Events, Exhibits and Tours

Monday, February 13
Guerrieri Academic Commons, Nabb Research Center Classroom
6:00 PM

Valentine’s Day is for lovers; this event is for lovers of history. Join Nabb Center archivists who have curated the center’s most romantic collections for an evening of speed dating with courtship letters, “Him Books” and other primary sources that tell us love stories from the past. Find your match in this opportunity to engage with the Nabb Center’s rich archival collections.

Wednesday, March 8
Henson Science Hall 243
7:00 PM

Since it began forty years ago, the Chesapeake Bay Program has become one of the largest and most expensive ecosystem restoration projects in the nation, with nearly $30 billion in combined federal and state spending. Historian Andrew Ramey, Carnegie Mellon University, explains how the Chesapeake Bay Program emerged from a contentious coalition of environmentalists, scientists, watermen, and politicians to become a signature environmental policy of the Reagan administration. The surprising history of the Chesapeake Bay Program has much to teach us about U.S. environmental politics and the Chesapeake Bay restoration movement.

Co-sponsored with the Environmental Studies Colloquium Series

Thursday April 6
Guerrieri Academic Commons, Nabb Research Center Classroom
7:00 PM

The Chesapeake Bay has provided many iconic foods which have supported important parts of the area’s traditional economies. New archaeological research is gauging just how important oysters were for the Native people of the region and suggests how they were able to harvest at levels comparable to today without depleting the stocks. Beth Ragan, Salisbury University anthropology professor, explains how a fuller consideration of the human relationship with the oyster over time may provide us with lessons we can use to maintain and grow oyster reefs today.

January 30 through June 30
Guerrieri Academic Commons, First Floor Lobby

The Nabb Research Center and the Haitian Development Center of Delmarva present a photographic retrospective of Haitian immigration past and present based on the photography of Phil Decker.

The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture marks its 40th anniversary in 2022, preserving and providing access to the history of Delmarva. 40 Years Preserving the Heart and Soul of Delmarva explores the history of the Nabb Research Center since its beginnings in 1982. What began as an history laboratory for students by Dr. G. Ray Thompson and Mrs. Sylvia Bradley of the Salisbury State College Department of History has grown into a central archival repository for the Delmarva Peninsula. This exhibition delves into the people who contributed to making the center a success, as well as various events and exhibits that have been curated by the Center.

Unmentionable explores some of the unusual, scandalous, disturbing, awful, discriminatory, uncomfortable, and surprising artifacts in the Nabb Research Center’s collection. Artifacts can help tell the history of a community, but that story is not always a pleasant one. Conversely, some artifacts are just downright gross, uncomfortable, or controversial, and are rarely, if ever, displayed because of that. All together in one place, these artifacts make an intriguing statement about our history and how and what archives and museums collect. Unmentionable is modeled on the exhibition from the Hayward Area Historical Society in Hayward, CA and facilitated by Exhibit Envoy.

In conjunction with the Smithsonian Voices and Votes exhibition, Voices and Votes: Democracy on Delmarva explores the mechanics of our democracy and highlights stories of rebellion, resistance, and perseverance that have shaped our region. Expressions of democracy and community engagement have taken many forms throughout Delmarva's history. From grievances about colonial taxation to the struggle for voting rights, participation in civic life is part of our past and present. The exhibit features artifacts, documents, and stories from the Nabb Center's collection that we hope will inspire visitors to think about the democratic process, activism, and civic engagement within our local community.

This three part podcast series was created by Nabb Research Center's Digital Humanities Intern, Rihana Stevenson, and is dedicated to sharing the stories of Vietnam Veterans from the Eastern Shore. The three men featured in these episodes are Donald Whaley, Harry Basehart, and Newell Quinton. This podcast uses resources from the Nabb Research Center to explore the complexities of these mens' experiences during the Vietnam War and how their lives were impacted by the War.  

This online exhibit curated by Samantha Steltzer as the culmination of her Museum Studies internship at the Nabb Research Center was inspired by a biscuit brake found in the Nabb Center’s collections and an interest in highlighting the techniques that women used to sustain traditional Maryland baked goods. The focus of the exhibit is two of the most prominent Eastern Shore related foods - Beaten Biscuits and Smith Island Cake. Included in the exhibit are archival items and artifacts from the Nabb Research Center's collections and local newspaper articles that detail the history, techniques, recipes, and people’s personal stories behind these traditional Eastern Shore foods.

This exhibition was created by the Nabb Research Center to promote critical thinking through the examination of propaganda materials from around the world. Many of the items featured are part of the Salisbury University Libraries Special Collections. The Special Collections consist of primary source materials that span the globe and reach across disciplines to provide opportunities for collaborative and creative research.

Red Cross chapters across Delmarva have rallied to offer support in times of crisis and need. Whether aiding those impacted by the influenza epidemic of 1918 or the current COVID-19 pandemic, helping soldiers on the front lines or families on the home front, or providing relief efforts after natural disasters, the Red Cross has provided assistance to our region for over one hundred years. The Power of Humanity details the long and varied service of the Red Cross on the Eastern Shore through historic artifacts, documents, and photographs from the collections of the Nabb Research Center.

The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture is committed to documenting and preserving the region’s history. This exhibit presents an introduction to the region and showcases a small sampling of the archival and artifact collections that are stored on-site and are accessible for students, staff faculty, and members of the community for their research.

This exhibit is part of a recent exchange between the Institución Universitaria ITSA, in Barranquilla, Colombia, and SU’s Janet Dudley-Eshbach Center for International Education. It features ITSA student artwork and photography that explores themes of cultural identity and pays tribute to Colombian Caribbean culture. Some of the work may seem familiar, as the student artists re-imagined well-known works of art inspired by Afro and Indigenous Colombian beauty and aesthetics.

Throughout the twentieth century, in the ballparks and backyards of small towns on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, the most popular summer activity was attending or playing baseball. This exhibition looks at the history and heritage of baseball on the Delmarva Peninsula and the role it played in the local communities that embraced the national pastime.

Not Just a Pretty Face is an online exhibit curated by Emma Griebner as the culmination of her museum internship at the Nabb Research Center. The exhibit concept was inspired by vintage beauty advertisements and magazines in the Nabb collections and an interest in finding out more about the role women played in the beauty industry.

The libraries at Salisbury University have traversed a long and storied road from the first College Library to the new Academic Commons. What began in cramped quarters in 1925 expanded into its own building — Blackwell Library — which, despite major renovations to meet student needs in 1975, has since been outgrown. Now the library has its new home within the Guerrieri Academic Commons. Yet, the libraries at Salisbury University continue to be, in the words of Germaine Greer, "Reservoirs of Strength, Grace, and Wit."

Leland Starnes came to Salisbury State College in 1972 with impressive credentials and the intention of bringing one big production to the stage each year. Starnes established the Salisbury State Theatre, which he viewed as a "repertory company in a professional environment." He was passionate about theatre and devoted himself to the Salisbury program, stating, "We're determined that the new Salisbury State Theatre will be for everyone a place of rich vitality and joy. Significant theatre – if it is indeed significant – must be an event that its audiences attend with a sense of pleasurable anticipation and excitement rather than from any heavy awareness of duty or 'cultural enrichment'; truly fine theatre, we all know, arouses, within its viewers of every level, the excited curiosity to see even the direct truth carried out to its logical culmination because of its very theatricality. This is the wild and free kind of theatre that we're going to try like hell to bring to Salisbury State in our new season."

This behind-the-scenes tour of the Nabb Center in Clio highlights our state-of-the-art facility and historical resources. Take our virtual tour and learn more about how the Nabb Center preserves and presents the history of Delmarva.

Driving through Salisbury today, it is easy to miss the neighborhoods where Black Salisburians lived, worked, and made memories with their friends and family. The Georgetown, Cuba, California, and Jersey neighborhoods either no longer exist or have been forever changed by construction and segregation, with next to none of their buildings, homes, or businesses still standing. However, the creation of the Church Street Mural and accompanying park, the preservation of John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church as the Charles H. Chipman Cultural Center, the dedication of the Lynching Memorial historical marker, and the introduction of other ongoing initiatives show the city of Salisbury’s attempts to honor the legacy of its rich Black culture and community.

This walking tour of Salisbury University's Main Campus in Clio highlights the history of the academic and residential halls that currently populate SU's main campus. Take our virtual tour and learn more about the history and evolution of Salisbury University from its oldest building, constructed for Maryland State Teachers College in 1925 to its most recent addition, the Guerrieri Academic Commons, built in 2016.

Salisbury University’s By-Gone Buildings is a tribute to the buildings that made their mark on campus but are no longer present at our ever-growing university. Alumni have fond memories of these by-gone campus buildings where they forged relationships and experienced college life, which can be remembered through photographs, yearbooks, and other items from the University Archives. Explore a part of campus not visible to current visitors—and “reverse the wrecking ball” on buildings like the Ruth Powell Dining Hall, Memorial Student Union, Tawes Gymnasium, Caruthers Hall, and more.