Milligan Library Life

by the staff of P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library & Seminary Library

Milligan’s Madrigal Dinners, a Celebration of an English Christmas Tradition

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Madrigal Dinner, 1983. Milligan College Archives & Special Collections.

Written by Cynthia Capps, Sophomore ’17, Archive Student Assistant.

The Madrigal Dinners held at Milligan celebrated English Christmas customs from the 16th century. A medieval banquet featuring a full course meal and a Christmas concert performed by minstrel singers are what the Madrigal Dinners are still remembered for today. In 1967, the first Madrigal Dinner was a production by the speech and music departments; specifically, Dr. William Moorhouse and Sherwyn Bachman. Dr. William Moorhouse and his wife Lowanna Moorhouse did extensive research on costume design while traveling to several museums in England to ensure each costume worn at the dinners were as authentic as possible. The dinners proved to be a success lasting 34 consecutive years ending in 2001. Continue reading



Homecoming Book+Art exhibit (belated report)

IMG_9439Oops! The weeks since Homecoming (October 24-25, 2014) have blown by in a flurry of Library activity. It just dawned on me that I failed to write a follow-up to our 2nd Annual Book+Art exhibit.

The idea behind Book+Art is that books not only inspire artistic creation, they can also be the medium for that artistic creation.

The growing popularity of the “book as art, art from books” trend has been documented in a number of recent publications, including Art Made From Books by Laura Heyenga (Chronicle Books, 2013), a fascinating account, which is available for checkout from the Library.

This year’s exhibit was a bit smaller than last year, with only four submissions. But all the entries were very creative and cleverly designed (see photos below–click to enlarge). Bethany Fitzgerald won the $25 Amazon gift card in a random drawing open to all entrants.

User Services Librarian, Anne Reever Osborne expressed appreciation to this year’s participants: “Thank you for your participation in this Homecoming Event sponsored by Welshimer Library.  The submissions received were representative of the great talent that Milligan College students and faculty have in creating new works of beautiful art with gently used books!”

Director of Library Services, Gary Daught envisioned Book+Art as a Fall semester creative event in the Library to complement the Spring semester’s Edible Books Festival–which will celebrate its 5th anniversary in Spring 2015.

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