Past Exhibits

Main Exhibit Space:

Student Newspapers at Northwestern from 1871-2005

December 2005 - February 2006

In this exhibit, the University Archives draws on its resources to chronicle the development of Northwestern's official student newspaper. Beginning with The Daily's predecessors, the exhibit illustrates changes in style, size, and content in our student newspapers over the years. Also featured are Daily reporters and others who went on to fame and fortune. In addition, the exhibit includes examples of the numerous alternative papers that have co-existed with the Daily to meet the needs of specific audiences or situations.

America's Hispanic Heritage

October 5, 2005 - December 8, 2005

Highlights of the University Library's collections in Hispanic heritage and the new Northwestern University Press series "Latino Voices," edited by Ilan Stavans, were shown. The exhibit ties in with Northwestern's annual "Hispanic Cultural Celebration."

New Student Week

September 13, 2005 - September 29, 2005

Various University Library departments create visually intriguing displays that encourage new undergraduates to visit their facility.

50 Years of Africana: Honoring the First 50 Years of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies and the 50th Anniversary of the First National Meeting of Africana Librarians on the Northwestern Campus

May 3, 2005 - September 29, 2005

During May, Northwestern University hosts the biannual national meeting of the Africana Librarians Council and the Cooperative Africana Microform Project (CAMP). An exhibit of treasures from the Herskovits Library accompanies these events.

Recent Gifts to Northwestern University Library

July 5, 2005 - September 29, 2005

An annual exhibit of recently acquired books and information resources which acknowledges and thanks the donors whose generosity has made these acquisitions possible.

2005 Chicago Hand Bookbinders Exhibit: A Salute to Audubon’s Birds of America

March 8, 2005 - April 28, 2005

Members of the Chicago Hand Bookbinders will be exhibiting hand-bound books interpreting the theme of this exhibit strictly or loosely, with subject matter ranging from actual birds to more tangentially related subjects.

Opening Reception Tuesday, March 8, 5:30-8:00 P.M. Guest Speaker: 6:00 P.M. Russell Maylone, Curator, McCormick Library of Special Collections: Audubons I Have Known: Anecdotes of Audubon, His Birds and Writings.

Railroads as Agents of Change: Departures from Northwestern Collections

Illustration from Die Lokomotive in Kunst, Witz, und Karikatur (Locomotives in Art, Humor and Caricature), Hannover-Linden, Hanomag, Hannoversche Maschinenbau-Actien-Gesellschaft, 1922.

January 11, 2005 - March 3, 2005

From its birthplace in England in 1825, the railroad quickly spread around the world as a revolutionary form of transportation. There is little in the modern world that railroad technology didn’t affect, including urban and rural landscapes. In collaboration with Professor Van Zanten of the Art History Department, this exhibit focuses on the infrastructure and the aesthetization of railway culture. Examples on display are generously provided by the Transportation Library, Music Library, Africana Library, Mitchell Multimedia Center, Special Collections, and the Art Collection.

NU Library will host a lecture on Thursday, January 20 from 6:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. in the Library's Forum Room. The program will feature David Van Zanten, and Norm Carlson, finance consultant and former worldwide managing director of the transportation industry practice of Arthur Anderson. The lecture will address the advent of railrods on a global scale and provide a local perspective about Chicago and North Shore railroads.

Please visit the exhibit's accompanying web site "Railroads as Agents of Change: Departures from Northwestern Collections" by clicking here.

Other Library Exhibit Spaces:

An Experimental Tradition: Western Art Music After World War II

May 2005 - June 22, 2005

On exhibit are scores, sketches, and manuscripts by leading post-World War II avant-garde composers. All materials are drawn from the Music Library's collection. This exhibition is intended to provide a visual and aural sampling of various compositional styles and techniques such as minimalism, serialism, and spectralism. Included are works by Boulez, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Feldman, Reich, Stockhausen, Takemitsu and others.

This international group of composers is linked by a common desire to create new sounds and systems of sonic organization. In many cases their experiments necessitated the simultaneous development of alternative notational styles. As a result, a score’s appearance is often as stunning as the musical result. Several types of graphic notation and assorted derivations of traditional notation are displayed. In some instances sketches are paired with the corresponding moment in the published score, yielding a rare glimpse into the creative process. Recorded excerpts of most of the exhibited works are available on the exhibit’s audio station. For a complete listing of items displayed, please see the exhibit bibliography.

Drew Baker is the exhibit curator and a graduate student in composition who works in the Music Library. He had a piece in a recent Chicago Chamber Musicians concert, and was mentioned in the Chicago Tribune review ("'Perspectives' breaks mold ; Composers series gets Thomas touch;" by Michael Cameron, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill.: May 11, 2005), which Northwestern users can view here.

Special Collections

Eadweard Muybridge: Yosemite Photographs 1872

September 20, 2005 - January 31, 2006

Ten mammoth gold-toned albumen prints, made and published in a limited edition portfolio in 1977 by the Chicago Albumen Works will be on display in Special Collections. The prints are made from negatives held at the archives of Yosemite National Park of photographs taken by noted 19th century photographer (and former rare book dealer) Muybridge. These spectacular prints are notable both as images and as opportunities to see the tonal quality of albumen prints in a fresh, unfaded state.