Posted in Archives, Rhetorical Methods, Teaching

To the Marriott Library Special Collections we go

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Over the past two weeks or so, both my undergraduate “Strategic Feminist Communication” class and my graduate “Rhetoric in the Archives” seminar have made trips to the Marriott Library Special Collections at the University of Utah to look at some of the fantastic primary sources held there and to get some great instruction in finding primary and secondary sources from the fabulous archivist–and original cataloger for Special Collections–Allie McCormack.

The graduate students and I had trouble tearing ourselves away from these unique documents.
This space has changed quite a bit over the past century, as this photo illustrates.
For both of our meetings, Allie came prepared to exhibit compelling primary sources representing a range of diverse class interests.
The 4th Floor of the Marriott Library is a beautiful space reserved for archival exhibits and special collections. The design of this part of the library feels a little M.C. Escher-inspired.

The primary sources held in Special Collections never cease to amaze and–sometimes–amuse me. This work, by artist Florence Claxton, is a complex one arguing–I think–against suffrage and the women’s rights movement.