Purdue Libraries to extend hours to Saturdays in April for Earhart exhibit
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Due to a large number of requests, Purdue Libraries will extend the hours that the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center is open during April for visitors to view the Amelia Earhart exhibit.
The center, which is normally closed on weekends, will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays throughout the month. Regular weekday hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Archives and Special Collections is located on the fourth floor of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education Library in Stewart Center.
"There is a great deal of interest in Amelia Earhart and our collection, and we have received numerous requests to view the exhibit on the weekends," said Sammie Morris, professor, university archivist and head of the Division of Archives and Special Collections. "We know that Saturdays are more convenient for many people, and we want to accommodate as many as we can."
"Amelia Earhart: The Aviator, the Advocate, and the Icon" opened March 1 and will be shown through May 28. The display exhibit features documents, photographs and other items, and explores Earhart's legacy. It chronicles her aviation accomplishments, her work as a role model and career counselor at Purdue, and her advocacy of women's rights. The materials come primarily from Purdue's George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers, which is the world's largest compilation of artifacts on the late aviator and was given to Purdue in 2002 by Sally Putnam Chapman. George Palmer Putnam was Earhart's husband.
Earhart worked at Purdue from 1935-1937 as a career counselor for women students and an adviser to the Department of Aeronautics. While at the university, she lived on campus in what is now known as Duhme Hall in the Windsor Court complex. She met formally and informally with students, seldom speaking about her achievements in aviation, but instead focusing on vocational aptitudes, goals and careers for women.
The Office of the Provost, Purdue Women's Resource Office, Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence and Women for Purdue are sponsoring the exhibit. Items from the collection were digitized in 2004 and are available online at https://www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/aearhart
Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Source: Sammie Morris, 765-494-2905, morris18@purdue.edu
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Earhart exhibit showcases world's largest display on pioneer aviator