The Learning Resources Center at Worcester State is currently hosting an inviting array of historical exhibits offering a unique glimpse into the university’s rich past as well as our nation’s history. The centerpiece of the collection is a selection of booklets and pamphlets from the late Bruce Cohen, a labor historian and faculty member who specialized in the labor movement in the Blackstone Valley region.
“These materials that Dr. Cohen collected over the decades are a treasure trove of information on the history of labor and the challenges faced by workers,” said Ross Griffiths, the university archivist. “My professional background includes museums, so I think exhibits are a great way to show off materials that often spend their lives in boxes or locked behind closed doors.”
Exhibits of actual historical items are important because not everything can be found online, Griffiths said. “Through most of the history of labor organizing these kinds of materials were available only in print. A digital scan allows you to see what something looks like, but encountering the physical object as it was originally created – as a physical brochure that you would page through – a more authentic experience of the object.”
Complementing the labor history collection is an exhibition of posters created by artists of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. The WPA, one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal plans, funded projects that put people to work on public works like building roads, schools, and hospitals, but also sponsored projects in the arts, employing out-of-work writers, musicians, and actors.
These vibrant, visually striking posters extol the virtues of books and libraries, showcasing the government’s efforts to promote literacy and education during a time of economic hardship. The posters are downloaded from the Library of Congress collection, and each is accompanied by an explanatory panel and a QR code that allows people to visit the Library of Congress page where the original posters are shown. “The posters showcase the visual arts, fonts, and colors of the time period,” Griffiths said. “They provide an engaging, educational, and visually interesting window into the art and design of the New Deal era.”
Griffiths said the library has installed a hanging system by the Arakawa company, which is used in museums. This system allows the height and placement of materials to be adjusted without having to drill into the walls, making it easy to change exhibits.
Griffiths said that the wall space will be used for a temporary exhibit of a student poster session for Health Sciences and that WPA posters will be rehung after that.
“It’s wonderful to have exhibit space in the library to display many types of materials, including the WPA posters and the labor pamphlets from Dr. Cohen,” Matt Bejune, library executive director, said. “The exhibits highlight our exemplary collections while also demonstrating our expanded capacity to support a wide range of teaching, learning, and community building activities.”
In addition to the two major exhibits, the library is also displaying a series of student newspapers from throughout the decades, as well as a collection of maps highlighting the Native American tribes of the United States.
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