Shorter University campus now features museum, archives department

October 19, 2010 - Shorter University’s history and archives will now have a permanent home thanks to the creation of a museum on the university’s main campus.

The museum, housed in the building that previously served as the Welcome Center, will bring all of Shorter’s historical collections and artifacts together in a centralized location. The museum will be open to the public Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The building is located adjacent to the Robert H. Ledbetter Baseball Complex.

Rebecca Roberts, museum and archives director, inspects a dress owned by Mrs. Martha Shorter. The dress, believed to be from the mid-1800s, is part of the artifacts collection at Shorter’s museum and archives building.


The location change gives the historical collection greater visibility on campus and Rebecca Roberts, museum and archives director, hopes the new location will attract more visitors wishing to learn about Shorter’s history. “One of my main goals is to educate students and visitors about Shorter’s interesting history. I find that there’s something really exciting about bringing history to life, where you just don’t talk about it, but you actually get to experience it visually.”

Roberts said the museum and archives will hold many collections including documents and records from past presidents. It will also feature Shorter publications like the student yearbook, literary magazine and newspaper, along with academic catalogues, photographs and artifacts. “We even have a beautiful 19th century dress that belonged to Martha Shorter as part of the artifacts collection,” Roberts said.

Roberts said plans include the creation of a reference room where students and visitors can request specific materials and have easy access to items like old yearbooks.

Roberts, appointed as director by Shorter University President Dr. Harold Newman, was previously employed at Shorter as an advising coordinator and assistant director in the Office of Student Engagement and Success. Prior to that position, she worked in the library and Oak Hill Museum at Berry College. A resident of Rome, Roberts received an undergraduate degree from Berry College in public relations and earned a master’s in library and information studies from the University of Alabama.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christian college committed to excellence in education. Since 2003, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shorter among the South’s best baccalaureate colleges, and the Princeton Review annually includes Shorter on its lists of best value and best Southeastern college. The university offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas as well as undergraduate degree programs for working adults, the Master of Business Administration, the Master of Education and the Master of Arts in Leadership. General education and calculus courses are offered in an online format, and Shorter recently launched online programs that lead toward the Associate of Science, the Bachelor of Business Administration, and the Master of Accountancy degrees. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.


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