Spring Commencement 2026 is in the books and your SCRC processing team is back with another overdue update on some exciting new and updated finding aids! As usual, all of the following collections are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center and the finding aids are available on our website (or use the links included below).
Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study records, R0040
Collection reprocessed and finding aid updated by Robert Vay
The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study was formerly a research unit of George Mason University and the brainchild of Shelley Krasnow, a Northern Virginia scientist and businessman. Near the end of his life, Krasnow had expressed a desire to establish an “Institute for Advanced Study” which would work “for the betterment of mankind.” In 1988, Krasnow and his attorneys created the Virginia Institute for Advanced Study that, once built and staffed, would conduct cutting-edge research. In September of 1989, Krasnow died, bequeathing significant landholdings to George Mason University to sell and use the proceeds to build the Institute. The Institute would make its mission to study the human mind and how it operates, including how the human mind functions in education, decision-making, and other day-to-day human activities. Scientist and Robinson Professor Dr. Harold Morowitz was named the first director of the facility in the fall of 1993. The Institute became a (non-academic) university unit in 2009, reporting under the university provost. In 2017 the Institute ceased to be a university unit and its faculty was dispersed among other George Mason University academic units. The building which once housed the Krasnow Institute retained the Krasnow Institute name and the laboratories still remain.
This collection includes historic, administrative, photographic, and media records from the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, covering 1985-2015. The collection is arranged in four series. Series 1: Papers pertaining to the original director of the Krasnow Institute, Dr. Steven Diner (1987-1994). Series 2: Administrative and historical records of the Krasnow Institute (1987-2017). Series 3: Photographic materials pertaining to the Krasnow Institute (1993-2000s). Series 4: Audiovisual materials (1997-2013).
Top detail from handwritten broadside, C0445
“An Alarm to the frequenters of Plays, wrote by a Religious Person” handwritten broadside, C0445
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Handwritten manuscript copy of an anti-theatre broadside written by preacher Rowland Hill titled “Alarm to the frequenters of plays, wrote by a religious person.” Born in Shropshire, England, Rowland Hill (1744-1833) is best remembered as an evangelical preacher and minister who often preached in the open air without a license, putting him in opposition to the authorities and crowds of locals. Hill was also well-known for having a strong aversion to theatre and the attendance of proclaimed Christians at plays and for being an early proponent of smallpox vaccination.
The broadside’s title is written on the back of the manuscript to be displayed when folded. On the front side is a full page of text mimicking a theatrical broadside or play bill advertising a “play” titled “’The Great Assize” to be performed at “the Theatre of the Universe”. The manuscript begins with large text written at the top of the front side reading: “By Command of The King of Kings. (At the Desire of all who Love his Appearing) At The Theater of The Universe. On the Eve of Time, will be performed The Great Assize or Day of Judgement.” The manuscript ends with a notation stating “The above is a Copy of a Play Bill which was Stuck up at Richmond on Saturday the 4th June 1774. The King’s Birth Day Close to the Bill for that Day.”
Susan Powers Kennelly Arena Stage scrapbook, C0528
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Scrapbook of newspaper and periodical clippings covering Arena Stage’s 1963-1964 season, compiled by Director of Public Relations Susan Powers Kennelly (1937-2022). One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway (The Great White Hope, 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award (1976). During the 1960s, Arena Stage garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons each season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals. Susan Powers Kennelly joined Arena Stage as Director of Public Relations in the early 1960s and later formed her own public relations firm, establishing relationships with folk singers and musicians performing in Washington, D.C. throughout the 1960s-1970s.
Drawing of Beverley’s Mill in Broad Run by Kenneth Harris, C0529
Eight pencil drawings of locations in Prince William County, Virginia by Kenneth Harris, C0529
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Artist Kenneth Harris (1904-1983) became best known for his “Old Norfolk” paintings, which captured locations around the city of Norfolk, Virginia prior to its redevelopment, in some cases becoming the only records of those sites. Harris painted and sketched numerous buildings and locations throughout Virginia, always focusing on keeping the prices of his art low to allow average people to buy them. This collection includes eight pencil drawings by Kenneth Harris depicting locations in Prince William County, Virginia, including Manassas National Battlefield Park, Beverley’s Mill in Broad Run, and four other historic buildings in Manassas. All drawings are estimated to have been created circa 1970s-1980s, but this date range is unverified.
James A. Wilding Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority notebooks, C0532
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
A collection of 36 spiral-bound notebooks containing handwritten notes created by Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia airport executive James A. Wilding (1937-2023). All but three notebooks have a date range written on the cover and contain notes on daily activities during that time frame, such as meetings and projects. The notebooks cover 30 years of Wilding’s career, including his work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and as President and Chief Executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA). The collection contains one gap in coverage between October 25, 1975 – August 8, 1976, with no notebooks included for these dates.
Born in Washington, D.C., Wilding trained as a civil engineer at The Catholic University of America, graduating in 1959. This same year he was hired by the FAA and participated in the planning and development of Washington Dulles International Airport. He would go on to become chief of the engineering staff at both Dulles and National (now known as Reagan National) airports and was named director of the FAA authority overseeing both airports in 1979. From 1987 until his retirement in 2003, Wilding worked closely with the MWAA as the first President and Chief Executive. On February 26, 2016 the Arrivals Hall inside the International Arrivals Building at Dulles Airport was named the “James A. Wilding International Arrivals Hall” in his honor.
Detail from the Aesthetic Club Annual featuring a program for club play “The Strange Case of Blondie White,”, C0446
“The Key” Aesthetic Club Annual, Bluefield State College, West Virginia, C0446
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Edition of “The Key” Annual created by members of the Aesthetic Club at West Virginia’s Bluefield State College in 1946 and edited by club organizer Othello Maria Harris Jefferson (1905-1988) and associate editor Shirley Painter, both pictured and credited on the inside back cover of the publication. This Annual consists of 16 pages of black and white text, images, and photographs inside of a light-green cover with a hand-drawn pencil illustration on the front.
Bluefield State University, a recognized Historically Black College and University (HBCU), is located in Bluefield, West Virginia. Created as Bluefield Colored Institute in 1895, the school officially opened with 40 students in January 1897. The school went through several name changes, including becoming Bluefield State College in 1943 and finally in 2022, following the introduction of master’s degree programs the previous year, being granted university status. Othello Maria Jefferson earned her bachelor’s degree in education from the Bluefield Colored Institute and afterward joined the teaching staff of the school circa 1929. During her time approximately 30-40 years as the school, Jefferson founded the school’s Aesthetic Club. Initially aimed at students interested in theatre, over time the club would take on more political interests, including civil rights activism, eventually merging with the local NAACP chapter. In 2000, Bluefield State named the Othello Harris Jefferson Student Center in her honor.
Follow SCRC on Social Media and look out for future posts on our Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. To search the collections held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our website and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail us at speccoll@gmu.edu or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions.
