Are you feeling overwhelmed by your list of things to do before December 25th? Step back in time and visit toys from the 1920s from JCPenney. Although JCPenney started in 1902, by 1929, the company was operating nationwide, had 1,395 stores, and was just beginning to pursue colorful advertising. This special 1929 Christmas booklet included…Continue Reading Preparing for the Christmas Holiday in 1929
WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Highlights from 1969
For my next trip into the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, I have chosen to focus on two musicians’ visits to Dallas in 1969. First up, Glen Campbell, who also brought his TV show to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium for a taping on June 20, 1969, shares his thoughts on the importance of keeping politics and entertainment…Continue Reading WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Highlights from 1969
SMU’s First Official Holiday
Rather than waiting for Thanksgiving to enjoy their first holiday during that first semester in 1915, overjoyed students were treated to a day off on Tuesday, October 19 that year, courtesy of President Robert. S. Hyer. This first official holiday at Southern Methodist University was on “Dallas Day” at the State Fair of Texas. Classes…Continue Reading SMU’s First Official Holiday
Collection Spotlight: Vivian L. Aunspaugh Art Club records
The Vivian L. Aunspaugh Art Club was organized in 1945 by former and current students of Miss Vivian Louise Aunspaugh and others interested in studying art in Dallas. Miss Aunspaugh, a native of Virginia, studied art in New York and France prior to moving to Dallas in 1891. She soon taught art classes in local…Continue Reading Collection Spotlight: Vivian L. Aunspaugh Art Club records
Mapping JCPenney stores
One of the best things about working with any archival collection is that you never know how a researcher will interpret the materials that he or she finds. Brett Lucas, an Economic Geographer and Spokane area city planner, has been working on a project for a couple of years asking for the opening and closing…Continue Reading Mapping JCPenney stores
How the News Got Made: A Rare Look at SMU’s WFAA Newsfilm and a Conversation With the People Who Created It
Learn how the news was captured and shared, and gain a new appreciation for the hard work and ingenuity that went into making the WFAA nightly news throughout the 1960s and ’70s. A panel of notable WFAA staff, including on-screen personalities and behind the scenes personnel, will present clips from SMU’s Jones Film and Video…Continue Reading How the News Got Made: A Rare Look at SMU’s WFAA Newsfilm and a Conversation With the People Who Created It
GCI online exhibition – Octavio Medellin: Maya-Toltec Temples and Carvings
The Bywaters Special Collections staff are happy to announce that SMU’s Central University Libraries is now a part of the Google Cultural Institute. BSC staff, Ellen Buie Niewyk, curated the first GCI exhibition with archivist, Emily George Grubbs. Octavio Medellin: Maya-Toltec Temples and Carvings, 1938 is an exhibition curated from the holdings of photographs and documents of the artist from Bywaters…Continue Reading GCI online exhibition – Octavio Medellin: Maya-Toltec Temples and Carvings
Collection Spotlight: G. J. Signaigo collection of theater materials
George Joseph Signaigo was a prominent Dallas businessman who co-owned the Brannon-Signaigo Cigar Company of Texas. The majority of the material in this collection consists of theater programs that were collected over the course of Signaigo’s life. The collection includes correspondence, ephemera, manuscripts, publicity and published works relating to the theater ca. 1910-1930. Most of…Continue Reading Collection Spotlight: G. J. Signaigo collection of theater materials
Arts Management students tour Bywaters Special Collections
I have the pleasure of working with the International Arts Management graduate students here in Meadow’s Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship (AMAE) division. They represent a diverse mix of academic backgrounds and nationalities – coming out of film, theater, visual art, performing arts, or humanities backgrounds and originating from the United States, Europe, Canada, South America,…Continue Reading Arts Management students tour Bywaters Special Collections
WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Look what I found this week!
Greetings. My name is Jeremy Spracklen, and I am the moving image curator of the G. William Jones Film and Video Archive inside the Hamon Arts Library. One of my current projects is the digitization of the Library’s WFAA Newsfilm footage spanning from 1960 to 1977. Every other week I’m going to share a set of…Continue Reading WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Look what I found this week!