Previous exhibits

Founded by Caresse and Harry Crosby in Paris in the 1920s, the Black Sun Press exemplifies the ambitions and adventurousness of the Lost Generation that came of age after World War I. This exhibition gathers books published by the Crosbys – many in editions as small as seven – alongside the books owned, used, and loved by Harry and Caresse. Books by other members of the Jazz Age add to a rich portrait of an entire cohort of writers, readers, artists, and exiles.

Caresse declared later that her motto for the postwar years was to answer “Always Yes.” The Crosbys were the center of an artistic scene in Paris and at their country home known as Le Moulin du Soleil, a former mill outside the city of light that was the site for wild parties and at least some writing. With a favorable exchange rate and a tradition of experimentation both on the page and in forms of living – and without the Prohibition in all senses found in the States – Paris proved a fertile ground for the arts during the Jazz Age.

Under the couple’s watch, the Black Sun Press evolved into a real force in both preserving and promoting an international modernism of exile and exuberance, high seriousness and playful surrealism. The concern began in 1925 as Editions Narcisse, printing poems and sonnets written by the Crosbys for each other: to call it simply a “vanity press” misses the high quality of the productions from the start (though perhaps might get at their vanity); to call it a labor of love understates the quality of their devotion to each other and the endeavor. Editions Narcisse also printed editions of a few friends and several of Harry Crosby’s inspirations, including Edgar Allen Poe.

Reincarnated as the Black Sun Press, the house went on to publish many of the key figures of modernism, often championing authors that others refused to print – from D.H. Lawrence to James Joyce. Perhaps Black Sun’s most famous book remains the first edition of Hart Crane’s long poem, The Bridge, which included the first photographs by Walker Evans to appear in book form. The Black Sun Press roster is a testament not only to the Crosbys’ good taste, but their bravery in the face of censorship and worse, achieving a rare mix of high-quality writing and sophisticated, luxe printing.

After his early, tragic death just weeks after the Wall Street crash that began the Depression, Harry Crosby came to symbolize the Lost Generation as a kind of fatal modernism, helping define the cultural change felt in the arts and in the expatriate lives, often cut short, that tried to steady themselves in the wake of world war. Caresse Crosby carried on the good work of the press for several years, and after having invented the modern brassiere as a teenager, went on to help invent a cosmopolitan counterculture, one based on world citizenship, women’s activism, and international peace.

Shadows of the Sun illuminates the legacy of a press, the couple who founded it, and their friends and lovers – all of whom shaped the arts of their time and ours.

— Kevin Young

Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing

The Future Belongs to the Discontented: The Life & Legacy of Robert W. Woodruff presented by The Coca-Cola Company celebrates Atlanta’s most successful businessman and its most generous philanthropist. The exhibition includes correspondence, personal and business papers, scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper articles and film clips from the Woodruff papers — a collection that continues to be one of the most distinctive and heavily used in Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. The approximately 200 items on display chronicle Woodruff’s remarkable influence on The Coca-Cola Company, Emory University and the city of Atlanta.

While his life shares elements with narratives of other American leaders and visionaries — an accomplished, wealthy patriarch, a headstrong son with an admirable work ethic, keen business acumen and charming personality; a successful and historic climb from the foundry to the president’s office, and a largess left as an enduring legacy of generosity and philanthropy — the milieu is distinctly Southern and his path is uniquely his own. The exhibition illuminates this trajectory through five landscapes or themes: “Not Relying Upon His Father for Position” (Woodruff’s childhood, family, education and early work experiences); “A Proud History” (his association with and contributions to The Coca-Cola Company); “Its Serenity Speaks to his Restlessness” (Ichauway Plantation); “Just Do It Right” (Woodruff’s influence on Emory and Atlanta) and “Nell Hodgson Woodruff” (a portrait of his wife).

Far more than a simple chronological or biographical recounting of his life, the exhibition illustrates Woodruff’s belief that one person can make a difference and reveals how his quiet, confident leadership, vision and generosity continue to benefit us today.

– Randy Gue, Curator

A World Mapped by Stories celebrates the opening of the Salman Rushdie archive, acquired by Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) in 2006. Drawing from his journals, manuscripts, sketches, letters, photographs and personal computers, this multi-media exhibition presents an intimate portrait of Rushdie through some 300 items, many of which have never been seen before.

The displayed items convey the complexity and depth of the archive, revealing the writer’s creative process on paper and on the computer. Material related to the author’s response to important contemporary issues is on show along with unique perspectives on Rushdie as a teacher and public figure fully involved with Emory’s intellectual life since 2007.

A World Mapped by Stories showcases Rushdie’s belief that reality and the world leave a lot to the imagination, committing the vigilant writer to the task of mapping. For Rushdie this involves a global mindset, creativity with a strong historical sense, the integrity to defend multiple worldviews, and the courage to “point at frauds.” Mapping captures Rushdie’s philosophy of engagement with a storied world, the writer’s creative role in shaping it, and the importance of guarding the freedom to do so. Borrowed from Rushdie’s account of his travels with writer Bruce Chatwin, the title of the exhibition offers a simple but profound message: stories are powerful because we know the world through them. Rushdie’s stories reinvent a world made cynical by injustice and suffering.

“Let me rescue you,” says the writer in a song set to music by U2. “Let me rescue you,” Rushdie’s fictions also propose, so he can take us into another world, somewhat imagined, somewhat true, somewhat alarming, but always redeemable by love and “our need for flowing together.” A World Mapped by Stories is testimony to Rushdie’s lifelong commitment “to stop the world from going to sleep” by telling stories that encourage us to test what we know, to cross frontiers, and when we find a lesser world, to nudge us to picture a better one.

- Deepika Bahri, curator

	ORIGIN celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Not unlike Darwin’s famous voyage aboard the HMS Beagle (1831 – 1836), the exhibition brings together people of diverse disciplines and presents connections between poets, scientists, scholars, thinkers and visual artists in dialogue with one another. The origin and immutable evolution of their ideas, research and creations stem from passionate and novel exploration, interpretation, translation and collaboration. Alan Turnbull & Tara Bergin, Nancy Lowe and Michael Oliveri are conducting courageous inquiry in art, literature and science; illuminating observations, supporting hypotheses, disturbing assumptions and shifting contexts. Just as Darwin undoubtedly altered the way people looked at the world and challenged conventional thinking, we invite you to consider the remarkable points of view in ORIGIN.
	A Keeping of Records: The Art and Life of Alice Walker “People are known by the records they keep,” observes Alice Walker. “If it isn’t in the records, it will be said it didn’t happen. That is what history is: a keeping of records.” More...
	Beggars and Choosers: Motherhood is Not a Class Privilege in America
	Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States More...
	Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Between 1514 and 1866 an estimated 10.7 million people of African descent entered the Americas via the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the largest forced migration in history. More...
	Don't You Remember? Children's Books by Poets From nonsense to nursery rhymes, children’s books have introduced generations of children to both the pleasure of reading and the power of poetry. More...
	The Lone Librarian Rides Again I have been riding motorcycles since 1962 and I have never stopped riding. But in 2006 I hadn’t had a long distance adventure in a while, and to celebrate my 60th birthday, I decided to ride to Alaska. More...
	Latin American Posters: Public Aesthetics and Mass Politics Latin American Posters: Public Aesthetics and Mass Politics, an exhibition which traces four decades of Latin American social and political history during a time of widespread crisis and unrest. More...
	My Dreams, My Works: Selections from the Library of Gwendolyn Brooks “My Dreams, My Works” features thirty-six items from Gwendolyn Brooks’s personal library, a significant portion of which the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library of Emory University acquired in 2006, adding to the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library. More...
	Nubian Dreams: Images of the Sudan The Photography of Chester Higgins Chester Higgins is one of the premiere photographers of his generation. Because he believes art humanizes us, the subjects of his photographs are of utmost importance to him. His images resonate with a spiritual echo, which maintains the image and frees it from the constraints of time. More...
	Democratic Vistas: Exploring the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library The Raymond Danowski Poetry Library is a 75,000-volume collection of rare and first editions of modern and contemporary poetry, in addition to literary journals, chapbooks, little magazines, one-off journals, limited edition broadsides, audio recordings, unique manuscripts, and visual art from the United States, Britain, Ireland, Australia, India, Canada, Scotland, and South Africa. More...