Category: Special Collections

  • Introducing the Paladin Legacy Project: Preserving the Stories of Furman’s Student Organizations

    Introducing the Paladin Legacy Project: Preserving the Stories of Furman’s Student Organizations

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    Miles Dame

    As Furman University approaches its third century, Dr. Nashieli Marcano, Archivist for Digital Collections, is leading an exciting new initiative: The Paladin Legacy Project: Preserve Your Stories. This project empowers Furman’s student organizations to document their unique histories, ensuring that their legacies are preserved for future generations. Through her work in Special Collections and University…

  • Furman Athletics Photos from the ’80s and ’90s

    Furman Athletics Photos from the ’80s and ’90s

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    Christy Allen

    Hundreds of new photographs showcasing Furman athletes and sports events are now available online in the Furman University Historical Images digital collection. Most of the photographs date from the late 1970s through the early 1990s, and all of the originals are part of Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives. Here are some notable photographs that were…

  • Medieval Manuscripts: Treasures from Furman’s Collections

    Medieval Manuscripts: Treasures from Furman’s Collections

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    Jeffrey Makala

           The largest corpus of objects of material culture from the medieval period in the West come to us as examples of textual culture: handwritten manuscripts on treated animal skin (parchment, or vellum) and, later in the 15th century, early printed books. Considering surviving textiles, household objects, and even architecture in stone, it…

  • The Bluebird and the Crane

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    Christy Allen

    The Furman University Historical Images digital collection is filled with fascinating, but sometimes mysterious photographs related to the University. Take this image as an example. When it was uploaded to the Historical Images digital collection, it carried the simple description: “A crane operator inspects his crane during construction of Furman’s new campus.” But if you…

  • Furman’s Legacy of Slavery: A Digital Exhibition

    Furman’s Legacy of Slavery: A Digital Exhibition

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    Madeline Eastergard

    Written by Nashieli Marcano In a similar fashion to the Seeking Abraham Report produced by the Task Force of Slavery and Justice, and its accompanying physical exhibition held in 2018, Furman’s Legacy of Slavery  is a digital exhibition space for visitors to interact with Furman historical materials related to the institution’s connection with slavery. The sections of the website…

  • Graduate students in Advocacy & Equity Studies beta-tested DEI Audit Tool for Finding Aids

    Graduate students in Advocacy & Equity Studies beta-tested DEI Audit Tool for Finding Aids

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    Madeline Eastergard

    Written by Nashieli Marcano This spring semester we welcomed students from the Advocacy & Equity Studies graduate program to beta-test the DEI Audit Tool for assessing finding aids. As part of the course, AES 630: Seminar in Public Narratives—Cultural Institutions as Vehicles for Storytelling and in collaboration with Dr. Kylie Fisher (Art Education; Advocacy &…

  • Jeffrey Makala Gives Lecture at Rare Book School

    Jeffrey Makala Gives Lecture at Rare Book School

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    Madeline Eastergard

    Associate Director for Special Collections and University Archivist Jeff Makala gave the 2023 Kenneth Karmiole Lecture in the History of the Book Trades at Rare Book School at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in July 2023. Titled “The Lives (and Afterlives) of Stereotype Plates in the 19th Century United States Booktrade,” the talk was…

  • Librarian Emeritus Steve Richardson ’77 volunteers in Special Collections

    Librarian Emeritus Steve Richardson ’77 volunteers in Special Collections

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    Madeline Eastergard

    Steve Richardson has been spending part of his retirement in Special Collections for the past year as a volunteer on a project related to Upstate South Carolina history and culture, one of his main interests and passions. The department recently received a group of papers of Belton Oscar Mauldin ’1860 and the Mauldin and Sloan…

  • Faculty-Student Collaborative Exhibition: “Mice and Men: Evolutionary Thought and Heredity in Nineteenth Century America”

    Faculty-Student Collaborative Exhibition: “Mice and Men: Evolutionary Thought and Heredity in Nineteenth Century America”

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    Madeline Eastergard

    This spring, the library mounted an exhibition based on two research projects undertaken largely in Special Collections last summer. Curated by Dr. Gretchen Braun (English) and Catherine Davis ’24 with help from Jeffrey Makala, the exhibition traces links between scientific advances in racial science and heredity in the nineteenth century and its reactions, debates, and…

  • Furman Libraries in the News

    Furman Libraries in the News

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    Miles Dame

    The Furman University Libraries have recently been featured in two local newspapers. The first article, titled “How Furman created a rare collection of 800 ‘queer zines’ – and counting“, appeared in the Post and Courier on February 14. Reporter Benjamin Simon detailed how the Special Collections and Archives curated the collection of zines. A zine…