CUL Digital Collections Update: May 2017

In May 2017, SMU’s Central University Libraries uploaded 1,000 items into CUL Digital Collections.

Highlights include:

207 items from the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection as part of the TexTreasures FY2017 grant program, sponsored by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Highlights include 22 documents, including letters by Robert Gaston, a Confederate soldier; letters and a certificate from the papers of Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas; documents relating to the Peters Colony, which was formed by a grant made in 1841 by the Republic of Texas to William S. Peters and his associates; and souvenirs from the State Fair of Texas from 1886 and 1888.

Also added to the Cook Collection are 185 real photographic postcards, including portraits of people from the early 20th century who lived in Dallas; homes and places in various Dallas neighborhoods; the U. S. Army participating in maneuvers at the 1915 State Fair of Texas; musical groups such as the Lester Harris Orchestra making an appearance at the Hotel Adolphus; and Art Smith, a young aviator, test pilot and instructor during World War I, who died in 1926 (the second overnight mail service pilot to die on the job). Also included are photographs by Charles Wanner, an amateur photographer who documented his life in Dallas in the 1910s .

39 programs, 1930s, from the Little Theatre of Dallas Collection. Productions include works by Alexandre Dumas, Anatole France, W. Somerset Maugham,  George Bernard Shaw, Ayn Rand, Henrik Ibsen, Noel Coward, Thornton Wilder, and Eugene O’Neill. Of note is the playbill for “Autumn Crocus” by Dodie Smith, best known as the author of The One Hundred and One Dalmatians. On the playbill, Smith uses her pen name, C. L. Anthony.

7 stereographs, ca. 1875-1889, by Abel Briquet from Vistas Mexicanas, showing Ferrocarril Mexicano railway bridges in various states of construction, completion, and use in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Also shown are the locales of Orizaba, Maltrata, Atoyac, and Barranca Infiernilla, or the “Little Hell” canyon, showing the development of rail travel in Veracruz ca. 1875.

47 photographs and ephemera, mostly ca. 1930s-1940s, from the Esther Webb Houseman Art Work and Papers collection, featuring images of Houseman’s metalwork; the interior and workroom of the Dallas School of Creative Arts, which Houseman established in 1935 and maintained with fellow artist Velma Davis Dozier; various advertisements for Houseman and Dozier’s artwork and metalsmithing services; and personal images of events, parties, and gatherings. Together, Houseman and Dozier were known as the Lady Blacksmiths, a name which features prominently in many of their advertisements and catalogs.

700 issues of The Daily Campus, SMU’s student newspaper, from 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981. Highlights from each year include:

1976: 120 issues of The Daily Campus, including coverage of administrative shakeups and controversies, the rising cost of tuition, and the formal recognition of sororities and fraternities as student organizations.

1977: 125 issues of The Daily Campus, including extensive reporting on the university budget deficit. Also featured is an article about the fight for wage equality among SMU faculty members, with quotes from current SMU English Professor Bonnie Wheeler.

1978: 133 issues of The Daily Campus, including coverage of a visit to SMU’s campus by the Brazilian football player Pele, who had Q&A with students in Dallas Hall in October.

1979: 128 issues of The Daily Campus, including reporting on Gloria Steinem’s visit to campus in September, when she gave a talk about various topics relating to feminism.

1980: 128 issues of The Daily Campus, including interviews with students about who they think shot J.R. in the TV series, Dallas, and a visit by Henry and Jane Fonda to the Bob Hope Theatre for the play, “The Oldest Living Graduate,” where Henry Fonda was under contract for playing a major role. The play was televised locally.

1981: 66 issues of The Daily Campus, with reporting on the return of 20 American hostages immediately following Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.