible dream. They also invite one to read the novel, exploring beyond the iconic windmills to better understand the narrative nuances as well as the historical context of early modern Spain. It becomes clear that the highly visual style Cervantes employs has inspired and challenged the imaginations of writers, readers, and artists alike. To view the exhibition, click here. |
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