This mini exhibit gathers together a selection of materials from our Distinctive Collections celebrating the season of spring. Many different cultures celebrate spring as a time of growth and renewal after the dreary days of winter, a time when the days start growing longer, gardens burst into life again, and many animals give birth. Here are items from our collections that reflect the joys of spring.
"While we look forward from Easter we may also look back at the festival itself as it has come to us from a time so far distant that nobody can put down a date and say, “Here Easter began.” Indeed, this day is a great mixture of pagan, Jewish and Christian ideas, tho it stands out to us as a church festival to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. Mythology tells us about Ostera, the goddess of spring; the Jewish race looks back to a deliverance that has been commemorated by the Passover feast for centuries, and the records of the early Christian church tell us how the date for Easter was regulated by a council, and how other festivals were reckoned from it.
"This is the time when life shows itself in the seed. [...] Freezing would destroy them, so we keep them safely thru the winter, knowing all the while that the seed germ is inside, and that it will do just what we expect of it in the proper time—Easter time—the rising time."
—Excerpt from "Easter Time" in Chicago Ledger, v. XLIV, no. 17, Saturday, April 22, 1916, p. 22.
Three floral paintings from the Coad Family Scrapbook.
Music, "05 The Flowers of Spring - Jackie Small's" by De Danann.
Comfort, v. XXIV, no. 6, April 1912.
Comfort, v. XXVIII, no. 6, April 1916.
Comfort, v. XXIII, no. 7, May 1911.
The People's Home Journal, v. XXII, no. 5, May 1907.
Daffodils, Lavender, and Tulips from Elementary Brushwork Studies by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats.
"An Easter Bonnet," Chicago Ledger, v. XXXVIII, no. 13, Saturday, March 26, 1910.
"Heralds of the Spring," Chicago Ledger, v. XXXVIII, no. 15, Saturday, April 9, 1910.
"Selecting the Easter Hat," Chicago Ledger, v. XLIV, no. 17, Saturday, April 22, 1916.
"The Bells of Spring" by William T. Saward, The Girl's own paper, v. XIX, no. 952, March 26, 1898.
Grit (Story Section), v. 35, no. 19, Story Section no. 1160, April 8, 1917.
Fruit and vegetable cutouts in Trade card scrapbook, [1883].
Curated by Laura Bang (Distinctive Collections Librarian), April 2020.
Materials in this digital exhibit come from Falvey Memorial Library's Special Collections and digital versions are available through the Digital Library (click the citation links above to go straight to a particular resource).
