January 18, 2022 – April 8, 2022 | Smathers Library Gallery
Lost Communities of Florida
Lost Communities of Florida looks back at some of the once thriving Florida communities that have now faded or disappeared. It examines the broad social, economic, and political trends, as well as natural disasters and new technologies, that contributed to their rise and fall. Curated by Dr. Bridget Bihm-Manuel and Hank Young.
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 – JULY 11, 2O23 | MARSTON SCIENCE LIBRARY
African American Agricultural Extension Agents in Florida
Celebrating the contributions historically made by African American extension agents throughout Florida. Curated by Melody Royster.
February 11, 2022 – April 18, 2022 | Smathers Library Lobby
Lives, Hopes, Histories: Black Authorship from the American Revolution to the Harlem Renaissance
The earliest Black authors in the United States had limited opportunities to publish their works, or even to be identified on equal terms with their white contemporaries. During the nineteenth century, they made use of emerging and ephemeral genres—the newspapers, tracts and periodicals of the Antebellum period—to tell their stories and reach a broader readership. Black authors created new and distinctive poetry, history and fiction, as well as identities divorced from those of currently or formerly enslaved people. Curated by Neil Weijer.
February 4, 2022 – may 6, 2022 | MARSTON SCIENCE LIBRARY
Selections from Book STEAM
Scientists seek answers via evidence and data; artists use intuition and aesthetics to tease out the truth. The fundamental aim of both is to understand the universe and humanity’s place in it. The works on display demonstrate the artists’ interpretations of the basic nature of our existence via literal and figurative translations of scientific concepts. They may or may not be “true” in a scientific sense, but these books make us feel something. Who can argue that is not just as important as a technological advance? Curated by Ellen Knudson.
FEBRUARY 18, 2022 – JANUARY 24, 2023 | Library West
Freedom is Not Free: Ax Handle Saturday
Beginning August 13, the NAACP Youth Council organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville. On August 27, white Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members attacked Black people in downtown Jacksonville. Although often overlooked, Ax Handle Saturday is a significant part of Florida and American history that mirrors and expands the national Civil Rights Movement. Curated by Antonette Jones.
MARCH 26, 2022 – MARCH 31, 2023 | ALBERT H. NAHMAD PANAMA CANAL GALLERY
The Digging is the Least Thing of All: Health & Medicine at the Panama Canal
The tremendous public health infrastructure necessary before and during Panama Canal construction evolved into an equally monumental and vital system designed to protect the Canal’s functioning and keep the people operating it safe from injury and disease. Individuals living at the Canal had typical healthcare needs, but they also faced unique and significant challenges brought on by their location at the crossroads of global trade. Curated by Elizabeth Bemis.
APRIL 18, 2022 – JUNE 24, 2022 | SMATHERS LIBRARY GALLERY
“I Wanna Tell Ya…” About Bob Hope
Bob Hope left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry through his work in vaudeville, theatre, radio, television, recordings and film. His career grew from local vaudeville to the global stage. Born Leslie Townes Hope in England in 1903, he immigrated with his family to the United States at a young age. Over a long career, he came to represent the good will of the United States on stages around the world. Curated by Jim Liversidge.
JUNE 9, 2022 – April 26, 2023 | MARSTON SCIENCE LIBRARY
Transcend: Beyond the Gender Binary
Existence outside the gender binary is a theme weaved throughout feminist, Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), and queer science fiction. These themes help audiences navigate through questions such as: What exactly is gender? What do technological futures look like when gender constructs, roles, and representations are thrown out? How does science fiction reconstruct and reframe how we understand identity? Curated by CJ Gott, Michelle Nolan, Barret Uhler, and Kestrel Ward.
JUNE 17, 2022 – OCTOBER 28, 2022 | SMATHERS LIBRARY LOBBY
Afrofuturism: Creativity of the Black Mind
Afrofuturism has grown in popularity in recent years and is present in every sector of popular culture. The literary and artistic style reimagines the past or creates an enhanced present and future through an Afrocentric lens. Pioneered by Black authors, artists, and musicians, Afrofuturism manifests fantastical worlds that Black people have historically been excluded from. Often directed toward a Black audience, the genre establishes a sense of solidarity and inspiration. Curated by Antonette Jones.
JULY 15, 2022 – SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 | SMATHERS LIBRARY GALLERY
Presence/Erasure: Black History in St. Augustine
Over 450 years of Black history fill the streets of St. Augustine. Yet, the changing tides of history, colonial powers, and racial prejudices buried many of their stories. The experiences of Black St. Augustinians are vast and expansive and are a necessary part of U.S. history, as they have and continue to contribute to shaping this land and nation. Curated by Laura Marion and Casey Wooster with assistance from Antonette Jones.
JULY 26, 2022 – SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 | LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COLLECTION
Estudiantes Conscientes: Student Revolution in Central America
This exhibition focuses on student movements and revolutionaries in Central America and their role throughout the region’s 20th-century Cold War conflicts. Curated by Erika Cintrón Cordero.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 – January 24, 2023 | Library West
Books Banned in Florida Prisons
This exhibit presents just a small sample of the thousands upon thousands of books that incarcerated people in Florida are barred from reading. Many of these titles critique the U.S. prison and criminal justice system and the violence it enacts on millions of lives, primarily Black people and other marginalized groups. Other titles provide sources of empowerment and liberation. Curated by Stephanie Birch and Katiana Bagué.
SMATHERS LIBRARY GALLERY | SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 – JANUARY 16, 2023
Makers Gonna Make: Artists Books for Tumultuous Times
Being creative during tumultuous times is incredibly difficult. Our minds and bodies are not built to absorb constant streams of traumatic events like those we have all experienced within the last decade. This exhibition features artist book works created during and about these times we are living in. The work here does not and cannot provide solutions to problems, but offers a moment of acknowledgment to the reader that says, “You are not alone.” Curated by Ellen Knudson.
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COLLECTION | OCTOBER 23, 2022 – AUGUST 10, 2023
Taste of Memory: Rice and Beans Across the Caribbean
Rice and beans is a dish with many names – peas and rice, moro y cristianos, congrí, arroz con gandules, gallo pinto, arroz con habichuelas, arroz y frijoles. This duo is not just hearty and nutritious, but full of stories that allow for making emotional connections. A small taste of this “comfort staple” allows us to connect with our upbringings and cultural identities, to find a sense of home and belonging no matter where we may be. Curated by Daniela Torres and Melissa Jerome.
SMATHERS LIBRARY LOBBY | NOVEMBER 3, 2022 – JULY 24, 2023
The Ongoing Evolution of Alice
Since Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There in 1871, the story of Alice has been reimagined and retold in thousands of ways around the world. The many versions of Alice extend the legacy of Carroll’s Alice books while simultaneously telling their own stories. The different adaptations and reinventions of Alice reveal much about the tellers, as well as the cultures and times in which they live. How do you think members of the next generation will reimagine Wonderland? Curated by Dr. Ramona Caponegro.