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In addition to the articles that appeared in the library's Footnotes newsletter and the Northwestern University Observer, two Chicago papers -- the Tribune and the Reader -- ran small pieces about the Elevator and the City exhibit; a blurb even appeared in the school newspaper of Clarke College in Dubuque, IA (link to PDF here; article on p. 2). A sampling of the local coverage:
"Nineteenth-century
'elevator buildings' were mystifying places, on the report of the
grandmother of Rochelle Elstein, one of three curators behind the
Northwestern University Library's exhibit 'The Elevator and the City.'
At the turn of the last century seven-year-old Florence Given, who
lived
downtown, was spooked by the first elevator she encountered. 'Florence
was a very independent sort,' says Elstein. 'She once set off and
came to a building. She walked in and ran home and told her family
that she saw people who went into a room and when they came out they
looked totally different. That really spooked her.' ... [the exhibit]
traces both the technological advances since [those early days] and
the role of the elevator in American culture ... '[borrowing] from
every single one of [the library's] collections.'"
--"On
Exhibit: elevators from the ground up." Chicago Reader, February
6, 2004, section 1, p. 34. To read the full article, please visit the Main
Periodicals/Newspaper Reading Room to view the hard copy (or,
if you prefer, a paid online version is available at the Reader website).
"the
exhibit features a striking selection of books, maps and photographs
that
trace the
history and
science
of
freight,
storage and passenger elevators from the early 1800s. Drawing
from materials from University Library’s vast collections,
the exhibit traces the wide-ranging effects of the elevator
in modern
life."
--"Exhibit illustrates elevator's urban influence." Observer,
February 26, 2004, p.2. Read the full article here.
"One
section highlights Elisha Otis's 1854 demonstration of the first
safety passenger hoist (patented
in 1861), while another offers speculations about elevators of the
future. Also featured are elevators of the imagination (such as Roald
Dahl's Great Glass Elevator), elevators in art (including an 1889
farce by William Dean Howells in which several guests are stuck in
an elevator on their way to an elegant dinner), and a portrait of
General George Owen Squier, said to be the inventor of Muzak (popularly
known as elevator music)."
--"New Exhibit:
The Elevator and the City." Footnotes, January 27, 2004, "In
the Spotlight." Read
the full article here.
"An
exhibit at Northwestern University library highlights the ups
and downs of how the ordinary elevator has influenced American culture--from
elevator music to Roald Dahl's book 'Charlie and the Great Glass
Elevator.'"
--"Already up: Show all about elevators." Chicago Tribune,
February 15, 2004, "Metro" section,
p.2. Read the full article here (Northwestern
users only).
Haven't had enough? Read the Northwestern University Press Release here.
