In Memoriam: Photographer Ron Morris (1947-2021)
Posted: December 1, 2021 Filed under: Art Library, Books, Collections, donor, Librarianship / Archivy, Louisville History, New Items, People, Photographs, Primary Sources, University of Louisville Libraries Leave a commentBy Trish Blair, Art Library Collections Coordinator
In the fall of 2018, I met Ron Morris for the first time, and the very first thing he said to me and my co-worker Kathy Moore, is that he was dying. And that is how our partnership began – with that brutally honest and poignant statement.
He asked if the Art Library would be interested in a donation of maybe 200 of his books about photography. Since we were between directors, we consulted with Libraries Dean Fox, Tyler Goldberg (Head of Technical Services), Matt Wyatt (Development Director), and James Procell (Interim head, Art Library), and decided to accept, as photography is one of our most popular collections. After meeting with Mr. Morris, that quickly turned into a donation of over 1,100 titles. We don’t have an official value, but a rough estimate is about $175,000. We think it was the largest single donation to the Bridwell Art Library.
I began working with Mr. Morris, taking his hand-written lists of books and arranging for pick-ups. In the summer of 2019, I took our student intern at the time, Maree Grosser, with me for the heavy lifting. Once a week we would drive to Mr. Morris’ house and fill either my car or the library van with the treasures he was gifting to us. He would always have jazz or classical music playing and was happy to find out that Maree was an aspiring photographer. His keen intellect and interest in both our lives was comforting. He and I shared a love of taking pictures of things that were not “pretty” to museum standards.
To say that he was eclectic is an understatement. He was unconventional, funny, and warm. He collected antique typewriters, cameras, and books of all sorts. He had a very large collection of Chuck Taylor shoes that perfectly suited his style and being. His apartment was like a museum, mixed with a bookstore, mixed with a comfy home.
Ron Morris was a Louisville native and alumni of UofL’s Hite Art Institute (1969). He was also the Arts editor at the Louisville Cardinal during his undergrad period. He went from UofL to the Massachusetts College of Art for his MFA (1982) and settled in Boston for 40 years teaching photography at Newtown High School and honing his craft. He retired from teaching in 2014 and moved back to Louisville. His photographs have been exhibited at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Hofstra University, MIT, the Portland Art Museum, Newton Art Center, Vision Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, the New England School of Photography, the Memphis Academy of Art, the Hudson River Museum, Northeastern University and Texas A&M University, and the Caviar Forge & Gallery in Louisville.
We had great plans to celebrate his donation in 2020, but Covid cancelled them. Unfortunately for us, Mr. Morris passed away in the spring of 2021. Through his death we have added more items to our collection from his estate: prints of his photography; self-made books; graphic design images of the objects he collected; re-imagined movie posters; and of course more books. We will celebrate his gift sometime in the near future, but until then we will keep adding the objects he gave to us and remembering the man who was so inspirational.
Libraries Dean Fox Named Treasurer of ARL
Posted: November 9, 2021 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Librarianship / Archivy, Music Library, People, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville, University of Louisville Libraries | Tags: Association of Research Libraries Leave a commentUniversity of Louisville Libraries Dean Bob Fox has been elected treasurer for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). He will serve a three-year term, and will chair the group’s finance committee.
Dean Fox became UofL’s member representative to ARL in 2011 and joined the ARL Board and its finance committee in 2018; he has been a member of the audit committee since its founding in 2019. He had served as interim treasurer since August.
Fox has served as Dean of the University Libraries since 2011. Since that time, and prior to his tenure with UofL, he has served in a number of leadership positions with professional and industry organizations.
In addition to his ARL board service, Fox has served on several ARL committees and working groups since he became a member representative in 2011, including the Statistics and Assessment Committee/Research and Analytics Committee (2012, chair 2013–2016); the Libraries That Learn Design Team (2015–2016); and the ARL Academy Advisory Committee (2018–2019). Fox was an ARL Leadership Fellow in 2009–2010.
UofL Libraries became members of ARL in 2002.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise; advances diversity, equity, and inclusion; and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
ThinkIR Highlights BIPOC Scholarship
Posted: October 25, 2021 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Digital Collections, Digital Scholarship, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Librarianship / Archivy, Music Library, People, Primary Sources, ThinkIR, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville Libraries Leave a commentPart of Open Access involves building structural equity in OA venues. To this end, the Libraries have created The Collective, an initiative to uplift BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) faculty and staff at UofL by highlighting their research and providing open-access to BIPOC-produced scholarship on ThinkIR, the University’s digital institutional repository.
Hosted and managed by the University Libraries, ThinkIR promotes genuine open access and sustainable scholarship by making the work of UofL researchers freely available to a global audience without requiring costly and unsustainable access to journal subscriptions. “The Collective” was initiated in response to research showing that faculty who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color are underrepresented and marginalized in academia. According to the Higher Education Research Institute’s 2016-2017 faculty survey, there were large gaps between white and BIPOC scholars feeling a need to work harder to be perceived as a legitimate scholar. “Substantially more Black (72.2%), Asian (70.7%), Latino/a (70.6%), and Native American (66.7%) faculty perceived a need to work harder than their peers to gain legitimacy compared to just 46.8% of White faculty who felt similarly.”
By featuring a BIPOC scholars research collection in our institutional repository, we hope to encourage scholars of all disciplines to intentionally seek out the research and scholarship of their colleagues of color.
Helpful Links and Resources
Home – ThinkIR – UofL Libraries at University of Louisville
BIPOC Scholars – ThinkIR – UofL Libraries at University of Louisville
HERI-FAC2017-monograph.pdf (ucla.edu)
Celebrating International Open Access Week
Posted: October 25, 2021 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Digital Collections, Digital Scholarship, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Librarianship / Archivy, Primary Sources, ThinkIR, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville Libraries 1 CommentInternational Open Access Week (IOAW), held this year from October 25-21, advocates for the right to use and access knowledge freely and without subscription and copyright limitations. Every year, IOAW attempts to raise awareness of the potential disparities that arise when some scholarship is made more exclusive and less accessible to the public.
The theme for this year’s IOAW is “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity.” This theme was created to align with the recently released UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science:
Open Science should embrace a diversity of knowledge, practices, workflows, languages, research outputs and research topics that support the needs and epistemic pluralism of the scientific community as a whole, diverse research communities and scholars, as well as the wider public and knowledge holders beyond the traditional scientific community, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and social actors from different countries and regions, as appropriate. (UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, Page 7)
Often large publishers force academics to sign contracts limiting publication of their work to a single journal, and then charge high subscription fees for access to the work. This creates a disparity in who can access the knowledge.
ThinkIR, UofL’s Digital Institutional Repository, offers an online venue for sharing the work of our researchers, making it free, open, and accessible to a wide audience. There are no paywalls, no copyright contracts. ThinkIR is managed and hosted by the University Libraries.
Helpful Links and Resources
Home – ThinkIR – UofL Libraries at University of Louisville
Libraries Updated and Refreshed for Fall Semester
Posted: August 10, 2021 Filed under: Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, University of Louisville Libraries, User Experience | Tags: group study spaces, renovations, spaces, upgrades Leave a commentSeveral University Libraries are set to welcome back students for the Fall semester 2021 with refreshed interiors, accessible facilities, upgraded study areas, and new furniture.
Ekstrom Library 2nd Floor
Ekstrom Library has seen a number of projects over the past year. Most recently, a portion of the second floor was upgraded, creating new private study rooms, small conference rooms, and additional study space near the former offices of the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice. Currently occupied by the UofL Honors Program, the private study rooms will become available sometime in the coming year when Honors moves to a new location. Large group study tables have been installed in the southeast section of the floor, allowing the third and fourth floors to remain devoted to quiet study. Additional upgrades are planned through the Fall semester 2021.
Opened in January of 2021, Ekstrom’s first gender-neutral bathroom is handicapped-accessible and includes a changing table, and is conveniently located on the second floor in the west wing, which is opened 24/7 during the Fall and Spring semesters. Likewise, the library’s first lactation room opened recently in the same area, offering 24/7 availability, in a project spearheaded by the Commission on the Status of Women (COSW).
Additionally, over the next few months, space on Ekstrom’s third floor will be upgraded to accommodate a Jewish Studies Reading Room. Funded in part recently by an anonymous donor, the Reading Room will display works by Jewish scholars and about Jewish heritage and culture, include upgraded study and presentation space, and allow authors and scholars to offer talks and discussions in upgraded space separate from the main floor.
Art Library
At the Bridwell Art Library, a donation from Guy and Libbye Montgomery allowed the library to purchase equipment to upgrade its collaborative study and research room. Purchases included a new Apple computer, a wall-mounted television monitor, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a web conference camera. The purchases allow visitors to mirror screens using their laptop, tablet, or phone. Room 102C can be used as a conference room, library instruction classroom, and individual or group study room. This space is a great option for faculty meetings, thesis and dissertation defenses, and appointments with students – even in a virtual environment, thanks to the web conferencing camera and software. For students, this is a great option for group study.
Kornhauser Health Sciences Library
Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, in addition to adding a large new sign on the outside wall, added a card reader system at the entrance of the library, new furniture on the second floor, and new flat panel televisions in all study rooms. The library also instituted a room reservation system.
Rountree Medical Library
Inside the University of Louisville Hospital, Rountree Medical Library has undergone a renovation to its office, adding a new entry desk, new carpet, a small kitchenette, new couches and shelving for its collection.
Lounge in Rowntree Medical Library. 
Front desk in Rowntree Medical Library. 
Bookshelf in Rowntree Medical Library.
What Students Are Telling Us About How They Use the Libraries
Posted: April 1, 2021 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Librarianship / Archivy, Music Library, People, University of Louisville, University of Louisville Libraries, User Experience | Tags: library assessment 2 CommentsBy Anita Hall, Assessment Librarian
An incredible number of students visit our libraries every day, whether in person or online. We’re always trying to understand how they use the Libraries and how we can improve their experience. One way we get this feedback is through surveys. Recently, we participated in a campus-wide survey of students called the Student Support Services Survey (S4), conducted by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, which gave us lots of great information. Currently, the University Libraries is also conducting its bi-yearly Benchmark Survey to learn about student and faculty habits, needs and wishes in order to improve the Library experience for the University community.
In the S4 survey, one of the things we really wanted to know was how students learn about the Libraries. This helps us decide how to reach out to students. Those who said they do use the Libraries in some way (in-person, online, or both) were most likely to learn about us from a campus tour, orientation, or resource fair (21.54%) or because of a course requirement (21.32%). Campus emails were not particularly helpful – only 1.98% said that they learned about the Libraries in this way. Good to know!
Here are some more of the top ways that students learned about the Libraries:
| Which of the following helped you learn about the University Libraries? | |
| Campus tour, orientation, or resources fair | 21.54% |
| Course requirement | 21.32% |
| A librarian came to my class | 11.10% |
| Blackboard | 10.00% |
| Academic Advisor | 8.35% |
| Freshman Guide | 6.70% |
| Recommendation from a friend | 5.49% |
We also wanted to know why some students don’t use the Libraries. Most of these students said that they just haven’t needed to yet but will when the need arises (32.20%). Others say that they currently have access to all the resources they need to complete their coursework (22.03%). However, there were some students who said they either don’t know how to use the Libraries or don’t know what kinds of services and resources the Libraries offer (11.86% for each). We’ll be working hard to try and bring those numbers down before the next survey.
Another thing the Libraries wanted to know is what types of information skills we can help with. We asked how confident they are at several different tasks. Most students feel pretty confident with all of them, which is great. Below is a snapshot of the tasks that some said they are either not at all or not very confident in completing. We also asked questions about how and when they learned these skills, and their responses to those questions will help us work with professors to support them in teaching these skills. This might involve librarians leading instruction sessions in classes, creating online learning modules for Blackboard, or developing some of our own resources that can be accessed anytime. A great example of this is our Citizen Literacy resource, which has lots of great information about evaluating news sources.
| Please rate your confidence in completing the following tasks: | “Not at all Confident” or “Not very Confident” |
| Locate books and other materials required for an assignment | 9.41% |
| Locate scholarly, peer-reviewed materials when required for an assignment | 5.02% |
| Develop a research topic for an assignment | 5.06% |
| Cite sources appropriately when required for an assignment | 3.72% |
| Evaluate the trustworthiness of news and other web sources | 3.31% |
Are you interested in providing more feedback about the Libraries? One great way is to join the Libraries Student Advisory Board. We’re always accepting new members! The Libraries will also be sending out our Benchmark Survey later in March 2021 – we have been using this survey for almost 20 years to get feedback about our spaces, services, and collections. This survey goes to a sample of the University community, so you may or may not receive a survey invitation. Watch your UofL email, and if you get one, please answer it! We really appreciate your time and responses.
Libraries Diversify Collections to Fulfill Anti-Racist Vision
Posted: February 8, 2021 Filed under: Art Library, Books, Collections, Digital Collections, donor, Ekstrom Library, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Librarianship / Archivy, Literature, Music Library, New Items, People, Primary Sources, University of Louisville Libraries 1 CommentThe Libraries have increased funding to four libraries – Kornhauser, Music, Art and Ekstrom – to diversify our collections in support of UofL’s drive to create an anti-racist university. Dean Bob Fox has used gift funding to allow the purchase of more books, DVDs and other materials on civil rights, equity, and Black history, among other subjects.
“We’re very committed to expanding our collections in areas that will support President Bendapudi’s mission to have an anti-racist campus,” said Dean Fox. “This extra funding provides an additional boost to meeting this goal.”
The allocation of gift funding is in addition to the typical yearly budget for new materials.
Additional funding provided to the Music Library has covered recent purchases of 134 music scores by Black composers. Prior to receiving this funding, the Music library used one of the music library’s endowments to purchase 97 music scores by Black composers. A catalog listing of those items can be found here.
In Ekstrom Library, new titles include The Devil You Know: a Black Power Manifesto by Charles Blow (2021); White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert Jones (2020); Diversity, Oppression, and Change: Culturally Grounded Social Work by Flavio Marsiglia (2021); The Lexington Six: Lesbian and Gay Resistance in 1970s America by Josephine Donovan (2020); and Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie Glaude (2020). Additional funding helped the library purchase new titles for the Granville A. Bunton African American Collection.
Kornhauser Health Sciences Library has purchased new books dedicated to diversity and anti-racism, specifically in healthcare. A current list of the library’s diversity related resources can be found within WMS by searching “diversity in healthcare.”
With the additional funding, the Art Library will continue to add to its collection of diverse materials related to art history, artists, graphic design and art pedagogy, among other subjects. See this list for a snapshot of the library’s latest acquisitions.
We’d love your help in this work! Please consider recommending materials that will help us better serve our community via this RECOMMENDATION FORM.
Muhammad Ali: A Transcendent Life: A Celebration in Virtual and Onsite Exhibits, Opens January 25
Posted: January 25, 2021 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Books, Collections, Databases, Digital Collections, Digital Scholarship, Ekstrom Library, Events, Exhibits, Images, Kentucky, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Louisville, Louisville History, Music Library, People, Photographic Archives, Photographs, Primary Sources, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville Libraries, Videos | Tags: equity, humanitarian, Muhammad Ali;, racial justice, social justice 1 CommentOn January 25, 2021, UofL’s Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice and the University Libraries will commemorate Muhammad Ali’s social justice legacy with a series of virtual and onsite exhibits titled Muhammad Ali: A Transcendent Life.
The exhibits honor Muhammad Ali’s connections to Louisville, his unique contributions to civil rights and social justice movements, and his inspiring global legacy. Transcendent Life will engage the UofL campus and community and show how Ali’s legacy as a global humanitarian and champion for social justice impacts peace and justice advocacy today.
The multimedia exhibits will begin a phased opening on January 25, the week after his 79th birthday on January 17. The first exhibit showcases Ali as a Humanitarian and Peace Advocate. In February, a virtual exhibit will honor his civil rights record. Subsequent exhibits emphasize his boxing and athletic background and his involvement with Islam.
Multimedia exhibits launching January 25 include a display in Ekstrom Library of a rare book of Ali photos , while a virtual exhibit features a story map of public art and monuments titled “Muhammad Ali: An Extraordinary Life in Louisville and Beyond.”
To include all voices in the celebration, exhibit organizers invite University and Louisville community members to record and upload video/audio memories or thoughts for a tribute titled “Standing Up For Peace.” Contributors may share uploads to this video tribute and archive through June 2021 via: louisville.libwizard.com/f/ali-stand-up-for-peace.
A symposium titled “Standing Up For Peace – Celebrating Muhammad Ali’s Social Justice Legacy” is planned for Spring 2022, Ali’s 80th birth year. The symposium’s focus will be national and global racial justice and human rights issues, featuring nationally recognized speakers, UofL student contributions, and excerpts from the video archive. A series of break-out sessions will bring together community organizers and justice advocates to design action agendas to stand up for peace in their communities.
The Muhammad Ali: A Transcendent Life commemoration will include:
- An exhibit in Ekstrom Library of rare archival resources on Muhammad Ali including the massive volume Greatest of All Time: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali with additional photographs by Howard L. Bingham and Lin Caufield. The Archives and Special Collections exhibit will be held in the first floor cases of the west wing of Ekstrom Library, across from the circulation desk through February 26.
- A Digital Storymap titled “Muhammad Ali: An Extraordinary Life in Louisville and Beyond” featuring public art and monuments to Muhammad Ali in Louisville: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a28b07b8238847de994dd6165877a1b6. This is a collaboration between University of Louisville, the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice, the Bridwell Art Library, and the Center for Geographic Information Sciences.
- UofL’s Music Library display will feature original music and other recordings by and about Muhammad Ali. He was an eclectic artist who acted on Broadway and released several recordings.
- Did you know that the song “The Greatest Love of All” sung by Whitney Houston is about Muhammad Ali? The 1977 version was performed by George Benson as the theme song of the The Greatest, a film about Muhammad Ali.
- The Bridwell Art Library will display books highlighting artists who photographed or depicted Muhammad Ali in their work.
- The Kornhauser Health Sciences Library will feature innovations in Parkinson’s Disease treatments as well as Muhammad Ali’s contributions to advance this research.
- A Research Guide will feature several Digital Timelines of Muhammad Ali’s life focused on: his Boxing Excellence; his Spirituality and Islamic Faith; his work as a Humanitarian and Peace Advocate; and his actions as a Social Justice and Civil Rights Icon. The timelines connect Muhammad Ali’s life with key moments in global and U.S. history. The Research Guide will feature additional resources from University Libraries and the Muhammad Ali Institute. https://library.louisville.edu/ali
- The Standing Up For Peace Community Engagement Video Series will ask our community to share their thoughts about this question: “What can we learn from Muhammad Ali about standing up for peace today?” This audio/video collection of community contributions will be available to the public. Upload here: louisville.libwizard.com/f/ali-stand-up-for-peace
- Spring 2022 – SYMPOSIUM – “Celebrating Muhammad Ali’s Social Justice Legacy – Standing Up For Peace.” This symposium/conference will focus on how Muhammad Ali can inspire the world to stand up for peace today on national and international racial justice and human rights issues. We are seeking funding and will collaborate with other UofL offices and academic units, student groups, and community groups.
- Related Scholarship: Fannie Cox and Enid Trucios-Haynes will submit a proposal to present this collaboration and its outcomes at a national library conference.
The Art of Suffrage: Women Cartoonists
Posted: October 20, 2020 Filed under: Art Library, People, Primary Sources, University of Louisville Libraries | Tags: 19th amendment, art, artists, cartoon, cartoonist, suffrage, voting, women, women artist, women artists Leave a commentBridwell Art Library employee Trish Blair introduces two female cartoonists for suffrage, and shares how their vision helped most women gain the right to vote.
For women coming of age at the turn of the 20th century there were not many roles outside the home for them to aspire to have. But War and other factors led to a surge in women participating in life outside the home; between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed in the United States increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. Yet still most women could not vote in elections. Women began to rise up, and participate in organized protests, becoming known as suffragists. Merriam-Webster defines suffragist as “a person who advocates suffrage (the right to vote).” Suffragists believed in peaceful, constitutional campaign methods; after they failed to make significant progress, a new generation of activists emerged. These women became known as the suffragettes, and they were willing to take direct, militant action for the cause.
One way that women did make a mark in that time-period was in art. Two women made a name for themselves as cartoonists for suffrage, Nina Allender (1872?-1957) and Annie “Lou” Rogers (1879-1952). Women at this time did not have many role models as women had not yet become cartoonists, publicists, or public figures. These women were in a new generation, a transitional generation who with their middle-class, white, protestant upbringing were poised to change their circumstances and the country at large.
Annie “Lou” Rogers, one of the most prolific suffrage artists, was from a long-established American family in Maine. Her love of drawing took her to the Massachusetts Normal Art School, where she left after failing her first year exams. She “hated the plinths and the dead white casts and the stiff designs for wallpaper.” Rogers prided herself as a self-taught artist. In 1908 when publications rejected her, she began using the pseudonym Lou Rogers. Soon she became one of the country’s leading cartoonists with her work appearing in The Judge, Ladies Home Journal, and the New York Tribune. She also published books, and hosted a radio show in the 1930’s. And little did she know that working at The Judge would change how the world sees women, albeit many years later. While at The Judge, Rogers worked alongside Harry George Peter, who would occasionally create pieces when Rogers was overbooked. Peter was the original artist behind William Moulton Marston’s Wonder Woman. Both Marston and Peter were inspired by the suffrage movement in the creation of the character, and while it cannot be determined whether Peter was influenced directly by Rogers work, it still showed the hallmarks of suffrage artwork.
Nina Allender was born in Kansas after her family moved westward from Pennsylvania in the early years of western settlement. Years later, her family would return east to Washington DC. Allender attended the Corcoran School of Art, and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, one of the first art schools to provide professional opportunities for women. She joined the suffrage movement in 1913 when she met Alice Paul. She produced cartoons that showed a new spirit and interpretation of suffrage. She began working at The Suffragist, a publication of the National Women’s Party. She worked to change the image of suffragettes to stylish young women patiently waiting for their rights—an opposite portrayal by anti-suffrage cartoons that caricatured activists as frumpy and nagging. The Allender Girl was in stark contrast to other depictions of women at that time such as the Gibson Girl, the most popular women’s image of the time by cartoonist Charles Dana Gibson. As a more popular version of the New Woman (i.e. the Suffragette), the Gibson Girl both undermined and sanctioned women’s desires for progressive sociopolitical change.
Louisville Businesswoman and Community Activist named UofL Alumni Fellow
Posted: October 8, 2020 Filed under: Archives & Special Collections, Art Library, Ekstrom Library, Kentucky, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Law Library, Louisville, Music Library, People, University Archives & Records Center, University of Louisville, University of Louisville Libraries | Tags: alumna, alumni, alumni awards, communications, community advocate, donor, Jewish Reading Room, Jewish studies, Libraries donor, Louisville, marketing, philanthropy, public relations, social justice Leave a commentThe University Libraries is pleased to celebrate long-time community activist and social justice advocate Jessica Loving as an Alumni Fellow for this year’s University of Louisville Alumni Awards.
Loving was named an Alumni Fellow from UofL’s schools and colleges as well as Libraries and Student Affairs along with 13 other graduates. This year is a virtual celebration featuring video interviews with the honorees as they discuss their time at UofL and the impact of their careers.
“I’m so happy that Jessica Loving is the 2020 recipient of the UofL Alumni Award on behalf of the University Libraries,” said Libraries Dean Bob Fox. “She has done so much for Louisville and for Kentucky through her work with community organizations and as a tireless advocate for social justice.”
“We are especially fortunate in the libraries that Jessica shares a vision of transforming one of our spaces in Ekstrom Library into a Jewish Studies Reading Room that would bring our Jewish studies collection into a space shared by scholars in quiet reflective study, as well as providing facilities to host noted lectures and speakers,” Fox added.
Loving is currently a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Jewish Community Relations Council. She previously served on the boards of the Louisville Ballet, the National ACLU, and the Center for Women & Families. She is also a founding member of the Jewish Family & Career Service’s MOSAIC Award Committee.
Jessica Loving received her Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from the University of Louisville in 1968 and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi and Woodcock honor societies. She has been president of Jessica Loving & Associates, a public relations and marketing consulting business in Louisville, for a number of years.
Loving formerly was vice president of corporate communications at PNC Bank, executive director of the KY Commission on Women, and executive director of the ACLU of KY. Loving’s public relations and marketing clients have included banks, law firms, nonprofit groups, real estate developers, bourbon distillers, unions and a meatpacking plant. She has also provided pro bono campaign planning and management for several local judges.
Loving was a member of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees from 1996 through 2008 and was Board chair from 2001 to 2003. She has also served on the University’s Board of Overseers, College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee, and Athletic Advisory Commission.
“I would urge my fellow graduates of the UofL to be mindful of how we can help the university be the sort of place that can nurture young 17- and 18-year olds freshman and give them the kind of education that most of us got and help them make this world a better place,” said Loving. “We have a lot of work to do and the University is the place that nurtures the people that can make a difference.”
Jessica and her husband, Sheryl G. Snyder, a Louisville attorney, have a blended family of five children and seven grandchildren.
“We are so grateful to Jessica for her support of the Libraries, for her support and commitment to UofL, and her passion for social justice,” said Dean Fox.
University of Louisville Libraries News 