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Jaydra Hamid, a law, history and society major from Chicago, had long been interested in the Heard Libraries’ Buchanan Library Fellowship. As the final semester of her senior year approached, she knew time was running out to participate in the experiential learning program.
This spring, Hamid applied for a fellowship that would organize, catalog and digitally preserve materials from Vanderbilt Divinity School’s long-running Antoinette Brown Lectures, which bring distinguished women theologians to campus each year to speak on concerns for women in ministry. Under the guidance of mentors MAT Trotter, Brandon Hullette and Carla Beals, Hamid has assembled a trove of materials from the more than 50-year-old lectureship, making them accessible to a wider audience online and preserving them for future generations.
Here, Hamid talks about her experience curating Preserving the Antoinette Brown Lectures.
What drew you to this project?
I often study in the Divinity Library, and I remember seeing some of the historic posters used to promote the Antoinette Brown Lectures hanging in the second-floor library. The art was very interesting and unlike anything I’d ever really seen. (Reproductions of these posters were included in a 2024 exhibit curated by MAT Trotter celebrating the 50th anniversary of the lectures.)
Once I started the fellowship, I learned more about the history of the lectures, the depth of the content, and the caliber of speakers. So while the posters are what initially drew me in, seeing what is behind them has been very cool. I was able to attend this year’s lecture, and I had a full-circle moment talking to the person who currently creates posters for the series. Her process is about more than just conveying information—it’s about creating a piece of art.
What is included in the online exhibit?
The goal of this project was for it to be born digital, not simply an online version of a physical exhibit. That said, I built on the research and materials MAT used for the 50th anniversary exhibit and included articles from The Spire, the Divinity School’s publication, as well as The Vanderbilt Hustler, The Tennessean and internal newsletters from the Women’s Center and other places.
We wanted to preserve the lectures, the actual video or audio recordings, and all the posters. We also wanted to tell the story of the lecture’s namesake, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman ordained to the Christian ministry in the United States, and Sylvia Sanders Kelley, the Vandy grad who endowed the series in 1974, with lots of documentation to support that. And since the lecture series is ongoing, this will be a kind of living exhibit with more materials added over time.
What skills did you pick up through this fellowship?
This is my first time building a website in WordPress, and while I wouldn’t call myself an expert by any means, I’ve become proficient enough to create webpages and embed the lectures and work with materials in different formats. Special Collections and University Archives, as well as the Divinity Library, have been amazing about keeping copies and information on these lectures and updating them throughout the years, so I’ve been able to draw on a lot of the archival work of other people at the libraries.
What role have the Heard Libraries played during your time at Vanderbilt?
The libraries have been such a huge part of my experience! I’ve worked with archival materials from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive for two classes: The U.S. and the Vietnam War, and the major seminar for Law, History and Society when I wrote a paper on World War II Japanese internment and looked at clips from when those groups were seeking redress and reparations in the 1980s. I’ve accessed historical newspapers through ProQuest and used Interlibrary Loan. And I’m always so appreciative when specialist librarians, like Jason Schultz, come to my classes and talk about all the libraries have to offer.
There are so many resources available, and getting to use them through the Buchanan Fellowship has been challenging and very rewarding. I had a lot of agency in creating the website. I’ve seen and learned from other library exhibits over the years, so to be on the side of curating this one has been incredibly impactful for me.