From 2019-2021, former English faculty member, Angelina Brooks collaborated with the Central Piedmont Archives each semester for the Archival Revival project. For this assignment, ENG 125 students were instructed to curate a creative writing piece using archival photographs from our photographs and publications collections.
The purpose of this assignment was to present the archives in a more creative and more inviting way to our community. Using images of our past to create a new story helped students to think more in-depth about the source they view - what is in the image? why did they select this format?; etc.
For the image above, student Autumn Kennedy composed the following poem:
The librarian was a kind older lady with a heart of gold,
She cared for her students and it truly showed.
I studied endlessly, nearly all day,
And she didn’t seem to mind my supplies in the way.
The table was covered in books, papers, and pens,
It almost looked as if this project had no end.
She hung over my shoulder in a helpful manner,
I felt more at peace, being with her.
My anxious thoughts were falling behind,
She gave me a smile; it was warm and kind.
It was almost saying how proud she was of me,
That my effort and hard work was not unseen.
I finished my study, it was finally done,
I appreciated her, and the help she had given.
Her kindness had shown, as I sat and studied,
She was a sweet woman, quiet and lovely.
The Central Piedmont Archives identifies, collects, and preserves materials that relate to the history of Central Piedmont as well as its purpose, mission, and vision in the Charlotte metropolitan region. Our collections are available to Central Piedmont faculty, staff, students, and members of the general public for research, as well as instruction and programming opportunities. For more information, please visit our website.
Check out our new titles for this month!
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month is a special occasion that celebrates poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives.
For more information about National Poetry Month, check out our exhibit guide.
Streaming video resources from Films on Demand related to poetry. You may be prompted to enter your Central Piedmont login for access.
Central Piedmont Library has several resources relevant to National Poetry Month. Check them out below!
African American Poetry - The early history of African American poetry, from the first recorded poem by an African American (Lucy Terry Prince's 'Bars Fight', c.1746) to the major poets of the nineteenth century, including Paul Laurence Dunbar and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
American Poetry - Over 40,000 poems by more than 200 American poets from the Colonial Period to the early twentieth century.
English Poetry - This collection contains essentially the complete English poetic canon from the 8th century to the early 20th. Over 160,000 poems by more than 1,250 poets are drawn from nearly 4,500 printed sources.
Faber Poetry Library - A collection of some of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. The Faber list spans the seventy-year history of this major publishing house, and includes the poetry of Thom Gunn, Siegfried Sassoon, T.S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Wendy Cope and Seamus Heaney. In total The Faber Poetry Library contains 140 volumes by 50 poets.
Twentieth Century African American Poetry - A collection of 20th century African American poetry, featuring almost 9,000 poems by 62 of the most important African American poets of the last century, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Imamu Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde and Rita Dove.
Twentieth Century American Poetry - This unparalleled collection includes 50,000 poems drawn from 750 volumes by over 300 poets, including Adrienne Rich, Andrei Codrescu, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Denise Levertov, Wallace Stevens, Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Cathy Song.
Twentieth Century English Poetry - A collection of more than 600 volumes of poetry by 283 poets from 1900 to the present day, including W.B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Wilfred Owen, Thom Gunn, Fleur Adcock, Paul Muldoon, Tony Harrison, Benjamin Zephaniah and Carol Ann Duffy, and incorporating the poets in The Faber Poetry Library.
If you have any questions about the use of these resources, you can contact the library at 704.330.6885.
Newly added Films on Demand titles for this month can be found here. 519 new titles were recently added, covering a wide variety of subjects. Be sure to check back next month for more new titles!