Exhibits

As part of its mission, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives produces exhibits and supports the exhibition of material from its collections. The exhibits listed here were produced or supported by the Department of Special Collections and Archives, created by other departments or units in the University at Albany community, or selected by the Department's staff as being of potential interest to users.

 

Digital Exhibits from the Department of Special Collections and Archives

Discover 175 Years of UAlbany History!

Selections of online materials showcasing 175 years of UAlbany history for the university's demisemiseptcentennial celebration!

Chronological History of the University at Albany, SUNY, 1844-2008

A chronological listing of important events throughout the university's history, from its founding in the 19th century as a small public school for teacher education to a large general research institution.

University on the Make, 1960-1970

A timeline of UAlbany's unrest during its transition from a small teacher's college to a large research university.

Remembering Pete Seeger

This exhibit features images and audio selections from over 15 hours of never-before-heard live audio recordings of Pete Seeger singing and teaching children folk songs at Camp Woodland, a summer camp in Phoenicia, NY.

The Milne School Murals

This exhibit features images of the murals in Milne Hall, Room 200. David Cunningham Lithgow created these murals in 1935 for the Milne School. The images of the murals is courtesy of the Milne Class of 1961.

University Art Museum List of Exhibitions, 1967-1997

A list of exhbitions held at the University Art Museum from 1967-1997

Campus Buildings Historical Tour: (Ongoing digital exhibit) The exhibit identifies current University at Albany, SUNY, buildings located on the Uptown Campus, the Downtown Campus, the East Campus, and Alumni Quadrangle. The exhibit also includes information about University buildings that no longer exist containing, where known, details about the buildings including the date of construction, architect, cost, use of the building, and biographical information about the person or persons for whom the building is named.

Marcia Brown Exhibit and Resource Website The Marcia Brown Exhibit and Resource Website contains links to the finding aid, an image gallery and links to selected audio and video drawn from the Marcia Brown papers. Marcia Brown, New York State College for Teachers Class of 1940, is an internationally renowned illustrator and author of children's books. She is a three-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's highest award for excellence in children’s picture-book illustrations, for three of her books: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper (1954); Once a Mouse (1961); and Shadow (1982), and six more of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.

History of The Milne School, 1845-1977

Patricia Stocking Brown This exhibit contains items drawn from the Patricia Stocking Brown papers. Stocking Brown was the first female professor of the sciences at Siena College as well as a historian of women in science, a feminist, and advocate for breast cancer research. Outside of her scientific research, Dr. Brown was a historian and advocate of women in science. Her projects included researching married biologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, developing exhibitions of said female biologists, and publishing articles on women herpetologists and ichthyologists. Dr. Brown also became an advocate of breast cancer research after her own diagnosis. From 1997-2004, she was the founder and co-president of the Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer (CRAAB!), which provides support and information for those diagnosed with breast cancer and their care givers, and also co-founded the New York State Breast Cancer Network, a coalition of grassroots breast cancer groups which held the inaugural Breast Cancer Advocacy Day in 1999.

University Historical Murals: The following exhibit is a collection of murals describing the history of the University at Albany. This collection is the work of Geoffrey P. Williams, University Archivist. Each section of the University's history is a separate mural. 

The Secret Lives of Toys and Their Friends: (August-October 6, 2006; January 2007- , M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives) This exhibit contains items drawn from The Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children’s Literature Collection and is on exhibit in the lobby of the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives (Third Floor of the Science Library). This exhibit features a small sampling of the many stories written for children from either a toy’s point of view or about adventures based on the lives of living toys or objects. The over fifty items in the physical exhibit, including the small number displayed in this exhibit, are a fraction of what the Mathes Collection contains on the subject of animated objects and/or toys.

Edward Durell Stone and the Building of the Uptown Campus, 1961-1971: (University Library August-December 2006, Science Library January 2007-) On display near the entrance of the University Library are items drawn from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives' University Archives and book collections about the Edward Durell Stone designed Uptown Campus of the University at Albany, SUNY. The Uptown Campus was constructed between 1961 and 1971 on the former rolling hills of the Albany Country Club and the first classes were held on the Academic Podium in the fall 1966. Envisioning the Podium as the center of the Academy, Stone’s result has had considerable success. From the late 1960s to today the Podium has been the favored site for political demonstrations, informal student activities, and official events such as the Candlelight Ceremony to welcome freshman, and Torch Night to celebrate seniors’ transition to Alumni/ae. Stone’s buildings can be found from New York to Chicago to San Diego and from Peru to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. They span the gamut from private homes, museums, government buildings and factories to cultural centers, hospitals, religious structures, theaters, housing and hotels. All share a similar architectural style. This exhibit is curated by Geoffrey P. Williams, University Archivist. It will be on display in the University Library through December 2006 and an expanded version will be unveiled in January 2007 in the Science Library.

 

Elements of Book Design and Illustration: (April 2003) The exhibit highlights design and illustrations used in children's literature from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Illustrations were selected from the Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection for their visual appeal and to convey the range of artistic styles and media inherent in antique children's books.

 

Documenting Labor Inside and Out: Labor History in New York State's Capital District: (September 2002) The exhibit features the labor-related collections held in the Archives of Public Affairs and Policy (APAP) showing the wide array of records that labor organizations generate and the types of information that those records provide. These records are used by historians, scholars, and others interested in the labor movement and serve to document the labor history of New York's Capital District.

 

Miniature Books On Display: (April 5 - 30, 2001) Exhibits the work of miniature book artists Joseph J. D'Ambrosio, Asao Hoshino, Maryline Poole Adams, and other book binders and designers.

 

Eleanor Roosevelt and the University at Albany: (April 5 - 30, 2001) An exhibit devoted to Eleanor Roosevelt's four occasions in which she visited the University at Albany.

 

The Normal School Company: Company E of the 44th New York This website is the product of a graduate research seminar directed by Professor Allen Ballard of the University at Albany. The seminar focused on the Normal School Company, which was organized, raised, and led by two instructors at the State Normal School, the predecessor of the University at Albany.

 

Back to the Future: An Illustrated History of The University at Albany: Professor of History Kendall Birr illustrates the history of the University at Albany back to its founding as a State Normal School in 1844.

 

Once Upon A Drawing: The Picture Book Illustrations of Marcia Brown: (March 1997) Once Upon a Drawing highlights over 50 years of work by internationally renowned children's book illustrator and author, Marcia Brown.