New Display Clarifies Misconceptions about Ursinus History
“Sorry to be the BEARer of Bad News…” was designed to inform students about the important historical figures of the College and answer questions that students probably didn’t even know they had.
During a Trivia night in Lower Wismer last spring, the question, “Which individual was both the founder and first president of Ursinus College?” was asked. When almost every team playing trivia answered, “Zacharias Ursinus” it occurred to Caroline Gambone, College Archives and Myrin Library Special Collections student assistant, that we have students unaware of key figures in the college’s past.
Three individuals, J.H.A. Bomberger, Zacharias Ursinus and Samuel Vernon Ruby, are highlighted in this display. Their portraits, or in Ursinus’ case a print, are hung amongst historical facts and relevant artifacts. The facts were taken from Calvin D. Yost’s “Ursinus College: A History of its First Hundred Years” as well as the April 1896 Ursinus College Bulletin. These readings were synthesized into comprehensible snapshots that strive to inform and engage readers of Ursinus’ history at a first glance.
The title “Sorry to be the BEARer of bad news…” plays off of the Ursinus Mascot, the Grizzly Bear. The black text on stark white paper is meant to catch the eye of a passerby and inform him or her at a glance. The school colors are meant to engage the viewer of the display and invoke a theme of Ursinus Pride.
All in all, the exhibit, curated by Ms. Gambone with assistance from Carolyn Weigel, College Archivist and Charlie Jamison, Special Collections Librarian, pays homage to figures key in establishing the Ursinus College that we all know and love.