Graffiti: A Library Guide to Aerosol Art is an exhibition that highlights library resources to help investigate aerosol art as an important historical, cultural, and aesthetic phenomenon, one that merits scholarly attention. Graffiti, in all its manifestations, has been a way for voiceless and invisible communities to be seen and heard. The Rose Library includes several photograph collections, as well as books and printed matter related to graffiti.

Graffiti, style writing, or aerosol art-It doesn't matter what we call It-represents one of the most dynamic and interesting visual elements in our everyday environment. Flashes of white or silver draw our eyes to "throw-ups" on walls; large, multi-color "burners" rush past us on the sides of freight cars; and pieces from around the country and the world appear regularly in our social media feeds. No matter where we are or what we are doing, style writing is an integral and underexamined part of our world.

Read more:

Graffiti exhibit article click here.

"...the first comprehensive edition of the letters of Irish-born Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett..."

This exhibit will present materials from each of the four volumes of The Letters of Samuel Beckett. Curated by Lois More Overbeck, the one of the editors, this exhibit offers more than 30 years of scholarship and insight into the life and work of Samuel Beckett.

The Letters of Samuel Beckett is the first comprehensive edition of the letters of Irish-born Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett (1906–1989). Perhaps best known for En attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot), Beckett wrote fiction, poetry, and criticism as well as drama for stage, radio, television, and film. Writing in both English and French, he translated much of his work from one language into the other and assisted or directed productions of his plays.

"Black students marched, demonstrated, picketed, and 'rapped' on those institutions affecting the lives of workers and students at Emory."

“Exploring From the Archives: Black Student Activism” is a physical exhibit based upon engagement with the online exhibit “From the Archives: Black Student Activism.” Selected documents from the Emory University Archives tell a story of the 1969 protests in which Black students presented a list of demands to the administration challenging it to improve the experience of being Black at Emory. The exhibit seeks to encourage others to view these materials and to further explore for themselves the more extensive holdings and resources of the online exhibit.

"While most have passed from this world, the collective meaning of their images resonate loudly as veneration for those whose lives were bound by a love of art, a sense of purpose, and the pursuit of justice." -Dr. Pellom McDaniels III

As a graduate student, faculty member, and curator of African American collections Pellom McDaniels III, PhD was a fundamental contributor to the Emory Libraries exhibitions program for many years. He was a passionate advocate for individual growth and social change through education and the arts. This tribute is a physical installation on Level 1 of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University. A bit of this great human’s presence, artwork, and writing invite patrons to join in his passion for learning from the unparalleled African American collections of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library he helped build.

“Only 12 humans have ever walked on the Moon. This is the story of one of those lunar missions: Apollo 15.”

The Apollo 15 Learning Hub, created by the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS), presents the mission through primary source materials, many from the personal collection of Commander David R. Scott, digitized and available on the internet for the first time.  Visit: apollo15hub.org.

In this exhibition you can walk the path of the Apollo 15 mission, guided by the primary source documents.  These also include materials from The David R. Scott and Anne Lurton Scott Papers, a recent acquisition of Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, that reveal more about this first extended scientific exploration of the moon, especially as an historical event located in a particular social, political, and technological context.

“The Emory Libraries recognize diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values integral to empowering the university community to pursue justice for all; we strive to be an anti-oppression organization.”

Speak Up for Social Justice is an interactive, physical exhibit which provides a platform for the library community to share their thoughts and vision about working toward social justice and anti-racism. Writing and drawing supplies are provided, and contributions of all genres—statements, poems, drawings, collages, and more -- are welcomed.

Questions and for more information: Julie Newton, Chair, Emory Libraries Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Outreach & Engagement Sub-Committee.

Learn more about the DEI Committee here. 

“Comic books . . . are incredibly important for all those who claim to be educators and to be educated!"

Graphic narratives are a growing area of study and literary expression. This exhibit focuses upon the expansion of Emory’s collections in this genre, including comics and long-form graphic novels. In addition to providing an overview of the genre, the exhibit also features three in-depth “sub-exhibits” of graphic novels and comics that illustrate how the genre allows for the expression of alternative perspectives and narratives. These graphic narratives provide a different experience than a prose narrative and demand what some have called a “double literacy” of the visual and the written word.

The curated collections of notable graphic novels focus on important social, racial, and historical themes, events, and individuals. They provide examples of how written and drawn narratives can create complex stories and engagement with the past, present, and future. They often serve as a literary and artistic medium to the experiences of individuals and communities in response to established social, historic, and economic institutions.