Longwood University Library

You are invited to a library event featuring Dr. Larissa Smith Fergeson, Associate Professor of History, who will speak on “Remembering School Days: Oral Histories of Black Education in Jim Crow Virginia.” Following the presentation, refreshments will be served in the Special Collections Room of the Library.

Dr. Fergeson has been involved in public history projects that have focused on recording the memories of African Americans who attended segregated schools in Southside Virginia during the twentieth century. She will share with the audience some oral histories of individuals who attended schools in Mecklenburg County, Appomattox County, and Prince Edward County. She will discuss what these oral histories can teach us about African Americans’ views of education during the era of segregation.

Please come for some coffee and a brief discussion (interactive we hope)
of Virgil the celebrated classical Roman poet. He was born October 15, 70 BCE
and died September 21, 19 BCE. He authored three types of epics: the Bucolics
(or Eclogues), the Georgics and the virtually completed Aeneid, the last
an epic poem in imitation of Homer. This work became the Roman Empire’s
national epic.

“Virgil is suddenly newsy” reported the New York Times (Ja. 2007).
Nicholas Kristof invokes the Aeneid as a “tale of war and empire, and a
constant subtext is how easy it is to be uncivilized when promoting civilization.
[…] In war, moderation is the first casualty.” Of the new version by
distinguished translator Robert Fagles, an Atlantic Monthly reviewer wrote
that it is “…for our age, if not necessarily for the ages.”

After coffee and a social, Raymond Cormier will lead the discussion.

The Janet D. Greenwood Library is continuing its monthly series, “What is the Library doing for me?” to inform the Longwood community about library services and new products. To R.S.V.P. to our programs or comment, please contact Liz Kocevar-Weidinger at x2445 or kocevarweidingerea@longwood.edu.

RSS Feeds – What is an RSS Feed?

What can it do for me? What can it do for students?

What is an RSS Feed? We’ll tell you, plus teach you how to use this new technology to keep up with information in your fields of interest.

RSS saves time. Instead of remembering to visit a favorite Website, the news or information you want comes directly into your computer at whatever interval you want. In addition, most RSS feeds contain only links, headlines, or brief synopses of new information.

Black History Month

What resources are available for my students and me for research?

Virginia Kinman will provide an overview of the resources available for research on the African-American Experience through Greenwood Library.  The focus of this session will be recent acquisitions and primary resources. This session is particularly geared towards faculty and students researching or taking classes in either African Studies or African American Studies.

Women’s History Month

What resources are available for my students and me for research?

Mark Lenker will provide an overview of the resources available for Women’s and Gender studies available through the Greenwood Library. The focus of this session will be the multi-disciplinary nature of research in this area.  This session is particularly geared towards faculty and students researching or taking classes in Women’s or Gender Studies.

On Thursday, September 27, the library will host an event in a series of ongoing lectures related to the Greenwood Library’s archival and special collections. This event will feature Dr. Mike Lund, professor of English at Longwood University, and author of the Route 66 novels. Dr. Lund will speak in the Atrium of the Greenwood Library at 3:30 p.m. on a topic that relates to both the Library’s rare book collection and its collection of faculty publications. The title of Dr. Lund’s presentation is “Ice-Skating in Charles Dickens’ Novel, The Pickwick Papers, and Motoring along in the Route 66 Movie, Cars.” Charles Dickens’ popularity with a mass audience was launched through the serialization of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens’ story has inspired two interpretations of literary history, one based on the concept of the writer’s genius and another on the emergence of new readerships. Popular recent books and movies about historic Route 66 in America can similarly be explained as the product of individual talent or of forces reshaping American society.

Following the presentation, refreshments will be served in the Library’s Special Collections Room. Dr. Lund will be on hand to sign copies of his books, which the Barnes and Noble Bookstore will make available for purchase.

Greenwood Library’s first edition of The Pickwick Papers—in nineteen monthly parts—will be on display as well as the speaker’s Route 66 novels.