An artist known only as Miss Shuey painted this image of the Rotunda's ruins following the Great Fire of 1895. This piece of tin was collected by Shuey from those very ruins, transformed into a canvas, and sold as a souvenir.
Miss Shuey. Ruins of U.VA, undated (MSS 14359) Rotunda Souvenirs, circa. 1890-1920
The Retreat for the Sick Students, or what is now known as Varsity Hall, opened in 1858, a year after typhoid killed fourteen students and two slaves at the University of Virginia. Historical preservationists believe this to have been the nation's first infirmary built for a college campus. In 2005, in preparation for an expansion of Rouss Hall, engineers moved the 600-ton building 185 feet to its current location.
The illustrator known David Hunter Strother (pen name Porte Crayon) sketched this University of Virginia student on a visit to Grounds in 1853. The students had become notorious for their riots, duels, and abuse of animals and faculty alike, at least in the University's first two decades.
Porte Crayon, Virginia Illustrated (New York, Harper, 1871). (F247 .R2 S9 1871)
Gift of Bernard W. McCray Jr.
Thomas Jefferson presented this chalice to Dr. Robley Dunglison, the University of Virginia's first professor of medicine, shortly before the founder's death in 1826.
This architectural plan, from 1814, envisions what was then called Albemarle Academy. The outlines of the Academical Village can be already be seen in a large, empty Lawn surrounded on three sides by nine pavilions, with the fourth side meant to remain open. (N-309), Thomas Jefferson Architectural Drawings for the University of Virginia.
The variety of tools, materials, equipment, and supplies (not to mention the knowledge, skills, training, and techniques) required for the preservation of UVA Library objects is impressive. This exhibit showcases a few of the tools found in Preservation Services in Alderman, the Audio and Film Labs in Clemons, and the Dell Conservation Lab.
The physical exhibit is on view in the Stettinius Gallery of the second floor hallway in Alderman Library.
"Thomas Jefferson Revealed" is an mini-exhibition of spectacular treasures pertaining to Jefferson, all drawn from the collections of the University of Virginia Library. Items include a ticket from the "Jefferson Lottery," a letter from Jefferson to Maria Cosgrove, one of Jefferson's engraved calling cards, and even a lock of his hair.
Racism and discrimination, traditionally oppressive institutions in American history and culture, were challenged by the Civil Rights Movement (1945-1970). The "Jim Crow" system remained in place for nearly seventy years, until the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision re-energized equal rights activism.
For "The Most of Special Collections," UVA Library staff and friends identified twenty one categories that would provide superlative examples of the Library's collections, and within each category they made appropriate selections for display. The description of each item in the exhibition was written by the person who chose the item.