Seeley G. Mudd Library

Tag: Seeley G. Mudd Library

Corinne Wocelka 1931-2014: Long-Time Librarian Helped Modernize Seeley G. Mudd

Corinne Wocelka, who spent more than three decades assisting students and faculty members alike in the Seeley G. Mudd library, died suddenly Sunday, Sept. 14 after attending the Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field. She was 82.

Corinne-Wocelka_newsblog
Corinne Wocelka

As associate professor and director of technical services in the library, Wocelka enjoyed a 33-year career amid the stacks, beginning in 1976 as a circulation assistant. She spent eight years as an acquisitions librarian and the following 24 years as director of technical services, overseeing the acquisition and processing of all new materials added to the library’s collections.

She led the creation of Lawrence’s on-line catalogue system that helped revolutionize the way we access information, played a leading role in modernizing the management of periodicals and was a driving force behind the creation of the Lincoln Reading Room.

In addition to her excellent work in the library, Wocelka was an active participant on faculty committees, especially the Honors Committee, which benefited greatly from her high standards and attention to detail.

She retired from Lawrence in 2010 and was awarded an honorary master of arts degree at that year’s June commencement.

A native of La Crosse, Wocelka studied in the Mudd library before she began working there, taking advantage of the library’s resources while completing her bachelor’s degree in language and literature at UW-Green Bay. She later earned a master’s degree in library science from UW-Oshkosh.

A celebration of Wocelka’s life will be held Saturday afternoon Sept. 27 (time TBD) at Touchmark, where she lived in retirement, 2601 Touchmark Dr., Appleton. A complete obituary will appear in the Sunday, Sept. 21 edition of The Post-Crescent.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2015 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Traveling Exhibition on Lincoln’s Life Story Coming to Lawrence’s Mudd Library

Lawrence University will host a national traveling exhibition that examines the life and times of President Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln-Exhibit-WebThe exhibit, “Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times” will be on display on the second floor of Lawrence’s Seeley G. Mudd Library from Oct. 8 until Nov. 5. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

“Lincoln: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times” traces Lincoln’s path beginning with his childhood in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky and his early political career in Illinois and continuing through his presidency, Civil War years and eventual assassination.  The exhibition, organized in panels, shows how Lincoln transcended his age and left a constitutional legacy for all Americans.

The exhibit explores compelling questions about the nation’s most written-about president: how and why did Lincoln champion emancipation? How did a self-educated, rough-hewn lawyer with virtually no administrative experience succeed in guiding a divided nation through the crises of secession and Civil War? What was Lincoln’s plan for the nation’s future, and does the United States of today match his vision?

“Lincoln” was organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The traveling exhibition has been made possible in part through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, dedicated to expanding American understanding of human experience and cultural heritage.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

Lawrence University Hosts Traveling Exhibition on Lincoln’s Constitutional Challenges of the Civil War

Lawrence University will serve as an eight-week host of a traveling exhibition that examines how President Abraham Lincoln used the U.S. Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War: the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties.

The 1,000-square-foot exhibit, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” will be displayed on the second floor of Lawrence’s Seeley G. Mudd Library.  The exhibition, which opens Dec. 14 and runs until Feb. 8, is free and open to the public.

Lawrence is the first of four stops the exhibition will make in Wisconsin between now and the end of 2015.

Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents, but his historical reputation is contested. Was he a calculating politician willing to accommodate slavery, or a principled leader justly celebrated as the Great Emancipator?

The exhibition encourages visitors to form a nuanced view of Lincoln by engaging them with his struggle to reconcile his policy preferences with basic American ideals of liberty and equality. The exhibition develops a more complete understanding of Lincoln as president and the Civil War as the nation’s gravest constitutional crisis.

Each section of the exhibit highlights different aspects of Lincoln’s presidency, such as slavery, which examines the various policy options Lincoln once embraced and how his thoughts about slavery evolved over time.  The exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.

Elected president in 1860 when the nation was on the brink of civil war, Lincoln struggled to resolve the basic questions that divided Americans at the most perilous moment in the country’s history: Was the United States truly one nation, or was it a confederacy of sovereign and separate states? How could a country founded on the belief that “all men are created equal” tolerate slavery? In a national crisis, would civil liberties be secure? As president, Lincoln used the Constitution to confront these three crises of war, ultimately reinventing the Constitution and the promise of American life.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Lawrence will hold a three-member panel discussion on constitutional issues Thursday, Jan. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Auditorium. Panel participants will include:

• 1981 Lawrence graduate James Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.

• Jerald Podair, professor of history and Robert S. French Professor of American Studies at Lawrence.

• Arnold Shober, associate professor of government at Lawrence.

“We are delighted Lawrence has been selected as a site for this exhibition,” said Peter Gilbert, director of the Mudd Library. “Not only does the exhibition dovetail nicely with the library’s own Lincoln Reading Room and its important collections, but the content of the exhibition is still relevant today. The exhibition highlights Lincoln’s struggles with issues of secession, slavery and civil liberties — all questions the Constitution left unanswered. I think it will be terrifically interesting and informative.”

The National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office organized the traveling exhibition, which was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): great ideas brought to life. The traveling exhibition is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the National Constitution Center.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,450 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

Final Week of “Here’s Looking at LU” Photo Contest; Congrats to Arielle Steinberg ’11

Photo contest image no. 9. Good luck! (click to enlarge.)

This is it…your last chance to win a prize as we wrap up our summer “Here’s Looking at LU Photo Contest.” We’re going to try to end things with a “toughie.”  If you can identify this week’s mystery photo, send us your guess and you could win a weekly prize and qualify for the $50 grand prize prize package from KK’s Apparel and Gifts in the Warch Campus Center.

Last week’s “caged book” photo generated a bumper crop of submissions. Numerous respondents were in the right church but the wrong pew, mistaking the Milwaukee-Downer Room with the Lincoln Reading Room. Congratulations to Arielle Steinberg ’11 of Bartlett, Ill., who knew last week’s photo was of the locked book cases in the Milwaukee Downer Room of the Mudd Library that house some of Lawrence’s rare book collection. Arielle  was randomly selected from among 34 correct answers this week and will receive a Lawrence University spirit tumbler for her winning entry.

The contest concludes on Labor Day. Submit your guess by midnight, Sept. 5 to be eligible. In addition to awarding our final weekly prize, we also will announce our $50 grand prize from among all of the correct weekly entries. Good luck!

How the contest works:

Study the photo carefully and, if you can identify the item pictured, send an email to communications@lawrence.edu (see link below), telling us what it is. Be sure to include your name and mailing address. (Limit one entry per week per email address.)

Win this LU Spirit Tumbler!

A prize each week:

All entrants with correct answers will be entered in a random drawing for a cool blue, 16 oz. Lawrence University “spirit tumbler.” The correct answer and the weekly prize winner will be announced the following Monday. (If no one correctly identifies the photo, two winners will be chosen the following week.)

On Sept.6, 2011, at the conclusion of the contest, one entry from among all correct contest entries will be chosen as the “Here’s Looking at LU!” grand prize winner. The grand prize winner will receive a $50 prize package from KK’s in the Warch Campus Center. The more weeks you enter, the better your chance of winning!

Official Contest Rules:

One photo will be posted on Lawrence’s website each Monday for the eight-week duration of the contest. Following the posting of each photo, entries may be submitted to communications@lawrence.edu until 12 midnight CDT (Central Daylight Time) the following Sunday. A weekly winner will be randomly selected by Lawrence University from among each week’s correct entries and all correct entries will be eligible for the grand prize drawing on August 29. By entering, you agree to have your name published on Lawrence University’s website and in other university communications. Lawrence University is not responsible for lost or misdirected entries.

Traveling National Exhibition on Lincoln Makes Six-Week Stop at Lawrence University

A traveling exhibition examining President Lincoln’s efforts toward the abolition of slavery during the Civil War will make its only appearance in Wisconsin during a six-week stay in Lawrence University’s Seeley G. Mudd Library.

Lawrence, one of only 40 sites in the country the exhibition will visit, hosts “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” Jan. 21, 2004 – March 5. The exhibition will be located on the south end of the library’s second floor.

Displayed on two 75-foot-long sectioned panels, the exhibition features reproductions of rare historical documents, period photographs and illustrative material, including engravings, lithographs, cartoons and miscellaneous political items.

The exhibition is divided into distinct sections starting with young Lincoln’s America in the early 19th century. Covering the next 30 years, it also chronicles the spread of slavery into the western territories, the war to preserve the Union, the Emancipation Proclamation, the role of black soldiers in the Civil War and the final months of Lincoln’s life. Enhancing the exhibition will be a display of collections from Lawrence’s own Lincoln Reading Room.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Lawrence is sponsoring a series of public lectures, highlighted by an opening address by noted historian and author Ronald C. White, Jr.

Based on his best-selling 2002 book of the same name, White will present “Lincoln’s Greatest Speech,” Thursday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. A professor of American intellectual and religious history at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, White has drawn critical praise for his book, which takes Lincoln’s brief — it was only 701 words in length — second inaugural address of 1865 and places the remarks in historical context, demonstrating how Lincoln attempted to shape public sentiment through the power of eloquent and carefully calculated rhetoric.

In addition to White’s address, two other public lectures will be conducted during the exhibition’s stay. Lawrence University associate professor of history Jerald Podair will present “Back Door to Freedom: The Paradoxes of the Emancipation Proclamation” Feb. 3, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wriston auditorium. Lawrence assistant professor of English Faith Barrett will deliver the address “Drums Off the Phantom Battlement: American Poets and the Civil War,” Feb. 10, 2004 at 4 p.m. in the Wriston auditorium.

In collaboration with the Appleton Public Library, a series of book discussions, led by Lawrence faculty members, also will be held while the exhibition is here. The schedule includes: Jan. 28, James McPherson’s “Ordeal by Fire,” led by historian Rex Myers; Feb. 18, Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” led by assistant professor of history Monica Rico; and March 10, Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” led by Susan Richards, director of the Lawrence library. All three programs will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Appleton Public Library’s lower level.

“We are certainly excited about the many opportunities the ‘Forever Free’ exhibit provides, both for our students and the community at large,” said Richards. “Through the format of a traveling exhibit, we are able to support teaching and learning in a way we typically haven’t done before while also enabling us to showcase some of the outstanding books and documents in our own Lincoln Reading Room.

“We hope that the topic itself, Abraham Lincoln’s own struggle to come to terms with the abolition of slavery, will entice interested members of the community to visit the Lawrence library, see this high-quality exhibit and hear some excellent speakers. It has been fun working with the Appleton Public Library on this project as well and we look forward to joining forces with them again to provide the Fox Cites with other unique opportunities like this in the future.”

The exhibition itself and all other lectures and events associated with it, are all free and open to the public.

The “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation” exhibition has been organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The exhibition was been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities.