Connie Vinita Dowell, Vanderbilt’s dean of libraries, is kicking off the Heard Library’s new exhibits program with a bang—or maybe with a Frug. “We have a fabulous collection of ’60s materials on many topics,” Dowell says. “Now’s a good time to let people see it.”
Cases exhibit everything from the 1960s-designed university mace—that’s the ceremonial weapon, not the spray—to astronaut autographs, according to Celia Walker, the library’s director of special projects. Included are sections about Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, sports at Vanderbilt, and selections from the thousands of political cartoons in the university’s collection. A display about Delbert Mann, BA’41, locates the director of That Touch of Mink in the larger context of the decade’s film history. Literature from the ’60s ranges from a first edition of John Updike to pulp-fiction titles like I Was a Teeny-Bopper for the CIA. In the main lobby, funky vehicles from the Lane Motor Museum, including a Peel Trident and a Valmobile, evoke the world of The Jetsons.
“Special Collections isn’t just here to preserve things,” Dowell says. “We want them to be used—and enjoyed.”
