Polycom Video Conferencing

Today the library will use it's Polycom video conferencing system to host an ADA and Title IV training session for LaGrange College staff and local government workers. It's an excellent example of how our technology is increasing opportunities for staff and community members.

This post was authored by Joe Marciniak.

Fall Break!

We hope everyone is having a great Fall Break! Don't forget we're not open on Saturday, October 26 and we're only open on Sunday from 6:00pm-10:00pm.

Price Theater – Remembered, Celebrated and Renewed

            On November 20, 1970 Dobbs Hall was destroyed by fire.  It was a massive blaze which left both the Science and Drama Departments homeless.  Gone was the auditorium which had been the scene of commencements, concerts, chapel programs and theatre productions for nearly one hundred years.   Gone were the speech and drama classrooms and the theatre workshop. 



The tent is pictured in a detail from the hand drawn

diagram of the “Quad” which appeared in the 1974 Quadrangle.

                Dr. Max Estes, chairman of the Speech and Drama Department, later recalled that shortly after Dobbs burned, Charles Hudson, chairman of the Board of Trustees, “sat down with us and said that we must keep our drama department active and immediately went out searching for us a place.  He found us temporary quarters in Cannon and Unity Schools,” paced off several local venues and later secured a large tent which was erected on the vacant Dobbs site.  "Barefoot in the Park,” the first post-Dobbs offering was staged as a theatre- in-the-round production in the Simpson Room on the ground floor of the Mariotti Gymnasium.  Our itinerant drama folk carried on for the next five years.  Trustees, officers of administration and benefactors began their work.  

                                                                     



Senior drama major, Walter Davis, posed

in front of the tent for the 1974 Quadrangle.

                                                 

        With deep appreciation, on May 22, 1972, the College announced the gift of land and funding to build and equip a drama theater and Department of Theatre Arts by the Callaway Foundation, Inc. of LaGrange.  

Architect’s rendering appearing on the cover of the July, 1973 issue of “LC LaGrange College Bulletin.”

 

         The proposed Forrest Avenue location marked a significant expansion of the campus.  Final plans for the building were drawn by Biggers, Scarbrough, Neal, Crisp and Clark, architects and engineers of Columbus, Georgia.  Wright Associates acted as general contractors.  The structure contained classrooms, offices, costume and scenery construction and storage areas, make-up and dressing rooms, an actors’ lounge, and studio theater facilities.  The theater itself seated 286 persons; the 80 by 40 foot stage area was equipped with a hydraulically operated thrust/apron. 

          Named for Lewis Price, a faithful trustee of LaGrange College from 1938 until his death in 1974, Price Theater was formally dedicated on the evening of November 6, 1975. Damon Runyan’s musical “Guys and Dolls” was the inaugural production, marking the emergence of the drama department from what Dr. Estes called “. . . . our medieval period -- between the burning of Dobbs and the Renaissance that is the PRICE THEATER.”  It was a moment of profound gratitude experienced in an electric atmosphere as the audience reveled in the real star of the evening – Price Theater.   

 

         In April of 2000 a group of devoted alumni spearheaded a “Birthday Bash Reunion” for “dear Price Theater!” celebrating twenty- five years of instruction and performances.  The program included tributes to Mr. Lewis Price and Dr. Max Estes as well as a performance of Noel Coward’s musical “Red Peppers” in the Black Box Theater, featuring theatre arts faculty members Kim Barber Knoll and Dr. Steven Earl Edwards.     

          Now, after thirty-eight years of exciting productions and delighted audiences, Price Theatre has been undergoing a much needed renovation.  Kim Barber Knoll, Professor and Coordinator of the Theatre Arts Department looking toward this renovation said, “Price Theater is truly a jewel, and we are thrilled that this restoration will give our faculty updated resources to complement what they do best:  teach our students to be skilled not only in acting, but in costume design, set design, lighting and technical design, and the business of theatre.  The size of our faculty has doubled over the past few years, and they’re especially excited about the expanded classroom space!”  (“Price Theater Take your seat . . . , LaGrange College”)  Friday, April 19, 2013 saw the official ceremony to mark the kickoff of the project.

            October 10, 2013 will bring the official reopening of our newly polished jewel.  It will be yet another occasion celebrating the support for and continuation of LaGrange College’s strong theatre arts program.  It is a tradition which remains a vital part of campus and community life in LaGrange.  We can’t wait for the curtain to rise.

 

LaGrange College drama students, left to right: Kevin Metasavage,

Nikki Stone, Stacia Myers, Linda Jackson at the renovation groundbreaking. 

 

This post was authored by Jacqueline Hornsby.

 

Note:  Dr. Max Estes' comments are taken from the remarks which he delivered at the dedication of Price Theater on November 6, 1975.    

Visit the Archives to discover for yourself the collection of rich resources which preserve the history of LaGrange College.  Generous and often unexpected donations insure that the collection continues to expand.  Displays on the main floor of Lewis Library and just outside Suber Archives on the ground floor of the Library provide a sampling of our holdings.  Let us know if we can be of assistance. 

Suber Archives and Special Collections

Frank and Laura Lewis Library

LaGrange College

LaGrange, Georgia

Hours:

Monday – Thursday, 8:30am until 5:00pm

Friday, 8:30am until 12:30pm

Contacts:

Patricia Barrett,  pbarrett@lagrange.edu

Jacqueline Hornsby,  jhornsby@lagrange.edu

706-880-8995

Travel Section

Planning a trip or maybe you enjoy reading about exotic places? Come and check the new travel literature section on the 3^rd Floor of the Frank and Laura Lewis Library. The new travel literature is as diverse as the cultures, places, and peoples that span the globe.  

Just a sample of great destinations information to inspire you!

Provides an excellent overview of New Zealand's Maori culture, stunning countryside, national parks, and cities. Includes a historical overview, practical information, maps, recommended reading, and more.

Travelers go to Florida for sun, sand, surf, and visits to the state's world-famous theme parks, but increasingly also to explore Florida's incredible natural attractions: stunning subtropical scenery, wonderful hiking and bird-watching trails, exceptional fishing, boating, and canoeing, the wet wilderness of Everglades National Park, the continental US's only coral reefs, and glimpses of exotic wildlife. This book has all the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Florida's magnificent animal, plant, and sea life.

This book is about travelling in France - with a theme: history, and in particular, Anglo-French history from the Crusades and Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) to the First and Second World Wars. Detailing twenty different routes or places, the book covers the famous Road to Compostela from Le Puy to the Pyrenees, slips across the Belgian border to visit the battlefield of Ypres, takes in Burgundy, Brittany, the chateaux of the Ile-de-France and the Loire, and the historic provinces of France - places worth visiting for the beauty of their landscapes, their architecture, abbeys, castles and historic characters. Each route (all of which can be made by car, and some by bicycle) includes a visit to a battlefield, museum, castle, memorial, gun site, or some relic of the recent or ancient past, and comes with a list of recommended books to read before you go. The great advantage of touring the D-Day beaches with a grasp of the purpose of Operation Overlord, walking across the muddy fields from the first English position at Agincourt to the line from which the archers finally engaged the French host, and following Henry V's route from Harfleur to Agincourt, or the Black Prince's campaign, north from Bordeaux to the Loire and the battlefield of Poitiers, is that they will take the traveller into parts of France that they might otherwise miss, reveal places that the average tourist might never go, and above all, help bring history alive.

**This post was authored by Carolyn Graham.