Tag: Oral History

USF Curiosities: A Pablo Picasso sculpture 10 stories tall?

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 7 minutes In 1971, a small-scale model of a Pablo Picasso sculpture, “Bust of a Woman,” was donated to the University of South Florida. Fifty years later, it received new attention from researchers after it was spotted on a shelf in the Tampa Library in 2018. Afterwards, Special Collections staff dug into the sculpture’s history and the intriguing story behind the model resurfaced… (Continue Reading)

Celebrating Nurses: Documenting Care and Compassion in Oral History Collections

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 7 minutes For two centuries, nurses have been the picture of care, empathy, and compassion in healthcare. They see patients through vulnerable moments, difficult decisions, hardships, and moments of joy. Day in and day out, nurses uplift, support, and diligently care for their patients, providing a positive, compassionate presence to hospital rooms, doctor’s offices, care facilities, and treatment centers. In celebration of their tremendous efforts, Digital Dialogs is celebrating Nurses Week 2021 with a look at their personal experiences, as documented in two of USF Libraries’ oral history collections… (Continue Reading)

Bronze statue of the Roman god of war. The image shows head and chest.

What’s March have to do with war?

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Carla Fotherby

Reading Time: 4 minutes Welcome to the month of March. According to the Roman calendar, it was the first month of the year, so if your new year’s resolutions got off to a bad start in January, try again this month. As a matter of fact, …Continue Reading

USF Curiosities: Bottle Cap U? Sandspur U?

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 3 minutes With the name “University of South Florida,” most people except USF to be located in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Instead, USF is located in the middle of the state in Tampa, a city that is not near southern Florida at all! So, how did the University of South Florida get its name? When Florida Governor LeRoy Collins signed a law in 1955… (Continue Reading)

USF Curiosities: Chickens in the elevator?

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 2 minutes Well, you can’t say that we don’t have fun at the University of South Florida…
As one of the first resident instructors at USF, Phyllis Marshall came to the Tampa campus in the fall of 1960. At the time, Marshall was in charge of 47 women, who lived on the 4th floor of the University Center. She remembers the way the residents developed a set of rules for themselves and created new social organizations. She also remembers how the residents participated in some early antics… (Continue Reading)

USF Curiosities: An elephant on the roof?

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 2 minutes From the beginning, USF faculty members have proved themselves to be resourceful and imaginative instructors. So, when an elephant passed away at nearby Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, USF’s biology professors saw this as a unique opportunity… (Continue Reading)

USF Curiosities: Sand as far as the eye could see?

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Lesley Brooks

Reading Time: 4 minutes The year was 1956… At the time, an old WWII Hillsborough Army Airfield occupied a large expanse of Fowler Avenue. On December 18th, the Florida Cabinet voted to transform that airfield into the location of a new public university. The University of South Florida Tampa campus would eventually be built on what once was the practice bombing range. Two years later, ground breaking ceremonies took place on the Tampa campus, with contracts for the first three university buildings complete… (Continue Reading)