“Neilson Library: An Evolution” Exhibit on View in Neilson Library

The new Neilson Library’s inaugural exhibit focuses on the history of the building through the people and materials that defined it. Neilson Library: An Evolution is now open and can be viewed in Neilson’s 2nd floor Exhibition Gallery. The exhibit includes an expansive timeline covering 112 years, illustrated by photographs from the College Archives and following each architectural addition that culminates with Maya Lin’s transcendent new design. 

Director of Special Collections Beth Myers has been working to coordinate the exhibit since 2020, before the redesigned Neilson opened to campus users in March of 2021. “We knew that upon opening, a major area of interest would be how the library has changed over more than a century - and just as meaningfully, what has stayed the same.” Exhibit Coordinator Sylvia Hickman assisted with  the preliminary planning through 2020, exhibit designer Chris Danemyer of Proun Design, LLC  created the design concept, Sarah Morris provided content development, and John Walsh of WB Incorporated/Boston provided fabrication and installation. 

Neilson Library: An Evolution is the first of many exhibits to be featured in Neilson Library’s Exhibition Gallery, and is expected to remain installed through 2023. Additional exhibits will be installed in cases throughout Neilson Library in coming months. Those interested in proposing a future exhibit in Neilson may read about the guidelines, process, and proposal form.

Thank you to the following staff and donors for their work on, and support of, this exhibit:

Jeff Baker, Photographer
Jim Gipe, Photographer
Friends of the Libraries, Donors
Jan Golann ‘71, Donor
Sylvia Hickman, Exhibition Coordinator
Kate Long, Research Services Archivist
Nanci Young, College Archivist
Chris Danmayer, Proun Design
John Walsh, WB Inc., Boston

Thank you also to the following students who contributed to the significant research behind the exhibition:

Sonia Carrol ‘24, Reference Assistant
Amelia Dolbeare ‘24, Reference Assistant
Rory Haff ‘23, Digitization Assistant
Mars Ikeda AC ‘24, Digitization Assistant
Jamie Mastrogiacomo ‘22, Reference Assistant
Caroline Pace ‘24, Reference Assistant
Heidi Suh ‘23, Digitization Assistant
Bena Williams ‘22, Reference Assistant
Bella Yaguda ‘22, Digitization Assistant

Contact

Beth Myers
emyers@smith.edu