Post Contributed by Patrick Stawski, Human Rights Archivist and Caitlin Margaret Kelly, Curator, Archive of Documentary Arts
Award-Winning Documentary Her Fight, His Name Brings Community Activist Gwen Carr and Director Brad Bailey to Duke and Durham for Public Conversations
The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library will host two free public screenings of Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner, (Brad Bailey, 2024, 30m) recipient of the 2026 Rubenstein Library Human Rights Digital Storytelling Award. Community activist Gwen Carr and director Brad Bailey will participate in conversations following each screening, reflecting on the making of the film and Carr’s continuing fight for justice. The Duke Human Rights Center @FHI is co-sponsoring as part of its Rights!Camera!Action! film series.
Her Fight, His Name: The Story of Gwen Carr and Eric Garner film poster
Screening Schedule
Duke University Screening
Thursday, September 10, 2026
12:00–1:30 p.m.
Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4, C105
Smith Warehouse, Duke University
Community Screening
Thursday, September 10, 2026
6:30–8:00 p.m.
Durham County Main Library
300 N. Roxboro Street, Durham
Both events are free and open to the public.
Directed by Brad Bailey in association with Gwen Carr and the Mothers of the Movement, Her Fight, His Name follows Carr’s enduring fight for justice after the 2014 death of her son, Eric Garner, whose final words, ‘I can’t breathe,’ became a rallying cry against police violence and systemic racism. Filmed over several years, the documentary offers an intimate portrait of Carr’s transformation from grieving mother to nationally recognized advocate while exploring the intertwined themes of family, loss, community, and resilience.
CONTACT: Patrick Stawski, Human Rights Archivist (patrick.stawski@duke.edu)
Caitlin Margaret Kelly, Curator, Archive of Documentary Arts (caitlin.kelly@duke.edu)
Post contributed by John B. Gartrell, Director, John Hope Franklin Research Center
Black Lives in Archives Day
Friday, April 10, 2026
11am-3pm
Gothic Reading Room, Rubenstein Library 2nd Floor
Please join us for the Rubenstein Library’s 5th annual Black Lives in Archives Day on Friday, April 10. This one-day immersive, “please touch” exhibition will spotlight collections from the Rubenstein Library’s rare and special items that document Black life and culture. This event is free and open to the public.
Post contributed by John B. Gartrell, director John Hope Franklin Research Center
The John Hope Franklin Research Center is pleased to share that the archive of philosopher, scholar, and author Sylvia Wynter will be opened to the public beginning March 3. The archive, which was acquired by the center in 2018, has been undergoing processing for the past 2 years and the writings series will be made available first to researchers, with the remaining sections of the collection opening by the summer of this year.
Sylvia Wynter photo, 1970s
To commemorate and share the contents within the papers, the Franklin Research Center is mounted an exhibition entitled “Noise up the World: Introducing the Archive of Sylvia Wynter,” which will be on display in the Mary Duke Biddle Room in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Library from February 26-August 1. This exhibition is co-curated by John B. Gartrell, Dr. Deborah Jenson, Diego Avila Lopez, and Michaelle Vilmont.
Two events will kickoff the exhibition and opening of the papers. On Monday, March 2, there will be an opening reception from 5:30-7:00pm and Tuesday, March 3, the “Archive as Ceremony” symposium will occur from 8:30am-4:30pm. Both events will take place in the Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room 153 of the Rubenstein Library. The symposium is co-sponsored by the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History & Culture, Department of Romance Studies, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.
Archive as Ceremony Symposium flyer, March 2 and 3
Program for “Archive as Ceremony,” March 3, 2026 (Holsti-Anderson Assembly Room, Rubenstein 153)
9:00am – Light breakfast
9:30am – Opening Remarks
9:45am – Keynote Address, Anthony Bogues, Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Africana Studies, Affiliated Professor of History of Art and Political Science, Brown University, “Archives : Black radical/ anti-Colonial Thought / Theory and History Making”
10:30 Discussant: Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Associate Professor of Literature, Duke University
10:45-11:00, Q&A
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:00 Roundtable, “Organized Noise: Processing and Making Public the Sylvia Wynter Papers”, with John B. Gartrell, Tracy Jackson, Russell-Flowers Technical Services Archivist, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and Bedour Alagraa, Assistant Professor of Political and Social Thought in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin
Noon-1:00 Lunch Break
1:00 Panel, “The Discovery Archive and the Journey Toward the Human”
Diego Ávila López, Doctoral Student in Romance Studies, “Navigating 1492: Sylvia Wynter and the Colonial in the Archive”
Michaelle Vilmont, Doctoral Student in Romance Studies, “Who Brings Society Into Being? Sylvia Wynter, Frantz Fanon, and the Genres of Being Human”
1:45 Discussants: Richard Rosa, Associate Professor of Romance Studies, Duke University; Tony Ballas, Doctoral Student in Literature, Duke University
2:00 Q&A
2:15 Panel, “Wynter from Subsistence to Catastrophe”
Bedour Alagraa, Assistant Professor of Political and Social Thought in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, “The Interminable Catastrophe”
Isabel Bradley, Assistant Professor of French Literature, Thought, and Culture, New York University, “On Subsistence and the Sociogenic Principle”
3:00 Discussants: Anne-Maria Makhulu, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Duke University; Laurent Dubois, John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor in the History & Principles of Democracy at the University of Virginia
3:15 Q&A
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45 Epilogue: Deborah Jenson, Professor Emeritus of Romance Studies, Duke University, “Sylvia Wynter: Human Autonomy and the ‘Cognitive Charter’”
4:00 Discussant: Felwine Sarr, Anne-Marie Bryan Distinguished Professor of French, Duke University
4:15-4:30 Q&A
Thanks to the facilitation of Professor Anthony Bogues, the John Hope Franklin Research Center was able to acquire the papers of Sylvia Wynter in 2018. Over the last 2.5 years, the archive has been painstakingly organized and prepared to be shared with the wide range of scholars from those who know Wynter’s work intimately to those who are only discovering her voice. A small team here are Duke, including scholars, graduate students, the staff of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the Duke University Libraries exhibition team has dedicated this past year to commemorate the opening access to these papers with this symposium and exhibition which serve as a prelude to the seeds of future events involving the large and distinguished community of Sylvia Wynter scholars, students and researchers whom we acknowledge humbly and respectfully.
For 90 years, Consumer Reports has been the premier source for product reviews and ratings, consumer advice, and consumer issues advocacy in the United States—and a model for consumer movements around the world. The nonprofit organization manages a complex of testing facilities, advocacy and outreach offices, and a media operation that delivers content through radio, television, and online, in addition to the popular Consumer Reports magazine and seasonal Buying Guides.
Join the Duke University Libraries for a special event featuring a panel discussion and gallery talk highlighting the opening of two Consumer Reports exhibits—This Sneeze is for Science, featuring photography of the striking visual narratives depicting scientific testing of consumer products; and Test, Inform, Protect: The Consumer Reports Archives at Duke University, which explores the history and impact of the organization over its 90-year history.
Attendees will hear from panelists from Duke and Consumer Reports, who will comment on the significance of the Consumer Reports Archives, the evolution of the organization and the impact it has had on the Consumer Movement.
Gallery talks with exhibit curators will offer opportunities to connect with the exhibits and reflect on the intersection of science, activism, and public trust.
Panelists will also be available for questions at the conclusion of the panel discussion.
Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Joseph A. Salem, Jr., Duke University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs
Phil Radford, President and CEO of Consumer Reports
Panelists
Lisa L. Gill, Investigative Reporter, Consumer Reports
Jason Holmes, Director of Testing, Consumer Reports
Edward Balleisen, Senior Vice Provost of History and Public Policy, Duke University
Jacqueline Wachholz, Director, Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
Moderator: Ashton W. Merck, Historian and Researcher, Duke Ph.D. (2020)
Header Image: Dishwasher testing preparation, undated, Consumer Reports Archives, Iconographic Materials, Box PD20, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
Date: Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Time: 5:00 – 6:30pm Location: Smith Warehouse, Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4; 114 S Buchanan Blvd, Durham, NC
In 1974, a twenty-year-old Black woman named Joan Little found herself facing the death penalty for killing a white guard who had tried to rape her in an eastern North Carolina prison. The folks who campaigned on Little’s behalf understood the webs of sexual violence, state violence, and racialized carcerality that ensnared her, and they linked her trial to other sites of existential concern for Black women’s—and everyone’s—liberation. Her August 1975 acquittal spoke to the power of their critique and the reach of their organizing. 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this landmark case that still offers lessons in the struggle for justice. Join historian Christina Greene, Ph.D. ’96, and death penalty lawyer Shelagh Kenney to discuss what Joan Little tells us about gender, incarceration, and state violence then and now.
Christina Greene is professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of Free Joan Little: The Politics of Race, Sexual Violence, and Imprisonment; Shelagh Kenney, is Interim Director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Adriane Lentz-Smith, Associate Professor of History and African & African American Studies at Duke University, will introduce and moderate the discussion.
In addition to the panel, an exhibition of items related to Joan Little, including one of her handwritten, illustrated poems, will be on display in Perkins Library during the month of January 2026.
Header image: “Abolish Women’s Prisons” photograph of protestors outside of the NC Correctional Institution for Women, The News and Observer – Raleigh Times, November 1974. Nancy Blood Papers, Box 3, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The History of Medicine Collections recently received the Thomas Bashore, M.D., Collection of Artifacts. Dr. Bashore is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Duke University Medical School, where he specialized in treatment of cardiovascular conditions and congenital heart disease. He first began collecting historic medical artifacts, such as mechanical devices relating to electrotherapy and cardiology, and expanded his collection to include fringe medical instruments and treatments.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 29, at 4:30 p.m. to celebrate the Thomas Bashore Collection. Dr. Bashore will provide remarks.
The United Nations considers intellectual freedom to be a basic human right through Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which asserts: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Libraries in particular value intellectual freedom as part of their mission to provide and protect access to information and ideas. According to the American Library Association intellectual freedom is an integral component of a democratic society, protecting an individual’s right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Yet there is an intensification of threats to intellectual freedom across the United States, with pressure on curriculum and research, book and program challenges, and censorship attempts continuing to reach unprecedented levels.
This year’s Janie K. Long Speaker Series program will focus on the impact of challenges to intellectual freedom on higher education and the steps we can take to support students, faculty, staff, and other members of our community. We will also honor Duke Alumnus Harry H. Harkins Jr, T’73 longtime supporter of LGBTQ+ library collections, scholars, and this event series.
Speakers: Robin Koshelev, Duke undergraduate researcher, Dr. Janie K. Long, Duke faculty emerita, Dr. Joseph Salem, University Librarian, Dr. Pete Sigal, Department of History; moderated by author, journalist, and Duke alumnus Steven Petrow.
Sponsored by: Duke University Libraries, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke Department of History, and the Duke Program for Scholars and Publics.
Post contributed by Madeline Huh, Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Intern.
As this year’s Trent History of Medicine Intern, I was given the exciting opportunity to curate an exhibit for the Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Room. I’m pleased to say that my exhibit, entitled “Defiant Bodies: Discourses on Intersex, 1573-2003,” is now open to the public in the Rubenstein Library. The exhibit explores changing dialogues around nonbinary sex and intersex identity over six centuries, from early modern medicine to 21st-century activism and (some of) the many interdisciplinary representations in between. There is also an online version of the exhibit, which you can explore here.
Thank you to all who have helped me during the process of creating this exhibit, especially Rachel Ingold, Meg Brown, Yoon Kim, and Grace Zayobi–I am very grateful for all your feedback along the way and your consistent willingness to engage in discussion with me on this complicated and important topic with such sensitivity.
“Defiant Bodies” will be on view from May 13, 2025 to October 4, 2025 in the Josiah Charles Trent History of Medicine Room. I am so very excited for you to explore it in-person and online!
Post contributed by Ama Kyereme, Curatorial Intern for the Archive of Documentary Arts (24-25) and curator of “Movement and Memory Through the Lens of Danny Lyon.” The exhibit is on display in the Rubenstein Library Photography Gallery through November 2, 2025.
In 1962, Danny Lyon, then a college student at university of Chicago, hitchhiked from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois, to document segregation to document segregation, and to join the Civil Rights Movement. Brought in by James Forman to work as the first staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Lyon traveled across the U.S. South documenting the conditions that initially prompted him to action. Armed with his camera, he made his way into spaces that his Black colleagues typically couldn’t go. From the Leesburg Stockade in Virginia to the Toddle House diner sit-in in Atlanta, the photographs Lyon made captured the ethos of the civil rights era. Facing hostile police and armed guards wielding bayonets, Lyon often placed himself in the middle of action to represent in photographs what he was experiencing.
Peaceful protests are foundational to the Civil Rights Movement, but violence is inextricable to the Movement’s history. That violence, both visible and invisible, is on full display in several photographs selected for this exhibition, from protests arrests to the funeral for the girls bombed in Birmingham, AL. While Lyon did not hold back from documenting the volatility of the revolution as he witnessed it, he focused his camera on capturing the Movement as it was to him and those around him. He directed the camera just as much towards moments of stillness, depicting the reality of the Movement within the image, as well as between and beyond the frame. He made evidence of organizing, protesting, rest, grief, and celebration, all equally deliberate actions towards an investment in an imagined future. Many of the images Danny created during this period became synonymous with SNCC and the Civil Rights Movement, and through their circulation were key in bringing about social and political change. The images of the young girls imprisoned in the Leesburg Stockade in Virginia were critical in making the public aware of the condition these girls were in, and ultimately led to their release. In this way, there is a cycle of action that Danny’s photographs take part in. Danny’s impulse to follow the action leads him to take photographs, and in turn he takes action through the intervention of taking a photograph. The photograph then goes on to act as a catalyst for other social and political action based on the content of the image. In addition to the iconic and spectacular images of the era, this exhibit includes images that provide a more comprehensive narrative of SNCC activism, through depictions of the South as a geographic hub, the role of women and youth, and the involvement of the church and religion as equally critical parts of the Civil Rights Movement.
