Bookending Dartmouth Row

On July 25, 1884, the cornerstones for two buildings were laid during a long afternoon ceremony. The first was for Rollins Chapel, just to the North of Wentworth Hall, the other was for the new library, Wilson Hall, just across Wheelock Street from Reed Hall. Together they bookend the Classical Dartmouth Row with their Romanesque arches.

The two buildings symbolically and physically defined a space for learning. They framed the main classroom spaces with a site for the mind on one side and a haven for the soul on the other: somewhere between was where "learning" happened. One year after the cornerstones were laid, alumni, students and "friends of the College" assembled for the dedication of the two buildings. The glory of the new chapel was celebrated with prayer and song, and the new library was extolled for its modern, fireproof stacks. But nothing was said about the space between.

A great way to start exploring the history of these building is by asking for their archival vertical files, but also be sure to see the Dedication of Rollins Chapel and Wilson Hall (Hanover: Printed for the College, 1886) by asking for DC History LD1440.R6 D3.

South Vietnam Land and People

We recently acquired an interesting example of propaganda produced by the North Vietnamese in 1967.  Mien Nam Viet Nam. Cat Nuoc, con Nguoi [South Vietnam Land and People] was published by the Liberation Publishing House in Hanoi and distributed to western visitors. It consists of three portfolios of images produced by North Vietnamese artists.

The message celebrating the "Resistance War" is clear:

Napalm, phosphorus, rockets, super-bombers, expanding bullets, toxic gasses--the American command in South Vietnam recoils from none of these and any other means of extermination.... Against such unbridled barbarism, the Vietnamese people have successfully defended their freedoms. Against one of the most colossal war machines ever known to history, "people's war" is being fought with valiance and creativeness, combining bamboo spears with anti-tank guns--a war in which a young mother's persuasive voice just as a ten-year-old boy's inquiring looks, also are weapons.

The portfolios were printed in bulk, but few complete copies have survived. Our prints are still housed in their original portfolios.

To see it, ask for Rare DS557.72.M54 1967.