Check out the new exhibit, on display in the Tisch Library, highlighting Tufts Theater History, 1910s-1960s. The exhibit includes production photos, scripts, programs, and artifacts, as well as special features on Pen, Paint and Pretzels and on the Arena Theater. The Tufts Arena Theater building was originally the Jackson College Gymnasium, constructed in 1909. Athletics and dramatics shared the space until 1948, when the Athletics Department vacated the Jackson College Gym upon completion of the Henry Clay Jackson Gymnasium. The building was given to the Drama Department and became known as the Tufts Arena Theater. A condemned stage forced the department to use an innovative staging format where plays were performed on a raised oval in the middle of the gym floor. This setup was the first appearance of performances “in the round” in New England and was pioneered by Marston Balch, Professor of Dramatics at Tufts for thirty-seven years.

The Tufts Arena Theater was used until 1991, when it was demolished upon completion of the Aidekman Arts Center. Included in the plans for Aidekman was a new space for the Drama Department, the Balch Arena Theater, named for Professor Marston Balch.

For more information on Drama at Tufts, stop by the DCA on the Ground Floor of Tisch library and ask to see some of the great pictures and artifacts we have available. Information is also available on the Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History.

Special thanks to Laura Cutter and Lauren Miller for their work on this exhibit and their contributions to the text of this blog entry.

You may be familiar with the famous glass flower collection housed at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Those glass flower models were created by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, who were once better known for making glass marine invertebrates. In a time before modern technologies made it possible to preserve the creatures for laboratory study, these incredibly detailed glass models made classroom study possible. Take a look at this gorgeous and frighteningly smart cuttlefish:

Tufts' set of these marine models, once presumed partially destroyed in the Barnum Hall fire, has been restored to the Tufts Archives. A subset of them are on display in the Tisch Library until March 11.

Read more about the history of these fascinating models in the Tufts Journal article, "The Creatures in the Closet".