UMW Libraries recently purchased a 1920s photograph of “Faculty and Students, Summer School, July 22, 1920, State Normal School” which was showcased in the Flashback section of the Free Lance-Star. The photograph was originally purchased by Ingrid and Michael Kelly at the Big Flea Market in Chantilly. The Kellys, whose daughter and son-in-law graduated from Mary Washington in the 1980s, hoped that by publishing the image in the paper someone might be able to recognize a family member who attended Mary Washington in those early years. Founded in 1908, the University of Mary Washington transitioned from the State Normal School to the State Teachers College at Fredericksburg in 1924.

University historian, William B. “Bill” Crawley, and archivist, Carolyn S. Parsons were contacted by the Free Lance-Star staff regarding the history of the image. President Algernon. B. Chandler, Jr. and Bunyan Yates Tyner, dean and professor of education, were identified seated in the front row surrounded by other students and faculty. Early yearbooks and bulletins usually show only photographs of classes attending the full academic session, so to locate an image of an early summer school session is unique. Already researchers have stopped by the University Archives to see if they can locate their grandmothers or aunts in the photograph.

The original Free Lance-Star article on the photograph is located at http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2012/022012/02212012/678094.

The University Archives collects materials on the history of the University of Mary Washington and serves as the official repository for archival and historical materials for all offices, departments, and divisions of the University. For additional information visit UMW Libraries, Special Collections, at http://libguides.umw.edu/SpecColl.

A rare 1537 book from Simpson Library’s Special Collections holdings is currently on loan to the University of Virginia Art Museum for its exhibit, “Variety, Archeology, and Ornament: Renaissance Architectural Prints from Column to Cornice.” Titled “Regole generali di architetture sopra le cinque maniere degli edifice,” the book is written by the renowned Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio.

The exhibit focuses on the crucial role of prints in the transition from manuscript to printed architectural treatises during the Renaissance. Along with the library’s loan and the museum’s own holdings, the curators selected pieces from various other repositories, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale Center for British Art, noting that “the exhibition affords a unique opportunity for the study of rare books and prints drawn from several national libraries.” The exhibition will be on view at the University of Virginia Art Museum through December 18, 2011.

For more information about the exhibit, visit http://www.virginia.edu/artmuseum/on_view/exhibitions/Variety_Archeology_Ornament.php