This award will create welcoming and educational spaces where students, staff, faculty and community members learn how religion and culture interlace.
— Hugo Magallanes, Dean ad interim of ҽPerkins School of Theology
Exploring connections between religion and culture
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded ҽa $2.5 million grant to enhance exhibitions, accessibility and academic offerings related to religion and culture at Bridwell Library.
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded ҽa $2.5 million grant to enhance exhibitions, accessibility and academic offerings related to religion and culture at Bridwell Library.
Funding will support the library as it creates and renovates exhibition spaces and upgrades audio/visual technologies, giving patrons better access to interactive opportunities, special events and an expansive collection of antiquities and historical and religious materials. A vital part of ҽLibraries, Bridwell Library is the principal library of the ҽPerkins School of Theology and a leading theological research facility.
ҽis one of 33 institutions to receive an award through Lilly Endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, a national initiative that seeks to improve the public understanding of religion and foster greater knowledge of and respect for diverse religious traditions.
“This award will make Bridwell Library more impactful and accessible for our scholars, friends and community members,” said ҽPresident R. Gerald Turner. “The University is grateful that Lilly Endowment supports Bridwell Library and its work to educate, enlighten and broaden our understanding of religion and culture throughout history.”
The grant from Lilly Endowment adds to SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow, the University’s multiyear $1.5 billion campaign for impact. In particular, the grant furthers the campaign’s goals to enrich teaching and research and enhance our campus and community for future generations.
Funded by the grant, new construction in four critical exhibition spaces will allow patrons to better experience and interact with library materials, including:
- Vital renovations to the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries, which house the Bridwell Library Special Collections
- Establishment of a new antiquities gallery to house and display important historical and cultural artifacts relating to religious studies
- Reimagined Methodist History Room (currently known as the Blue Room), home to a collection of materials related to Methodism and John Wesley
- Creation of an interactive historical printing press and handmade papermaking lab, offering educational and hands-on research opportunities
“This award is monumental for the future of Bridwell Library and Perkins School of Theology, as it creates welcoming and educational spaces where students, staff, faculty and community members learn how religion and culture interlace in a rapidly changing world,” said Hugo Magallanes, dean ad interim of the ҽPerkins School of Theology.
In addition to creating and renovating exhibition spaces throughout the library, the project will also introduce much-needed upgrades to lighting and audio/visual technology. These enhancements will better showcase featured materials and artifacts, and also improve the overall accessibility of the library and its exhibitions for patrons with visual or hearing impairments.
Expected impact
- Create opportunities for interactive learning and research
- Promote and display Bridwell Library’s extensive collection of artifacts, antiquities and research materials
- Expand in-use exhibition spaces to support increasing public interest the library’s collections
- Improve lighting, technology and accessibility of the library for patrons and scholars
By expanding its exhibition spaces, Bridwell Library will be able to display to the public many items that have been in storage or on loan to other institutions. Adding the new antiquities gallery will provide space for several historical artifacts currently loaned to the Dallas Museum of Art. Bridwell Library has one of the country’s largest theological collections, including ancient Egyptian and Assyrian artifacts, pages of the 1455 Gutenberg Bible and the first Bibles printed in German, Greek and English.
“Bridwell Library is honored to receive this prestigious award to further contextualize the physical elements of theological research and exhibitions at SMU, especially in the areas of biblical antiquities, Methodism and the history of paper and printmaking that impacted religious history,” said Anthony Elia, J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and director of Bridwell Library at Perkins School of Theology. “Our work to preserve and educate on the past directly impacts our present. This project will carry the library into the future, safeguarding culturally significant knowledge and artifacts for future generations.”
The enhancement of Bridwell Library builds on nearly a century of academic and archival work, specialized programming and celebrated exhibitions. In 2023, the library hosted the Codex Sassoon, a rare 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible. Visitors came from across the region to view SMU’s exhibit, the only such event held at a university. Since then, interest in the library and its collections has grown among scholars, students and community members who wish to explore historical and religious ties to culture and society.
“Projects to improve and strengthen our libraries are critical to the preservation of history and increasing our understanding of culture,” said Brad E. Cheves, senior vice president for Development and External Affairs. “By investing in the future of Bridwell Library, Lilly Endowment is ensuring these significant materials will continue to teach and inspire students, faculty and community members for years to come.”
ҽis grateful that Lilly Endowment supports Bridwell Library and its work to educate, enlighten and broaden our understanding of religion and culture throughout history.
— R. Gerald Turner, ҽPresident
.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by Josiah Kirby “J.K.” Lilly and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. While the primary aim of its religion grantmaking focuses on strengthening the leadership and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States, the Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the contributions that people of all faiths and diverse religious communities make to our greater civic well-being.
Bridwell Library
Bridwell Library provides academic resources to support the educational programs of ҽPerkins School of Theology and the University’s graduate program in religious studies. The library is the principal bibliographic resource at ҽfor the fields of theology and religious studies. It offers prominent general and special collections ranging from theology and church history to early printing, the fine arts and Near Eastern archeology.
The types of materials acquired by Bridwell Library include books, serials, audio/visual materials, electronic resources and rare materials. As of 2023, the library collection includes 396,000 volumes, subscriptions to 700 periodicals, and a wealth of information available through various types of resources and formats.
One of SMU’s three original schools, Perkins School of Theology was renamed in 1945 to honor the generosity of Joe J. Perkins and Lois Craddock Perkins of Wichita Falls, Texas. The family’s generosity has spanned three generations, supporting the school’s growth and mission “to equip persons for faithful leadership and Christian ministry in a changing church and society; to educate those seeking a deeper understanding of the Christian faith; and to strengthen the church, academy, and world through service, scholarship and advocacy.”
Students from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries have been called to pursue their vocation at Perkins School of Theology, whose standing in higher education and theological training continues to grow. Perkins offers unique interdisciplinary learning with other ҽschools like Cox School of Business and Dedman School of Law, with many students choosing the ministry as a second career. Approximately 50% of the Perkins’ student population are women, 35% represent denominations other than Methodism, and nearly one-third are from historically underrepresented ethnic backgrounds.