Click here for May intersession hours for the Stafford Campus Library.

Flower image provided by publicphoto.org.

2012 Weinbrecht Award recipient Sara Seller with University Librarian Rosemary Arneson

The Simpson Library student awards were announced today during the student assistant appreciation reception. The staff would like to congratulate the award winners and thank all our student assistants for a fantastic year!

The 2012 Weinbrecht Award was given to Sara Sellers. This award is named for Ruby York Weinbrecht, who in 1948 graduated from MWC with not only a major in history on her resume, but employment in the old Trinkle Library as a student aid as well. She returned to her alma mater in 1971 as Library Director, and upon her retirement in 1983, two long-time friends of her, the College, and the Library, anonymously contributed money in her name for this prestigious award.  This award is given each year to a graduating senior who has distinguished himself/herself in the areas of scholarship, years of service, and the performance of his or her duties.

2012 University Librarian’s Award recipient Matt Patterson with University Librarian Rosemary Arneson

The 2012 University Librarian’s Award was given to Matt Patterson. The award is given to a student that brings something special to the Library.

The Quenzel Memorial Scholarships was established in memory of Dr. Carrol H. Quenzel, a highly respected librarian at Mary Washington College.  Dr. Quenzel served as Librarian of Trinkle Library from 1943 to 1968.  The Scholarships are awarded each year to rising juniors and seniors who have worked the previous semester or are currently working as student assistants in the Simpson Library.  This year eight of our student assistants have been selected as recipients of the Quenzel Memorial Scholarships. The 2012 Quenzel Memorial Scholarships award winners are:

• Jessica Murnin - Circulation – Desk Team
• Kaylee Wilshire  - Circulation – Book Repair
• Liz Carnevale - Circulation – Collection Maintenance
• Ruth Dalrymple - Circulation – Collection Maintenance
• Ethan Bottone - Circulation – ILL
• Tracy Frelk - Government Documents
• Melissa Getz - Special Collections
• Hannah Ridenour - Special Collections/Reference

The Library selects student supervisors for their leadership capabilities, to help train other student assistants, and to set examples so that departments are cohesive units, running well and smoothly. The student supervisors for 2012-2013 are:

• Kaylee Wilshire - Circulation – Book Repair
• Liz Carnavale - Circulation – Collection Maintenance
• Ethan Bottone - Circulation – ILL
• Tracy Frelk - Government Documents
• Hannah Ridenour - Reference
• Melissa Getz - Special Collections

The library staff would also like to wish our graduating seniors the best of luck!  Our graduating seniors are:

• Erin Burdwood
• Shellye Burrow
• Elise Conklin
• Meghan Cooke
• Jasmine Gauss
• Kelsey Leonard
• Brendan Oudekerk
• Matthew Patterson
• Sheridan Sayles
• Sara Sellers
• Mallory Somerset

Finally, the Simpson Library staff would like to thank Stephanie Hall for her work this semester interning in Special Collections and working on the Boswell/Johnson exhibit and University Relations’ photographs.

Samuel Johnson, Wikimedia Commons

In 1791, James Boswell wrote what has come to be known as “the first modern biography” on Dr. Samuel Johnson. This semester the Library’s exhibit explores the lives of both Boswell and Johnson. Visitors can view rare books from UMW Libraries’ Special Collections, including Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and The Rambler (1791, as well as works by his contemporaries such as Oliver Goldsmith. Created in partnership with the Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series, the exhibit can be viewed online here.

Date: March 22-June 1, 2012
Time: Exhibit open during regular Simpson Library hours
Location: Simpson Library, 2nd floor

UMW Libraries recently purchased a 1920s photograph of “Faculty and Students, Summer School, July 22, 1920, State Normal School” which was showcased in the Flashback section of the Free Lance-Star. The photograph was originally purchased by Ingrid and Michael Kelly at the Big Flea Market in Chantilly. The Kellys, whose daughter and son-in-law graduated from Mary Washington in the 1980s, hoped that by publishing the image in the paper someone might be able to recognize a family member who attended Mary Washington in those early years. Founded in 1908, the University of Mary Washington transitioned from the State Normal School to the State Teachers College at Fredericksburg in 1924.

University historian, William B. “Bill” Crawley, and archivist, Carolyn S. Parsons were contacted by the Free Lance-Starstaff regarding the history of the image. President Algernon. B. Chandler, Jr. and Bunyan Yates Tyner, dean and professor of education, were identified seated in the front row surrounded by other students and faculty. Early yearbooks and bulletins usually show only photographs of classes attending the full academic session, so to locate an image of an early summer school session is unique. Already researchers have stopped by the University Archives to see if they can locate their grandmothers or aunts in the photograph.

The original Free Lance-Star article on the photograph is located at http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2012/022012/02212012/678094.

The University Archives collects materials on the history of the University of Mary Washington and serves as the official repository for archival and historical materials for all offices, departments, and divisions of the University. For additional information visit UMW Libraries, Special Collections, at http://libguides.umw.edu/SpecColl.

If you’re looking for information about other languages, check out the Modern Foreign Languages guide, created by Reference and Humanities Librarian Jack Bales.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons