Category: Special Collections News
Feature Friday: Reckoning in the Archives
Posted February 18, 2022
As a JMU Libraries student employee, Selena St. Andre (‘18) found her passion between the pages of old JMU scrapbooks and handwritten farm ledgers from Shenandoah Valley farmers in the early 1900s. Previously, she planned to use her history degree […]
Feature Friday: From Deteriorating to Digital – A Graduate Student Success Story
Posted January 28, 2022
For History alumna Kayla Heslin (‘20M), working on her master’s thesis was not just an opportunity for hands-on archival work that eventually helped her to land a position as Digital Collections Coordinator at University of Pittsburgh. It was also an […]
Special Collections winter break closure
Posted December 20, 2021
Special Collections is closed for JMU’s winter break beginning Tuesday, December 21, 2021. The reading room will re-open by appointment, beginning on Monday, January 10, 2022, and normal spring semester reading room hours will resume by appointment on Tuesday, January […]
Ruth and Lowell Toliver Collection of Newman Family Papers Open for Research
Posted November 18, 2021
James Madison University Special Collections is pleased to announce that the Ruth and Lowell Toliver Collection of Newman Family Papers is now fully processed and available for research. The Newman Family Papers document George Ambrose Newman (1855-1944), Black educator and […]
JMU Special Collections open by appointment—and scheduling instruction for fall
Posted June 21, 2021
JMU Special Collections is open for in-person research appointments. Please submit appointment requests at least 72 hours in advance of your desired appointment time. Log in to the Special Collections Request System with your user account to request an appointment. […]
Feature Friday: Harrisonburg 360 Podcast – Season 2 Launch
Posted April 16, 2021
Join us for a virtual launch on April 28, 2021, to celebrate Season 2 of a podcast featuring the stories of immigrants in the Shenandoah Valley: Harrisonburg 360: Real People. Real Stories. One Community. JMU students in Dr. Allison Fagan’s […]
Feature Friday: Storytelling Through Clothing – A History of Women’s Rights at JMU
Posted March 26, 2021
Perhaps you have noticed a beautiful display of vintage women’s clothing in the lobby just inside the historic entrance of Carrier Library, near the life-size statue of Joan of Arc. The historic clothing exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of the […]
Feature Friday: Founder of Black poetry center donates collection to JMU Libraries (Dr. Joanne Gabbin)
Posted February 26, 2021
Two years before Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman made history with her performances at the 2021 presidential inauguration and Super Bowl, she took the stage at James Madison University as part of the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Furious Flower […]
Feature Friday: JMU’s Black Comic Book Collection (Brian Flota)
Posted February 12, 2021
In 2015 and 2016, Brian Flota of JMU Libraries donated over 10,000 comic books to JMU. These are housed in Special Collections–the arm of the Libraries that restores and handles the most rare, fragile, and valuable items. Since then, Flota […]
Feature Friday: Celebrating Simms and Black History in Harrisonburg
Posted February 5, 2021
The Lucy F. Simms School was once a pillar of the Black community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. From 1939-1966, the Lucy. F. Simms School was a thriving public school for Black children in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. While its closure during desegregation […]