University of Mississippi Museum Education Blog

From the UM Libraries and Special Collections Library Sloth:  Hey folks! It’s National Poetry Month! Not only do sloths love poetry, but we  inspire it, too. Check out a poem written by Theodore Roethke about sloths like me! The Sloth In moving slow he has no Peer. You ask him something in his Ear, He thinks about it for a Year; And, then, before he says a Word There, upside down (unlike a Bird), He will assume that you have Heard A most Ex-as-per-at-ing Lug. But should you call his manner Smug, He'll sigh and hive his Branch a Hug; Then off again to Sleep he goes, Still swaying gently by his Toes, And you just know he knows he knows. Oh, I guess I should also give you a mystery, too, shouldn't I? How about this: which novelist, non-fiction, and Mississippi Poet Laureate wrote the following poem?  This poet is also a Fulbright scholar, winner of prestigious poetry awards like the Push...

The graphic artist is Edward McKnight Kauffer! Library Sloth sits with the illustration for Requiem for a Nun book jacket.  Referred to as “the Picasso of advertising design” Edward McKnight Kauffer was an influential advertising poster artist in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.   He produced the dust jacket art for the 1951 first edition of William Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun . Portrait of Edward McKnight Kauffer Kauffer may be best known for the 140 posters that he produced for London Underground, and later London Transport. The posters span many styles: many show abstract influences, including futurism, cubism, and vorticism; others evoke impressionist influences such as Japanese woodcuts. Kauffer returned to America at the outbreak of World War II where he struggled in the more competitive New York City advertising atmosphere until he was approached to do a series of posters for American Airlines in 1947. He created posters for Shell Oil...

Hey folks! I'm back and so excited to takeover the Museum again and share some of what we have in Archives and Special Collections over in JD Williams Library!  This month, I've been busy helping my archives crew set up the new "Faulkner at Random" exhibit in anticipation of The Oxford Conference for the Book! Library Sloth hanging around with some good books in Archives and Special Collections Known for his preference for spare text and symbolic representation, who was the American graphic artist that produced the dust jacket art for the 1951 first edition of William Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun ? Have you ever read Requiem for a Nun?  Have you seen this dust jacket before?  Here is a close-up of the original artwork. What does this look like to you? This year's Oxford Conference for the Book will be Wednesday, March 29th through Friday, March 31st. Click for a complete list of events.  The conference kicks off with a welcome lunch at Li...

Hello! I'm the Library Sloth and I'm taking over the Museum! Well, not the whole Museum, just the Museum Education blog!  Like the Museum said last week, Archives and Special Collections has been working very hard to commemorate Mississippi's 200th Birthday! We saw your Monday Museum Mysteries and knew we couldn't let you have all the fun!  Once a month in 2017, I'll be taking over the Museum's Education Blog to share things from our collection! Hopefully you'll get to see even more cool stuff and come visit me at JD Williams Library!  For our first takeover, we're celebrating Black History Month!  While most famous for her poetry and academic work at Jackson State University, this Mississippi author wrote in a number of different mediums: poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. These are some of the books this author published in the course of her life, any clue who she might be?  Can you think of other Mississippi authors, who wro...