One of the leaders in the Civil Rights movement, Wyatt Tee Walker, will discuss his work in social justice and his purpose-filled life in an open forum Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Rev. Dr. Walker served as Martin Luther King's chief of staff and he is best known as the architect of Project C, the series of marches, sit-ins and boycotts in Birmingham, Ala. in 1963. Those pivotal days in Birmingham helped change public opinion that set the stage for passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965.
Walker, born in Massachusetts in 1929 and raised in New
Jersey, moved to Virginia in 1950 to study at Virginia Union University.
As a pastor and activist in Petersburg, he staged marches and
demonstrations. He later became a leader in the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference and served as Martin Luther King's chief of staff.
He also helped organize the March on Washington.
Walker earned a doctorate in ministry and served as the influential
pastor at Harlem's Canaan Baptist Church of Christ for nearly 40 years.
He has devoted his life to social justice, including the abolition of
apartheid in South Africa.
The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons
Commonwealth Ballrooms, 907 Floyd Ave. For further information: (804) 828-1384.
PHOTO CREDITS:Above right: May 10, 1963: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., left, and the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker announce a compromise with Birmingham businesses that allowed blacks to work as cashiers. Photo by Tom Self, Birmingham News. Above left: The photograph of Walker was taken in 1995 during a visit to Richmond. Photo by Alexa Welch, Richmond Times-Dispatch.
VCU Libraries has acquired a landmark in humanities scholarship -- the comprehensive collection of microfilm titles in the ongoing Early English Books project.
The books contained in this durable microfilm format represent the early centuries of printing in Great Britain, starting with late-Medieval publications and continuing into the 18th Century. The project to preserve these thousands of books, and make
them available through copies of the microfilm, was hastened by the Second World War, when bombing of key cultural institutions in England threatened the original books with permanent loss.
The University of Michigan organized American and British efforts to ensure the survival of books both famous and obscure, tracing the history of thought, literature, religious concerns, medical treatises and scientific explorations. Users of this extensive library on microfilm will be able to see the development of print culture, the nature of how books appeared in their own time and were involved in vigorous debate with each other, and hunt rare contributions to the complex world of the early modern era.
The acquisition of Early English Books on microfilm would not have been possible without the generosity of Virginia Tech, who made this donation to VCU Libraries due to duplication of resources. Early English Books has been at the forefront of groundbreaking humanities scholarship, and we hope that the microfilm of this rich resource of rare and important volumes will prove a significant wealth of material for researchers throughout the VCU community.
For additional assistance and instruction for Early English Books on microfilm, please consult
John Glover, reference librarian for the Humanities, or
Kevin Farley , collection librarian for the Humanities.
The Oct. 25, 2011 issue of STYLE Weekly features Patricia Selinger, head of preservation for Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries, quoted in the article
The Ripper: State Library hunts serial book vandal.
In concert with libraries and universities worldwide, VCU Libraries marks Open Access Week Oct. 24-30. This global event, now in its fifth year, promotes open access as the new norm in scholarship and research.
Open-access publishing is defined best by
Peter Suber as scholarly and creative work that is "
online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder." Open Access Week is sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries' Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to correct imbalances in the scholarly publishing system.
Virginia Commonwealth University is one of more than 200 North American members of SPARC and VCU Libraries endeavors to promote faculty and student awareness of copyright retention options and how scholarly work can be published in peer-reviewed journals that allow anyone free access to VCU scholars' work. Through open-access publishing, VCU faculty and students can better share with the world our research and scholarly work.
Recent examples of the VCU community's work with open-access publishing include these.
- VCU Libraries membership in Hindawi Publishing, which enables all VCU faculty a complete waiver of authors' fees when publishing in any of their 300+ peer-reviewed journals in a wide range of academic disciplines. Here is a list of VCU faculty who have recently published in Hindawi journals.
- The VCU Faculty Senate in December, 2010 passed a resolution endorsing open-access publishing, encouraging that "VCU Promotion and Tenure committees should recognize that publication and editorial effort in open access, peer-reviewed journals or republication of peer-reviewed articles in an open access repository offers added value and greater public good than scholarship made only available in expensive journal publications."
- The Center for Teaching Excellence posted a podcast with VCU librarian Dan Ream about peer-reviewed open-access publishing;
- Dr. Jonathan Becker, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, led an October, 2010 CTE Brown Bag Lunch conversation (archived here) entitled "Publishing 2.0:Open Access, Digital Scholarship and Public Intellectualism."
- VCU librarian Dan Ream spoke on copyright retention and open access publishing at the Oct. 11, 2011 VCU Presidential Inauguration Research Lecture Series at the Larrack Center.
On Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011 at 1 p.m. VCU librarian Dan Ream will offer a one-hour presentation on Open-Access Scholarly Publishing for VCU faculty, students, and staff. This event is also open to the general public.
In the Oct. 19, 2011 edition of STYLE Weekly, VCU Libraries Special Collections & Archives' Cindy Jackson is quoted in the article about AdHouse Books. Jackson is an expert in comic arts and manages James Branch Cabell's significant collection. The complete article:
"Cavemen in Space," "American Barbarian" and "Barbra in the Sky with
Neil Diamonds" might sound like the punch lines to a bad joke, but to
the folks at AdHouse Books, they're serious business.
Founded in 2002, the boutique publishing house has printed 45 art
books, graphic novels and comic books. While it might be small, the
Richmond-based company has established quite a name for itself in the
comic realm. Books published by AdHouse have won almost every award in
the industry, including honors from Domtar, Ignatz, Communication Arts,
the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, AIGA and two Eisner Awards for James
Jean's "Project Recess 2: Portfolio."
Publisher Chris Pitzer says while the company could print five to six
projects a month, it prefers to be more selective, usually releasing
five to six books a year. "Hopefully the quality of our library reflects
that," he says.
One standout from the AdHouse canon is "Afrodisiac" by Brian Maruca
and Jim Rugg. The book is an anthology for a fictional blaxploitation
character as he progressed from a newspaper strip and into the big time.
"It's a love letter to blaxploitation comics -- if they existed," Pitzer says. "That was a very proud moment."
"Afrodisiac" was nominated for an Eisner in 2010 for best humor
publication. "The books are absolutely beautiful. Chris puts a lot of
thought and care into the design of the book," says Cindy Jackson, an
archival assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University's Cabell Library.
"We've made a concerted effort to purchase everything AdHouse puts
out."
The company's next release will be "Blue Collar/White Collar," a
retrospective of Sterling Hundley's illustration and painting work.
Hundley, who works as a professor at VCU and an instructor at the
Illustration Academy, says that this will be his farewell to
illustration work so he can focus on painting.
"It's a nice, tidy way of wrapping up one chapter and embracing
another one," Hundley says. For 13 years he's worked as an illustrator,
with work appearing in Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, the Los
Angeles Times and The Atlantic.
"I've always loved his work," Pitzer says. "It's always nice to see a creator who pushes his boundaries."
"Blue Collar/White Collar" gets its title from Hundley's transition
from the blue-collar world of illustration into the white-collar world
of painting. Wedged between the full-color pages of the book are
sketches and notes made by Hundley about his work.
"I'm really pleased with what he's done with my property," Hundley
says of Pitzer's efforts. "He really is an internationally recognized
publisher. ... AdHouse produces some of the best artists' books that are
out there."
AdHouse is breaking form this year, publishing about 10 books instead
of the usual five. But don't expect Pitzer to have any big changes in
mind for his publishing house. "We are a boutique, we are small press,"
he says, "but we're a juggernaut."
The VCU Friends of the Library will hold the annual book sale from Monday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Oct. 28 in room B-7 of James Branch Cabell Library. There are hundreds of books, most for $2 or less. All proceeds from the sale help to fund VCU Libraries' programs, collections and lectures.
2011 Sale Hours:
Monday, Oct. 24: Noon - 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 25: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 26: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 27: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ** Special ½ price sale
Friday, Oct. 28: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.** Special ½ price sale
Preview Sale for Friends of the Library Donors:
Monday, Oct 24: 9 am - Noon (Please present your Friends donor card for admission to the preview sale.)
Each day leading up to the sale, we are posting to the VCU Libraries Facebook wall a selection of three interesting or unusual thematically related books that give a small preview of the material in the sale. We began with "Famous Johns," a category that includes "John Adams" by Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough, "The Day John Died" by Christopher Andersen and "John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father" by Francis J. Bremer. Come to the sale to find a large selection of other books about or by famous Johns . . . in addition to novels, collections of poems, plays, books on Virginia, history books, books on film and dance, cookbooks, scientific and medical books and travel books. There are also CDs, DVDs, LPs and other media.
For further information, see the book sale website or contact Gregory Kimbrell at (804) 828-0593 or kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.
The book sale is made possible through the generous donations of people from the Richmond area and beyond. Anyone can donate. For more information on how you can contribute to the next book sale, please see our book donation website.
Members of the Monroe Park campus community now have access to a large-format or poster printer at James Branch Cabell Library. Such a printer has long been in operation on the MCV Campus at Tompkins-McCaw Library. It debuted this week at Cabell.
Faculty, students and staff may use these printers. Here's how:
Also on the Web, VCU Libraries offers several helpful pages that explain how to create a poster-size document, sharing templates, etc.
Both library locations use the same format (patrons upload their documents via VCU FileDrop), and charge the same fee. You will get an email notification when your poster is ready. If you'll be charging the cost of the print to a university account,
bring the budget code with you when you come to pick up your poster.
Cash, check, charge and RamBucks are also accepted. The cost is $15 per
foot or portion thereof on the longest dimension. For example, a poster
32 inches (2 feet 8 inches) tall by 64 inches (5 feet 3 inches) wide
would cost $75. The MCV Campus offers additional tools--laminating and cutting--that Cabell does not.
Poster printers are offered as a convenience for members of the university who frequently present posters at workshops and conferences.
The VCU Libraries Catalog, Course Reserves and My Library Record will be unavailable on Friday, Oct. 21 starting at 4 p.m. for system maintenance. As an alternative search,
Worldcat.org for our library holdings including call numbers. Note that Worldcat.org will not indicate if an item is checked out.
In honor of the inauguration of President Michael Rao, VCU is conducting the Pound Out Hunger campaign, which focuses on the collection of needed protein-rich foods--peanut butter and canned tuna. The goal: to collect 10,000 pounds of food in seven days.
The food donated will go to Feedmore, which runs the Central Virginia Food Bank, a community kitchen and the Meals on Wheels program for metro Richmond.
VCU Libraries' collection bins will be located in the lobby at Tompkins-McCaw Library
and on the first and fourth floors in James Branch Cabell
Library.
From The Oct. 6 edition of the Commonwealth Times, reporting on the Oct. 8 Zinefest event. "Makers, readers and lovers of zines and other homebrew publishing pursuits
will gather for a day to trade and sell their wares, as well as network with
others in the zine community.
A "zine," loosely defined, is "an independently created publication
containing anything you want it to" and pronounced like magazine without the
"maga-", according to Alex Wrekk and Joe Biel's "Stolen Sharpie Revolution."
(Something of an introductory guide to do-it-yourself printing and
publishing.)
Zines are typically published via photocopier and can contain anything from
original art and writing, to appropriated printed-source material, to a collage
of both. They also, according to event organizers, can deal with any conceivable
topic.
"It's really complicated," said Celina Williams, student research assistant
at Cabell Library, which features a
collection of zines from as far back as 1969. Williams also is one of many event
organizers for the Richmond Zine Fest.
"It's something (the Library Special Collections) has grappled with," she
said. "When people ask me, 'what's in a zine?', I have to ask, you know, 'what's
in a book?' It can be about anything." More
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Oct. 4, 2011 that
VCU is launching an oral history project on Massive Resistance.
"Virginia Commonwealth University is launching an oral-history project on Massive Resistance that will record the stories of hundreds of schoolchildren denied an education by the closure of the state's public schools in defiance of the Supreme Court's order to desegregate.
The university is teaming up with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission, which oversaw Virginia's observance of the 50th anniversary of the public school closings, to track down former students from five localities that closed their schools and capture the students' oral histories on video. The oral histories, which will preserve the history of Massive Resistance, will later be posted on VCU Libraries' website.
The project also intends to help former students, many of whom are now in their 60s, to get closure on that part of their lives, said Shawn O. Utsey, chairman of the Department of African American Studies at VCU.
"We don't want to just get the story and leave," he said. "We want to begin to facilitate some healing."
Starting this spring, the university will offer a class that teaches students how to record these oral histories in a way that provides some cathartic value to the former schoolchildren.
"We hope it will be part of our department's ongoing work," Utsey said. "This will be how we connect our students with civil rights history."
The state-supported Massive Resistance policies -- initiated in the late 1950s by U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr., D-Va. -- urged localities not to integrate their schools, as mandated by the 1954 Brown v. Board decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Public schools of Arlington County, Charlottesville, Norfolk, Prince Edward County and Warren County closed as a result of the policy. In some localities, white leaders founded academies for white children. Some black children moved to live with family members out of state so they could attend school, but many stopped their education altogether.
In Prince Edward, public schools were closed for five years, from 1959 to 1964, shutting more than 1,500 black children out of an education.
Brenda H. Edwards, who oversees the King commission's Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship program, said many of the state's Massive Resistance records have been lost or destroyed. "This is the best opportunity we have to preserve that portion of Virginia's history," she said.
Edwards and Utsey are among the seven people from VCU and the commission traveling to South Africa in December to be trained in how to conduct the oral-history interviews. They will be teaming up with Sinomlando Centre for Oral History and Memory Work at University of KwaZulu-Natal, which has worked since 1994 to create an indigenous oral history.
Sinomlando, which means "we have a history" in Zulu, works to bring out the silenced memories of South Africa's Christian communities, particularly those that suffered during apartheid.
State Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, a former civil rights attorney who represented schoolchildren in the integration of Norfolk's public schools and has referred to Massive Resistance as "a tragedy that tore Virginia apart," is part of the group. He is chairman of the King commission.
"We need to create a cadre of people who can help us preserve that history, and this is an outstanding way to do it," Marsh said. "If we don't learn from our history, we're doomed to repeat our mistakes."
The project is funded with $48,000 from VCU. A reception will be held in Richmond on Nov. 20 to formally announce the project.'"
Brian Burns will discuss his just-published book, "Lewis Ginter: Richmond's Gilded Age Icon," at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 in the second floor multi-purpose room of the James Branch Cabell Library. A reception and book signing will follow the lecture at 3 p.m. in Special Collections and Archives on the fourth floor. The events are open to Friends of the Library and interested library patrons.
The author used The VCU Libraries collection during the research phase for the book.
The book is getting a bit of buzz in Richmond. According to the publisher's promotional material: "As a war hero, philanthropist and entrepreneur, Lewis Ginter was many
things to Richmond. Ginter was the first major marketer of the
hand-rolled cigarette in America. He developed one of America's first
streetcar suburbs and built the magnificent Jefferson Hotel, a symbol of
Richmond's ambition and prosperity. But beyond the well-known history
of this River City icon, there are many aspects of his personal and
professional life that few know about. Join local writer Brian Burns as
he delves into the hidden history of Ginter's extraordinary life to fill
in the gaps between Ginter the man and Ginter the legend."
Author Brian Burns has lived in Richmond since 1987. He lives in Bellevue, one of the neighborhoods that Lewis Ginter and John
Pope pioneered.
STYLE Weekly review
VCU Libraries salutes President Michael J. Rao, Ph.D., who will be inaugurated Oct. 14, 2011 in an open ceremony at 10 a.m. in the Siegel Center. Library faculty and staff who are not scheduled for public services duties are encouraged to participate in inaugural events.
Among the activities planned to mark the occasion, of keen interest to the library faculty is that a key component of inaugural festivities is a four-part research lecture series.
Dr. Rao is hosting the Presidential Inauguration Research Lecture Series, which brings together students and faculty from across disciplines and campuses to celebrate research and creative and scholarly projects. Among the presenters is Dan Ream, associate professor and director of outreach and distance education for VCU Libraries. The schedule of lectures is noted below.
Oct. 5 | Noon-1 p.m. Innovation in Practice: The da Vinci Center Examines Virtual Teaming School of Business, Snead Hall, Room B3186, 301 W. Main St.
Presenters: Kenneth B. Kahn, Ph.D., director, VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation, and students working on virtual teaming projects
Oct. 11 | Noon-1 p.m.
Research and Innovation: Making New Discoveries Jonah L. Larrick Student Center
Jackson Ward Conference Room, 900 Turpin St.
Presenters: Ann Nichols-Casebolt, Ph.D., associate vice president for research development; Ivelina Mecheva, Ph.D., director, VCU Technology Transfer; David Simpson, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology; Dan Ream, M.A., associate professor and director, Outreach and Distance Education, VCU Libraries
Oct. 13 | Noon-1 p.m. The Art of Collaboration: The Center for Clinical and Translational Research Critical Care Hospital, Room 1-304, 1213 E. Clay St.
Presenter: John Clore, M.D., associate vice president for clinical research and director, VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research
Oct. 18 | Noon-1 p.m. Research Is for Everyone: A Showcase of VCU Research and Creative Scholarship Across Disciplines University Student Commons, Richmond Salon I, 907 Floyd Ave.
Presenters: James S. Coleman, Ph.D., dean, College of Humanities and Sciences; James Vonesh, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Biology; Donna Reamy, associate professor and interim chair, Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising; Matthew Rutherford, associate professor, Department of Management
* * *
Also tied to the inaugural, Tompkins-McCaw Library on the MCV campus and James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park campus are drop-off sites for donations of protein (peanut butter or canned tuna). Food drops will be located in the lobby of Tompkins-McCaw and on the fourth floor of Cabell.
More Calendar of Inaugural ActivitiesNews article about Inauguration
Walk-In Research and Writing Clinics are designed to help anyone improve their research and writing skills. Undergraduate or graduate students, faculty and staff are welcome. During clinics, a librarian and Writing Center consultant will provide one-on-one assistance to find library resources or to work through the writing process. Drop in for quick questions or for more in-depth discussions. The clinics are co-sponsored by VCU Libraries and The Writing Center.
Clinic Schedule
Multipurpose Room, room 250, James Branch Cabell Library
- Tuesday, Oct. 11, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Oct. 12, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Oct. 25, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Oct. 26, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 2, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 8, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 15, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 29, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 30, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 6, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, Dec. 7, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
For more information:
Clinic Website. For a list of library instruction classes and events on both campuses:
VCU Libraries Events page. For more writing workshops:
Writing Center Workshops page.
