CUL Digital Collections Update: December 2017

In December 2017, SMU’s Central University Libraries uploaded 196 items into CUL Digital Collections.

Highlights include:

24 documents, ca. 1890s-1930s, into the Texas: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints  digital collection as part of the  TexTreasures FY2018 grant program, sponsored by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. These promotional pamphlets and booklets were written to inspire migration throughout the state of Texas, specifically aimed at potential land buyers. Texas counties included are Crosby, Dallam, Hartley, Goliad, Jackson, Kerr, Kenedy, and Sherman. Texas cities and regions include the Gulf Coast, San Antonio, and El Paso. Some pamphlets were sponsored by railroad companies as a method of marketing travel by rail. One example is The Texas Panhandle route.: From summerland to the American Alps… which includes a map of the Union Pacific Railroad Company’s train routes through states such as Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Nevada, and California. A majority of these materials contain photographs of people living in the area, landscapes, crop production, and tourist and historical attractions in the towns and regions which are the focal point of that particular pamphlet or booklet. Testimonials from farmers and land owners are another common feature.

Of special note is Kerrville and Kerr County Texas, published by J. E. (Jesse Edwards) Grinstead, owner and publisher of The Kerrville Mountain Sun. Mr. Grinstead was an American publisher, editor, writer, poet, and politician. Writing about 30 novels, as well as approximately 50 short stories and numerous articles, he became a popular Western fiction writer, with at least two of his stories becoming Hollywood films. In addition, his literary works were published internationally in Britain, Sweden, and Spain. His political career included a tenure as mayor of Kerrville and four years as their state representative to the Texas state legislature. At the time of his death, Mr. Grinstead reportedly left behind about 100 unpublished works, with three having been submitted for publication.

54 photographs of Mexico, ca. 1904-1912, from the Album, Architectural Views of Mexico. These photographs are part of a travel album compiled by Myron Hunt. Highlights include 17 photographs by C.B. Waite, including three images of the elaborate carvings in the Mitla ruins.

Two photographs of Luther W. Clark, ca. 1901-1919, from Belo Records, 1842-2007. Clark was the editor-in-chief of The Dallas Morning News from 1900 until his death in 1919.

76 sketches by Jerry Bywaters from the Jerry Bywaters Collection on Art of the Southwest. These images depict numerous settings throughout the southern United States, including mountains and ranches in the Southwest, buildings in Virginia and Ohio, and churches in various locales. Other images of note in this group of sketches are a number of pencil works of locations in Louisiana, including sketches of bayous, such as Along Bayou Teche, and of buildings and streets in New Orleans.

21 photographs, ca. 1892-1899, by William Henry Jackson from the Collection of William Henry Jackson Photographs. Highlights include 14 photographs of the mining boom town of Creede, Colorado, and a photograph of the surrounding area taken from Gray’s Peak, also in Colorado.

4 panoramas, ca. 1904-1911, by E.B. Downing y Cia, from the Giesecke Family Collection of Photographs and Panoramas of Mexico. Included among these images are three group portraits, two of which appear to have been taken in the same location on Reforma Avenue in Mexico City. The fourth panorama is an elevated view of San Luis Potosi taken from the governor’s mansion.

11 postcards from the Calvin Clyde, Jr. Collection of Postcards. These illustrated postcards, mailed between 1907 and 1925, primarily feature floral imagery or ‘’New Year’s babies’’ to illustrate their good wishes to the recipient.

3 blueprints, 1902, from Railroad Commission of Texas Interlocking Towers Records, 1902-1974. These blueprints relate to and illustrate various railroad engineering elements for railroads in Flatonia, Texas, including the blueprints for the intersection of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio and San Antonio & Aransas Pass railroads, manipulation charts for this intersection, and lock and dog sheets.

1 pamphlet, published in 1995 by James Early, discussing Robert Stewart Hyer’s tenure as president of SMU and his involvement with the design and construction of Dallas Hall.