Hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving. It is even harder to believe how different the holidays might look. Last year I spent Thanksgiving with my family, and whipped up a traditional feast of turkey, stuffing, and assorted sides. In my post from last fall, “Someone’s in the Kitchen,” I scoped out some fun…Continue Reading Someone’s back in the Kitchen…
The Season of Halloween and Day of the Dead
“The air is cool, the season fall, soon Halloween will come to all…” This week brings October to a close and with that my favorite holiday of the year is fast approaching. Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve, is celebrated in many countries on October 31st. It is a time dedicated…Continue Reading The Season of Halloween and Day of the Dead
Gettin’ Spooky with Special Collections
October is by far my favorite month of the year, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. The creepy, the kooky, and the altogether spooky has fascinated me since I was a small child. Working in the archives, you occasionally come across an image, artifact, or letter than literally sends chills down your spine. From…Continue Reading Gettin’ Spooky with Special Collections
The Dallas Morning News is 135 years old
In the early 1880s, Dallas was a rapidly growing city, but it did not yet have a thriving daily newspaper to report on the life of the community. That need was fulfilled by The Dallas Morning News. A sister publication of the Texas’ oldest periodical The Galveston News, owned by A.H. Belo, The Dallas Morning…Continue Reading The Dallas Morning News is 135 years old
Ideals of Womanhood
The Reeves family papers comprise documents related to the African American Community in Austin, Texas circa 1920s to 1940s. There are approximately 60 letters, programs, essays and other items of ephemera compiled by four sisters who lived together on Nueces Street: Mary (1890-1934), Anna (1911-?) and Estella Reeves (1904-1932), and Carrie Warren (1892-1965). Part of…Continue Reading Ideals of Womanhood
Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes
Today we celebrate Women’s Equality Day. It is celebrated in the United States each year on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibits states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. “Women’s Voices, Women’s…Continue Reading Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes
Remembering Maura…
Today we remember Maura McNiel, her life and her countless contributions to women and women’s rights. Maura was born on April 11, 1921, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, just a year after women received the right to vote in the United States. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 1939 and graduated three years later, with…Continue Reading Remembering Maura…
Research in the archives: Texas Made Modern
Since it opened in 1961, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art has always had a commitment to exploring the breadth and complexity of American creativity through its collections and exhibitions. Evaluating Texas art’s importance in relation to the museum’s collection and the larger canon of American art has been one of my focuses since…Continue Reading Research in the archives: Texas Made Modern
On the road again…
Last summer I stumbled across “Our Trek to the West,” Elizabeth Dalrymple’s manuscript describing the adventurous summer road trip of four women. Their stories made me laugh, and reminisce over my own road trips and exciting excursions with my friends. Given the state of travel these days, it seems like researching a road trip is…Continue Reading On the road again…
Melvin C. Shaffer World War II Photographs
Melvin C. Shaffer World War II Photographs housed at the DeGolyer Library depict local populations and conditions of North Africa, Italy, Southern France, and Germany from the years 1943 to 1945. Included are images of war-torn Europe with shattered buildings, wounded soldiers, army hospitals and bases, and even Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 1944. Melvin…Continue Reading Melvin C. Shaffer World War II Photographs