Elon University has grown tremendously since 1889 from a single building to its current size of 620 acres. This history is now on display in the 125th Anniversary Exhibit in the Isabella Cannon Room in the Center for the Arts.
It is no secret that this year marks the 125th anniversary of the institution’s founding, and in order to celebrate, several departments on campus came together to create the quasquicentennial art exhibit.
“It was a joint effort between University Communications and the archives and special collections,” said Katie Nash, special collections librarian and archivist. “They’ve got the expertise to write, edit and be able to tell a story. We’ve got the expertise to find photographs and provide them with research and information to help tell that story.”
The exhibit was originally on display during Homecoming last fall, according to Dan Anderson, vice president of University Communications, and was reinstalled March 6.
“When we were discussing how to create an exhibit that conveyed Elon’s history and its 125 years, we knew it was going to be very difficult to put together a show that hit all the highlights,” Anderson said. “And of course, it is a very subjective thing to try and determine what you want to convey about an institution.”
The themes of the exhibit bring together some of the common experiences students have throughout different generations, Anderson said. They are illustrated in the exhibit, as a more modern image accompanies each photo from the older generations.
“They wanted to have pictures that people hadn’t seen before, which we have a ton of, so this was a nice opportunity for us to find some good images that have not been overused,” Nash said.
When walking through the exhibit, students can catch glimpses of past presidents and homecomings, the birth of the Phoenix, the first African-American student and a map of the university comparing past and present facilities.
“We thought it would be very interesting to include the historic map to show people what used to be on campus, so that alumni who come back and look at it can recall buildings that were there and what the campus was like when they were at Elon,” Anderson said.
The exhibit is, in part, based on the book of Elon’s history that was recently released by professor emeritus of history George Troxler, who spent three years researching and writing it.
“Both the book and the exhibit were intended to help celebrate the 125th anniversary,” Troxler said.
Troxler said he has seen a vast amount of history unfold as it continues to evolve.
“I have been at Elon for 40 years and am interested in the history of this school. When I came here we had less than 1,500 students,” he said. “I got into administration and got away from teaching. I was anxious to get back and be a historian, and the book allowed me to do something in history again.”
The exhibit will be on display through April 8 and can be viewed between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“We do a lot of behind-the-scenes work, and this is something that is kind of front and center on campus, and it is nice to have all that hard work come to fruition and be a really nice exhibit that people truly enjoy,” Nash said.