Florida State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives has opened an extensive collection of photographs donated by local photojournalist Mark Wallheiser. Spanning decades of Florida history, it includes millions of photographic prints, negatives, film slides and digital images.

Among its highlights are images of campus life at FSU, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee State College (formerly Tallahassee Community College), as well as photographs of professional and collegiate sports, natural disasters and significant events in the capital city.

“Mark’s career and output are astounding,” said Rory Grennan, director of Archives for FSU Libraries. “We’ve rarely seen such extensive documentation of Florida and FSU history in one place. Mark’s gift to the university is also a gift to the public and to posterity. I expect that we’ll see a demand for these images for many years to come.”

Over the past year, the FSU Libraries Special Collections and Archives team has developed detailed online descriptions of the collection and digitized a selection of negatives. Wallheiser and the Libraries envision the collection becoming a valuable resource for researchers, scholars, students and educators.

The photographs in this collection were taken during Wallheiser’s 44-year career in North Florida. Wallheiser was a staff photographer at the Tallahassee Democrat from 1981 to 2008 and a freelancer from 2008 to 2025. He was also the staff photographer for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering from 2018-2023. The Society for Professional Journalism named him Florida News Photographer of the Year in 1989. After multiple individual Pulitzer Prize nominations, Wallheiser was part of a team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service covering Hurricane Katrina.

“Professional photographic storytelling in the 1970s through the turn of the century are so important for their historical nature and believability, as now-days 5.5 billion photos are taken every single day, 94% of which are taken on smartphones,” Wallheiser said.

The Special Collections and Archives Division of the FSU Libraries advances research by acquiring, preserving and providing access to rare and unusual books and original primary source materials.

The collections range from ostraka, cuneiform tablets, papyri, illuminated manuscripts, and incunabula to modern artist books, literary manuscripts, and business records. Strengths of the collections include poetry, Napoleon and the French Revolution, political papers, Florida history, Southern business history and the history of FSU.

For more information about this collection, visit Mark Wallheiser photographic archive.

To learn more about FSU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, visit lib.fsu.edu/special-collections or contact the team at lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu or 850-644-3271.

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A scholar from Florida State University’s Department of English has been recognized for her influence in the field of Romantic-era writing and culture.

Judith Pascoe, George Mills Harper Professor of English, earned the 2025 Distinguished Scholar Award from the Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA) in recognition of her careerlong excellence in scholarship on Romantic-era British literature and culture. As one of this year’s two awardees, Pascoe was honored by K-SAA in January during the 2025 Modern Language Association Annual Convention in New Orleans.

“I was surprised and pleased to earn the award, especially since previous recipients include my dissertation director at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Stuart Curran, who was a major champion of Romantic-era women writers,” Pascoe said.

Established in 1949, K-SAA enhances the study and appreciation of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, prominent writers during the Romantic era, which ran from the late-18th century to the early-19th century. K-SAA’s Distinguished Scholar Award honors those who have dedicated their careers to studying Romantic-era writers and culture.

“It’s very exciting for one of the department’s own to receive such a coveted distinction from an important organization in the field,” said Andrew Epstein, chair of the Department of English and Caldwell Professor of English. “It confirms Dr. Pascoe’s reputation as one of the most important and influential scholars of Romanticism.”

“The British Romantics wrote some of the most remarkable poetry and prose in literary history and their influence lives on in genres ranging from horror movies to political manifestos,” Pascoe said. “What’s more, the societal issues with which the Romantics grappled — such as racism, technologies, climate events and political revolutions — still challenge us today.”

Last year, Pascoe earned a $60,000 grant from the National Endowment of Humanities to complete her book, “Twinkle, Twinkle: Female Literary Ambition, Male Genius, and the Most Famous Poet You’ve Never Heard Of.” The project spotlights Jane Taylor, the author of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and will be Pascoe’s fifth book related to British Romanticism. To complete this project, Pascoe will also draw on Strozier Library’s John MacKay Shaw Collection of Childhood in Poetry and research support provided by the George Mills Harper Professorship.

“I strive to make my research engaging and accessible to a broad audience,” Pascoe said. “In my most recent book, ‘On the Bullet Train with Emily Brontë’, which I completed as a Guggenheim Fellow, I sought to understand why ‘Wuthering Heights’ has been so warmly embraced in Japan, and also to chronicle my experience as an adult student of Japanese.”

In “The Hummingbird Cabinet: A Rare and Curious History of Romantic Collectors” (Cornell University Press, 2005), Pascoe drew on archival research to explore collecting’s role in the relationship between reader, author and authorial legacy. She wrote about collectors of birds, books, Napoleonic relics, botanical specimens, Egyptiana and fossils.

In “The Sarah Siddons Audio Files: Romanticism and the Lost Voice” (University of Michigan Press, 2011), Pascoe sought to recreate the lost voice of Sarah Siddons, a Romantic-era theater actress whose powerful performances, including as Lady Macbeth, caused audience members to faint during the time before voices could be recorded. In pursuit of this goal, Pascoe enrolled in a Voice for Actors class, collected Lady Macbeth performance recordings and started listening more carefully to the soundscape of her own life. Pascoe’s book also investigated how modern recording technology has altered the human experience of the voice.

“Recipients of the Distinguished Scholar Award like Dr. Pascoe are recognized for helping to set the agenda for the future study of Romanticism, underscoring something we’re very proud of: FSU is on the cutting edge of research in this important literary field and the humanities more broadly,” Epstein said.

To learn more about Pascoe’s work and FSU’s Department of English, visit english.fsu.edu.

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Securing a study space at Florida State University’s Robert Manning Strozier Library during final exam preparations can be challenging due to the influx of students studying, tutoring, reading or relaxing. Late arrivals often face difficulty in finding seating, which contributes to exam-related stress.

To alleviate this issue, University Libraries and Information Technology Services (ITS) at FSU have introduced Occuspace, a real-time occupancy information report for each level, accessible through the myFSU mobile application.

“By using innovative technology like Occuspace, we are not just addressing a logistical challenge, but we are also significantly enhancing the overall student experience during one of the most stressful times of their academic journey,” said Asia McMahon, application developer for myFSU mobile. “This initiative underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to create a more supportive and efficient learning environment for our students.”

Occuspace screens show real-time seating capacity reports for each library floor, ranging from “low” to “very high.” Sensors detect devices connected to FSU Wi-Fi, like smartphones or laptops, to estimate the number of people on any floor.

“The library acquired Occuspace to address the long-standing issue of students struggling to find a seat in Strozier Library,” said Kirsten Kinsley, assessment librarian. “For years, we’ve heard students’ frustration as they searched floor by floor without success.”

Students can monitor Strozier Library’s capacity using the myFSU mobile application. To access this feature, select “Strozier Live Count” from the icons at the top. If the icon is not visible, make sure that your profile is set to “student.” The app provides information on current capacity, peak hours, next-hour capacity estimates and comparisons to the previous week.

To download the myFSU Mobile application visit the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

No personally identifiable information is collected or otherwise archived in this process. Occuspace fully complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

For more information on Occuspace’s privacy policy, visit occuspace.io/public/assets/occuPrivacyPolicy.pdf.

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The Art in the Library Program at Florida State University Libraries presents an art exhibition celebrating 200 years of Tallahassee history from the perspective of university students.

The exhibition, “200 Years of Tallahassee: A View from Florida State,” will be held on the third floor of the Robert Manning Strozier Library through December commemorating Tallahassee’s Bicentennial. There will be a reception for the exhibition from 2-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, with food provided for those in attendance.

The exhibit will depict the history of Tallahassee and showcase art created by FSU students celebrating the university’s culture. The displayed works will include digitally edited photographs and dynamic paintings.

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Florida State University students will have more opportunities to take advantage of high-quality tutoring for some of their most challenging courses, thanks to a gift that boosts resources for these services to meet students where they are. 

With a gift from the Fogg Charitable Trust, the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) — which serves as FSU’s center for tutoring and study skills resources — will expand its operations to Strozier Library. Stozier already offers tutors for students, but the gift will increase availability and allow ACE to offer its services as the university experts in tutoring. 

Drop-in tutoring for physics, chemistry, math and statistics will now be available in Strozier from 7-11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. 

“We used the Strozier Library swipe-in data to determine when the most popular times were for tutoring, and we’ve devised a schedule accordingly,” said Holly Hunt, director of ACE. “Aligning tutoring at Strozier with ACE will bring more efficiency, greater access to qualified tutors and a strengthened relationship between two places on campus where students can find essential academic support.” 

ACE tutoring is led by peer tutors — undergraduates who have already succeeded in the courses and are chosen for their knowledge and ability to explain complicated subject matter.  

“I think a lot of people struggle with chemistry because they try to memorize the facts instead of understanding why certain things happen,” said biochemistry major Lorien Collins, who tutors multiple chemistry courses. “When I can help students understand these connections, it makes the subject less intimidating.” 

ACE serves about 13,000 students per year through its peer tutoring services, study skills workshops, student success courses, one-on-one tutoring and more.  

“Going to tutoring not only increased my confidence with math, it also helped me to have fun and not be scared of trying hard things,” said biological science major Alani Boniface. “The tutors are so supportive, and I started looking forward to doing my work.” 

The Fogg Charitable Trust is active in the Southeast and is dedicated to supporting efforts and communities that the late Ed and Lisbeth Fogg contributed to. The Foggs were the developers and managers of Farm Stores, a convenience store that specializes in its own brand of milk, bread and ice cream, and created multiple other business and philanthropic ventures.  

“Our support not only helps the students seeking assistance, but also the tutors who work to provide educational support,” said Todd Clark, a representative from the Fogg Charitable Trust. “The Fogg Charitable Trust has supported this work because it helps students, it helps tutors and it helps FSU Libraries become the go-to place on campus for learning and resources.” 

For more information, visit ace.fsu.edu and lib.fsu.edu.

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