Exhibits in Special Collections
Rare Books from Special Collections
(Special Collections Reading Room, Mullins Library, Mullins Library)
Special Collections has assembled an exhibit of selections from the Library’s rare book holdings, on display in the Department’s entrance display case, room 130 in Mullins Library. The exhibit presents examples from the Mary Hudgins Collection and the Pathfinder-Porter Collection.
Research and reference works from Hudgins’ personal library represent the writer, librarian, and University of Arkansas graduate’s wide-ranging interests. A native of Hot Springs, Mary Hudgins was active in the American Association of University Women, the Arkansas Folklore Society, and the Arkansas Historical Association.
The items in the Pathfinder-Porter Collection were originally collected by William Porter, a Chicago engraver who acquired the volumes during his extensive travels before retiring to a log cabin in Johnson County. The Pathfinder Club, a women’s club established in 1898 in Morrilton, Arkansas, cared for the books from 1914-1983. The club made the books available to the public in their library before donating them to Special Collections. The Pathfinder-Porter Collection contains important eighteenth-century works in the social and natural sciences as well as in other subjects, many in interesting early bindings.
