Passionist China Collection Exhibit Now Open!

 

This April marks the 90th anniversary of the deaths of three Passionist Catholic priests at the hands of bandits in China. The priests had come as missionaries to Hunan province, and their murders shocked American Catholics, U.S. diplomats, and the Holy See. A new exhibit in the Heritage Room, titled “Life, Death, and Memory: Art and Artifacts from the Passionist China Collection,” honors the martyred men as well as the service of the many other Passionist priests and Sisters of Charity who worked in the region from 1921 to 1955, when the last missionary was expelled from Communist China. They served through famine, flood, and war, and witnessed both incredible suffering and hope. Ultimately, they left a legacy that continues to the present day, inspiring a new generation of Chinese Passionist priests.

The exhibit will be on display until April 24 during normal library business hours. There will be a reception and lecture, by Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D, and Passionist Historian, on Monday, April 8, at 6:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room. The lecture will focus on remembering the witness of faith of the martyred priests, and the larger story of the Chinese Catholic witness of faith. The reception is free and open to the public. For further information, contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies at 570-941-6341.

Zaner Exhibit Reception Tonight!

The reception for the exhibit, “The World’s Best Penman: The Artistic and Business Career of Charles Paxton Zaner, 1864-1918,” will be held tonight in the Library’s 5th Floor Heritage Room, from 6-8 p.m. Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian, will give a lecture titled “Charles Paxton Zaner and the Penmanship Profession.” The event, which is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library, is free and open to the public. Don’t miss it!

Michael Knies was interviewed about the exhibit by WVIA’s Erika Funke, which can be accessed below. For more information, please contact archives@scranton.edu or call 570-941-6341.

Exhibit Reception Wednesday Night!

Wednesday evening, October 24, from 6-8 p.m., the Library will host a reception for the exhibit “The World’s Best Penman: The Artistic and Business Career of Charles Paxton Zaner, 1864-1918,” in the 5th Floor Heritage Room. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library, this event is free and open to the public. Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian, will give a lecture titled “Charles Paxton Zaner and the Penmanship Profession.”

The exhibit will be on display through December 14 during normal library hours. For more information, please email archives@scranton.edu or call 570-941-6341.

Exhibit Featuring Penman C.P. Zaner Now On Display

The Heritage Room is featuring an exhibit on the career of Charles Paxton Zaner, penman extraordinaire and founder of the Zaner-Bloser Penmanship Company. The Weinberg Memorial Library has been the home of the Zaner-Bloser Collection since 2010, and the collection has been used in a number of exhibits. Zaner-Bloser, which is still in business, has been a leading publisher of penmanship instruction materials since 1888. However, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of C.P. Zaner’s tragic death in an automobile collision with a train at the age of 54. Consequently, the exhibit will focus on Zaner’s career and feature calligraphic alphabets, flourished birds, other artistic work and penmanship exercises. But Zaner was more than a penman. He was a businessman, a publisher, an essayist, and author of penmanship manuals. The exhibit will also display manuscript copies of his essays, copies of manuals he authored, accompanied at times by the original penwork and printing blocks, and material from the company he created.

The exhibit, titled “The World’s Best Penman: The Artistic and Business Career of Charles Paxton Zaner, 1864-1918,” will be on display until December 14 during normal library hours. There will be a reception and lecture, by Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies, on Zaner’s career and the profession of penmanship during his lifetime on Wednesday, October 24, at 6 PM in the Heritage Room. The reception is free and open to the public. For further information, contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies at 570-941-6341.

Job Posting: Special Collections Assistant

The University of Scranton is currently accepting applications for a full-time Special Collections Assistant.

The Special Collections Assistant aids the Special Collections Librarian in the management of Special Collections and University Archives. The Special Collections Assistant performs cataloging and descriptive work with rare book, manuscript and archival collections; responds to research questions; and supervises student workers. The Special Collections Assistant participates in project planning and undertakes digitization and collection management projects and the creation and installation of exhibits in collaboration with the Special Collections Librarian and/or other library personnel. The Special Collections Assistant participates in relevant library committees and projects and helps manage the Special Collections social media presence in collaboration with the Special Collections Librarian.

Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree is required. A graduate degree in archives, public history, digital humanities or an ALA-accredited master’s degree in library or information science is preferred. One year of library, cataloging, or special collections/archival experience is required. Supervisory experience is preferred.

For a complete job description, please visit https://universityofscrantonjobs.com.
Posting Number: S0199P
Title: Special Collections Assistant

Applicants must apply online at https://universityofscrantonjobs.com and include a resume, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references. The position will remain open until filled, but applications will be reviewed beginning July 10, 2018.

The University of Scranton is committed to providing a safe and nondiscriminatory employment and educational environment. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other status protected by law. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in its educational, extracurricular, athletic, or other programs or in the context of employment. The University of Scranton is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Educator. Veterans, minority persons, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

University of Scranton Alumni Authors Exhibit

Each June, the Weinberg Memorial Library presents the University of Scranton Alumni Authors Exhibit. Covering a range of subjects, the exhibit presents the works of alumni who became nonfiction writers, novelists, children’s literature writers, and historians. The earliest alumnus featured is Clarence Walton, ’37, 10th president of The Catholic University of America and the first layman to hold the position. Also presented are works by Jason Miller, ’61, H’73, who received the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play That Championship Season. The exhibit also includes a recent acquisition, Highways into Space, by retired NASA engineer, Glynn Lunney, ’55, H’71.  Lunney joined NASA as an engineer in 1958 and went on to become a flight director for the Gemini and Apollo programs, including the Apollo 13 crisis for which he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

For a full list of books by alumni at the Weinberg Memorial Library, please visit Scranton.edu/alumniauthors. The exhibit will be on display in the Library’s 5th floor Heritage Room through the month of June. It is open to the public and can be viewed during normal library hours. For more information, please email Special Collections Librarian, Michael Knies, at michael.knies@scranton.edu or call 570-941-6341.

Alumni interested in donating their published works to the Library can mail a copy to the Office of University Advancement, 800 Linden Street, Scranton, PA 18510.

Faculty Scholarship Exhibit

During the month of May, the Weinberg Memorial Library hosts its annual Faculty Scholarship Exhibit in the Library’s 5th floor Heritage Room. The exhibit features books and articles produced by University of Scranton faculty members since 2015. The exhibit, organized by academic department, provides an overview of the diversity and quality of scholarly accomplishments by the University’s faculty. For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies at michael.knies@scranton.edu or call 570-941-6341.

Exhibit Reception Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night, March 27, at 6 p.m. the Library will host a reception for the exhibit “Distinguished for Their Talents,” Theatrical Portraits by Scranton Master Penman P. W. Costello, 1905-1930, in the 5th floor Heritage Room. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library, this event is free and open to the public. P. W. Costello’s great-grandson, Thomas W. Costello, will discuss Costello’s career, and University of Scranton professor Michael Friedman, Ph.D., will speak on Shakespearean performance at the turn of the 20th century.

Last week, WVIA’s ArtScene with Erika Funke featured an interview with Thomas W. Costello and Special Collections Librarian Michael Knies about the exhibition.  A recording of their discussion can be found on WVIA’s website: wvia.org/radio/local/artscene/

The exhibit will be on display through April 23 during normal library hours. For more information, please email archives@scranton.edu or call 570-941-6341.