Category Archives: Notes

Notes, Spring 2008

Exhibits – Spring 2008

Perkins Gallery

August/October

Pivotal Books/Personal Reflections

An exhibit of books that have had a lasting impact on the lives of members of the Duke community. Faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends are invited to recommend books for inclusion in the exhibit. We are looking for books that have transformed your thinking on a subject or were inspirational or the catalyst for a significant idea. We are also seeking books that have comforted you or sparked your creativity. We will exhibit poetry, essays, non-fiction, and novels.—We are even willing to display the childhood favorite that gave you your first sense of the power of books and reading. The goal is to exhibit a selection of books that represents the range of viewpoints and experiences of the diverse members of the Duke community.

Write an informal recommendation of no more than 200 words describing a book’s impact on you. Please send your statement no later than 1 May 2008 to Ilene Nelson at ilene.nelson@duke.edu as a Word document attachment in an email message. We will display your statement with a copy of the book in the cases in the Perkins gallery, if the title you recommend is selected for the exhibit.

Special Collections Gallery

March/July

Photo by Eric MillerThen and Now: Eight South African Photographers

Curated by South African photographer Paul Weinberg whose work is archived at Duke, Then and Now was funded by the Conference, Workshop and Cultural Initiative (CWCI) Fund, a European Union-South Africa partnership program, and Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

Then and Now comprises 160 images, 20 apiece from eight participating photographers. For each photographer, 10 prints are from the apartheid period and 10 prints are post-apartheid. A complete set of the prints is available at the Special Collections Library and in Grahamstown, South Africa, at the Albany Museum, where they were first exhibited in a show that opened on 10 September 2007.

All 160 prints are being displayed at Duke in a multi-venue exhibit. About one third will be on view at the Special Collections Gallery, the Center for Documentary Studies (1317 W. Pettigrew Street) will display another third of the images, and the remainder will be exhibited at the President’s Gallery (Allen Building), the Divinity Library, and the Graduate Liberal Studies Program ( 2114 Campus Drive). The exhibit is also available online at http://library.duke.edu/exhibits/thenandnow/

August/December

Olive Pierce—Forty Years of Photographs (1963-2003)

Olive Pierce’s photographs reflect a spirit of community. This retrospective of black and white gelatin silver prints documents life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Maine fishing communities. A lifelong political activist, Pierce’s photographs of Iraqis under U.S. economic sanctions in 1999 and Maine citizens demonstrating in 2003 for and against involvement in Iraq make the connection between the local and global communities.

Special Collections Biddle Rare Book Room Cases

July/September

Historical sheet musicSongs of Glory, Songs of Sorrow: The Civil War in Music

The American Civil War remains the most devastating war in United States history, with deaths numbering about 618,000–more than in all the nation’s other wars combined, from the Revolutionary War through the Iraq War. This exhibit features sheet music and broadside verse expressing the triumphs and tragedies of the war’s battles, grieving mothers, soldier boys, flags, military officers, and even humor. Themes specific to the Civil War yet universal to all armed conflicts remind us of the high cost paid when peaceful solutions and diplomacy fail to win the day.

A performance highlighting the Special Collections Library’s Civil War music will be presented in September 2008 in the Special Collections Library’s Biddle Rare Book Room. The specific date and time will be announced later.

Hours for the Special Collections and Perkins galleries: Monday-Saturday, 9am-9pm, and 10am-9pm on Sunday. Call 919.660.5968 for more information about the Special Collections Gallery and 919.684.3009 for the most current Perkins hours.

Notes, Spring 2008

$1,000 Reward for Excellence

Reward poster

Thanks to a generous gift from Stuart W’64 and Bill L’64 Buice, the Duke Libraries have established the Robert F. Durden Prize to recognize excellent undergraduate research projects that have required the use of resources from the Libraries’ general collections. Stuart Buice chose to name the prize for Durden, whose classes she took as an undergraduate, as a tribute to him and his work. Durden, professor emeritus of history, is the author of a dozen books, including The Dukes of Durham, The Launching of Duke University, 1924-1927, and Legacy to the Carolinas: The Duke Endowment, 1924-1994.

The Durden Prize will be awarded annually in three categories: one for first- and second-year students, one for third- and fourth-year students, and one for fourth-year students submitting honors theses. The prize gives visibility to the Libraries’ commitment to supporting undergraduate research and enhancing undergraduates’ information literacy skills as well as increasing awareness of the Libraries’ services and collections. Awarding the Durden Prize is also in line with University initiatives to increase undergraduate research, especially by fourth-year students.

Students competing for the prize will submit a paper or digital project along with a faculty letter of support and an essay of 500-750 words in which they describe their research strategies and use of library tools and resources. Papers and projects will be judged by a committee of two faculty members and three librarians who will assess the students’ effective use of library resources and research procedures.

The Durden Prize complements the Middlesworth Award, which the Special Collections Library has presented for more than fifteen years. The Middlesworth Award encourages and recognizes students for their use of primary and rare materials held by the Special Collections Library. The award is funded by Chester P. Middlesworth T’49 of Statesville, NC. Winners of the Durden Prize and the Middlesworth Award will be honored at a Parents’ and Family Weekend reception where they will also receive their checks for $1,000.

Notes, Spring 2008

Events – Spring 2008

Cheerleaders - photo courtesy of Kate Torgovnick

April 4

Cheerleaders - photo courtesy of Kate Torgovnick

Journalist and first-time author Kate Torgovnick reads and signs her new book, Cheer!, a journey into the world of competitive cheerleading. Joyce Carol Oates has called the book “a spirited, fascinating, at times disturbing and always absorbing book.” Kate is a graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University and a former associate editor at Jane magazine. She is now a freelance writer whose work appears regularly in The New York Times. The Duke cheerleaders will join Kate for her reading at the library. Friday, 4 April, 4pm, the terrace between the Perkins and Bostock libraries

April 11

Don Eagle - photo courtesy of Brenda Neece

Rare Music in the Rare Book Room: Cornet Cornucopia, featuring Don Eagle with Deborah Hollis. Don Eagle, Duke faculty member, world class trumpet player, and member of the North Carolina Symphony, will perform on several cornets from the Eddy Collection, which is one of the Duke University Musical Instrument Collections. He will be assisted by pianist Deborah Hollis. Friday, 11 April, Perkins Library Biddle Rare Book Room

 

April 16

Courtesy of Melissa DelbridgeMelissa Delbridge will read and sign Family Bible, a collection of her short stories just published by the University of Iowa Press. Reynolds Price, James B. Duke Professor of English, says, “Melissa Delbridge’s memories of her early life are dead-accurate, hilarious, and tragic and will surely prove enduring as a guide to the Deepest South—a place and a culture that continue to prove alarmingly vital. I mean to keep this book handy, for pleasure and real guidance.” Melissa has published essays and short stories in the Antioch Review, Southern Humanities Review, Third Coast, and other journals. She is an archivist at Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Wednesday, 16 April, 4:30pm, Perkins Library, Biddle Rare Book Room

Courtesy of Melissa Delbridge

Notes, Spring 2008

A Virtual Photo Album of Duke Favorites

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Happy travelers, photo buffs and grandparents aren’t the only ones who have discovered Flickr. The staff of the Duke University Archives also chose to use the popular photo sharing website when they created an online collection of some of their photographs.

West Campus postcard

Old campus photoThe Archives staff assembled the virtual photo collection for the convenience of the Duke community, alumni, and others who use historical images of the University and campus life in brochures and other publications, websites, publicity, and research. Dubbed the “Duke Yearlook,” the Archives site is a longitudinal yearbook organized by decades. Several thousand images the Archives staff have scanned for researchers over the past several years were the starting point for the site, which presents both student life and campus scenes. The staff will continue to scan and add images to the site to insure that every decade is represented in various categories.

Old campus photoThe Archives staff hopes to fill gaps in the photographic record of the decades with images donated by alumni who visit the site. Site visitors are also invited to identify themselves in pictures and add comments and recollections.

There are several ways to find the Duke images on Flickr: search for Duke Yearlook or Duke-related images on Google; go directly to flickr.com and search for Duke images to find the site; or follow the link from the Archives homepage at http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/.

Next up for the Archives?—The staff plans to post and/or enhance Wikipedia entries related to Duke history and biographies of Duke leaders.

Old campus photo

Fall 2007, Notes

Events – Fall 2007

Rare Music Series

For the second year the Duke University Libraries and the Duke University Musical Instrument Collections are co-sponsoring Rare Music in the Rare Book Room, a series of monthly musical conversations and demonstrations. All events begin at 4:00pm on their respective dates and are held at Perkins Library in the Biddle Rare Book Room. For more information go to http://dumic.org/news_events.

B. O’Neal Talton: Brenda NeeceOctober 19

B. O’Neal Talton: From a Block of Wood to a Musical Instrument: An Introduction to Violin Making
Native North Carolinian Bob O’Neal Talton will talk about and demonstrate how he makes not only violins, but also violas, cellos, guitars, dulcimers, and banjos. There will be an opportunity for audience participation during the program when Bob invites musicians of all ages and abilities to try the instruments. Children are especially welcome to participate!

Mamadou Diabate: Courtesy of Mamadou DiabateNovember 9

Mamadou Diabate: A Griot and His Kora
Mamadou Diabate was born in 1975 in Kita, Malia. His name, Diabate, indicates that Mamadou comes from a family of griots, or jelis, as they are known among the Manding people. Jelis are more than just traditional musicians. They use music and sometimes oratory to preserve and sustain people’s consciousness of the past. Mamadou Diabate, joined by his son, will share the music and traditions of the Manding jelis in this kora demonstration. Please see Mamadou Diabate’s web site for more information about the two of them.

William Michal Jr.: Brenda NeeceDecember 7

William Michal Jr.: The Love of the Banjo
Dr. Bill Michal is a collector of outstanding banjos, specializing in those manufactured by Fairbanks. Using audio and slides, Dr. Michal will talk about the banjo’s history in America, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries. The audience will hear recordings of banjo music, some made by Dr. Michal before he retired from public performance.

Other Events Sponsored by the Libraries

October 26, 27

Logo for Bingham symposiumNeither Model nor Muse: A Symposium on Women and Artistic Expression
3rd biennial symposium of the Duke Libraries’ Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture. Workshops, panels, and performance related to women and the arts. For more details, see the back cover of this magazine.

October 31

In an event that has become a Duke tradition, Reynolds Price, James B. Duke Professor of English, will once again read stories and poems for Halloween. The selections vary from year to year, but Edgar Allan Poe’s classic story “The Tell-Tale Heart” is almost certain to be on the program. Costumes welcome! Wednesday, 31 October, Lilly Library, Thomas Room, 7pm

November 3

The Library Presents Duke Moms and Dads
This annual program, held during Parents’ and Family Weekend, features a reading or talk by a writer who is also the parent of a first-year student. This year’s speaker is journalist Rome Hartman, former producer of the CBS Evening News. Hartman joined the BBC this year to develop and serve as executive producer of a BBC World News one-hour nightly newscast aimed at U.S. audiences. The title of his Duke talk is “Alphabet Soup: From CBS to BBC, some news about The News.” Saturday, 3 November, 11am, Perkins Library, Biddle Rare Book Room

November 8

Danny Wilcox Frazier, third recipient of the Center for Documentary Studies/
Honickman First Book Prize in Photography award for photographs of the changing face of the Iowa, will talk about his work and sign books at an opening reception (See “Exhibits,” page 5.). Thursday, 8 November, 5-7pm, Perkins Library, Biddle Rare Book Room

Fall 2007, Notes

Collecting South African Photographs/Collecting South African History

Karen Glynn with photographer Alf Kumalo, Soweto, South Africa: Paul Weinberg

This summer Duke Libraries’ visual materials archivist and collector, Karen Glynn, traveled extensively in South Africa to support two documentary photography projects. One of the projects, “Then & Now,” is an exhibition of the work of 8 photographers. Each photographer submitted 20 prints; 10 prints made under apartheid and 10 prints post-apartheid. “Then & Now” opened at Rhodes University on 10 September. Conversations are underway at Rhodes and other institutions about establishing a South African Center for Documentary Studies, modeled after the Duke Center for Documentary Studies.

Glynn acquired a set of the 160 prints in the “Then & Now” exhibit for Duke’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. She also researched images for a future project entitled “Underexposed.” With South African photographer Paul Weinberg as her host and guide, Glynn moved around the country, meeting photographers and selecting work for “Underexposed.” This project proposes to scan 300 images by 13 South African documentary photographers, whose work is essentially inaccessible to the public, and mount the images on a webpage for educational, noncommercial use. In addition, two sets of 50 prints will be made of each body of work; one set will remain in South Africa, and one set will come to the Special Collections Library at Duke.

Contributions from the Duke Libraries’ John Hope Franklin Collection of African and African American Documentation and a Perkins Library funding grant supported Glynn’s acquisitions of the “Then & Now” and “Underexposed” images.

Fall 2007, Notes

Remembering a Special Friend of the Libraries

Excerpted from remarks University Librarian Deborah Jakubs delivered at a service to celebrate the life of John Richards (November 3, 1938-August 23, 2007). The service was held on 14 September 2007 at the Duke University Chapel.

John Richards: Duke University PhotographyJohn Richards wasted no time in becoming involved with the libraries at Duke. Barely a year after he came to the University in 1977 to become a member of the History Department faculty, President Terry Sanford invited him join the Library Council. John soon became chair, a position he would again hold in the mid-1990s; he served with enthusiasm over and over again. During the last year of his life, John served on the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Duke University Libraries.

John was warm, kind, and encouraging. When it came to the Libraries, he was all those things as well as passionate, insistent and bold. John was one of the most enlightened faculty at Duke regarding the advantages of online primary sources, and he worked hard to promote those investments. But he did believe in the critical importance of continuing to build collections, physical collections, of primary and secondary materials from around the world, and held firm to his conviction that the richness of collections in our libraries was essential to the work of faculty and students at Duke. He deeply appreciated the help of the library staff and respected them greatly. He championed the Libraries, and particularly the collections budget. For John, the library was to the humanist as the laboratory is to the scientist.

The relationship between a faculty member and a research librarian can be one of intellectual intimacy. Being engaged in a shared quest for the scholarship that will support an argument, confirm a suspicion, prove a hypothesis, or establish a thesis, creates a special bond, one John had with a number of librarians at Duke, including Avinash Maheshwary and Margaret Brill, in his work on South Asia and many related topics. He was also committed to collaboration in vernacular South Asian studies library collections within the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN), encouraging broad collecting in all relevant languages of the sub-continent.

I am confident that John Richards will always hold the record for service on the Library Council. But, much more importantly, John will long live on in our noteworthy research collections, collections he helped to build, collections that will nourish the minds of generations of undergraduate and graduate students and serve as a solid foundation for future scholarship.

Fall 2007, Notes

A New Logo for the Duke University Libraries

Duke University Libraries logo

This summer the Libraries embarked on a logo redesign. The process began with an open meeting where library staff talked to representatives from Duke’s Office of Creative Services about what the new logo should convey about the Libraries. For an hour the Creative Services staff listened before leaving with a promise to synthesize the many ideas they had heard into fifteen to twenty preliminary designs. Working with Creative Services, we narrowed our choices in several stages until, after many conversations and revisions, one final design emerged.

The “mark” we chose, an open book form, with the Libraries supporting Duke University, represents content that the Duke University Libraries acquire, organize, and deliver to diverse audiences, and preserve for the use of future generations. The elongated right “arm” of the mark represents growth, forward movement, and change. The open book also represents the transfer of knowledge, which leads to the creation of new knowledge.

We have chosen this mark because books and libraries continue to be closely associated in the minds and hearts of people around the world. We embrace the myriad changes that technology is bringing to libraries, but, with this mark, we acknowledge the book as the foundation of all great library collections and the symbol of our role in connecting people + ideas.