Diligence
In the early 1920s, the University of Minnesota began a journey of “imperative” need. Two structures were proposed – an auditorium large enough to hold the entire student body and a stadium to house the football program and support physical education. They would be more than signature campus buildings: they would honor the service of a University president and the sacrifice of Minnesotans in the “great war” while rallying the University community in an unprecedented fund-raising effort. This First Fridays presentation will take you along on this journey to get the inside story on Northrop Auditorium and Memorial Stadium.

Sloth
The American poet Elizabeth Bishop, in a letter to Marianne Moore, wrote: "I am overcome by my own amazing sloth…Can you please forgive me and believe that it is really because I want to do something well that I don't do it at all?" Come visit in October to see Special Collections and Rare Books sloth in action.

Abstinence & Gluttony
Food, drugs, bathing, drink, and sex have been integral in the interpretation of disease and the recommendations for cures for centuries.  What may be moderate and good in one century is gluttony in another.  This presentation will look at various interpretations represented in the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology & Medicine.

Gluttony
Information storage capacity, processing power, bandwidth – the computer industry continuously produces more powerful products but it never seems to be enough for a public more. The Charles Babbage Institute will examine society’s appetite for computers capable of doing more and doing it faster.

Greed
“Please sir, I want some more!” So said Oliver Twist, Dickens’ famous orphan. The master of the orphanage considered Oliver to be greedy; to Oliver, more gruel was a necessity. Greed—its definition, interpretation, and impact—is the focus of this First Fridays presentation. Join us as we take you from piracy to slavery, from exploration to conquest, from debate to debate about greed.

Liberality
Tzedakah is a Hebrew term meaning "righteous giving." American Jewish communities have an imperative to be generous in pursuit of the common good, and the Upper Midwest Jewish community has a long history of liberality supporting services to those in need. The presentation will outline the legacy of a century and a half of local liberality.

Thrift
In a related topic, the Kautz Family YMCA Archives will present on thrift. In 1916 the YMCA in partnership with a variety of public and private agencies began a concerted effort to promote thrift. The thrift movement, which capitalized on previous initiatives, sought out to inform Americans of the virtues of being fiscally prudent through a variety of formats including articles, cartoons, exhibits, public lectures and mass advertisement. 

Staff from the Social Welfare History Archives and the Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies will present talks on the theme of chastity and lust. Linnea Anderson, Assistant Archivist in the Social Welfare History Archives, will discuss efforts by social reformers and public health advocates to regulate sexual behavior in the first half of 20th century. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter, GLBT Collections Specialist, will speak on the lust for collecting that inspires the founding of many special collections libraries.

Envy
History has revealed an enduring desire to feel chic and dress luxuriously. Objects from the Goldstein Museum of Design’s collection will be used to highlight the power that clothing can have over our senses, the status ascribed to those who dress richly, and the envy that others’ clothing can elicit in us. 

Kindness & Envy
Show kindness by sharing the wealth…of zucchini in your garden! Be the envy of your neighbors with delightful dahlias, the plumpest pumpkin!  Kathy Allen will share the wealth of beauty contained in AHL’s historic nursery & seed catalog collection, one of the largest in the country.

Patience
Patience is a virtue that many aspiring authors and illustrators strive to cultivate, as they navigate the twists and turns of the publishing industry.  The Kerlan Collection of the Children's Literature Research Collections offers a unique insight into the patience required on the road from first draft to final product with archives of original manuscripts, illustrations, and editorial correspondence.   Join us to learn about the patience - or lack thereof - that was required to bring your favorite books to print, and the different roads that various authors traveled in their journey to the printed page.

Wrath
Wrath is at hand in selections from the Literary Manuscripts Collection and
Performing Arts Archives. Through poetry, prose, and scene designs, anger
and fury are vividly portrayed.

Pride
Does the TV camera distract us from the humility of education? Does publicity & self-promotion encourage the sin of pride? Using multiple collections from the University Archives, this First Fridays presentation focuses on the use of video in the University setting to communicate complicated ideas and promote its expertise. An examination of film, television, and YouTube videos in health sciences related materials serves as an example.

Pride
In the midst of dislocation and heartache over leaving one's homeland with no sure prospects of return, many immigrants and their children gained a sense of pride in their skills at navigating American society, business and politics. IHRC Program Director Haven Hawley analyzes how pride in "making it" -- in finding acceptance, success or well-deserved recognition in an adopted land -- served a vital role in how immigrants explained the difficult decision to migrate and created a community identity as loyal American and longing emigrant.  

Humility
Harlem Reniassance poet Claude Mckay wrote:

Sometimes I tremble like a storm-swept flower,
And seek to hide my tortured soul from thee.
Bowing my head in deep humility
Before the silent thunder of thy power.

Come visit in May to hear what the Givens Collection has to say about humility.