Browse Exhibits (39 total)

In 1970, 450 undergraduate women arrived on Grounds as part of the University of Virginia's first fully coeducational class. Although the U.Va. that they encountered was still very much a man's university, they were by no means the first women to make their mark here.

This exhibition highlights the experiences of some of the first women to live, study, and work at the University, who paved the way for full coeducation.

THE SUMMER OF 1967, with its "Love-Ins," "Be-ins," and "Flower Power," came to be known as "The Summer of Love," and was one of the seminal moments of our generation. Over thirty years later, we who came of age during the turbulent decade of the sixties are dismayed to realize that, to the young adults of today, those years are now ancient history.

The "Psychedelic Sixties" broke the rules in every conceivable way from music to fashion (or lack of it), to manners and mores. Boundaries were challenged and crossed in literature and art; the government was confronted head-on for its policies in Vietnam; the cause of civil rights was embraced by the young; and mind-expanding drugs were doing just that.

Were the sixties the best of times or the worst of times? Did America evolve as a nation and we as individuals? Are we better for the experience? We who were there have our own answers, but it is the historians who will write the collective answers for posterity. In any case, for better or worse, this dynamic, controversial, exciting time was our youth, our creation, and our legacy, and this exhibition is an attempt to revisit it, share it, and interpret it.

A fortuitous combination of events and personalities has made the University of Virginia Library the repository of one of the most extensive collections of Tibetan literature in the world. Because the texts are primarily in Tibetan, many do not know about this rich resource, and it has never before been exhibited.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead exhibition aims to demystify the sacred Tibetan texts on death and dying and to create an opportunity to share the wisdom of these ancient beliefs and practices with the University community and beyond.

In May 2000, the University of Virginia Library received 447 rare books, manuscripts, and maps from the estate of Paul Mellon. Celebrated as a philanthropist, art collector, and breeder of thoroughbred horses, Mellon was also a passionate book collector and amassed one of the greatest libraries of original documents of American history. Although Mellon was originally from Pittsburgh, he adopted Virginia as his home state and, through his bequest, ensured that items from his collection significant to Virginia history remained in the Commonwealth. Private Passions, Public Legacy is the first full-scale display of a collection that has been in private hands for over half a century.

The fire of October 27, 1895, was a disaster: only the scorched brick shell of the Rotunda remained standing; Robert Mills' Annex, the University's main classroom building, was a smoldering ruin; and two-thirds of the University Library's collection was destroyed. But thanks to an outpouring of support from friends and alumni, the University did more than simply reconstruct the Rotunda. In the wake of the destruction, emerged a rebuilt Rotunda, designed by Stanford White; three new buildings at the south end of the Lawn; a revitalized University Library; and a University with a growing national reputation.

Through letters and diaries, photographs, newspaper accounts, and personal mementos, Hearts at Home examines different aspects of southern women's experiences at home and on the battlefield during the Civil War.