Category: Exhibits

Forty years ago, one sister made a promise to another, that she would end the silence around breast cancer; raise money for research; and to one day cure breast cancer for good. This was what Nancy Brinker promised to her sister Susan Goodman Komen who died of breast cancer in 1980. In 1982, Nancy had put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and established the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Foundation also awarded its first research grant for $28,000 to Dr. Gary Spitzer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. the first Race for the Cure® took place in Dallas, TX in 1983 with 800 participants.

Just four years after Susan passed away from breast cancer, Nancy found herself in the same situation. Brinker received her breast cancer diagnosis in 1984 which continued to motivate her to seek treatment, spread the word, and continue to search for a cure. October 1986 was the first Breast Cancer Awareness Month; every October since has served as an annual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer.

Brinker turned the Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. Its pink ribbon is an iconic a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in Race for the Cure events. To date, the Susan G. Komen Foundation has “invested more than $3.3 billion in groundbreaking research, community health outreach, advocacy and programs in more than 60 countries” and “helped reduce deaths from breast cancer by 40 percent between 1989-2016.”

Now on display outside of Hillcrest Hall for the month of October 2022: Ribbons, Races and Research: Forty Years of the Susan G. Komen Foundation 1982-2022. This exhibit chronicles the establishment of the foundation and its impact around the globe on breast cancer awareness and research.

Housed in the Archives of Women of the Southwest at the DeGolyer Library, the Susan G. Komen Foundation records comprise: papers, photographs, clippings, company publications, awards, and artifacts along with an additional terabyte of digital video, photograph, and document files.

Contact Samantha Dodd, curator of the Archives of Women of the Southwest for additional information or assistance with accessing the collections. For access to these collections or to learn more about the women of the southwest, be sure to visit the DeGolyer Library and check out our books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and photographs.

In October, think pink!

On exhibition this summer in the DeGolyer Library’s Hillcrest Hall Send me a postcard! Women on the road across 19th-20th century America examines women motorists/automobilists and their travels across the country. The concept for this exhibit developed from a series of blog posts written over the course of a few summers. “That’s Where the West Begins…” featured the Elizabeth Dalrymple manuscript. Filled with humorous adventures, Elizabeth’s narrative describes her road trip from Pennsylvania to Colorado and back with her girlfriends Lillian, Aldine, Ethel in June 1940. The follow-up post “On the Road Again” featured the Margaret Burkhalder’s scrapbook, which contains a travel journal and diary, postcards, clippings, programs, and ephemera from a five-week trip from Buffalo, New York to the Midwest and Western United States and Canada with a group of nurses from Buffalo General Hospital, June 11 to July 14, 1936.

The open road stood as a symbol of freedom. It offered women means of exploration and an opportunity to become rugged adventurers. Automobiles started to appear at the same time women were striving for autonomy in the home and in politics. Women’s growing independence and the suffrage movement coincided with the rise of the motoring. To set out on the road required a sense of adventure and determination, an ability to cope with at times harsh conditions, and the know-how to troubleshoot repairs or problem-solve.

Highlights from the exhibit include: Harriet White Fisher’s (1865-1939) A woman’s world tour in a motor. Harriet White Fisher Andrew was an American known for being the first woman to circle the globe in a Locomobile. Alice Huyler Ramsey’s (1886-1983) Veil, duster and tire iron provides a description of an automobile trip from New York to San Francisco. Alice Huyler Ramsey was the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States from coast to coast, a feat she completed on August 7, 1909. Ramsey became the first woman inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame on October 17, 2000.

Newly acquired materials from the DeGolyer can also been seen in this exhibit. Elizabeth Albertha Taylor’s Western Wonderland [privately printed account of a western trip], 1903 recounts a western journey of a group of women beginning in Denver with sightseeing. The group then made their way to Manitou; Cheyenne Canyon for a “botany expedition”; Pike’s Peak; Garden of the Gods; and Glenwood Springs where they celebrated Fourth of July. They went on to stay at Yellowstone. Her account is an illustrated diary which includes many photographs of scenery and towns, as well as photos of the group and their activities.

Henrietta Heacock’s “Safety First on Your Trip to California” was created for Elisabeth by Henrietta, as a present for a girl’s trip by train to California. The entire book was compiled from different periodicals’ humorous clippings, cartoons, and illustrations, combined to form chapters. Some of the chapter headings: “The Way to Travel,” “The Gateway to the West,” “Are You an Optimist.” The album allowed Elisabeth (and future owners) to enjoy contemporary “railroad humor” while passing the time. It is a valuable reflection of railroad culture in American life.

Contact Samantha Dodd, curator of the Archives of Women of the Southwest for additional information or assistance with accessing these materials. “Send me a Postcard! Women on the road across 19^th-20^th century America” will be on display in the Hillcrest exhibit hall through August 2022. View additional materials in the companion digital exhibit. The DeGolyer continues to expand our digitization efforts, adding new content weekly.