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With Graciousness and Passion
The Rauner Special Collections Library has something for everyone—parents, too
On a campus with a reputation for friendliness, two places stand out at Dartmouth. The first, not surprisingly, is the ever-hospitable Hanover Inn. The second, a quick stroll across the Green at the corner of College and Park, is the Rauner Special Collections Library in Webster Hall.
Just as you wouldn't judge a book by its cover, don't judge Webster—named for the famed orator and statesman Daniel Webster, Class of 1801—by its austere Beaux Arts exterior. Undeniably, this 1907 building can seem a bit forbidding with its dark red brick, imposing Corinthian columns, and heavy bronze doors. Even so, it's a must-visit for anyone spending even a day or two on campus. Think of it as a handsome old vault sitting in the corner of Dartmouth's parlor, holding some of the family's (the human family, that is) most important written treasures. You're even allowed to hold them.
But first, you have to enter. Use the doors on the left and prepare yourself for a soaring space which, if not literally breathtaking, will have even the most jaded architecture fancier saying “whoa” under her breath. The monumental interior hall, formerly an auditorium, now houses rare and vintage books, letters, manuscripts, and other materials in a glazed, climate-controlled “lantern.” This “building within a building” was dedicated in 1999 following a two-year renovation made possible by a generous lead gift from Diana and Bruce Rauner ‘78. Designed by Venturi Scott Brown Associates of Philadelphia, it won national acclaim.
Once you take it all in, you'll hear, “How can I help you?”
Where to begin?
College Archivist Peter Carini, who shares an infectious enthusiasm with his colleagues, would recommend his favorite object but, he says, that changes month to month, depending on what he's working on. “Right now, because I'm preparing for a class on 18th-century Dartmouth that I'm going to teach as part of a French course, that object would be this great letter describing being here in 1789, the year the French Revolution began.” The library's most-requested item is a first edition of the Book of Mormon (Mormon founder Joseph Smith's birthplace is just across the Connecticut River in South Royalton, Vermont). “We also have lots of people doing genealogy, research, and local history, as well as those who come by because they've heard we let people do things like hold Daniel Webster's hat in their hands,” Carini says.
A goal Carini shares with Jay Satterfield, the special collections librarian, is to get every student into Rauner before they graduate—and not necessarily to study. “We always tell students they can come in for any reason and use anything here.” he says. “We have a copy of Shakespeare's first folio, which is one of the most valuable items we have in the collection. I once had a student come in and she asked to see it. She looked at for about twenty, maybe thirty minutes with her boyfriend, then she told me she was done with it. I went to pack it up and she said, ‘I'm trying to finish my Shakespeare paper and I just needed inspiration.” That's just as good a use, as far as I'm concerned, as the person who's studying Frost's notebooks with a scholarly interest. All those interests are important and they all come together in different ways.”
Which underscores an important aspect of this place: it's not a static repository. Last year, staff taught dozens of classes in fourteen departments. And they're constantly acquiring, presenting, and seeking out new material. They recently received the papers of the noted alumni-founded dance company Pilobolus. The collection of Budd Schulberg ‘36 helped inform the recent exhibit, Fitzgerald's Lost Weekend: Winter Carnival 1939, chronicling the bibulous Jazz Age writer's “biggest, saddest and most desperate spree.” One of two projects that Mary Donin, oral history interviewer and editor, has been pursuing involves recreating Dartmouth during the WWII era through the stories of alumni. As with so much archival work, it's literally a race against time. This past winter, Donin spent a snowy Friday morning interviewing a veteran whose time at Dartmouth bracketed his service in the war. That evening, he quietly passed away in his sleep. Despite the challenge, what's emerging from her research is a portrait of a “very disrupted time in the College history...a fascinating period,” Carini says.
In truth, just about everything in Rauner is fascinating. That its staff presents its materials with such graciousness and passion is what makes Rauner Special Collections Library a not-to-be missed stop along the Dartmouth experience—for parents as well as students.