Presented by Hopkins at Home, the Sheridan Libraries, and Friends of the Johns Hopkins University Libraries

Gertrude Stein was born 150 years ago on February 3, 1874! After growing up in Vienna, Paris, and Oakland CA, she attended the “Radcliffe Annex” for women at Harvard University, and then the Johns Hopkins Medical School in one of the first classes that accepted female students. Although she did not finish her medical degree, she put her psychological training to use in experimental writing that makes unusual insights into character and challenges readers’ cognitive habits.

The Sheridan Libraries celebrated this major birthday milestone with a peek into a large collection of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera by and about Gertrude Stein created by Robert A. Wilson (1922-2016), Class of 1943, a life-long Stein fan and collector. Our tour guides into this unique collection were three undergraduate students who worked intensively with the collection last semester. Their “mini-exhibits” helped us understand Gertrude Stein’s literary ambitions and the ways her work has been re-interpreted over time.

Our featured speakers included:
• Gabrielle Dean, PhD - the William Kurrelmeyer Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts in the Sheridan Libraries, and an adjunct professor for the Department of English and the Program in Museums & Society
• Lizzy Stamper - a senior studying History of Science, Medicine, and Technology with minors in History and Museums & Society
• Alice Robertson - a senior majoring in History of Art with a minor in Museums & Society
• Joelie Garcia - a junior Physics and Mathematics double major with a minor in Museums & Society

For more information about the Robert A. Wilson Collection of Gertrude Stein Materials, please see:
• Bret McCabe, “In Memoriam: Book Collector, Johns Hopkins Alum Robert Wilson dies at 94.” JHU HUB, December 20, 2016. https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/12/20/robert-wilson-in-memoriam/
• Michael Yockel, “Seeing Robert Wilson Plain.” Johns Hopkins Magazine, Winter 2018. https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2018/winter/robert-wilson-gertrude-stein-collector/

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