Kevin Dennis ’15 with the Charles Dickens exhibit he helped curate at Alden Library.
By Cecilia Ellis ’17
Kevin Dennis‘ undergrad years were focused in literature and writing, but recently most of his time has been spent focused on one specific authors literature: Charles Dickens.
A class of 2015 OHIO graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English, Dennis curated the elaborate Charles Dickens exhibit currently on display in Alden Library over the summer.
The Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections served as the perfect place for a research opportunity for Dennis. Working with Dr. Joe McLaughlin, whose study on Dickens’ Bleak House first sparked Dennis’ interest in the author, the project began in January with the help of McLaughlin and Miriam Intrator. The display eventually saw fulfillment in April.
“I do a lot of work with Dickens’ novels in their published installment parts and anytime that can be shared and shown to the public, it makes me happy,” said Dr. McLaughlin, expressing his excitement with the project.
Dennis transferred to OHIO in Fall 2013, after completing two years at Washington State Community College in Marietta.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I started taking classes at a community college. I kept taking classes that I liked, and it was English. I stayed with it.” Now pursuing a Master of Education degree at OHIO, Dennis has made up his mind to spend more time learning from OHIO faculty before moving on to teach for himself. “I want to get my Ph.D. so that I can teach people how to teach.”
Loving Ohio—Both Dennis and Dickens
Like many others, Dennis was attracted to the unique environment known as Athens, which he says was as appealing as the school itself.
“I just love the community—that this is a small campus. Coming from a small town, it seemed more busy.” It’s the same kind of environment Dickens enjoyed on his various stops throughout Ohio, even spending time in the Marietta area.
Dennis briefly detailed the mappable trip Dickens made through the state: “He came in 1842, and on this trip he was already a celebrity here [in the United States]. He went through Ohio on his way out West (to St. Louis) and back through Ohio on his way to Niagara Falls. He went from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, and he does write about Columbus, Cincinnati, Sandusky and Marietta.”
The Dickens exhibit infuses a famous name into the history of Southeastern Ohio.
Making Rare Books Accessible
Intrator, a special collections librarian, aided Dennis in putting the exhibit together. Like any major projects, it has been a group effort.
Intrator says the group’s common goal was “to let people know that we have this great collection of Dickens novels and Dickens-related materials which is fully accessible at the Mahn Center to anyone who is interested; to help people understand the scope and extent of his popularity and celebrity during his lifetime through to the present day; to let people know that not only was he popular in Ohio, but that he also visited and wrote about his visits, experiences, and reactions; and to highlight what a student can accomplish, contribute, and learn by working with original, primary source materials, held in special collections.”
Dennis described the process of collaborating to bring the exhibit together: “Very little was known about the Dickens Collection at OHIO. It was a very hands-on experience for me. This was a lot of fun. The biggest problem we ran into was that there are no acquisition records for the materials in the collection. We wondered who we got them from. Probably a variety of sources.”
With over 200 pieces in the collection, there’s a wide range of different items for viewing, from collected books and maps, to photos and news clippings depicting other current events of the time.
McLaughlin said the display has two main goals. “One, to let the University community know what an interesting collection of Dickens materials we have in our rare books’ collection—and to continue to share the riches of our collection in general. And two, to explore how a major (celebrity) author was read, studied, and enjoyed by Ohioans. The materials related to the Ohio Dickens societies in local places is among the most fascinating material Kevin has put together.”
Dickens and J.K.Rowling, ‘That Big of a Deal’
One of the most interesting pieces on display are Dickens’ old serials
“I really like the serial novels because they were accessible to the lower classes,” said Dennis. The serials were later condensed into novels, but they stand as Dickens’ attempts to be read by the masses. This kind of attitude, paired with his enormous talent, can be credited for Dickens’ lasting impact.
Alongside the salesman sample book and the Ohio-centric artifacts, Intrator lists the serials among her favorite historical items, as well. “It’s really exciting, for teaching, exhibition, and research purposes, that we have these for 10 different Dickens novels. These allow people to experience Dickens, as he was originally writing and published, and as readers of his time did.”
Dickens is one of the most well-known authors of all time.
Dennis equates Dickens’ fame with that of J.K. Rowling. “Dickens was alive and got to see his work made into plays. J.K. Rowling got to see her books made into movies. Dickens was that big of a deal (in his day).”
The exhibit is available for viewing until Aug. 28 on the fifth floor of Alden Library.
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