Friends Historical Collection

New Online Resource Launched for Feb. 1 Anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-ins

Learn more about what was happening at Guilford and the Greensboro community during the Civil Rights Movement in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Feb. 1, 1960 sit-ins at Woolworths. The Friends Historical Collection is proud to announce the online availability of our resources documenting Guilford's own complex history relating to civil rights from 1945 to 1980. Explore Greensboro's civil rights history via the Civil Rights Greensboro (CRG) Web site.

CRG was funded by a NC ECHO Digitization Grant awarded in June 2008 by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with monies from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The project was developed and produced as a collaborative effort between Guilford College, Greensboro College, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), each of which has provided materials for this online resource. Guilford's own SCOTTY WOODS '09 and RACHAEL JEFFERS '09 served as interns on the project.

Highlights specific to Guilford's history are also currently on display outside the Friends Historical Collection in Hege Library in an exhibit created by HARPER BOKUM-FAUTH '10.

Friends Historical Collection Loses Valued Volunteer

Theodore E. Perkins offered a familiar face and expert assistance to many Friends Historical Collection visitors over the years.  He was a dedicated volunteer for more than decade and staffed the research room every Wednesday and Thursday morning until this past fall.  He died January 14 at the age of 92.  Ted had numerous unique skills matching the needs of a Quaker research center as retired librarian, Quaker minister, and genealogist.  Most important was his strong commitment to service combined with his deep knowledge of and appreciation for North Carolina Friends.  It was not unusual for Ted to phone or drop by in the afternoon with an added suggestion for a researcher he had worked with during his morning shift.  Even researchers who missed meeting Ted face to face benefited from his own work.  His edited compilations of marriages from Cane Creek and Contentnea Meetings were regularly consulted as was his more recent project developing files on Quaker families from New Garden.  He also completed his own autobiography in 2008.  The Friends Historical Collection offers deepest sympathies to his widow, Eugenia Perkins, and his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  We miss seeing him each week and are so glad he chose to share the last chapter of his career with us and our researchers.

Friends Respond to Slavery Exhibit

"To Friends Beyond the Sea that Have Blacks and Indian Slaves: Friends Respond to Slavery," an exhibit on loan from the Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center of Wilmington College (Ohio) and supplemented by artifacts from the Friends Historical Collection, begins Monday, Jan. 11, in Hege Library.

The topic of Quakers and slavery is deeply tied to the history of Guilford, the only Quaker-founded college in the southern United States, and an essential narrative within Greensboro's larger history. Friends are widely known for their historic anti-slavery commitment. However, Friends were not uniformly in agreement on how to respond to slavery. Although most were anti-slavery in opinion, not all were abolitionists.

This exhibit focuses on the responses of Friends to slavery as they struggled with the spiritual, moral, and legal issues involved. It traces the evolutionary process and key turning points in Friends' anti-slavery history with specific examples from our history, including the Underground Railroad and efforts supporting African-American education. As the focus is specific to Friends, it does not include information about other leaders in the anti-slavery movement. Friends were one group among several, including African Americans and others, who made invaluable contributions to the eradication of an unjust and inhumane institution.

The Friends Historical Collection's mission includes a special responsibility for comprehensiveness in preserving the spiritual, intellectual, and cultural heritage of Quakerism in the southeastern United States and is responsible for Guilford's institutional memory through the care of records of enduring value. In 2007 the collection was formally designated by the National Parks Service as a research facility "making a significant contribution to the understanding of the Underground Railroad in American history" and as meeting "the requirements for inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom."

For additional information, see www.guilford.edu/fhc or e-mail archives@guilford.edu to learn about other resources relating to Quaker and anti-slavery history. Contact Gwen Erickson if you would like to arrange a special guided exhibit viewing for your class or community group.

Winter Break Hours

Holiday Hours: Closed Dec. 24 - Jan. 4 for Guilford College Winter Break.

Open Tues. to Fri., 9 - noon and 2 - 5 p.m., prior to December 24.

Notice: Hege Library will be closed on Wed., January 6. The Friends Historical Collection Research Room will be open Tuesday, Jan. 5 and Thursday and Friday, Jan. 7 - 8.

As always, please e-mail us at archives@guilford.edu to let us know your plans so that we can have the resources you need made available during our research room hours.

Thanksgiving Hours

Reminder that the Friends Historical Collection is closed on November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving.  Our research room is open regular hours on November 24 and 25.

Guilford's Library Centennial Celebrations

The Friends Historical Collection is celebrating Hege Library's Centennial year with an exhibit and other activities throughout the year.  Our centennial exhibit will be on display through the end of the Fall 2009 semester.  The exhibit will continue virtually on our web site during Spring 2010.  The library's birthday party is happening this afternoon (Nov. 18) in the original portion of the library.  Happy birthday, Library!

Save the date... for 2010

The Friends Historical Collection is hosting an exhibit on "Quakers and Slavery" from January - March 2010 in Hege Library.  The exhibit is on loan from the Quaker Heritage Center at Wilmington College in Wilmington, OH.  Additional information and items from the Friends Historical Collection will be displayed to complement the visiting exhibit.  Dr. Thomas Hamm of Earlham College will present a lecture on the topic on Thursday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m.  Check our web site for the latest updates early next year.

Archives Week 2009

This week is North Carolina Archives Week.  This year Gov. Perdue has signed a proclamation for Archives Week (see full proclamation at http://www.ncarchivists.org/archives_week/proclamation.htm) and several archives have special programming and events.  The Friends Historical Collection is celebrating for the entire month of October since this year's Archives Week happens during Guilford College's Fall Break.  We are still open for research Tuesday through Friday during break so off campus folks may appreciate the opportunity to visit while campus is a little quieter and parking is plentiful.

Senior Thesis Past and Present

Prior to the 1960s, every graduating senior at Guilford College was required to write a thesis.  The official signed copy was then deposited in the library for safekeeping.  The Friends Historical Collection and College Archives maintains this collection to this day.  Several graduates came by during Homecoming to see what they wrote fifty years early.  On the whole, they were pleasantly surprised at the quality of their work and excited to see that we still have it.  Some papers are consulted by researchers from beyond Guilford and others are used by current students as a resource.  Two theses from 1909-1910 are currently on display in the library's centennial exhibit and illustrate the diversity of topics and original work which have been an important part of a Guilford education for over a century.

While a thesis is not currently required for every graduating student, it is a recommended option for some.  Several majors continued to require a thesis.  Those graduating with honors or from the honors program also write a thesis.  Current students are reminded to consult the thesis policy as they finalize their papers for inclusion in the college's archives.  You never know who may be inspired by your research in the future!

Special Homecoming Hours

The Friends Historical Collection, in Hege Libary, is open for special Guilford College Homecoming and Family Weekend hours on Saturday, September 26, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Programming will target members of the Class of 1959 but additional items will be available as space allows.  Others are welcome to visit, look at materials from the college archives, and learn more about the Friends Historical Collection.  Highlights of interest to alumni include yearbooks and Guilfordians from 1914 to present, senior theses for those who wrote them as a graduate requirement, college catalogs and alumni bulletins, and other artifacts and documents from Guilford's past. Questions?  Contact us at archives@guilford.edu or 336-316-2264.