The Schumann Library exhibit “TBTwenties: Student Memorabilia and Tools in the 1920s” is our first installation to focus on the 1920s — a decade of boundless discovery in art, literature, science and politics. The display includes books, mementos and tools belonging to Joseph W. Odlum, once a student in the Steam and Electrical Power Plant Practice at Wentworth — as well as items from the Wentworth Archives.

Mr. Odlum’s son, Frank A. Odlum, DDS, discovered his father’s objects in the process of downsizing his house, and graciously donated them to the Wentworth Archives. The installation features photographs, graduation certificates from Wentworth as well as tools used by Odlum during his engineering career: hard hat, mining axe, slide rules, calipers, CHANCE teleheight,  pocket levels and more.

Margaret Bean, Associate Director for Reference & Instruction, conducted background research; Pia Romano, Reference & Instruction Librarian, combed the Wentworth Archives to search for items to complement the display that reflected academics, athletics and student life at Wentworth at the time: 1924-1925 course catalog, application form, class schedule and tardy card; baseball tickets; and extracurricular activities including dance cards and song lyrics from Wentworth’s Alma Mater.

The legacy of Joseph W. Odlum lives on today in a scholarship awarded to a deserving  Mechanical Engineering student from New England.

Learn more about the 1920s at Wentworth by viewing the slides that accompany the exhibit:

Browse our 1920s exhibit book display and take a look at some of the selections:

Barr, Jason M. Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers. New York, NY Oxford University Press 2016.

Berg, A. S. Lindbergh. New York: G.P. Putnam’s, 1998.

Burns, R. W. John Logie Baird, Television Pioneer. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2000.

Edwards, I. E. S. The Treasures of Tutankhamun. New York: Viking Press, 1973.

Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 1994.

Fitzgerald, F. S., and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1996.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1996.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York:  Random House, 1961.

King, David. Red Star Over Russia: A Visual History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Death of Stalin : Posters, Photographs and Graphics from the David King Collection. London: Tate Publishing, 2018.

Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920 -1940: How Americans Lived through the “Roaring Twenties” and the Great Depression. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.

Lax, Eric. The Mold in Dr. Florey’s Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle. New York: H. Holt, 2004.

Moran, Jeffrey P. The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Palgrave, 2002.

Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York, NY: Scribner, 2010.

Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. Jazz: A History of America’s Music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.

Watts, Linda S., Alice L. George, and Scott Beekman. Social History of the United States: The 1920s. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2009.

Woolf, Virginia, Jane Marcus, and Mark Hussey. Three Guineas. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., 2006.

The “TBTwenties” show will be on view August 16 – October 9, 2019 and is free and open to the public during regular library hours. For more information see the recent Wentworth news story

Questions? Please contact libraryexhibits@wit.edu.