Collections & Exhibits - The University of Chicago Library

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Exhibit Thumbnail	Title	Locations	Subjects
Exhibits
	Anthropology at Chicago: Tradition, Discipline, Department Marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Department of Anthropology, this exhibit traces anthropology at Chicago from the early work of Frederick Starr through the notable era of Fay-Cooper Cole, Edward Sapir, Robert Redfield, William Lloyd Warner, and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown. Concluding sections review the contributions of Sol Tax, Milton Singer, McKim Marriott, Fred Eggan, Lloyd Fallers, David Schneider, Clifford Geertz, and other leaders of late-twentieth-century American anthropology.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 1979	Subjects Anthropology University of Chicago
	The Berlin Collection Showcasing the collection of nearly 100,000 books and manuscripts purchased by William Rainey Harper in Berlin in 1891, which became the core of the University of Chicago Library's holdings and have had an abiding influence on the course of scholarly investigation at the University.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 1979 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago Library
	Building Collections: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of the Joseph Regenstein Library Drawing on the concept of "building" as both physical space and intellectual activity, this exhibition highlights twenty-five of the notable book, manuscript, and archival collections acquired by the University Library since 1970.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Jan. 31, 1996	Subjects University of Chicago Library
	Building for a Long Future: The University of Chicago and Its Donors, 1889-1930 This exhibition explores the motivations and purposes of the varied group of donors who supported the University of Chicago from the time of its founding in the late 1880s to the conclusion of the extensive campus building campaign of the late 1920s and early 1930s.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Dec. 31, 2001 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago
	A Catalogue to an Exhibition of Notable Books and Manuscripts from the Collections of the University of Chicago Library Prepared for the Dedication of the Joseph Regenstein Library This exhibition showcases 109 highlights from the the Department of Special Collections on the occasion of the dedication of the Regenstein Library.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 1970	Subjects University of Chicago Library Special Collections
	Catalyst for Change: On the Occasion of Martin Runkle's Retirement as Library Director This exhibition covers the career of Martin Runkle, on the occasion of his retirement as University of Chicago Library Director	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Aug. 1 — Oct. 1, 2004	Subjects University of Chicago Library
	The Chain Reaction: December 2, 1942 and After This exhibition was organized to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, an achievement of Enrico Fermi and his colleagues at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Oct. 1 — Dec. 1, 1992	Subjects History of Science University of Chicago Physical Sciences
	Closeted/OUT in the Quadrangles: A History of LGBTQ Life at the University of Chicago Historical view of LGBT faculty, student, and staff life at the University of Chicago.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center March 30 — June 12, 2015 View web exhibit >>	Subjects LGBTQIA Studies University of Chicago
	December 2, 1942 and After: The Scientist's Movement in America This exhibit draws on the University of Chicago Archives to present the pivotal role Chicago has played institutionally in the development of the international atomic scientists' movement that took root in America as crucial consequence of the events of December 2, 1942.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Dec. 1 — March 1, 1983	Subjects University of Chicago
	Discovery, Collection, Memory: The Oriental Institute at 100 On the University of Chicago's Campus at 58th Street and University Avenue is one of the world's premier institutions for the study of the Ancient Middle East, the Oriental Institute. The OI has its roots alongside the very founding of the University of Chicago when President Harper mentored a young scholar named James Henry Breasted to pursue a degree in Egyptology. Breasted went on to direct the Haskell Museum around 1900 and secured funding from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in May 1919 to begin the Oriental Institute. The OI has conducted 100 years of excavation, research, and scholarship. Focusing on the geographical areas of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Afghanistan, OI scholars have worked rigorously to discover cultural heritage, decipher ancient languages, and to reconstruct the histories of long-lost civilizations. This exhibit remembers the OI's past through a collection of archival fragments, artifacts, and ephemera.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 16 — Dec. 13, 2019	Subjects Archaeology - Ancient Near East University of Chicago
	Education for Life: 100 Years of the Laboratory Schools This exhibition examines the pedagogical philosophy of John Dewey and the founding group of Lab Schools teachers, educators, recent advances in academic standards and educational technology, and demonstrates the varied experiences of students at all levels as they learned and explored individual potential in Lab Schools classrooms, laboratories, theaters, machine shops, art studios, and field trips.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Oct. 31, 1996	Subjects Education University of Chicago
	Elective Affinities: Private Collectors and Special Collections in Libraries Elective Affinities: Private Collectors and Special Collections in Libraries	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 2001	Subjects Special Collections University of Chicago Library
	Expanding Sources: Recent Additions to Special Collections As academic fields expand and diversify, Special Collections is building collections to support these new directions. Researchers are drawing on original materials in many areas including race and gender, cinema and media, graphic design, arts practice, and cross-cultural global studies. This exhibition displays recent acquisitions with research potential for a range of disciplines. The materials represent many formats, including children’s books, family letters, journals, fine book design, posters, research notes, clothing, board games, and printed ephemera.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 6 — April 24, 2020 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago Library Chicago and Illinois University of Chicago
	A Family Album--Unfamiliar Faces and Places from the University Archives This exhibit invites students, faculty, staff, and friends of the University to help identify some of the mysterious people and places represented in unidentified photographs from the University Archives.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — April 1, 1982	Subjects Photography University of Chicago
	Friends of the Library Friends of the Library	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 1979	Subjects University of Chicago Library
	A Gray City Dinner Party: Commemorative Dinner Plates from the University Archives In June 1930, the University of Chicago Magazine notified the alumni of the creation of a special set of Spode dinner plates featuring views of twelve of the University's Gothic buildings. The exhibit offers these notable artifacts of the University's invention of its own self-imagination along with documents and advertisements from the original release.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 1, 1985	Subjects University of Chicago
	The Great Ideas: The University of Chicago and the Ideal of Liberal Education Drawing on the papers of Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler, William Benton and Walter Paepcke, this exhibition explores the cultural milieu that made the "Great Ideas" central to the University's educational mission both on and off campus.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Sept. 30, 2002	Subjects University of Chicago Education
	Harold Swift and the Higher Learning This exhibition marks the centenary of the birth of Harold H. Swift, who in 1914 became the first alumnus to be appointed to the University Board of Trustees, as well as its youngest member.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Jan. 1, 1986	Subjects University of Chicago
	Highlights from the History of the John Crerar Library This exhibit presents the history of the John Crerar Library thematically, celebrating the role of the library as an intellectual resource in the city of Chicago, placing the Library within the context of Chicago industrial growth, and highlighting the individuals and institutions that supported, created, and sustained the Library.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Dec. 1 — April 1, 1990	Subjects University of Chicago
	I Step Out of Myself: Portrait Photography in Special Collections An exhibition of portrait photography collections in the University Archives.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 12 — March 20, 2015 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Art Photography University of Chicago
	Innovations and Innovators: The School of Social Service Administration's Contribution to Direct Practice Social Work, 1945-1975 This exhibition honors the 50th anniversary of the publication of Charlotte Towle's influential work, Common Human Needs (1945), and three decades of innovation in social work practice by Towle and her colleagues at the School of Social Service Administration.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center April 1 — June 30, 1995	Subjects Social Services University of Chicago
	Integrating the Life of the Mind: African Americans at the University of Chicago, 1870-1940 This exhibit presents original manuscripts, rarely seen portraits and photographs, African American publications, books by African American graduates of the University of Chicago, and other documents that trace the interlocking strands of academic and gradual social integration through the mid-twentieth century.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Feb. 28, 2009 View web exhibit >>	Subjects African-American Studies University of Chicago
	John Gunther: Inside Journalism The papers of John Gunther, one of the most prominent journalists of the 20th century, have been made public for the first time in this exhibition. Gunther got his start as a literary editor for the Daily Maroon at the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1922.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Jan. 1, 1991	Subjects University of Chicago Journalism
	The Library: A Retrospective View This exhibit presents a broad, retrospective look at the origins, development, holdings, and operations of the University of Chicago's Library.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — Jan. 1, 1981	Subjects University of Chicago
	Life of the Spirit, Life of the Mind: Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at 75 Drawing on photographs and documents from the University Archives, this exhibition explores how the planners of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Chapel Deans, the student body, and the broader community have interpreted this mission to shape the architecture of the Chapel as well as the programs it supports.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center March 1 — June 1, 2004	Subjects University of Chicago
	Looking Back at the First Regenstein Library Construction Project Reproductions of construction photographs produced for the 1995 exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Regenstein Library provide an appropriate backdrop to the start of the Regenstein Reconfiguration Project. University yearbooks and other publications from the archives complement the images on view.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 1, 1999	Subjects University of Chicago
	Looking to Learn, Too: Visual Pedagogy at the University of Chicago This exhibition explores the ways in which objects, artifacts, and images have been collected, deployed, and displayed in teaching, research, and self-representation since the early days of the University.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Oct. 31, 1996	Subjects Art University of Chicago
	On Equal Terms: Educating Women at the University of Chicago Since the University welcomed its first students in the fall of 1892, women have had very different stories to tell about the experiments in co-education and faculty diversification; the experience of the classroom, the laboratory, the dorm, and the streets of Hyde Park; the issues of mentorship, intellectual community, and career advancement; and the opportunities for political action and community involvement, for friendship, romance, and sexual experimentation.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center March 1 — July 31, 2009 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Women's Studies University of Chicago Library
	One in Spirit: A Retrospective View of the University of Chicago An introduction to the scope and diversity of the University Archives; not a history but an array of documentation and iconographic resources for the history of an institution.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Nov. 1 — March 31, 1974	Subjects University of Chicago
	Paul B. Moses: Trailblazing Art Historian The extraordinary life of the art historian Paul B. Moses (1929–1966) was one defined by barriers overcome. Through his writings, photographs, video clips, personal correspondence, ephemera, and original art, the exhibition tells the story of his journey from Ardmore, Pennsylvania and Haverford College, where he was the first African-American student ever admitted, to the University of Chicago, where he distinguished himself through innovative teaching and scholarship until his untimely death.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 12 — Dec. 16, 2022 View web exhibit >>	Subjects Chicago and Illinois University of Chicago History Art
	Preserving the Photofiles: Digitizing Images at the University of Chicago On view is a selection from the rich collection of more than 60,000 images in the University Archives Photographic Files, documenting individuals, buildings, activities, and events associated with the University, dating back to the pre-Civil War period founding of the Old University of Chicago.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Jan. 31, 2003	Subjects University of Chicago Photography
	The Presidents of the University of Chicago: A Centennial View This exhibition, the fourth in a series marking the Centennial of the University of Chicago, examines the distinctive contributions of each of the ten chief executives of the university over the past century.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Oct. 1 — Feb. 1, 1993 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago
	Robert Rosenthal: A Memorial Exhibition This exhibition opens the day of the University memorial service for Robert Rosenthal, who died on December 27, 1989, while visiting friends and book dealers in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr. Rosenthal joined the staff of the University of Chicago Library in 1950 as Assistant Curator for Manuscripts, Archives, and Lincolniana.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 1 — March 1, 1990	Subjects University of Chicago
	Science and Conscience: Chicago's Met Lab and the Manhattan Project Based on archives and manuscripts in the Special Collections Research Center, Science and Conscience presents unique historical documents and artifacts, many not previously exhibited. Items on display are drawn from records of scientists’ organizations and the papers of those who worked on the Manhattan Project and at Chicago’s Met Lab, including Enrico Fermi, James Franck, Herbert L. Anderson, Samuel K. Allison, Samuel Schwartz, Francis W. Test, Lawrence Lanzl, John H. Balderston, Jr., Albert Wattenberg, Eugene Rabinowitch, Paul Henshaw, William A. Higinbotham, and Donald MacRae, among others.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Feb. 19 — April 13, 2018 View web exhibit >>	Subjects History University of Chicago
	The Seminary Co-op Documentary Project: Capturing the Bookstores Distinctive Character and History After 51 years, the Seminary Co-op Bookstore left cherished home in the basement of the former Chicago Theological Seminary. The importance of the Co-op in the history of the University and for the greater Chicago and intellectual community warranted a significant effort to document it before it began the next phase of its life and to renew interest in this valuable asset on Chicago's South Side.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center April 1 — July 31, 2013	Subjects University of Chicago
	This Library Will Contribute to the Liberation of the Mind, the Understanding of Civility, the Exaltation of the Spirit This Library Will Contribute to the Liberation of the Mind, the Understanding of Civility, the Exaltation of the Spirit	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Dec. 31, 1970	Subjects University of Chicago Library
	Through the Lens: Stephen Lewellyn Photographs of the University of Chicago The prints on display, works by photographer Stephen Lewellyn, document University events, personalities, and campus scenes from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s, and were made from more than 10,000 negatives Lewellyn presented as a gift to the University of Chicago Archives.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Sept. 1 — Jan. 31, 2003	Subjects Photography University of Chicago
	Travels with Ida: Letters and Photographs from Abroad Selected from the Ida Noyes Papers in the University Archives Beside the voluminous correspondence between Ida and La Verne Noyes, the exhibit presents Ida Noyes's diaries, and the hand-colored photographs she took and developed on the way. The exhibit not only sheds light on the life of one of the most influential women in the University's early history, it also presents a unique view on the world as it looked to one of the privileged travelers able to circle the globe before the beginning of the 20th century.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Sept. 1, 1982	Subjects University of Chicago
	The University of Chicago Centennial Catalogues This online presentation reproduces the complete text and accompanying images from four University of Chicago Centennial Exhibition Catalogues, published in conjunction with a series of physical exhibitions organized by the Department of Special Collections to celebrate the 1991-92 Centennial of the University of Chicago.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — Feb. 1, 1993 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago
	The University of Chicago Faculty: A Centennial View "The University of Chicago Faculty: A Centennial View" examines the careers of twenty-eight representative scholars from the institution's first century.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Oct. 1 — Dec. 1, 1992 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago
	University of Chicago Press: A Century of Scholarly Publishing, 1891-1991 This exhibition, organized by the Library in conjunction with the University of Chicago Press, marks the Centennial of the University of Chicago Press by tracing its history from its beginnings as a small private corporation to its current status as America's largest university press.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center June 1 — Sept. 1, 1992	Subjects University of Chicago
	Uses of Gothic The University of Chicago's remarkable adherence to Gothic design and quadrangular planning through four decades of rapid social change and shifting architectural fashion form the theme of this exhibit.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center May 1 — Sept. 1, 1983	Subjects University of Chicago
	We Are Chicago:Student Life in the Collections of the University of Chicago Archives Drawn from the historical collections of the University Archives, We Are Chicago highlights student experiences over a span of 120 years. This exhibition features recent donations to the collections along with rarely seen materials. Costumes, photographs, T-shirts, letters, posters, publications, and memorabilia will combine to make this the largest and most inclusive exhibition in the ongoing Special Collections archival series, Discover Hidden Archives Treasures.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 2 — March 31, 2012 View web exhibit >>	Subjects University of Chicago
	Will Cuppy: The Natural History of a Modern Humorist As a columnist for The New Yorker and other publications, Will Cuppy (Ph.B. '07, A.M. '14) satirized evolutionary theory and commented on the ironies of human history.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Nov. 1 — Jan. 1, 1994	Subjects University of Chicago
	William Benton: A Public Life This exhibition examines the range and substance of Benton's contributions within a number of distinct but interlocking spheres: founder of Benton and Bowles, vice-president and trustee of the University of Chicago, pioneer in educational films and radio, owner and publisher of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Muzak entrepreneur, unofficial advisor to the isolationist America First Committee, charter member and vice-chairman of the Committee for Economic Development, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, founding delegate to UNESCO, liberal Senator from Connecticut, opponent of Joseph McCarthy, and creator of the Benton Foundation for philanthropy in education and communications.	Locations The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center Jan. 1 — May 1, 1987	Subjects University of Chicago