New Historical Exhibit on Display on 5th Floor

By Sarah Beer, McIntyre Library Special Collections Student Assistant

In the spring of 2016, fifteen public history seminar students, under the guidance of Dr. John W. W. Mann, created “Through Daniel’s Eyes: The Photography of Daniel Bastian Nelson.” The family of Daniel Nelson donated a collection of 415 glass plate negatives, with images captured in Eau Claire between 1898 and 1919, to McIntyre Library’s Special Collections and Archives Department. The class collaborated with the Chippewa Valley Museum to display Nelson’s work using five interpretive panels plus an introductory panel, accompanied by select photographs that support a common theme. The five themes chosen by the students are: the built environment, saloon culture, sports and leisure, Putnam Park, and flooding. Each panel explores the role its theme played not just in Nelson’s life, but in Eau Claire during his lifetime.

As a public history major, I was one of the students to take part in the Nelson project. Our class received our assignment, then went to the Special Collections and Archives to view the photos. Set out on the five tables in the reading room was the legacy of Daniel Nelson and the story of Eau Claire more than a hundred years earlier. We committed the collection to memory then met later and brainstormed ideas for five themes. After throwing around countless pitches, we settled on the five themes that would dictate our project. Two other students and I were in charge of the saloon culture panel.

To create our panel, we researched saloons and taverns in Eau Claire during Daniel Nelson’s lifetime. We looked at how many there were, where they were, and who typically ran and frequented them. During our research, we often came across not just supporters of saloons, but also their critics. This aspect could not be ignored, and so we included Eau Claire’s most dedicated prohibitionist, Waldemar Ager, in our story. Once we pieced together our narrative, it was time to piece together our panel.

Our class created a uniform template, but each group had to arrange the layout based on their own photos and content. Of all the work we did, this was perhaps the most difficult part. With infinite possibilities and so many variables to consider, we had to find the one layout that worked the best for us. Each group went through several layouts. Thanks to the critiques of our fellow classmates, we were able to find the layout that is the most pleasing to the eye as well as one that takes into consideration the many variables an exhibit needs to be effective for various audiences. It also had to be cohesive with the other five panels.

“Through Daniel’s Eyes” can now be found on the fifth floor of McIntyre Library, with the introduction panel positioned just outside of Special Collections and Archives. The graduate students of the seminar course also created a website to accompany the exhibit, which can be found at http://throughdanielseyes.weebly.com/. The website offers a deeper look into the life of Daniel Nelson, his photography, and turn of the century Eau Claire.

McIntyre Library Hosting "Freedom Summer" Exhibit

During the month of October, McIntyre Library will be hosting the Wisconsin Historical Society's "Risking Everything: A Freedom Summer Exhibit for Students" on the 2nd floor in the library's breezeway.  The Risking Everything exhibit explores one pivotal episode in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Freedom Summer of 1964.

Please join us on Tuesday, October 5 from 4-5:30 pm for the opening reception of the Risking Everything exhibit for a presentation by exhibit curator Michael Edmonds.  Light refreshments will be served.  

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Accompanying this exhibit will be programs featuring opportunities to explore, learn, and engage in meaningful reflection and conversation about the importance of the civil rights movement today. These programs will feature local, regional, and national speakers who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with our audiences. Every program will be free, and the public is invited to participate.

Voter Registration, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

In addition to the exhibit in McIntyre Library, we consider the following to be our signature events as part of the larger Risking Everything series of events.

Voices from the Civil Rights Movement: Reflections from 50 Years Ago
    Date & Time: Tuesday Oct. 6, 3-4 p.m.
    Location: UW-Eau Claire, Davies Center Woodland Theatre

Bridge to Freedom: Connecting the Past & Today
    Date & Time: Monday Oct. 12, 7-9 p.m.
    Location: UW-Eau Claire, Schofield Auditorium
 
Freedom Sings
    Date & Time: Saturday Oct. 17, 3-4 p.m.
    Location: Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1120 Cedar Street, Eau Claire

Visit http://www.riskingeverythingeauclaire.com for additional events and details.

Support for these events is provided by the Wisconsin Humanities Council and the UW-Eau Claire Visiting Minority Scholars and Artists program in cooperation with our community partners, the Chippewa Valley Museum, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Volume One and The Local Store, and JONAH (Joining Our Neighbors, Advancing Hope).

Special Collections and Archives Exhibit on 5th floor of Library

Special Collections Exhibit

Leave Feedback on This Panel

Proud to be a University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire student, staff, faculty member, or alumni? Check out the panel exhibit located on the 5th floor of McIntyre Library outside of Special Collections and Archives Department.

Items featured in the exhibit include university photographs and the Periscope (university yearbook from 1917-1995) from our new online digital collections website. Have fun answering our campus-related questions or stop into Special Collections and Archives to look at the original photographs and yearbooks or ask us any questions!

Follow @mcintyrelibrary, #uwecarchives on Twitter and “Like” McIntyre Library and the Special Collections and Archives Facebook pages for weekly updates and exhibit photos.

New Digital Collections Website Celebrates Campus History

Schofield Hall, winter scene, 1966, AS279.005.012.002

Its official – the McIntyre Library's Special Collections and Archives has gone digital! Since early 2013, we have been creating a digital collections to feature University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire archival collections. UW-Eau Claire students, staff, alumni, and community members can easily view campus photographs and browse or search through a full set of the campus yearbook, The Periscope, from 1917-1995, with this online tool. New collections will be added as we continue digitizing them.

In addition to online items, a panel exhibit is located on the 5th floor outside the Special Collections and Archives Department that features photographs, yearbooks, and information about the digital collections. Stop into the Archives or contact us at (715) 836-2739 or library.archives@uwec.edu to ask us any questions!

Follow @mcintyrelibrary, #uwecarchives on Twitter and “Like” McIntyre Library and the Special Collections and Archives Facebook pages for weekly updates and exhibit photos.

Exhibit on Nazi Resistance Movement in McIntyre Library

McIntyre Library is proud to be hosting the White Rose traveling exhibit (Feb. 3-19, 2014) which recounts the actions of the famous non-violent student resistance movement in Nazi Germany.  These students distributed leaflets calling for the overthrow of Hitler and his government.  After being discovered, the core members (six young students and one professor) were executed by the Nazi terror regime.

On Thursday, February 6 at 6:30 pm, there will be an opening reception which will include brief introductory remarks by Dr. Carter Smith, chair of the Department of Languages, and a 30 minute lecture “Resistance Movement: Lessons from the Nazi Past” by Dr. Teresa Sanislo, professor of History.  Light refreshments will be served and the public is welcome to attend.

To visit the exhibit, go to McIntyre Library's 2nd floor Breezeway (L2022). It is open for public viewing all hours that the library building is open.

Library Exhibit in Davies Center Explores the People Behind our Buildings

Have you ever wondered who W. L. Zorn is, or what is significant about Richard Hibbard? Opening this fall, a new exhibit in the Davies Center’s Alumni Room will explore the people after whom campus buildings are named.

The exhibit was developed by McIntyre Library’s Special Collections and Archives and draws heavily from photographs and information available through the department. The Special Collections and Archives is the official repository of historic campus photographs and other unique historical materials.

If you go:
Where: Alumni Room, W. R. Davies Center
When: 2013-14 Academic Year*

*Please note that the exhibit will be unavailable for viewing while the Alumni Room is occupied for other events.

Harvey Schofield, first president of the college, guided the campus from 1916-1940.  Today, Schofield Hall bears his name and honors his legacy.

Site-specific Art in the McIntyre Library Breezeway

Art and design students on campus have created an exhibit of site-specific artwork. Come to the library to enjoy the artwork in the 2nd floor breezeway, through November.

Library displays highlight the 20th anniversary of the ADA

Join us as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The main exhibit case in the library showcases a 4-part exhibit featuring materials from Katherine Schneider and McIntyre Library. The exhibit includes materials on access, the lived experience, work, and resources.

An 11-minute video showing near the display features people from Wisconsin who helped in the movement to get the bill passed. We Came Together is also available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayu2xSZoK0A

The IMC display includes the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book awards for child and teen books about the disability experience, as well as a bibliography of recommended children's books.

The Government Publications display features documents that cover the regulations and history of the ADA, plus recommended government Websites, such as http://www.disabilities.gov/

University of Hartford Photography Exhibit on Display

The library and the Department of Geography and Anthropology have collaborated to bring a exhibit of photographs of archeological sites provided by the University of Hartford Art School titled “Sanctuaries from Asia to the Americas.” This Minnie Goldenberg photography exhibit
celebrates the work of University of Hartford students Sarah Rutman, Jessica Hartke, Lenny Schwartz, Rosemary Ferreira and Dan Baird-Miller in Israel, Egypt, Mexico, and Peru. The exhibit is housed on the library's fourth and fifth floors. It will be on display throughout spring semester.

Black History Month Exhibit

Check out (literally) our exhibit of materials written by and about black artists, scientists and scholars on the library's first floor next to the New Book Shelf. Materials in the display are there to be borrowed. The exhibit, put together in honor of Black History Month, will be there for the entire month of February.