Ongoing Display: Black, White & Read
On display on the first and fourth floors of McWherter Library through May, the “Black, White & Read: Reporting the 1866 Memphis Massacre” exhibition, as part of Black History Month and the Memories of a Massacre: Memphis in 1866 Project, commemorates the150th anniversary of this event in African-American history.
To learn more about this historical event, visit the Memphis Massacre of 1866 Research Guide.
March: Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month at the Libraries will begin with a “Feminist Issues in the News” Panel Discussion, Monday, February 29 at 7:00 p.m. in McWherter Library, room 226. Drs. Amanda Nell Edgar (Communication), Virginia Solomon (Art), Robert Boyd (Journalism), Susan Nordstrom (CEPR), and Ms. Elle Perry will facilitate a discussion about feminist issues (e.g., gender, ability, sexual, racial, economic, environmental, neo-colonialist, body, and age) in the day’s New York Times.
This event coincides with an ongoing display, “Feminist Sculpture for Strolling,” a papier-mâché spherical sculpture which is a part of the Art Museum of the University of Memphis’ Disassembling Statements => Assembling Solidarity project which seeks to disassemble the daily acts of gender, sexual, racial, class, environmental, body, and age inequalities presented in newspapers and reassemble them as a spherical sculpture. Everyone is encouraged to bring newspaper articles concerning any and all feminist issues and drop them off at the display in the center of McWherter Library’ rotunda. A representative will paste the articles on the sculpture each Wednesday from noon – 1:30 p.m. The finished sculpture will be displayed at the Women’s History Month Closing Ceremony, April 1 at 12:30 p.m.
Women’s History Month at the Libraries will close with two events. The first will be a book reading and signing of Down Home Blues by Phyllis Dixon, Tuesday, March 22 at 2:00 p.m. in McWherter Library, room 226.
The second event will be “The Life of Frances Hooks,” an honorarium and lecture by Will Love, Library Assistant and staff of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, Wednesday, March 23 at 3:00 p.m. in McWherter Library, room 226. Born and raised in Memphis, Frances Dancy Hooks was a well-known educator and wife of NAACP executive director Benjamin Hooks. Through her work with the NAACP and other organizations, Mrs. Hooks influenced the trajectory of initiatives involving education, poverty, and women’s rights here in Memphis and throughout the nation. This presentation will focus on her life as a teacher, activist, and church member, demonstrating how her work at the intersection of African-American and women’s civil rights greatly influenced modern women’s history.
Visit the Women’s History Month 2016 Calendar of Events for a full list of events on campus. #UMemWomen
New Technology Available to Check Out
The Libraries now offer Leap motion tracking sensors and Eye Tribe eye tracking sensors for check out at the McWherter Library circulation desk. The Leap Motion sensor is analogous to a mouse; it plugs into the USB port and allows you to use your hands and fingers to interact with a computer application as a kind of touch-less mouse. The Eye Tribe sensor allows you to use your eyes to operate a web-browser. To learn more, visit the Sensors Research Guide.
Technology Training
The Libraries offers 3D printing, web design, and soldering workshops. Visit the technology tab on the Libraries’ homepage to see a full schedule of workshops.