USU Libraries Launches Exhibit Celebrating 130 years of Aggie Women

Utah State University Libraries and USU’s Year of the Woman committee released a digital and physical exhibit celebrating the impact of Aggie women on Wednesday. Telling Our Story: 130 Years of Aggie Women dives into women whose legacy and influence have been instrumental in the development of the university and community.

Student Curator Alana Manesse received a grant to work on this project after working on USU’s Year of the Woman campaign.

“I have always found history fascinating and it has been exciting to study a subject that has impacted me so directly,” Manesse said.

Manesse compiled stories using USU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives databases.

“Curating this exhibit was a great chance to share some of my research in a more streamlined and visually interesting way,” Manesse said. “I kind of feel like the exhibit is the capstone of the Year of the Woman.

“Manesse and the exhibit team made the research and production stages of both the physical and digital exhibit seamless,” Project Manager Todd Welch said. “The final products are stellar and really demonstrate the impact of Aggie women on the history and direction of the institution.”

Though Manesse had experience working on similar projects, the research was not always easy.

“I am always surprised with how difficult it can be to find information on some of these women who accomplished amazing things,” Manesse said. “I was excited to find out how the women I researched have contributed to the university by acting as pioneers and groundbreakers.”

The process of collecting these stories was different for each woman highlighted. Some women already had collections in the archives while others did not exist.

“The first women’s basketball team was a whisper of information in one record,” Manesse said.

She spent hours searching for a photo of the team to no avail.

“One of the employees in the Advancement Office was able to share that her aunt had a photo of the first team. I was thrilled! It just goes to show that research is a team effort.”

Telling Our Story: 130 Years of Aggie Women can be viewed on the lower level of the Merrill-Cazier Library or at http://exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show/tellingourstory.