In December 2018, SMU Libraries uploaded 353 items into SMU Libraries Digital Collections.
Highlights include:
58 bank notes from the Rowe-Barr Collection of Texas Currency, as part of the TexTreasures FY2019 grant program, sponsored by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.The majority of the bank notes were issued from 17 Dallas banks, ca. 1880-1929; other Texas banks are from Daingerfield, Dalhart, Dawson, and De Leon.
Shown left is an example of a Dallas bank note. Prominent businessman Robert Lee Thornton signed this $10.00 bank note from the Mercantile National Bank in Dallas, dated April 24, 1925. Thornton was a former candy salesman, bookstore owner, and bookkeeper who, along with other investors, decided to open a downtown Dallas bank near the courthouse in 1916.
4 oral histories were added to the Southern Methodist University Oral History and Digital Humanities Student Projects collection. These interviews with Yesenia Mendez, LaKeisha Rivers, Judge Eric Moyé, and Cynthia Salinas Dooley are part of the Voices of SMU project.
279 negatives, ca. 1870-1930s, from the Collection of Dallas Morning News Negatives and Copy Photographs. Among the noteworthy items are an image of the old Dallas courthouse, a photograph of the Magnolia Building under construction, a photograph of the Alamo, and a photograph of Sam Houston’s Steamboat House.
1 booklet by J.M. Parker, called An Aged Wanderer: A Life Sketch of J.M. Parker, A Cowboy on the Western Plains in the Early Days. This autobiography details Parker’s early days in West Texas and experiences as a cowboy during the latter half of the 19th century, and includes a number of songs and poems about cowboys and Texas.
10 real photographic postcards from the [American Border Troops and the Mexican Revolution]. These images include three postcards of naval troops.
1 book, 1884, titled Industry illustrated; a memoir of Thomas Jackson of Eltham Park, Kent… This book is memoir about railway contractor Thomas Jackson, detailing his work on various viaducts, canals, and other structures throughout the United Kingdom, including his work on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, the Tame River Valley Canal, and Alderney Harbor, among others.
Bridwell Library Exhibition:
Monuments of Early Greek Printing open now through May 20, 2019, in the Entry Hall of Bridwell Library. Many landmark Greek publications from the early decades of printing today reside in North Texas. The first printed publication of a work in its original language is referred to as the editio princeps. Many of the items in this exhibition claim this title. In some cases the work displayed is one of a small number to have been printed and known to exist today. Thus, this selection offers a glimpse into the richness and significance of materials accessible for study and appreciation at Bridwell Library Special Collections.