SCUA News

Special Collections and University Archives

by Audrey Sage Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles Godfrey Leland is a collection of myths and folklore derived from the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot tribes, recorded during the late 19th century. The work aims to preserve the rich cultural heritage of these Northeastern Algonquin tribes by compiling and narrating their ancient tales, which […]

-Audrey Sage The Phaenomena of Aratus is a co-publication of the Janus Press and Plowboy Press. This third-century work by the Greek poet Aratus describes the constellations and other natural phenomena The book is housed in a maple and birchwood slipcase with a lasercut label on the spine. The cloth-bound chemise is lined with Durer’s 1515 celestial […]

by Audrey Sage – Senior Conservator The University Libraries Special Collections contains a copy of Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s The Poor Rich Man, and the Rich Poor Man, published in 1839 by Harper & Brothers.  An important literary advocate for women in the 19th century, Sedgwick’s words, intelligence, and voice had fallen into obscurity towards the […]

by Audrey Sage Within a recent donation to the Special Collections, we received a copy of “The Night Before Christmas”, published in 1936 by the Saalfield Publishing Company of Aakron, Ohio. This wonderful edition was illustrated by Fern Bisel Peat, a very talented and popular illustrator in the early 20th century. “Fern Bisel was born […]

CLASS OF 1962 RING UPDATE Following up on the gripping “The Mystery of the 1962 Women’s College Ring” story from the last issue of the SCUA Quarterly, the second ring and its owner have been reunited! Beth Ann Koelsch tracked down (once again thanks to the 1962 Women’s College Yearbook and the internet) the owner […]

The “NINA M.H.” SCRAPBOOK MYSTERY BY HERMANN TROJANOWSKI My name is Hermann Trojanowski, and I am the former Special Projects Archivist at UNCG’s Special Collections and University Archives Department (SCUA). One of the projects on which I worked while at SCUA was conducting oral history interviews for the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project […]

SCUA staff pride ourselves on responding quickly to reference questions.  Usually, our patrons request a simple piece of information, but in September 2024, we were presented with a mystery to solve. Sue Lamm-Gurley, an Air Force Nurse Corps Vietnam veteran, whose story is part of the Women Veterans Historical Project, contacted Beth Ann Koelsch about […]

We are focusing our attention on the work of book artist Julie Chen. The University Libraries is privileged to have several of Chen’s exceptional works in their collection. One of which is titled You Are Here, a border book that measures 4″ by 4″, closed, but spans 15 1/2″ by 11 1/2″ when fully opened. […]

-Audrey Sage Lelia Judson Tuttle was born in 1878 in Caldwell County, North Carolina, where she grew up on the family farm. She graduated from the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG) in 1900, and did postgraduate work in English at the State Normal before receiving her Master of Arts degree in English from […]

Manuscripts Dr. Thomas K. Fitzgerald addition Artifacts donated by Dr. Thomas K. Fitzgerald to the Anthropology Department have been transferred to Dr. Fitzgerald’s manuscript collection in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives. Stylized Carved Wooden Head Polynesian grass and shell necklace and bracelets Louanne Watley Collection Louanne Watley is a visual artist and […]