Fraser Hall Library is pleased to announce the release of its new digital collection “Geneseo Literary Magazines” available now through KnightScholar, the curated institutional repository for scholarly and creative works created by SUNY Geneseo faculty, staff, and students, and for digitized materials from the College Archives and Special Collections. The 70 issues of 8 different publications of literary treasures are now easily accessible to everyone and showcase the rich history and artistic merit of more than half a century of Geneseo students.
The project was conceived and implemented by Lara Mangino (Class of 2021) and is the result of a year-long Capstone sponsored by the Edgar Fellows Program. As Editor-in-Chief of MiNT Magazine and Creative Nonfiction Reader for Gandy Dancer, Lara was deeply involved in literary magazines at Geneseo. Despite her high level of engagement, she knew very little about the history of magazines at Geneseo and upon exploration, found that there were a number of old publications that very few people – faculty, students, or staff – knew anything about or indeed, had ever seen. Lara scanned the old paper journals and magazines into PDFs from September 2020 to May 2021, working in conjunction with Professor Rachel Hall of the English Department and Liz Argentieri, the Special Collections librarian in Fraser Hall (Milne) Library.
Now graduated, Lara had this to say with the release of her project, “Literary magazines, at Geneseo and beyond, reflect the passion and love of so many creative people, from writers to artists to editors. I’ve loved working on this project because it gave me the opportunity to explore the work of students who came before me and connect with them over a shared interest. I’m thrilled that these magazines will be accessible to the public—for the first time in decades, for some issues—because it means that students’ contributions to the artistic history of Geneseo is being recognized and remembered. I’m so proud of the work we’ve put into this and am so excited to share it with the community.”
Jessica Vance (Class of 2022), took over the project from Lara in fall 2021. Jessica finished scanning the library’s collection and set up the project to continue the advertising and physical displays of the printed journals in both Welles Hall near Geneseo’s English Department and in Fraser Hall Library.
Jessica Vance, Class of 2022
“I was thrilled to be asked by Lara to take over her journal project after her graduation last spring. She put so much time and care into this, it felt very important to continue with that same respect to the work. My main focus has been making sure this project survives and thrives after my graduation in May, so I’ve been focusing on physical displays and working with staff and the currently running literary magazines to make sure the archive isn’t forgotten about. I’m particularly proud of the display on the top floor of Welles, and I’m planning on creating another in the Fraser Hall Library this semester.”
