SHU Honors Gloria Naylor with Conference and Exhibit

Students create mural of celebrated 20th-century American writer to accent display

Sacred Heart University recently spotlighted the work of Gloria Naylor, one of the most important writers of 20th-century American literature, with a conference and exhibit to mark the return of her archives to SHU. The conference “With a Pen in Her Hand: Communities in Gloria Naylor’s Fiction and Archives” was held at the University October 19 and 20.

The University awarded Naylor (1950-2016) an honorary degree in 1994 at the urging of Michelle Loris ’70, College of Arts & Sciences associate dean. Loris then co-authored an edited collection of essays on Naylor’s fiction and conducted an interview with Naylor. Naylor’s literary works—from her National Book Award-winning novel, The Women of Brewster Place, to her fictional memoir, 1996—portray the communities that Black women build to resist, survive and thrive against racism, sexism, classism and homophobia. Impressed by SHU’s commitment to social justice, and because of her collegial relationship with Loris, Naylor donated her archives to the University in 2009. In 2018, two professors from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania borrowed the material to digitize it so it would be more accessible for a wider community of scholars, teachers and fans. SHU planned the conference and exhibit to celebrate the return of the archives.

The conference, made possible by a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council, featured keynote speaker Maxine Lavon Montgomery, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of English at Florida State University. In addition, several panel discussions, with participants from Harvard University, Howard University, Spelman College, Lehigh University and other institutions, focused on female scholars, religious communities and Black writers. 

Loris explained how her English capstone students are working with the archives and with Naylor’s novels to complete their capstone research project, some of which will be published. 

“Engaging our students in this kind of research has been a significant learning experience for our students and raises the profile of our University,” Loris said. “Having Naylor’s archives is a real honor for the University. Celebrating Naylor’s work, as we have done with this conference and exhibit, has been a significant way not only to promote Naylor’s achievement, but also to bring national recognition to our University.”

The exhibit, “With a Pen in Her Hand: Communities in Gloria Naylor’s Fiction and Her Archives,” will run through Dec. 1 in the Art & Design Gallery in the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts. It includes manuscripts, photographs and a mural-sized portrait of Naylor that students in SHU’s art & design program created. 

Nathan Lewis, art & design department chair, created the exhibit alongside Loris to display Naylor’s archives and to highlight her achievements. To get his students involved, he proposed the mural and, with support from Loris, he began recruiting volunteer artists for the project.

Lewis and his students designed and created the mural in only two weeks. Once Lewis described what he envisioned, the students came individually or in groups to do the work. 

“What I really enjoyed about this process was seeing the students outside of class working on a project together,” said Lewis. “It was empowering for them. You could tell they were enjoying themselves by the natural rapport between them, and the way they interacted with each other.”

Finley Dodd ’26, an art and design major with a concentration in illustration, said she volunteered because it was a great opportunity to create a beautiful piece of art, and also to learn about Naylor. “She was a very inspirational person,” Dodd said.