WVU Downtown Library
6th Floor Reading Room
Spring 2026

Professor Erin Brock Carlson’s Publishing course (WRIT 402/502) spent Fall 2025 writing, designing, and publishing original recipe pamphlets, now on display. Drawing inspiration from cookbooks in the West Virginia and Regional History Center’s Rare Book Collection, some dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, students engaged deeply with archival materials to inform contemporary creative work.

This project was made possible through the generous guidance of Rigby Phillips, Rare Books and Print Collections Archivist at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, who supported students in navigating the collections and thinking critically about research, preservation, and use. Over the semester, students honed skills in curation, writing, editing, and graphic design while gaining hands-on experience with archival research and rare books. Their final projects blend culinary history with modern tastes in thoughtful and inventive ways.

If you or your class are interested in working with Rare Books and archival materials, we encourage you to get in touch! WVRHC.lib.wvu.edu.

Exhibition brought to you by WVU Art in the Libraries.