News from the DeGolyer Library
Southern Methodist University
August 2021
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Our latest exhibit is scheduled to open in Fondren Library’s Hillcrest Exhibit Hall on Thursday September 9, 2021:
Engaged with Books: Photographs Over Time
For our first exhibition since January 2020, we chose to celebrate reading and the written word by showcasing photographs of people holding books and other reading material. The images, ca. 1845 to the 1950s, highlight the importance of books as studio props in the nineteenth century and later in casual snapshots taken in the home and outside.
For questions, contact Anne E. Peterson, Curator of Photographs, DeGolyer Library, email: apeterso@smu.edu
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In her latest blog post, Samantha Dodd shared the story of Aurora Lucero-White Lea, an American folklorist, educator, author, and suffragist. Lucero-White documented New Mexican folklore through her books and her work integrating traditional folklore into the New Mexico school curriculum as part of the Department of Education. Click here to learn more about Lucero-White. On September 3 at 11:00 am CST, Samantha will present: Donde hay voluntad hay modo (Where there is a will there is a way): Aurora Lucero-White Lea and the Folklore of New Mexico at the virtual Folklore in the Archives conference. Click here to register for the conference!
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In 1968, the world came to San Antonio. Specifically, the World’s Fair was held from April to October of 1968, which also marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of the city. In her latest blog post, Cynthia Franco looked at material from the fair that made it into the DeGolyer Library’s collections, including a promotional film (left) featuring Gov. John Connelly. Click here to read more.
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Recently curator of the Archives of Women of the Southwest, Samantha Dodd, gave a presentation at the District III meeting of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas entitled: “Dear Diary…Life in the Southwest as told by the women who lived it.” Diaries are a common occurrence in the collections of the Archives of Women of the Southwest.
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These narratives detail stories of grief, of fear, of war, and death but also of joy, love, longing, and resilience which cross all societal boundaries and demonstrate a collective narrative of the power of women and place.
Are you in need of a guest speaker for your organization’s upcoming meeting or social gathering? Contact Samantha about scheduling a presentation! ( smdodd@smu.edu)
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Updates from Prints & Photographs
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A writer from Bangladesh will be using photographs of the Padma River from the DeGolyer in an upcoming book. The Padma, one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, has never had its own history written. The author noted that “for Bangladeshi people, and settlements this river is culture, destruction, hope, literature, poetry, song, war, independence, happiness, sorrow in one word its life.”
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A PhD student in Oslo writing an article related to the first Neiman Marcus Fortnight in 1957 for a scholarly journal needed photographs from the Stanley Marcus papers for illustration. The article will explore the importance of the 1957 French Fortnight to post-war France in promoting its couture fashion industry. The first Neiman Marcus Fortnight was held in 1957 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Dallas store. Just before this extraordinary event, Coco Chanel, pictured left, visited Dallas to receive the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion.
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DeGolyer Library has also provided more than 20 photographs, artworks and books on loan to the Meadows Museum for their upcoming exhibit Image & Identity: Mexican Fashion in the Modern Period. The exhibit will open September 19. Click here for more information on the exhibit.
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Collection Highlight
Our 1575 edition John Stow’s A Summarie of the Chronicles of England has moved through many personal libraries since it was printed by London’s Richard Cottle and Henry Binneman. In a chapter on Richard II, “Christopher Rorth owns this book” is written in Elizabethan hand. In the chapter on Henry IV, “Thomas Thames” wrote their name in the margin. There’s a bookplate for an Edward Moore inside the front cover, and on the following page Evelyn Alexander scribbled their name, as well as other notes throughout the rest of the book. At some point, all this and more was detailed by a previous reader, who pasted a helpful note (pictured here) opposite the handwritten (and rewritten) title page, detailing notes and marginalia found between the covers. Click here to view the catalog record.
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Recent Accessions
The Shaw family photograph album, which features student life at Tillotson College in Austin in the late 1920s, was recently accessioned into the Prints and Photographs collection. Tillotson College was a private HBCU, which was chartered in 1877 and opened in 1881. In 1952 Tillotson merged with Samuel Huston college, and in 2005 the school became Huston-Tillotson University. The Shaw family photograph album features family and friends gathered between 1928 and 1930. Featured here is a page titled ‘Tillotson College Campus’ on the eve of the 1928 commencement. Written on the left of the top image, “I think all three are happy, ‘Nez at least for she holds her typing certificate.” Click here to view the catalog record.
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Newly Digitized Items
Something fun for the end of Summer–the Norwick Center for Digital Solutions digitized 52 photographs from the 1940 Sir Ellice Victor Elias Sassoon Papers and Photographs collection. The photographs come from an album labeled ‘Rathbone Party, Hollywood” and features Baronet, investor, and bon-vivant Sassoon with film legends like Basil Rathbone, Bette Davis, Charlie Chaplin, and Anna May Wong. Click here to view more from the album.
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