Friends of the UNCG Libraries

On Friday, November 3, more than 120 guests gathered at the Alumni House at UNCG. The attendees were primarily women veterans whose service ranged from the WWII era up to current UNCG students. Thanks to the generous sponsorship by UNCG Nursing alumna and Air Force Nursing veteran Glenda Schillinger the luncheon was free for all attendees. The luncheon featured an exhibit of uniforms and artifacts from the collections, music from UNCG student musicians, remarks from Jacqelean Gilliam and Martin Halbert as well as an excerpt from the theater production of Star Spangled Girls . The main program was a discussion among the women veterans who shared their experiences and insights about their service and the  Women Veterans Historical Project .

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP) began with a luncheon in 1998 to honor the unrecognized military service of women, including many Woman's College (now UNCG) alumnae. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the WHVP and the 125th anniversary of UNCG, University Libraries will be celebrating the history of the WVHP and hearing from some of the veterans who are a part of the project. Thanks to the generosity of Glenda Schillinger, UNCG alumna and U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps veteran, tickets to the November luncheon will be free. As always, the luncheon is open to the public and all are invited. One of the primary focuses of the project is oral histories. This year, 17 new oral histories were added to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, including those from Megan Mead, Rachel Puckett, Barbara Marshall, Deborah Branson, Kate Germano, Caroline Cleveland and Amanda Westfall Dayman. The WVHP 20th anniversary luncheon will...

You are invited to attend a presentation by author Marjorie Hudson about Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America, at 4 pm on Thursday, November 8 in the Virginia Dare Room in the Alumni House. The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Friends of the UNCG Libraries. This project is also made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, see http://uncgfol.blogspot.com/ 2012/10/virginia-dare-in-fact- and-fancy.html . An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be available.  

The Virginia Dare Room at UNCG is 75 years old this year.   The child for whom it is named was born 425 years ago.   “Why not celebrate both?” we asked as we proposed the free program to be offered November 8 at 4 p.m. at the Alumni House on the UNCG campus. Virginia Dare is a historical figure dimly remembered more than 400 years after her birth. She was the first English child born on American soil, part of the disastrous Lost Colony of Sir Walter Raleigh which disappeared into a shroud of mystery shortly after she was born. A close scrutiny of new research in archaeology and dendrochronology has revealed new theories that may result in a solution to the mystery before long. More than that, however, the tangle of legends, oral histories, Native American connections, and even pop culture that have built around Virginia Dare over four centuries are astonishing, entertaining, and even amusing. In this program, Marjorie Hudson explores new research and old legends, from...