The Sullivan Museum and History Center will present an exhibition entitled “Tol’ko Po Russky, Pozhaluista” (“Russian Only, Please”), chronicling the history of the Russian School of Norwich University. The exhibit will open on March 22, 2012 and run through Fall 2012. The Russian School was a fixture on the Northfield campus every summer from 1968 to 2000, where students spent seven weeks intensely studying the Russian language. In addition to classroom work, total immersion in the Russian language continued in extra-curricular activities such as Russian choir, folk dancing, theater performances, cooking and sports. The Russian School drew internationally renowned Russian scholars and artists to campus, including the exiled writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The exhibition considers the academic and cultural legacy of the Russian School and its place in the history of Norwich University.
January 23, 2012
January 19, 2012
Norwich University & the Civil War: The Challenge and Compromise of Slavery
Join us at the Sullivan Museum & History Center for the first in a series of exhibitions to commemorate the Civil War Sesquicentennial. The theme of the first year’s commemoration is the “Challenge and Compromise of Slavery.“ Research was conducted with letters, diaries, newspapers and photographs to determine the various roles played by Norwich alumni in 1860 and 1861. Original letters and copies of originals are on display for the visitor to read and consider. Objects included range from a wooden Confederate canteen to a Union forage cap to former Norwich University trustee General Oliver Otis Howard’s dress hat and left-handed silverware.
These early NU men made outstanding contributions on the battlefields but also in everyday life, on both sides of the issues dividing the nation. They hailed from the North and the South, some holding slaves and some sworn Abolitionists. The Civil War Sesquicentennial is a time to examine our nation’s legacies, including the institution of slavery.
In September 2012 look for the second year’s commemoration, 1862, featuring the theme “The Year of Higher Moral Purpose.”
Strike Up the Band Exhibit currently on display at Sullivan Museum
Strike Up the Band is one of two exhibitions currently on display at the Sullivan Museum & History Center. This special exhibition celebrates the Norwich University Regimental Band, more affectionately known as the Zoobies. Norwich boasts the first collegiate band in the country which began in 1820. Come visit the museum to listen to some of the pieces played by the band, including “Norwich Forever.” Also on display are early instruments which have been newly conserved for the show. These include a snare drum used by NU Cadet James Phillips, Class of 1845, who traded his musical talents for tuition (see photo), and a wooden flute used by Civil War General Robert H. Milroy, Class of 1843. The exhibit will run through mid-March 2012.
