FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
FAU Libraries and the History Department of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters hosted the fourth annual Spirit of America Symposium on October 27.
The program allows scholars from across the U.S. to conduct research in the Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection and present their findings on the final evening.
Over the past month, FAU has had the pleasure of hosting Joan Jockel from the College of William and Mary, Eva Landsberg from Yale University, and Shannan Mason from the University of Missouri as they conducted research.
Joan Jockel researched gender violence, power, and print in the Revolutionary Atlantic. Eva Landsberg's work focused on merchants, planters, and the politics of sugar in the 18th-century British Atlantic, and Shannan Mason researched nature's commodification and Trans-Atlantic exchange in the 18th century.
During their many hours in the Wimberly Library, Joan, Eva, and Shannan were able to call on the expertise of the Special Collections team as they navigated the Spirit of America Collection during their research. The staff spent over 170 hours assisting the fellows who requested a total of 420 items from the Weiner collection.
Special Collections Assistant Robert Feeney and Assistant Dean for Research and Distinctive Collections Victoria Thur assisted the fellows in their research while the History Department faculty helped them to refine their work.
"We at the FAU Libraries are incredibly proud to be the home of The Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection. This unique collection allows scholars to attain valuable experience working with original manuscripts and materials and continues to be an invaluable asset to historians and researchers around the country," said Dr. Linda Golian-Lui, Dean of FAU Libraries.
Comparable in scope and content to the collections of the American Antiquarian Society and the Library Company of Philadelphia, Weiner's collection was originally inspired to emulate the personal libraries of men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.
Marvin Weiner spent a lifetime collecting the books and pamphlets that a colonial gentleman would have owned. Taking great care to purchase the same editions that were available in 18th-century America, he eventually amassed a collection of more than 13,000 books, pamphlets, government publications, newspapers, and serials, including rare works from as early as the 16th century.
The 2022 Spirit of America Symposium was made possible by the generous underwriting of Dr. Howard and Judith Weiner in conjunction with the support of the FAU Libraries and the History Department of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters.
