Mullen Library Hosts Centennial Tower Exhibit

Photo Courtesy of Alannah Murphy

By Alannah Murphy

In late September 2022, an exhibit opened showcasing Catholic University’s student-run independent newspaper the Tower. The exhibit is located in Mullen Library on the second floor and it was created to celebrate the Tower’s 100th anniversary. The Tower published its first issue on October 27th, 1922, with the purpose of becoming a better source of on-campus information for the CUA community.

The exhibit showcases different issues of the paper over its century-long existence. Parts of the exhibit are dedicated to different subjects, such as social life, sports, engagement, national events, changes on campus, editorials, and special issues. Another section of the exhibit discusses the origins and evolution of The Tower and includes a copy of the first issue of the newspaper. Several nameplates in the exhibit show how the look of the newspaper changed over the years; the nameplates both reflect the time that they were used and show the types of designs relevant to that time period.

Two people responsible for putting the exhibit together are Special Collections Archivist Shane MacDonald and Special Collections Technician Hannah Kaufman. 

“My job includes a lot of communicating with researchers and making sure they’re getting the information they need,” Kaufman said. “I love being able to provide that access, and one of my favorite things is being able to use my knowledge of the collections to offer them more resources that they might not have known we had.” 

The original materials from decades ago are preserved and kept in CUA’s archives. The archives keep their materials in acid-free boxes in climate-controlled, secure storage rooms on campus. The archivists work to record each item to keep track of it for security and access. There are multiple storage locations, but the central location is in Aquinas Hall. According to MacDonald, the archivists check these locations at least once a day, and staff can often be seen darting around campus. 

“The Archives act as the official memory of the University. We maintain the formal records of the school but also work to document campus life. In addition to recording the University’s history, we collect records related to American Catholic history,” MacDonald said. 

Besides the newspapers and nameplates, there are other original items that have been preserved and put into the display case. A few of these items are an old leather football helmet used in the 1940s, student government pins from the ‘80s, and a Brookland Metro pennant from the ‘70s that was used at the opening ceremony of the Brookland Metro Station. 

According to MacDonald, exhibits take a lot of coordination and planning. “We had to work with our colleagues in Mullen Library to reserve the space for the display, as well as our suppliers to make sure the necessary props were available in time,” MacDonald said.  

When it came time to put the exhibit together, Shane and Kaufman combed through numerous issues of the Tower and put together a list of topics that they felt best represented what the newspaper had to offer; after that, it was a matter of picking articles that showcased those various themes. The pair did a physical mockup of the display cases to ensure each object would fit appropriately before transferring the items from the Archives to Mullen Library. 

Both Kaufman and MacDonald agree that the most challenging part of putting the exhibit together was being able to tell the story of the Tower’s 100 years of publication.

“When we settled on a thematic approach, we had to select which themes best fit the Tower’s history and which stories/objects would best reflect those themes. It involved reading through many, many issues of the Tower,” MacDonald said.  

“A student newspaper is not just the legacy of the paper itself. It’s the legacy of the students and their relationship to Catholic University. Visiting the exhibit is a way to engage with the past,” Kaufman said

MacDonald encourages students to visit the exhibit, since the Tower bears witness to CUA students shaping and passing on the campus culture, with each article on display written by student journalists and recording student activities and opinions. 

“I think that it is not a static display, but a snapshot of a still-living and evolving culture of student journalism and campus life,” MacDonald said. 

Mullen Library continues to put exhibits on display for students to view, the next exhibit planned In Mullen is from the Semitics/Institute of Christian Oriental Research (ICOR) Library and will be focusing on Armenian resources in the University’s collections. 

The exhibit will be open through December 12th.