Category: Special Collections

Sarah T. Hughes, Only Woman to Ever Have Sworn in a U.S. President

Sarah  T. Hughes (1896 – 1985), American lawyer and federal judge, was a woman of firsts. She moved to Dallas in 1922 with her husband, George E. Hughes whom she had met in law school. George was able to find a job quickly, but no law firm would hire Sarah. Eventually, a small firm gave her…Continue Reading Sarah T. Hughes, Only Woman to Ever Have Sworn in a U.S. President

April 2018 Jones Collection Update

In the Media Fox 4 News’ story on North Texans’ response to MLK’s assassination featured footage from our KRLD News Film Collection.  That story can be found here: http://www.fox4news.com/news/north-texans-marched-held-prayer-services-following-mlks-assassination WFAA reported on Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1966 visit to SMU using footage from the Jones Collection’s WFAA archive.  That story can be found here: http://www.wfaa.com/mobile/video/news/mlk-assassination-50-years-later/287-8065900…Continue Reading April 2018 Jones Collection Update

Isabel T. Kelly Ethnographic Archive, El Tajin Fieldwork

Isabel Truesdell Kelly (1906-1983) was a social anthropologist and archaeologist who specialized in Mexican cultures. She developed a scholarly interest in anthropology while a student at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), and conducted fieldwork in 1931-1934 with the Coast Miwok and the Southern Paiute people. Kelly was an indefatigable field worker. She went to Mexico in…Continue Reading Isabel T. Kelly Ethnographic Archive, El Tajin Fieldwork

Bywaters Special Collections Artist Profile: Ann Cushing Gantz

Featured in the exhibition Texas Women Artists: Selections from Bywaters Special Collections, on the 2nd floor of Hamon Arts Library. Born in Dallas on August 27, 1933, Ann Cushing moved with her parents, Maurice and Margaret Cushing, to Memphis, Tennessee in 1940 due to her father’s work with the Missouri Pacific Railroad.  Interested in art…Continue Reading Bywaters Special Collections Artist Profile: Ann Cushing Gantz

Remembering Horton Foote

Horton Foote (1916-2009) was born this day, March 14. He grew up in Wharton, Texas and wrote about his childhood home in prose, plays, and productions for television and film. He is mostly known for his Oscar-winning screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Young Man in…Continue Reading Remembering Horton Foote

Jones Collection March Update

In The Media: On February 6, 2018, WFAA aired a piece on the Jones Collection, highlighting not only our recent work restoring and digitizing their news footage, but also focusing on the overall historical and cultural importance the Collection offers to SMU and the city of Dallas.  (Here) KERA wrote this piece on the Jones…Continue Reading Jones Collection March Update

Bywaters Special Collections Artist Profile: Mary Beasley Nye

Featured in the exhibition Texas Women Artists: Selections from Bywaters Special Collections, on the 2nd floor of Hamon Arts Library. Mary Beasley Nye was born in 1918 in Texarkana, Texas, but she was brought to Dallas as a young child. A 1933 graduate of Highland Park High School, she attended Southern Methodist University. She later…Continue Reading Bywaters Special Collections Artist Profile: Mary Beasley Nye

February 2018 Jones Film Archive Update

NEWS AND UPDATES    The Jones Collection received a makeover!  New signage and an updated lobby area which features several pieces of antique film projection equipment from the vault.   On Sunday, January 14, 2018, Curator Jeremy Spracklen hosted a Q&A at the Texas Theatre with director Peter Flynn, following Flynn’s documentary on film exhibition, The Dying of…Continue Reading February 2018 Jones Film Archive Update