The Summer Olympics are almost here! On July 26th, the XXXIII Olympiad will begin with an opening ceremony on the Seine, in the heart of Paris. Readers who want to delve into Olympic history can explore Robert Yarnall Richie’s collection of photographs from the 1936 Randall’s Island Olympic Trials in New York City. Events held…Continue Reading Countdown to the Olympics
Looking for a little culinary inspiration? The DeGolyer Library Cookbook Collection features dozens of cookbooks and recipes available to browse in our digital library. If you’re fluent in Spanish and able to read cursive, take a look at Resetas de guisos particulares para el uso de Doña Maria Josefa de la Luz Tapia, written in…Continue Reading DeGolyer Library Digital Cookbook Collection
This spring, we moved five of our largest collections (Stanley Marcus, J. Erik Jonsson, Texas Instruments, Belo Corporation, and JCPenney) from the basement of the Science Information Center to the East Basement. The move is in preparation for the construction of the new Trevor Rees-Jones Library. With the help of our awesome student assistants—Jeremy Baron,…Continue Reading Endings and New Beginnings
DeGolyer Library has added 23 illustrations to its William Halsey locomotive drawing collection. The Halsey illustrations were first purchased by Everette DeGolyer Jr. from Kennedy Galleries in New York in 1963. DeGolyer Jr., much like his father who founded our library, was a passionate bibliophile and collector. One of his greatest interests was railroads, and…Continue Reading The William Halsey Locomotive Drawings Collection
In 1859, a young woman from Ohio arrived in Texas for an extended visit with her aunt and uncle. Six years later, she boarded a blockade runner sailing to Havana, Cuba, in a desperate attempt to return to the North, having been stuck in enemy territory since the Civil War began. Lucy Pier Stevens…Continue Reading The Lucy Pier Stevens Diaries at the DeGolyer Library
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, when on the 25th of April in 1974, a coup supported by the public ended the Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship. Estado Novo had come to power in 1933 under António de Oliveira Salazar, who led an authoritarian regime defined by nationalism and religious…Continue Reading Portuguese Highlights from the DeGolyer Library
Over 122 years ago, James C. Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. We have launched a new digital collection of photographs of JCPenney stores, photographs of Mr. Penney or his projects, and a sampling of the first JCPenney newspaper for associates (employees) called The Dynamo. SMU received the JCPenney collections in 2004. The…Continue Reading JCPenney joins digital collections
The DeGolyer Library has accessioned many exciting items over the last six months. Below are some of the highlights Heroines of Jericho. Texas. Proceedings … 1936, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1963, 1973 The Heroines of Jericho, a female Masonic organization, had its first chapters in Texas founded around 1884. The organization is still…Continue Reading Recent Accessions in African American History in the DeGolyer Library
For Valentine’s Day, we wanted to take a look at the romance literature within the DeGolyer Library. Romance novels make up the biggest share of the publishing market–in 2018, they accounted for 25% of all books purchased, and in 2022, an estimated 19 million printed romance novels were sold. But where did the genre begin?…Continue Reading Pamela and the Early Origins of the Romance Novel
Last April, I learned that the Southern Methodist University Archives would move and go into storage during the construction of the Rees-Jones Library of the American West. Although I am excited about a new building, new storage for historical material, and new exhibit space, I was also apprehensive. Moving an archives is a complex project….Continue Reading Moving and Storing the SMU Archives