SMU’s celebration of the written word organized by students and SMU Program Council began in 1975. Former SMU English professor Jack Myers recalls the early years in his essay, “Personal recollections of the SMU Literary Festival: 1975-1995,” which was published in From High on the Hilltop: Marshall Terry’s History of SMU. Jack Myers writes:…Continue Reading SMU Literary Festival celebrates 50 years
You step out of the second-floor elevator in Fondren Library to claim a window nook. As you turn left to examine the available space, you notice large black frames hanging on the walls, outlining prints of colorful postcards. The postcards are from the George W. Cook collection in DeGolyer Library and highlight Dallas architecture and…Continue Reading Picture This: How Students Helped Curate Fondren Library’s Artwork
On January 20, 1925, The New York Times ran the headline, “’Ma’ Ferguson Will Take Office Today,” and wrote: “ Texas is ready to inaugurate Mrs. Myriam Amanda Ferguson as her first woman Governor. From all parts of the State the people are coming and every indication is that tomorrow will be one of…Continue Reading Ma Ferguson—The First Woman Governor of Texas
SMU football fans are celebrating the team’s first ACC season with a playoff against Penn State University this week. The Mustangs and Nittany Lions have only met twice in their long history. The 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic ended in a tie, and Penn State won the 1978 game at home. SMU’s first football game…Continue Reading Pony Up! Over a century of SMU football
Worried about contentious political conversations ruining the holidays? The DeGolyer has just the sign for you! This sign comes from John Crichton of the Brick Row Book Shop in San Francisco. As Crichton recounts, early in his career, he would frequently visit the legendary Vermont bookseller Ken Leach. Ken had this broadside hanging outside his…Continue Reading Blunt Broadsides
Everyone who had the chance to know Joan Gosnell immediately loved her. I first encountered Joan during my first year as a student at SMU, when I asked if she might be able to find any information on my great-grandfather who lived in Dallas. In a move that would surprise nobody who has worked with…Continue Reading Remembering Joan Gosnell, SMU Treasure
When the SMU Mustangs play the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Durham, N.C., it will be only the third time the two programs have met on the gridiron. SMU and Duke met for the very first time on Sept. 26, 1952, in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. SMU lost 14-7 in…Continue Reading SMU vs Duke, 1952
Fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood? Then make sure to check out TCM’s newest season of The Plot Thickens, its podcast dedicated to in-depth explorations of Hollywood history. This season is all about director John Ford, winner of six Academy Awards and considered one of Hollywood’s first auteurs. To tell the story of the…Continue Reading The Plot Thickens…for the Ron Davis Oral History Collection
Robert T. Anderson was an internationally renowned organist who taught at Southern Methodist University from 1960-1996. He was also the organist for Perkins Chapel during his distinguished career at SMU. Robert Theodore Anderson was born 90 years ago on October 5 in Chicago, Illinois, and began studying piano at age 5 and organ at the…Continue Reading Remembering Robert T. Anderson
Ephemera is the plural form of the Greek word Ephemeron (Epi = on, about, round; Hemera = day). Literally, it refers to something that lasts through the day. And here at the DeGolyer, it refers to one of our favorite categories of collecting. Among our holdings of Ephemera are such things as almanacs, advertisements, bank…Continue Reading Welcome to the Hotel California