Georgetown Icons Book Captures Campus Beauty and Spirit
February 3, 2011
Georgetown alumni, students, and staff celebrated the release of Georgetown Icons, a museum-quality book that captures the history, scenery, and soul of the institution and its community.
On February 1, hundreds of Hoyas gathered in Gaston Hall for a presentation of the book by University President John J. DeGioia, College Dean Chester Gillis, and Icons author Leslie Little (C’86). The speakers shared how the book—over 18 months in the making—represents the culmination of an enormous undertaking of new research about the university, the reintroduction of archived materials, and the re-envisioning of the Georgetown experience through image, text, and innovative book design. “This book,” President DeGioia explained to the crowd, “has captured Georgetown’s character, and the scholarship and inquiry that takes place [on campus].”
The book features over 100 iconic images—many never before seen—from the campus in its 200-year history. Author and alumnus Leslie Little, founder of the publishing house Icon Images, proposed the project to Dean Gillis after her first book, Paris Icons, won three international awards for outstanding book design. For Georgetown Icons, a limited edition hardcover book, Little incorporated vellum pages and wove elements of Georgetown’s lore into its design, modeling the cover font on the script used for Georgetown diplomas, and working laurel wreaths into the final pages to recall a line from the alma mater, “Lo, in garlands we have crowned her.” In his opening remarks Dean Gillis noted, “When you see this book, you will appreciate fine details of the campus that, even if you have been here for decades, somehow escaped your notice.” He also noted that in addition to the artistry that makes the book a part of Georgetown history itself, a portion of the proceeds will support the 1789 Scholarship Imperative, which provides funding to attract the best and brightest students to the university.
Little explained that the “challenge” of re-envisioning the history of Georgetown, long kept in archives and often overlooked in campus architecture, “is to see things with new eyes.” This was no easy task: the project began with over 6,000 online digital photos and 200 years of archived material, and swelled to include 9 months of shooting to ultimately create the 137 plates in the book. Similarly, Little’s historical research spanned the life of St. Ignatius, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the present day. Yet this work over seemingly well-worn territory unearthed a number of documents, photos, and artworks that had never made it back to the Georgetown community. Notably, the book features a striking image of the university’s 1815 Congressional Charter, which had never been removed from the vaults of the Library of Congress to be scanned. With new images and additions to the history of Georgetown, the book stands as a historical record, an inspiration for thought, and a timeless work of art about Ignatian ideals and the spirit of the university.
At the reception and book signing that followed the event, current students reflected on the impact that Georgetown Icons will have on the Hoya community far and wide. Blake Funston (C’12) applauded the book release, explaining, “It means that all current students, faculty, and staff can look at something and know that they are a part of the history of Georgetown.” Similarly, freshmen George Smith (C’14) and Max Gottlieb (C’14) suggested the book reflects how the Georgetown tradition extends beyond the Healy gates. This tradition, Smith noted, is “what a university instills in you that you will take with you [when you leave],” and how its values operate in the world. Gottlieb added, “the university transcends the people and the place we are right now.”
An understanding of how the Georgetown experience transcends the Hilltop and the undergraduate years is part of what Little hopes the book will achieve for alumni, family, faculty, and students. Noting that the work intends to be both commemorative and contemplative, Little explained, “My hope is that Georgetown Icons invites us to reflect on our own individual journeys and those elements of our alma mater that are permanent and eternal.”
--Jessica Beckman
Photos from top: Bill Reynolds (C'79), Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations and the Annual Fund, introduces Georgetown Icons; Author Leslie Little (C'86) signs copies of the book; Georgetown seal on stained glass; First year students Ethan Chess, Max Gottlieb, Lizzie Brevard, George Smith, and Taisa Goodnature at the reception.
Photos by Yovcho Yovchev. Video by Kuna Malik Hamad. Music by Kevin MacLeod.
