Past Exhibits

  • April 12, 2012 to January 11, 2013

    At the beginning of the Civil War, there were very few hospitals around the country. Washington, the nation’s capital, had no military hospitals. Neither the Union nor the Confederacy was well prepared to treat wounded soldiers, let alone the high numbers of casualties that Civil War battles produced.

  • June 18, 2012 to January 11, 2013

    This exhibit examines how Virginia responded to the Supreme Court’s momentous 1954 decision overturning “separate but equal” schools.

  • March 21, 2012 to December 10, 2012

    The Battle of Williamsburg was a rear-guard action fought in rain and mud on May 5, 1862.

  • William & Mary Leading up to the Civil War

    October 19, 2011 to October 3, 2012

    The years before the Civil War were not always stable ones for William & Mary. The university contended with changes in presidents, resignations and deaths of professors, an end to the chair of law, and the continuing needs for repairs to buildings and fundraising. The 1858-1859 session opened with 47 students. The campus buildings had been extensively repaired and despite the decline in enrollment from the previous year, the future seemed as secure as it ever had for William & Mary. Then, in the early hours of February 8, 1859, the Wren Building went up in flames after a fire began in the north wing and within four hours the building was gutted. William & Mary’s faculty, students, Visitors, townspeople, and supporters would rally to support and rebuild. Then, the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 forced the closure of William & Mary.

  • March 28, 2012 to October 2, 2012

    This exhibit is part of a continuing series about the presidents of the College of William & Mary. It provides a history of the university as seen through the eyes of its presidents. This second installment spans the administrations of presidents William Yates, James Horrocks, John Camm, and James Madison.

  • September 9, 2011 to September 25, 2012

    Tribe Pride: William & Mary Athletics Media Guides from Swem Library allows visitors to experience the history of intercollegiate sports at the College of William & Mary through the athle

  • July 18, 2012 to September 16, 2012

    This exhibit features reproductions and artifacts from Special Collections, which attest to the both celebratory and competitive facets of the Summer Olympic Games.

  • April 12, 2012 to May 28, 2012

    The combination of all three creative processes—poetry, painting, and calligraphy—is considered the ultimate in artistic achievement in Chinese art. Very rarely does a single artist have talent in all three. This exhibit features four facsimile scrolls newly acquired by Swem Library with funds from the William & Mary Confucius Institute. A showcase of William & Mary student calligraphy from Prof. Liping Liu’s “Chinese Calligraphy: Aesthetics and Practice” course complements the masterpieces of Chinese art.

  • October 17, 2011 to May 18, 2012

    The Virginia Council of Human Relations (VCHR) was a bi-racial organization that worked to foster communication and improve relations between blacks and whites. The exhibit highlights a few Williamsburg members and the VCHR's work in the areas of school desegregation and fair employment practices.

  • October 28, 2011 to April 9, 2012

    At the beginning of the Civil War, medicine was at a crossroads. Researchers were only beginning to recognize the role of microorganisms in causing disease and the importance of antiseptic conditions in surgery. There were many competing theories of medicine in 1861, but a majority of doctors practiced medicine based on the centuries-old “four humors” theory. This theory held that keeping the body’s four humors—black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood—in proper balance was the key to good health. Doctors kept the humors in balance by bloodletting or administering purgatives or emetics to their sick patients.