exhibit, Collective HER-story, A Mosaic Masterpiece: Exploring the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archives

The exhibit, “Collective HER-story, A Mosaic Masterpiece: Exploring the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archives” comes to a close this week.

This ambitious exhibit, featuring a broad and eclectic range of history representative of the Shuart Archives, opened on October 14, 2013 and enjoys its final weekend at the M.D. Anderson Library, running through Sunday March 2nd.  From Mayor Annise Parker to the Gorilla Girls, from former Mayor Kathy Whitmire to the WNBA’s first dynasty, the Houston Comets, the “Collective HER-story” exhibit has a little something for everyone.

UH Moment: HER-story Celebrates Accomplishments of Women in Houston

The M.D. Anderson Library and exhibit are open to the public over the weekend.  The “Collective HER-story” exhibit can be viewed on the first and second floors of UH’s M.D. Anderson Library (Exit 1 off Calhoun Road).  Come catch it (one last time) before it closes.  The exhibit may close, but the legacy of these women and study of their history will endure.

Blanche Espy Chenoweth (left) and Carey Chenoweth Shuart (right)

A new exhibit is now open for viewing on the first and second floors of the M.D. Anderson Library.  Last night, “Collective HER-story, A Mosaic Masterpiece:  Exploring the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archives” was unveiled to the public in conjunction with the Barbara Karkabi Living Archives Series, “Women’s Activism Then & Now.”

An ambitious exhibition curated by our own Vince Lee and Pat Bozeman, this multimedia Mosaic Masterpiece pulls together over 100 items and artifacts, across the wide scope of the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archives, showcased via a dozen exhibit cases, an interactive and edifying touchscreen component, the exhibit website and accompanying videos, as well as an online mosaic featuring some items that could not make it into the physical exhibit, linked to the archival finding aids from which they originate.  In addition to providing an introduction for further and deeper study, the exhibition lends insight and context to the history of preserving history and the critical necessity of the work–the stories behind the origins of Shuart Women’s Archive and Women’s Studies here at the University of Houston as told by Carey C. Shuart, Dr. Elizabeth Gregory, Dr. Cynthia Freeland, and Mayor Annise Parker.

The exhibit will run now through March 2, 2014 and is available for viewing during normal library hours. Archival collections are available for viewing in the Special Collections Reading Room during our normal hours of operation.

Please take a moment and view Mayor Parker’s welcome message for Collective HER-story below:

We had some special visitors in the Library on Thursday, led by the Australian Ambassador to the United States, the Hon Kim Beazley, AC, who was here to tour the USS Houston Exhibition. Located on the second floor of the library, the exhibition features original letters and artifacts from the World War II-era ship and POW camps, an American flag made by prisoners-of-war in Saigon, and vintage photographs of USS Houston crew members. Paintings of the ship are also on display, as well as a newly restored model, ship’s bell, two uniforms, and – of particular interest to the Ambassador – several items related to the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth. As a native of Perth, Ambassador Beazley has long had a keen interest in the story of the ship and her crew.

Pictured, L-R: Capt. Carter B. Conlin, USN (Ret.); the Hon Kim Beazley, AC; and librarian Julie Grob

The Perth joined the Houston as part of an ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea. The two ships’ fates were tied together, as both the Perth and the Houston survived that battle but found trouble the following night when passing through Sunda Strait, where they encountered a large Japanese force. Outnumbered and outgunned, both ships were sunk.

Mr. Beazley and his party toured the exhibit with curator Julie Grob and other University representatives. Attendees included Ambassador Beazley and his wife Susie Annus; Australian Consul General to the USA, Mr. Mauro Kolobaric, and his wife Silvana Kolobaric; Australian Honorary Consul General to Houston, Ms. Nana Booker; Capt. Carter B. Conlin, USN (Ret.) of the Naval Order of the United States; Don Kehn, Jr., Historian for the USS Houston Survivors Association/Next Generations; Dr. Marshall Schott, Associate Vice Chancellor/Associate Vice President for Outreach and Planning, University of Houston; Michelle Buhr, Director of Stewardship, University of Houston; and Julie Grob, Coordinator for Digital Projects and Instruction, Special Collections/Curator of Cruiser Houston Collection.

HMAS Perth

Grob presented Ambassador Beazley with a copy of Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors by James D. Hornfischer on behalf of the University of Houston Libraries.

Materials for the exhibition were drawn from the Cruiser Houston Collection, which contains over 70 boxes of archival material related to the history of the ship and her crew. The collection forms part of the USS Houston and Military History Archives. For more information about what is contained in the collection, be sure to take a look at the finding aid. The original materials can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room.

Just in time for tomorrow’s Homecoming parade and football game, Special Collections’ new online exhibit, From American Football to ZZ Top: A History of Robertson Stadium, is now live!

The Cougars played their first game at Robertson on Sept. 21, 1946, losing to Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) 13-7.

This exhibit documents the history of Robertson Stadium from its opening in 1942 when it was known as Public School Stadium. Built by the Houston Independent School District, the stadium was purchased by the University of Houston in 1970. Included in the online exhibit are images of the stadium’s construction and various events.

Robertson was the home of Cougar football from 1946-1950, and again starting in 1998. The Cougars are currently playing their last season in Robertson, which will be demolished to make way for a new stadium set to open in time for the 2014 season.

In addition to UH football, Robertson has hosted a number of athletic and non-athletic events. The online exhibit includes photographs of Olympic gold medalist and former Cougar Carl Lewis and the crowd at a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert, as well as images related to other musical acts that have performed at Robertson.

Take a look at the exhibit to get a glimpse of Robertson’s history before the demolition crews arrive!

The exhibit Sacra et Profana: Music in Medieval Manuscripts is now open to the public on the first floor of the MD Anderson Library at the University of Houston.

This exhibit encompasses the sacred and secular music of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic peoples as well as the while considering manuscripts’ physical nature, their production by hand and development to print. In addition to materials from UH Special Collections, the exhibit includes items from other major Houston collections, including the Woodson Research Center at Rice University and the Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

For more information about the exhibit, visit the exhibit web page, which also includes audio and video related to the exhibit. The short slideshow below offers a sneak peek at the exhibit, including a copy of a book of hours which can also be viewed in the UH Digital Library. The exhibit is open to the public through Feb. 1 and can be visited during the library’s regular hours.

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New Exhibit Coming Soon