Exhibitions
Archives and Special Collections hosts exhibitions each year in the Loyola Notre Dame Library. We welcome faculty and students to collaborate with us on exhibitions utilizing materials from our collections.
Current and Upcoming Exhibitions
Stories We Tell: Cultural Narratives through Photography
Ferguson Gallery, April-September 2025
Curated by Loyola University Maryland students in Prof. Dan Schlapbach's History of Photography course, this exhibit draws on photographs in the library's Archives and Special Collections to explore the ways in which elements including form, genre, and viewer and photographer biases shape the stories photographs tell.
In the Name of the Pope: A Journey through Papal Coins, Seals, and Medals
Archives Reading Room, Third Floor
This exhibit explores more than a thousand years of papal history through the Vatican's production of currency, commemorative medals, and lead seals for documents. Student curator Rylee Miller (Loyola '25) shows connections to history, politics, and art through items on display ranging from the 13th to the 20th centuries.
2025 Humanities Symposium Student Poster Exhibition
Ferguson Gallery, February-March 2025
Posters and promotional materials for Loyola University Maryland's 2025 Humanities Symposium, created by students in Communication professor Noelle Dichiera's Graphics I and II classes. Students used tools in the library's makerspace, including a large-format printer, 3D printer, button maker, and materials for etching and sublimation printing, to create exhibit materials celebrating nature and exploring themes of Amitav Ghosh's book The Great Derangement.
Creativity Unbound: The Book as Art
Ferguson Gallery, October 2024-February 2025
This exhibit explores the ways in which book arts push the boundaries of what a book can be. Through a dazzling variety of artist's books, Creativity Unbound explores the book itself as art object and highlightes the work of important contemporary book artists.
Father Talbot and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons
Archives Reading Room, Third Floor, 2022-2024
How did a collection of artifacts from a 17th century Jesuit mission among the Huron Wendat (Wyandot) people come to be housed in our library? What is the collection’s connection to Loyola University Maryland’s history and present-day built environment? This exhibit, curated by Loyola student Frederick Bradbury V, shares Wyandot and Jesuit artifacts, rare books and maps, and historical research that shed light on the link between Loyola and a site of engagement and conflict between French Jesuits and indigenous communities in North America.
World War I: Lessons and Legacies
Ferguson Gallery, Spring-Summer 2024
This exhibit explores "the war to end all wars" and its lasting impact and far-reaching influence on life in America, in Baltimore, and at Loyola University Maryland and Notre Dame of Maryland University. Sparked by the assassination of one man, the war eventually included the forces of the world's major industrial powers (over 18 countries) and ended with millions dead. It redefined how we saw ourselves as Americans and its legacy continues today. The exhibit includes materials from Archives and Special Collections curated by Grace Perry, Loyola '24, and interpretive posters from the Smithsonian Institution.
2024 Humanities Symposium Student Poster Exhibition
Ferguson Gallery, February-March 2024
Posters and promotional materials for Loyola University Maryland's 2024 Humanities Symposium, created by students in Communication professor Noelle Dichiera's Graphics I and II classes, will be on display at the Loyola Notre Dame Library until late March. Students used tools in the library's makerspace, including a large-format printer, laser cutter, button maker, and materials for etching and sublimation printing, to create exhibit materials relating to Aimee Nezhukumatathil's book World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, & Other Astonishments.
Dr. Elizabeth Morrissy: Her Life and Legacy as a Catholic Professor and Activist
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, October 2023-February 2024
This exhibit explores the life, career, and activism of Dr. Elizabeth Morrissy, Professor of History and Economics at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and namesake of the school's Morrissy Honors Program. Learn about Dr. Morrissy's political and social activism on behalf of industrial workers, women's rights, and educational reform, and how her deep Catholic faith influenced the trajectory of her remarkable career.
Loyola Notre Dame Library: 50 Years of Innovation, Evolution, and Excellence
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, March-September 2023
Since its opening in 1973, The Loyola Notre Dame Library has been a site of continual transformation and growth. This exhibit explores the origins of this unique shared library, its development over half a century, and its ongoing dedication to meeting the holistic needs of Loyola, Notre Dame, and the Baltimore community.
2023 Humanities Symposium Student Poster Exhibition
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, March 2023
Humanities Symposium posters and promotional materials created by students in Communication professor Noelle Dichiera's Graphics II classes will be on display at the Loyola Notre Dame Library until late March.
Plays through Playbill: Snapshots of Broadway Theatre History, 1947-2011
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, November 2022-February 2023
Curated by students in Loyola's Fall 2022 Introduction to Theatre History course, this exhibit shares highlights of Broadway history through the extensive playbill collections in Archives and Special Collections. From The Iceman Cometh to In the Heights, learn what made these landmark theatrical productions so significant and how their legacies endure today.
Father John J. Griffin: A Life Through Photography
Archives Reading Room, Third Floor, 2021-2022
This exhibit, curated by Loyola University Maryland students Christopher Linfante and Joseph Seminara, explores the life and legacy of John J. Griffin, a Jesuit priest, Notre Dame of Maryland chemistry professor, boys' summer camp founder, and photographer.
Celebrating 50 Years of Women at Loyola
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, January-October 2022
In 1971, after nearly 120 years as an all-male college, Loyola merged with Mount Saint Agnes College, a women’s Catholic institution run by the Sisters of Mercy. Since then, Loyola has made an effort to keep the memory of “The Mount” alive and to prioritize the expansion of educational opportunities to include all groups. As we approach the anniversary of 50 years of women and their contributions to the Evergreen campus, this exhibit looks back at Loyola before, during, and after this momentous change.
September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, August-November 2021
This exhibit presents the history of 9/11, its origins, and its ongoing implications through the personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. It includes posters curated by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, as well as materials from the library's Archives and Special Collections that reflect the effects of 9/11 on the Baltimore, Loyola, and Notre Dame communities.
A Living Legacy: Remembering Mount Saint Agnes College
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, 2020-2021
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote (pop-up exhibit)
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, Fall-Winter 2020
Hound Power: Highlights from the History of Loyola Athletics
Library Second Floor, November 2019 - March 2020
Pages from the Past: A History of NDMU through Students' Scrapbooks (1908-1951)
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, September 6 - October 20, 2019
A Living Legacy: Remembering Mount Saint Agnes College
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, March 20 - April 28, 2019
Fore-Edge Paintings
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, Dec. 7, 2017 - Jan. 31, 2018
Learn more about the fore-edge exhibit.
Snapshots of Diversity at Notre Dame of Maryland
Ferguson Gallery, First Floor, Sept. 12 - Dec. 6, 2017
