FIU students consider FDR’s ‘Alphabet Soup’ remedies for the Great Depression


Book, A Handbook of Pottery, 1940, Published by National Youth Administration for Georgia, Atlanta The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection XC1991.17

FIU students look to the past in FDR’s ‘Alphabet Soup’ Remedies for the Great Depression, a student-curated exhibition that examines the Roosevelt administration’s New Deal programs. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, was organized by The Wolfsonian’s chief librarian and FIU adjunct professor of history Francis X. Luca and FIU students studying the Great Depression and New Deal era in film and history. Alphabet Soup is on view on the second floor of the Green Library at Modesto A. Maidique Campus through Jan. 5, 2010.

Alphabet Soup is the second student-curated exhibition produced by The Wolfsonian Library and the first to be exhibited at the Green Library. Seven FIU undergraduate students worked for more than two months to produce an exhibition of New Deal materials. The project, which grew out of Luca’s Fall 2009 course, “America and Movies: The Great Depression and New Deal Era in Film and History,” was drawn from the holdings of The Wolfsonian’s library and the Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Private Collection.

The students were involved in every aspect of the exhibition, from determining the topic to selecting and researching materials to writing the label text. Students also worked on the installation of the exhibit and led guided tours at the opening reception Dec. 10.

“This was a great opportunity for students to work with rare materials and get hands-on experience in organizing an exhibition,” says Luca. “Students who are thinking of going into museum work or doing public history learned more about what those fields entail, but all students involved benefited from the rare opportunity to work on a museum exhibition and see the project through from inception to execution.”

The students were involved in every aspect of the exhibition from determining the topic to selecting and researching materials to writing the label text. Students also worked on the installation of the exhibit and led guided tours at the opening reception on December 10. “This was a great opportunity for students to work with rare materials and get hands-on experience in organizing an exhibition,” says Luca. “Students who are thinking of going into museum work or doing public history learned more about what those fields entail, but all students involved benefited from the rare opportunity to work on a museum exhibition and see the project through from inception to execution.”

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