Last week in observance of North Carolina Archives week, the Friends Historical Collection conducted behind-the-scenes tours in addition to creating a display of memorabilia highlighting Guilford sports history in the Friends Historical Research Room in Hege Library.This year’s theme is “Capturing Memories of Sports and Leisure in the Old North State.”
Embracing that theme, the newest exhibit case features a pair of black rubber-bottomed canvas lace-up woman’s basketball shoes circa 1939. Alongside the shoes is a visual tribute to Laura Worth, a member of Guilford’s first freshmen class in 1889, when the New Garden boarding school became Guilford College. Worth went on to become the first director of female physical education in 1895.
Guilford’s sports history dates back to 1867 when baseball was introduced at New Garden Boarding School.
While putting together the display, Liz Cook, archives associate for the Friends Historical Collection, discovered a gray sports letter with a thin maroon arrow stitched in.
The significance of the arrow remained a mystery until she discovered that Guilford offered girls archery in the 40’s. “There is always something to find out about (our history),” Cook said.
Archives week pays tribute to the people and organizations responsible for maintaining and making available archival and historical records.
Students and faculty doing original research as well as Quaker genealogists with ties to Guilford or the New Garden Boarding School use the Friends Historical Research Room located in the Hege library. “Keeping the artifacts stable and accessible to the public is important in understanding and promoting Guilford and Quaker history,” said Librarian and College Archivist Gwen Erickson.
The research room, open to the public, houses rare books, Quaker genealogies and Guilford history. But, behind the well-appointed desks and bookcases are several rooms of storage and offices dedicated to record preservation.
The tours of the inner-workings of the Friends Collection allowed the community to learn how the collection of items are accumulated, processed and stored. Even though several Guilford students have used the collection for their research, not many took the tour. “We didn’t have much, if any, student participation this year,” Erickson said.
Rows and rows of manuscripts, student’s theses and strange artifacts line the walls and shelves of climate-controlled secure rooms.
Erickson and Cook explained the significance of the leather-bound volumes, with some that date back to 1695. Cook revealed a ledger of accounts with columns of neat handwritten entries and a recorded collection of twenty-five cents collected for the girls athletic association.
During the tour, Erickson pointed out the invaluable contributions of the dozens of volunteers that help maintain the historical collection.
J. Wilbert Edgerton, known to the library staff as Wil, volunteers in the research room every Friday. Edgerton, who will be 90 this year, graduated from Guilford in 1940 and met his wife of 65 years on the first day of class.
He proudly related that the Friends Historical Collection houses his family tree, which was created by his aunt who also graduated from Guilford.
“It includes her handwritten script that goes with it explaining missing elements,” Edgerton said.
Much like his aunt, Edgerton has provided the staff with the information missing from a collection of papers the library received from one of Will’s classmates.
“He helped us fill in the gaps and was able to tell us some of the unnamed people in the photos that we received as part of the collection,” Erickson said.