Joyner Library Special Collections opens centennial exhibit series
GREENVILLE, NC — Joyner Library’s Special Collections department has recently opened a new series of exhibits to celebrate East Carolina University’s Centennial in 2007.
The first exhibit in the series, “The Founding of an Institution: East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1907-1921,” runs through Sept. 15. The exhibit offers a glimpse into the first years of East Carolina, drawn primarily from university archives. The exhibit features photographs, drawings, blueprints and various artifacts. Also on display are two garments — founding President Robert Wright’s ceremonial cap and gown and his wife’s wedding dress.
The exhibit series, “A Century of Education and Impact: The History of East Carolina University” consists of four exhibits, each highlighting a specific period of ECU’s development. The series runs through 2007.
This first exhibit in the series, curated by graduate student Adrienne Rea, is a close look at life on the ECTTS campus.
“The exhibit covers the earliest era of East Carolina’s history, from charter through construction to educating teachers for Eastern North Carolina,” said Suellyn Lathrop, University Archivist. “Under the watchful eye of trustee chairman Thomas Jarvis, the buildings rose while President Robert Wright hired teachers and created a curriculum for the students. From 1911 to 1921 the school consisted of a preparatory high school and a two year normal school that produced approximately 550 teachers in 10 years.”
The other three exhibits in the series look at East Carolina’s transformation from East Carolina Teachers Training School to East Carolina University.
The exhibit is located in the Special Collections Department of J. Y. Joyner Library on the East Carolina University campus. It is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information about this exhibit, or Special Collections, call 252-328-6671, or visit their website http://www.ecu.edu/lib/spclcoll/.