Exhibits at the Drew Library

Oscar Wilde’s Legacy: A Selection from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection

May 2, 2012 – June 2, 2012

This display, drawn from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, on loan from the University of Delaware Library, focuses on how Wilde’s friends and associates dealt with his legacy in the early twentieth century. The exhibition is mounted in conjunction with the interdisciplinary  conference, “Who Owns the Legacy of Oscar Wilde?” which is being held at Drew on June 1-2.

Opening April 23, 2012

The Library will feature an exhibit honoring Thomas H. Kean, former governor of New Jersey (1982-1990) and president of Drew University (1990-2005), in the newly completed Thomas H. Kean Reading Room and Gallery.  The exhibit will highlight items from the Governor Thomas H. Kean Collection, the Drew University Archives, and personal memorabilia belonging to the Governor, and will include material covering his role as chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission).

The Arts of Respect is an annual arts festival conceived as a means of addressing prejudice and hatred while promoting respect and empathy through the arts.  The centerpiece of Arts of Respect is the competition in which Drew students are challenged to explore and express their thoughts and feelings about these issues through virtually any medium in the performing, literary and visual arts.  In its first three seasons the competition drew more than one hundred and fifty original works, entries submissions from students in all three schools of the university and from local high schools.

This year, from March 22-April 2, visual works of art will be on display in the Library Lobby, with an opening reception to be held on March 22 at 4pm.

Methodists and the American Civil War

A Drew University Exhibit, Madison, New Jersey
Curated by Christopher J. Anderson, Ph.D.
Methodist Librarian and Coordinator of Special Collections
September 22, 2011 – April 30, 2012

On March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln in his Second Inaugural Address confirmed that American citizens and armies both North and South believed that God was on their side of a national conflict that has been called among other names the Civil War, the War Between the States and the War of Northern Aggression. From 1861 to 1865 several hundred thousand Methodists from the United States and the Confederate States of America preached, fought, and labored for both sides. During the conflict Methodists served as government officials, soldiers, chaplains, nurses, and church leaders while fighting for state’s rights and against the institution of slavery. With adherents in the millions, American Methodists played a crucial role in the struggle for racial and sectional freedoms.

Drew University, founded shortly after the conflict, had several direct connections to the Civil War. Drew landowners, trustees, administration, faculty, and students participated in the conflict. Those links are highlighted in two cases in the University Library. A second section of the exhibition, mounted at the United Methodist Archives and History Center, showcases the historic tensions within American Methodism over racial identities that led to denominational fracturing and ultimately to sectional conflict.

The exhibit highlights ten historic Methodist traditions and includes manuscripts, photographs, printed texts, and material objects from the collections of the Drew University Archives and Methodist Library as well as the General Commission on Archives and History for The United Methodist Church. The exhibit continues through April 30, 2012, and is open to the public in the Methodist Center Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The main Library display is on view during regular library hours. For more information about the exhibit, or to arrange for a class tour or individual tour, contact cjanders@drew.edu or call the Methodist Library at 973.408.3590 weekdays.

November 30-December 12, 2011

What is the Drew experience?

The Art History and Museum Club provides a variety of perspectives with photos taken on the Drew Campus selected from a recent competition.

A rotating exhibit of recent faculty work is always on view in the lobby display cases of the Main Library.