AKRON, Ohio – A collection of Native American artifacts will be the featured exhibit Saturday at the opening of the University of Akron’s renovated Cummings Center for the History of Psychology.

The opening is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Donated to UA by Roadway Express, the four-story building at 73 South College Street became the Center for the History of Psychology in 2005, and in 2014, was renamed the Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology.

Last year, the university renovated the first floor as the new home of the National Museum of Psychology, with the second floor housing offices and the Archives of the History of American Psychology.

The top two floors are now home to the Institute for Human Science and Culture – the educational wing of the center. The multidisciplinary institute’s mission is to address the question, “What does it mean to be human?” through research into the history, preservation, documentation and interpretation of the human experience.

The institute includes three collections of items either donated or permanently loaned to UA: about 800 Native American artifacts from Jim and Vanita Oelschalger; about 12,000 bags collected by Lee L. Forman; and David P. Campbell’s collection of about 250,000 postcards.

David Baker, executive director of the Cummings Center, said the collections allow students and visitors to examine humanity through artistic, anthropological and psychological perspectives.

Items in the collections will be handled and cataloged by students enrolled in UA’s new 18-credit undergraduate certificate program in museum and archives studies. Two core classes for the program are taught in classrooms on the third floor of the former Roadway Express building.

“The institute is a new adventure in multidisciplinary, hands-on education, centered on cultural artifacts and reaching across disciplines to find the stories that connect us,” said Jodi Kearns, director of the institute.

The Oak Native American Gallery in divided into two halves. One half includes hunting tools from the Arctic/Subarctic region, totems and baskets from the Northwest Coast and baskets and pottery from the Great Basin and Southwest. The second half focuses on cultural tools that were often used in trade, including a large buffalo robe, a feather headdress, tomahawks, clubs, lances, arrows, knives and drums.

“The Oelschlagers hope the exhibition fosters a better understanding of Native American culture,” said Francisca Ugalde, curator at the Institute for Human Science and Culture.

The institute’s galleries and the National Museum of Psychology are open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission provides access to both floors and is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 12 and under and free for UA students, faculty and military personnel with a valid ID. The Archives of the History of American Psychology are open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment only.

Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the Cummings Center at 73 South College Street. Visitors can also park in UA Lot 30 at the corner of College and Market streets. Metered parking is available on South College Street.

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