TML News and Notes

In the fall of 1932, the Medical College of Virginia dedicated its first library building to great fanfare. As one contemporary described it, the new College Library was "a gem architecturally, faithfully carried out in the Georgian manner." 75 years later, that same structure continues to serve the needs of students, faculty, and clinicians on VCU's Medical College of Virginia Campus with the latest technology and most up-to-date resources.

As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Tompkins-McCaw Library building and the 110th anniversary of library service on the MCV Campus, an exhibit has opened on the first floor chronicling the history of this campus fixture. The exhibit includes historical images of the library, information about major milestones, and an illustration of the massive growth of library collections constructed with imprints from the Classics of Medicine Library.

The exhibit is located next to Current Periodicals on the first floor of Tompkins-McCaw Library, and may be seen during normal library hours. A companion Web page is also available.

For more information about this exhibit or the history of Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, contact Andrew Bain, TML Special Collections and Archives, at 828-9898.

Posted by Shannon D. Jones at 9:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Elvatrice Parker Belsches, VCU/MCV Alumna School of Pharmacy Thursday, July 12, 2007, Noon - 1:30 p.m., Directions and Map

Ms. Elvatrice Parker Belsches, MA, RPh, is an archival researcher, author and pharmacist living in the Richmond area. Ms. Belsches is an emerging authority on the life of Dr. Sarah G. Jones MD, the first known woman of any race to be granted a medical license by the the Virginia State Board of Medicine. Belsches will discuss her new and corrective scholarship on this pioneering physician as the author of her biographical entry for Harvard University's upcoming publication, the African American National Biography, (Oxford University Press, Spring 2008) and the author of Richmond, Virginia, a Black America Series publication (now in its sixth printing).

Posted by Shannon D. Jones at 11:28 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

June 29, 2007, 5:00 p.m – 7:00 p.m.
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences
509 N. 12th Street, Richmond, VA 23298
Directions and Map

Join the VCU Libraries in honoring women in all fields of medical sciences. The opening reception celebrates the contributions of VCU's own Dr. Marcella Fierro, Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell, and Dr. Yvonnecris Smith Veal, who are featured in this exhibit. The reception is free and open to the public, but a reservation is required to reserve your space.

To RSVP, contact Shannon Jones at (804) 828-0626.

Photo credit: S. Josephine Baker

Posted by Shannon D. Jones at 11:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A new exhibit has been added to Tompkins-McCaw Library Special Collections Reading Room. This exhibit highlights pieces from Evelyn Crary Bacon's time in the United States Army Nurse Corps.

Evelyn Crary Bacon was a trailblazer in nursing and nursing education in Virginia . As the Virginia Pioneer Nurses Centennial Program states, "she taught distance education before it was the popular 'buzzword' it is today. She founded and taught in ADN programs when the concept was very new. The curriculum model she designed at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College is still a successful one. Evelyn was also responsible for the RN to BSN program at the Academic Division of Virginia Commonwealth University -- one of the earliest programs of its kind."

Upon her passing, Mrs. Bacon left VCU Libraries her personal files, running in time from her days as a student at the University of Iowa in the 1930's all the way up to her work in processing the voluminous Virginia Nurses' Association Archives in the 1990's. Many of these items are included in the new exhibit.

Learn more about the exhibits at Tompkins-McCaw Library at http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/speccoll/.

For more information about this exhibit, contact Andrew Bain, Special Collections Assistant, at albain@vcu.edu or (804) 828-9898

Posted by Robert Johnson at 10:06 AM | Permalink

The Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Science will sponsor the Changing the Face of Medicine Traveling Exhibit from June 20-August 3, 2007. The exhibit, sponsored by the US National Library of Medicine, celebrates the lives and achievements of America's women physicians.

Posted by Shannon D. Jones at 6:07 PM | Permalink