Exhibits

Archives & Special Collections

An image of the Statue of Liberty with the followig text: Commemoration in Context at the Richard H. Schimmelpfeng Gallery in the Dodd Center for Human Rights. The exhibit, which compares the political and cultural climates around the Bicentennial celebratio (1970 - 1976) and the years leading up to America's 250th (2020-2026). The exhibit runs from June 1 through December 18, 2026Commemoration in Context

Richard Schimmelpfeng Gallery
Dodd Center for Human Rights
Monday - Friday, 9am to 4pm 
June 1 – December 18, 2026

The exhibit compares the political and cultural climates around the Bicentennial celebration (1970 - 1976) and the years leading up to America's 250th (2020-2026).

You can learn more at our Archives & Special collection podcast show d'archive with curator Kara Flynn. A digital version of the exhibit is also available.

Homer Babbidge Library

psychedelic swirls with iron statues of Beatles musicians inside a window fram with the text Vintage Beatles Guitar

Vintage Beatles Guitars
The collection of Carlo Cantamessa

Gallery on the Plaza
Homer Babbidge Library 
On display through August 9, 2026

Live Music Reception - June 16, 3-5pm

This collection of Beatle guitars is owned by UConn Alum, Carlo Cantamessa, who has performed in various Beatle Tribute shows since 1978 as “John Lennon”.  Through his travels around the world, he has been fortunate enough to acquire his collection, of which a small part is shown in this exhibit. A reception will be held on June 16th from 3 to 5 p.m., with a performance by Carlo and his son, Moptops Orchestral Director, Joseph Cantamessa. 

Online Exhibits

Image description: logo for exhibit titled 25 for 25, Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting

25 for 25: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting

Online Exhibition, UConn Archives & Special Collections

Archives & Special Collections presents 25 for 25: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting, a virtual, year-long exhibition celebrating collections and collecting. 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Dodd Center for Human Rights, which brought together the collections and practices of the University’s Historical Manuscripts & Archives and Special Collections departments for the first time. Over the course of a year, Archives & Special Collections staff will explore 25 objects selected from the collections, engaging with and reflecting on the meaning of these objects and the activity of collecting over time. Through these objects, Archives & Special Collections celebrates the act of historical preservation and the recognition that collections constantly evolve, grow, and expand so that future educators, students, researchers, and learners may be inspired and informed by the objects within.

AMS Virtual Exhibit ImageThe American Approach to Montessori Teaching and Learning

Online Exhibition, UConn Archives & Special Collections

The Montessori method of education was first introduced to the United States in the early 1900s yet quickly fell out of favor with American educators. Widespread American interest in Montessori did not return until the 1950s, thanks in large part to teacher Nancy McCormick Rambusch. Rambusch founded the American Montessori Society in 1960, which sought to promote the Montessori method in the United States. AMS succeeded in reviving the Montessori method in the United States and gaining recognition for it as a valid educational system. This exhibit explores the origins of the Montessori movement in the United States and the Americanization of the Montessori method. It is comprised of materials from the American Montessori Society Records, which were donated to the UConn Archives in 2006 and digitized beginning in 2016.

Connecticut Businesses in WWIIHomefront: Connecticut Businesses in World War II

Online Exhibition, UConn Archives & Special Collections

The outbreak of World War II dramatically changed Connecticut businesses. Long a vibrant part of New England industry, local firms switched from making clocks and wool coats to mass producing artillery cartridges and Army pea-coats. Selections from the Connecticut business collections held by the University of Connecticut’s Archives & Special Collections paint a detailed portrait of this remarkable moment in history through the lives of the people who lived it.