“‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ Town and Gown in the Friendly City” Exhibit in Carrier Library

Posted September 15, 2026 in Exhibits, JMU Libraries News, Special Collections News

Explore the historic and present-day town-gown relationship between JMU, Harrisonburg, and the surrounding community at “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a new exhibit in the Distinctive Collections Exhibition Space on the second floor of Carrier Library.

Within a college town, two distinct communities are said to exist. Town refers to the local non-academic community, permanent residents, or so-called “townies,” while Gown refers to the university community, including students and administrators. The tensions, ties, conflicts, collaborations, and interactions between those two groups all contribute to a college town’s unique town-gown dynamic.

JMU and its relationship with Harrisonburg and the local community have evolved dramatically over the course of the school’s history. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”: Town and Gown in the Friendly City explores the themes of community response to the school’s establishment and early interactions between town and gown, changing physical and social landscapes, community service and philanthropy, and the ongoing project of building mutual trust.

The physical exhibit will be up through May 2027.

A complementary digital exhibit is online.

Events related to the exhibit will be hosted over the course of the academic year. The first talk on the exhibit will be by Layne Carpenter and Tiffany Cole, who will speak about the exhibit as part of Massanutten Regional Library’s Nerd Nite for Adults at Sage Bird Ciderworks on October 9, 6-8 p.m.

Questions? Please contact dsdc@jmu.edu.