Category Archives: Events

Events, Exhibits

Gallery Talk: Suzanis, Women, Weaving, Life Journeys

A suzani needlework textile.

Date: Wednesday, February 15
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Thomas Room, Lilly Library, East Campus
Contact Information: Mary Samouelian, 919-660-5912 or mary.samouelian(at)duke.edu

Please join us to learn more about the Lilly Library exhibit featuring suzani needlework dowry pieces, a custom interwoven within the social fabric of the women of central Asia. Learn about the textile tradition and techniques of the suzani, discover an enthusiast with an intriguing Duke connection, and enjoy the collection on display on the main floor of Lilly Library.

The gallery talk will feature Greta Boers, Librarian for Classical Studies at Lilly Library, and Mary Samouelian, Doris Duke Collection Archivist for the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Ms. Boers will introduce and discuss her private collection on display on the main floor of the Lilly Library and Ms. Samouelian will recount Doris Duke’s introduction to suzanis in her travels as well as her longstanding admiration of these handcrafted dowry cloths.

A reception with light refreshments will be held after the talk. This event is free and open to the public.

Events, History of Medicine, Readings and Talks

P. Preston Reynolds on Integrating Hospitals

P. Preston Reynolds
P. Preston Reynolds will speak on racially integrating hospitals, 1963-1967.

Date: Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Time: Light buffet supper at 5:30 PM; lecture begins at 6:00 PM
Location: Biddle Rare Book Room
Contact Information: Rachel Ingold, 919-684-8549 or rachel.ingold(at)duke.edu

Please join the Trent History of Medicine Society/Bullitt History of Medicine Club for its next speaker series event on Tuesday, February 14, 2012.  P. Preston Reynolds, MD, PhD, FACP, will be discussing “The Federal Government’s Efforts to Racially Integrate Hospitals Under Medicare, 1963-1967.” Dr. Reynolds is Professor of Medicine in the General Medicine, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care Division and a faculty member for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Reynolds’ research has focused on the history of race discrimination in healthcare and medical education.  She has published and lectured on the subject, received major funding from the NIH and national foundations, and won awards for her scholarship. She currently is writing a book on the history of Durham’s black hospital, Lincoln Hospital, and healthcare for blacks in the Carolinas, and revising a comprehensive guide to resources on the history and contributions of African Americans to the health professions.

 

Events, Exhibits, Readings and Talks

“Charles Dickens: 200 Years of Commerce and Controversy”

Date: 31 January-1 April 2012
Location and Time: Rare Book Room cases during library hours
Contact Information: Will Hansen, 919-660-5958 or william.hansen@duke.edu

Banner for Charles Dickens exhibit

This month marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, one of the most popular and influential authors of all time.  The Rubenstein Library commemorates the occasion with the exhibition “Charles Dickens: 200 Years of Commerce and Controversy.”

"Charles Dickens as He Appears When Reading," by C.A. Barry, Harper's Weekly, Dec 7, 1867.

Come see first editions of Dickens’s works, notorious plagiarized and pirated versions of The Pickwick Papers and Great Expectations, rare ephemera relating to beloved works such as Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, documentation of Victorian London, and more!  If you can’t make it to the Library, an online exhibit is also available.

But that’s not all!  Come to the Library’s Biddle Rare Book Room on February 8 at 7:00 p.m. to see author and Duke professor Michael Malone reenact Dickens’s fabled dramatic readings of beloved scenes such as the graveyard opening of Great Expectations, the death of Nancy from Oliver Twist, the “great trial” from The Pickwick Papers, and the Crummles theatricals from Nicholas Nickleby.

 

Bingham Center, Events, News and Features, Readings and Talks

Merle Hoffman Reads from Intimate Wars

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Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Biddle Rare Book Room
Contact Information: Kelly Wooten, 919-660-5967 or kelly.wooten(at)duke.edu

Merle HoffmanNext Tuesday, Merle Hoffman reads from her new memoir, Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom.

Hoffman is a pioneer in developing and providing women’s health services; an award-winning writer; and a fearless advocate for women who has been in the forefront of cutting edge issues for over 40 years.

This past fall, Hoffman pledged $1 million to endow the directorship of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at the Rubenstein Library. Her papers are part of the Bingham Center’s collections.

The reading is co-sponsored by the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture and Duke’s Program in Women’s Studies as part of this spring’s “Future of the Feminist 70s” series of events.

Archive of Documentary Arts, Events, Films, Franklin Research Center, From Our Collections, Human Rights Archive

Rights! Camera! Action!: Wetback

Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: The Garage, Smith Warehouse Bay 4, 114 S. Buchanan St. (map)
Contact information: Patrick Stawski, 919-660-5823 or patrick.stawski(at)duke.edu

Join Rights! Camera! Action! and our special co-sponsor Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) for a screening of Arturo Perez Torres’ “Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary,” winner of the 2005 Full Frame Spectrum Award. This screening is part of a year-long celebration of Student Action with Farmworkers’ 20th Anniversary.

Wetback follows undocumented migrant workers from their home in Nicaragua across Central America and Mexico to the U.S.-Mexican border, meeting many other migrants along the way. They encounter gangs, vigilantes, corrupt law enforcement, physical danger, and safe havens in their attempt to be among the 10% of migrants who actually make it all the way into North America. The migrants, those who aid them, and those who turn them back all give their own perspectives on how this vast, illegal system trafficking in cheap labor and dreams actually functions, and what its terrible costs and perils are.

Immediately following the screening join us for a panel discussion including North Carolina Rep. Paul Luebke (D), 2011 SAF Fellow Nandini Kumar, and SAF Advocacy and Organizing Director, Nadeen Bir.

The film is 92 minutes, in Spanish and English with English subtitles. This event is free and open to the public, with free drinks and popcorn and free parking.

Cosponsored by Student Action with Farmworkers.

About Rights! Camera! Action!:  Featuring award-winning documentaries about human rights themes from Durham’s annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the series explores issues ranging from the immigration and refugee rights to the justice system and the environment. All films featured in the series are archived at the Duke Library and are part of a rich and expanding collection of human rights materials. Co-sponsors include Duke Library’s Human Rights Archive, the Duke Human Rights Center, the Archive of Documentary Arts, the Franklin Humanities Institute and the Program in Arts of the Moving Image (AMI).

Events, Exhibits, Readings and Talks

Gallery Talk for “Memories of the Civil War”

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Date: Monday, January 23
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Perkins Gallery and Rare Book Room
Contact Information: Meg Brown, 919-681-2071 or meg.brown(at)duke.edu

Handmade playing cards, now on exhibit in the Perkins Gallery

If you haven’t stopped by to explore the Rubenstein’s latest exhibit, now is your chance for a guided tour! Join curators Jessica Janecki, Meghan Lyon, and Kim Sims for an exhibit gallery talk for “I Recall the Experience Sweet and Sad: Memories of the Civil War,” featuring memoirs, manuscripts, maps, and more from the Rubenstein’s collections. As we walk through the cases, the curators will highlight some of their favorite artifacts and objects, such as these handmade Confederate playing cards from the St. Clair Dearing Papers. Come to the gallery talk; stay for some refreshments in the Rare Book Room. And, free bookmarks for all who attend!

Remember, if you can’t visit the exhibit in person, be sure to visit the online exhibit — which has additional letters, songsheets, maps, and photographs that just didn’t fit into the Perkins cases.

Archive of Documentary Arts, Digital Collections, Exhibits, Franklin Research Center, RL Wire, University Archives

From the Rubenstein Wire

Korean Man Reading, ca. 1917-19. From the Sidney D. Gamble Photographs.

Before we dive into another exhilarating semester, it’s high time we caught up on some recent articles about the Rubenstein Library and its collections.

In the Lens blog at the New York Times, David Gonzalez explores William Gedney’s photographs of the Myrtle Avenue El in New York.

University Archivist Valerie Gillispie was introduced to the Durham community in a Durham Herald-Sun article.

NPR featured an interview with Robert Korstad and Leslie Brown about Behind the Veil: Documenting African-American  Life in the Jim Crow South.  The interview includes selections from a few of the one hundred oral histories now available online.

Neil Offen wrote an article about the exhibit “From Campus to Cockpit: Duke University During World War II.”  (The exhibit will be on display until January 29!)

Gamers far and wide noticed the opening of the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games with our first-ever Game Night, including the blogs Robot Viking and 88 Milhas por Hora (in Portuguese) as well as more local sources.

 

Exhibits

“I Recall the Experience Sweet and Sad: Memories of the Civil War”

Civil War Exhibit banner

Date: 6 January-31 March 2012
Location and Time: Perkins Library Gallery during library hours
Contact Information: Meg Brown, 919-681-2071 or meg.brown(at)duke.edu

“Memories of the Civil War” shares personal reflections and memoirs of Civil War participants from a variety of backgrounds: an escaped slave, a Union volunteer, a Southern woman, and an army field nurse. Also featured is the memoir of poet Walt Whitman, whose poem, “The Wound Dresser,” is quoted in the exhibit’s title. Despite the different backgrounds of their authors, the memoirs have remarkably common themes of triumph, tragedy, hope, and pain. Though the Civil War lives on in American memory and legend, this exhibit seeks to ground that legend in the experiences of those who lived it.

Accompanying the memoirs are supplementary manuscripts, photographs, and memorabilia from the Civil War itself, including maps, scrapbooks, and artifacts such as this amputation kit from the Rubenstein’s History of Medicine Collection. Original Whitman letters, flag remnants from the Battle of Fort Sumter, and handmade playing cards are other exhibit highlights.

amputation kit
Amputation kit used during the Civil War, now on display in the Perkins Gallery.

During your next visit to Perkins-Bostock Library, please swing by the library gallery to see the new exhibit on display now! If you can’t visit in person, be sure to check out the online exhibit, which includes additional letters and photographs that didn’t quite fit in the Perkins cases.

Also, please plan to join curators Jessica Janecki, Meghan Lyon, and Kim Sims for a gallery talk on Monday, January 23, from 3-4 p.m. The Devil’s Tale will have more information about this event posted soon!

Events, Exhibits, Readings and Talks, University Archives

Bob Harris on the 1942 Rose Bowl

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Biddle Rare Book Room
Contact Information: Amy McDonald, 919-681-7987 or amy.mcdonald(at)duke.edu

Join “Voice of the Blue Devils” Bob Harris as he shares thoughts on how Duke football has changed from the legendary 1942 Rose Bowl held in Wallace Wade Stadium to today’s modern game. He will also talk about the impact of the game on campus beyond the stadium walls.

Rosemary Davis and Jessica Wood, curators of the current “From Campus to Cockpit” exhibit, will highlight photographs and other artifacts from the 1942 Rose Bowl, including archival film from the game.

Following the presentation, game day refreshments will be served, and Harris will sign copies of his autobiography, How Sweet it Is! From the Cotton Mill to the Crow’s Nest.

“From Campus to Cockpit” is on display in the hallway cases outside the Biddle Rare Book Room through January 29th. An online exhibit—including the complete film of the game recorded by Duke’s coaching staff—is also available.

Articles on the 1942 Rose Bowl and the exhibit recently appeared in Duke Magazine and the Durham Herald-Sun.

Aerial Photograph of Duke Stadium during 1942 Rose Bowl
Aerial Photograph of Duke Stadium during 1942 Rose Bowl. From the University Archives Photograph Collection.

 

Events, News and Features, RL Photos

Snapshots from Game Night

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Our Game Night to celebrate the opening of the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games was great fun!  Thanks to all who took a break from studying and the hectic holiday season to attend on Tuesday. Here are a few photos from a memorable night.

Students enjoy examining a sample of the thousands of games in the RPG collection.
L to R: Rubenstein Director Naomi Nelson talks with collection donors Terry and Edwin Murray.
Materials in the collection related to Dungeons and Dragons, the original role-playing game.
Kids of all ages enjoy a game of "Castle Panic."

Thanks to Nelda Webb for these photos.  For more on the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games and Game Night, check out our earlier post, the “Top 5 Role-Playing Games You Haven’t Heard Of” (via Duke Today), and this article by Neil Offen in the Durham Herald-Sun.  And check out this excellent bonus photo from Game Night, by Beth Doyle!