Conservation is a creative process based in science, preservation standards, and collection care.

"Creativity in Conservation" is a physical exhibit of the tools and treatments utilized in caring for all collections of Emory Libraries. The staff of the Conservation Lab is technically trained in the discipline of book and paper conservation. Across libraries, they provide care for rare and special collection material as well as circulating items. This care includes bookbinding, damage repair, protective enclosures, environmental monitoring, storage recommendations, pest management, and emergency response.

"Archives, those which document the lives of African American artists, are essential to telling the complex stories relative to the development of black life in 20th and 21st century America." – Pellom McDaniels III, Curator of African American Collections (2016)

“Speak What Must Be Spoken: Art, Archives, and Activism” is the culmination of projects initiated in 2016 around the theme of black art and activism by the late Pellom McDaniels III, Rose Library’s curator of African American collections. McDaniels curated “Still Raising Hell: The Art, Activism, and Archives of Camille Billops and James V. Hatch,” a major exhibition in the Emory Libraries main gallery during 2016-2017.  

Emory Libraries selected “Still Raising Hell” as the basis for the Libraries first K-12 exhibit to serve community schools. Barbara Coble of Emory University’s Graduation Generation Education Partnership joined the Libraries’ team and led the development of curriculum aligning with state standards for excellence supporting fine arts classes and social studies and English/language arts. 

The Libraries exhibitions team adapted elements of the original exhibition and created new elements for installation in a school setting. "Speak What Must Be Spoken" now consists of 10 units that can be used alone or combined with others.

ONLINE EXHIBITION COMING SOON

Emory University Graduation Generation Education Partnership

These acquisitions become available resources for all those who pursue knowledge.

Behind these acquisitions is the work of librarians, curators, faculty, students, and friends of the libraries to support research and teaching in more than 30 academic programs at Emory University. This exhibit highlights the stories of and selections from a few recent acquisitions including: correspondence and memorabilia of renowned American author Harper Lee; artists' books focused on nature and the complex interactions between humans and the environment; and Le Antichitá Romane, a four-volume set of detailed etchings of Rome created by artist, architect, and printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778).

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

“The papers reveal the impact and influence of this Atlanta businessman during a significant period of growth in Atlanta.”

In life, as in art, process is essential. Each risk that we take or decision that we make is a part of our own individual process. In the end, we can see the artful process of a life through reflecting on and examining the details. When Chip Robert passed, in 1976, he left a legacy that continues to shape the South. Industrialist, world traveler, and dedicated friend, Robert’s life is a masterwork of joyful and deliberate process.

“Many of the topics that we address in this exhibition are ones that are still being discussed in Atlanta.” — Laura Starratt

Curated by Erica Bruchko, W. Michael Camp, Louis Fagnan, Kristin Morgan, and Laura Starratt, the exhibition will illuminate how Atlanta citizens confronted the trials of a rapidly evolving metropolis during the second half of the 20th century. It will focus on four areas:

• The end of the county-unit political system in Georgia and the revitalization of the state Republican Party;
• How Georgia responded to the federal mandate to integrate the public schools;
• The effect of advocacy in social planning; and
• The involvement of neighborhood associations.

“Many of the topics that we address in this exhibition are ones that are still being discussed in Atlanta,” says Starratt, who is also a manuscript archivist in the Rose Library. 

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

The origins of Emory's museum dates to the late 19th century when objects collected from disparate sources made their way to Emory College in Oxford, Georgia. These sources included Emory faculty conducting research and Methodist missionaries living and working abroad. Active collecting efforts supported international research by Emory scholars and brought the outside world to Emory students.

This exhibition explores origins, collections, people, and future directions of the museum. Ultimately, to delve into the history of Emory's museum is to uncover the ways in which it consistently acts as a catalyst for teaching, research, exploration, collaboration, and collecting.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

Randall K. Burkett was hired in 1997 as Emory’s first curator for African American collections. Over the past 21 years, he has led the university’s effort to build collections of rare books, manuscripts, serials, photographs, and print ephemera in this field. He and his Rose Library colleagues have sought to ensure the African American voice is represented and have given priority to African American-authored and African American-published material. The exhibition highlights treasures in the collections and Burkett’s stories of their discovery and acquisition.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

"Building a Movement in the Southeast" highlights the close relationship between our LGBTQ+ collections and our collections that document the history of Atlanta and social justice movements.

This exhibit explores the history, culture, politics, and public health initiatives of LGBTQ+ communities in Atlanta and the American South. It features letters, journals, photographs, and concert and theater programs from the personal papers of activists and artists, the records and publications of cultural and community organizations, and rare books and periodicals published by and for the LGBTQ+ community.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free

The exhibit spotlights materials from the Rose Library collections of activist Jesse Peel, playwright and activist Rebecca Ranson, the National Association of Black and White Men Together, The American Music Show, AID Atlanta, the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance (ALFA) and the Emory University Archives in addition to selected covers from an extensive collection of more than 900 gay paperbacks dating from the 1960s and 1970s.

"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories." ― Laurie Anderson

Born digital material is created by the thousands every single hour. Every text sent, every document created, every photograph taken. These materials are vast and ever growing, both in size and formats. But, where did born digital begin? And when did the Rose Library start collecting this material? In this exhibit, we examine the collecting story of born digital materials at the Rose alongside the evolution of the technology creating these materials.

"When the historian of the future seeks from among those who once lived a personality symbolizing the new Negro, he will find James Weldon Johnson made to order." ― Editor, Negro Labor News Service, 1938       

Often remembered as a literary pioneer of the New Negro Era, Johnson’s roles as U.S. Consul to Venezuela (1906-1909) and Nicaragua (1909-1913) are frequently overlooked. Yet, Johnson’s official diplomacy informed later achievements as a popular artist, press critic, and political agitator on behalf of the NAACP. Attending to this neglected facet of his life and legacy, "Black Cosmopolitan" examines Johnson’s early life, his political appointment in the U.S. consular service, and the transnational dimensions of his advocacy for black freedom at home and abroad.

Weekdays: Free after 5pm | Weekends: Free