Our Webpage

Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers

    Goethe claimed all theory to be gray, yet eternally green - the Tree of Life. This applies to Gypsy studies: there are many conflicting theories about Gypsies, but not one of these has generated a single uncontested Truth about Gypsies. Gypsy studies remains a continuing lively debate about all aspects of Gypsy life and culture; an as-yet undiscovered world full of variety and vitality. For example, S. Lopez introduces her  recent photograph on the preceding page with this caption: "A Gypsy Woman plays her portable piano on the streets of Madrid,Spain." Some visitors to this website will argue that the woman is not a real Gypsy at all. What is the Truth? Perhaps a better question might be: What evidence might there be to validate or refute the photographer's opinion?   Can we find 'truth' in the clothing she wears? In the strapped-down collection bowl on top of her piano? In her humble pushcart? In the sidewalk location of Madrid where she performs?

    There must be at least some measure of truth about Gypsies somewhere that might help us interpret the "Gypsyness" of the scene in the photograph. Perhaps that measure of truth is located in the vast body of knowledge shelved inside university library collections?  Our journey in search of truths about Gypsies takes us into a university library, and into the world of DX.

    The production and dissemination of knowledge is the task of a university. The University of Toledo is a major research institution located in Toledo, Ohio.  Carlson Library, at the center of the institution, has a large collection of books and other materials. It also has specialty collections in numerous subject areas. "Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers" is one of Carlson's specialty collections. The Library of Congress (LOC) subject classification system used by most major university libraries in the United States is also used by Carlson Library. The subject category "Gypsy Studies" is designated by LOC as DX. However, The Library of Congress recently substituted the subject heading "Romanies" for "Gypsies" The reasons for this change are explained by Sheila Salo of the Gypsy Lore Society in their Newsletter. (Salo, Sheila. 2002. "'Gypsies' Vanish from Library of Congress."  Newsletter of the Gypsy Lore Society, vol. 25, no 1 (February):6 )

    Specialized courses in Gypsy studies at the graduate and undergraduate levels have been offered at the University of Toledo since 1994. Beginning in 2006 a UT Gypsy studies course will for the first time be available to undergraduate and graduate students worldwide through distance learning. The Carlson DX Collection has grown tremendously over the past decade in support of these courses.

    An exhibition of selected Carlson Library books and related materials titled "DX: Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers" appeared for several months in the main lobby of the libraryl during the summer of 2005. Library staff and faculty collaborated on the preparation of an information brochure that celebrated the Carlson DX collection. Visitors were invited contemplate items in two display cases and then follow a "patrin" (way-finding) trail on the carpet from the cases to an adjoining bookcase, where a variety of DX and related books about Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers were shelved. Since Carlson's DX collection is designed as a lending library, patrons were able to take DX books home and leisurely explore their contents, perhaps discovering for the first time -- for themselves -- the richness of Gypsy life and culture, and also gaining insight into the complexities of a "Gypsy" identity.

     Following the success of the exhibit, Carlson Library staff members and faculty met to discuss the possibility of creating a "virtual" version of the DX exhibit, and perhaps even expanding its contents to provide Internet users with a more comprehensive educational resource center for information on Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers. The main focus of this site (launched on December 14, 2005) mirrors, but is not exclusive to, the main focus of the Carlson Library's DX collection: English-language books and materials on Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers in the United States (DX201), in Ohio, and in Toledo, a city with at least 150-years of documented Gypsy history.

     Let us now proceed to the virtual version of the Carlson Library summer exhibit "DX: Gypsies (Romanies) and Travelers," following the patrin as it leads from the scarcely-known truths about Gypsies into the unknown. Let's see where the paths can take us.

 Updated 03/06

Refer any questions to Pagemaster