The creation of the University of Delaware Mall, the centerpiece of UD's beautiful campus in downtown Newark, is the subject of a special exhibit through Dec. 14 at the University Gallery in Old College.

The exhibit, "Breaking Ground: Designing the University of Delaware Mall, 1914 to 1954," is presented by the University Gallery in partnership with the University of Delaware Archives.

Drawings, photographs and letters tell the story of the development of the Mall, which was made possible by important benefactors such as Pierre S. du Pont and created by some of the leading architects of the early 20th century.

The Mall was originally an undeveloped stretch of land that separated Delaware College, a school for men centered around Old College to the north, and the Women's College of Delaware, near Park Place to the south.

The one-half mile strip that separated the two institutions was largely agricultural, with peach and apple orchards, some marshy lowlands and a few scattered houses, according to UD Richards Professor of History Carol Hoffecker.

At the urging of his brother-in-law, H. Rodney Sharp, who was a Delaware College graduate and recently had been appointed to the Board of Trustees, du Pont purchased the various land parcels in 1915 for use by the colleges.

Once the land was in hand, Sharp and Delaware College President Samuel Chiles Mitchell turned to the Philadelphia firm of noted collegiate architects Frank Miles Day and Charles Z. Klauder to develop a long-range plan for its use.

In 1917, they completed their vision for the new campus. It featured a long swath of green, beginning at Main Street and to be bordered by buildings in the colonial Georgian style of architecture that was popular throughout Delaware.

The Mall was to converge on a large central building that would be capped by a large rotunda, and then to continue on to the Women's College, which was then led by Dean Winifred Robinson. That central building became Memorial Hall, which was dedicated in 1925.

In 1918, Marian Cruger Coffin–one of the first women in the field of landscape architecture–was engaged to provide a landscape plan for the campus. Her work helped integrate the two campuses into a visual whole.

The upcoming exhibit includes many large, handsomely drafted architectural drawings by Day and Klauder, along with Coffin's highly detailed plan for the landscape.

The drawings, along with photographs of students and faculty at work and play, reveal much about student life in the first half of the 20th century.

Well-timed, the exhibit is being mounted as the final piece of the Mall is put in place, with construction of a $23.7 million expansion of P.S. du Pont Hall.

Internationally renowned architect Allan Greenberg designed the new section of P.S. du Pont Hall in the Georgian style in keeping with the original vision for the Mall. Greenberg also designed Gore Hall, which the new building faces.

The exhibit is curated by graduate students in University's Museum Studies program under the guidance of Belena S. Chapp, director of museums, and J. Ritchie Garrison, associate professor of museum studies.

The students, many of them aspiring to careers as museum curators, educators or administrators, are working in teams to plan and create the exhibit, to schedule speakers and educational programs and to design the exhibit's Internet site.

On Oct. 24, Valencia Libby, associate professor of landscape architecture and horticulture at Temple University, will discuss "Marian Cruger Coffin: Her Life and Legacy."

The exhibit and lecture are free and open to the public.

Also this fall, the University Gallery is sponsoring the exhibition "The Learning Tradition: Selected Works from the University Gallery Collection" and "Blue & Gold: Selected Specimens from the University of Delaware Mineralogical Museum Collection," in the Mineralogical Museum on the second floor of Penny Hall on Academy Street.

The University Gallery also provides professional development opportunities for students interested in careers in the museum field.

For additional information, call 831-8242, fax 831-8251, or visit the University Gallery online at [http://www.museums.udel.edu].