SMU Libraries will be on the big screen this week at the second annual IT CAME FROM TEXAS Film Festival at Garland’s Plaza Theatre. The festival, which will take place from September 13-15, is sponsored by the City of Garland and Garland Cultural Arts and features films made in Texas. The festival will showcase three…Continue Reading Coming Soon to a Screen Near You
Yosemite: The Manchester Album The Rees-Jones Collection expands its holdings in masterworks by pioneering photographers of the American West with the recent acquisition of Yosemite: The Manchester Album. The unique compilation of 25 mammoth-plate images, captured by Carleton Watkins between 1861 and 1867, includes beautifully composed views of Half Dome, Cathedral Rocks, El Capitan and…Continue Reading Early Yosemite Photographs
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
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
The G. William Jones Film & Video Collection, Hamon Arts Library, is pleased to announce a new donation of film materials and memorabilia, including rare laserdiscs, from the collection of the late Robert Holladay (1940-2019). Known as “Mr. Paramount of Abilene,” Holladay was the Film Director of the historic Paramount Theatre in Abilene. He was…Continue Reading New collection: Robert Holladay Film Media and Materials Collection
One of the many charitable organizations Ebby Halliday supported was the St. Paul Medical Foundation. Originally established in 1964 by the Daughters of Charity, the Foundation’s mission was provide the finest healthcare for all people. This aligned with Ebby and Maurice Acers’ lifelong credo of “doing good for others” and they both devoted their resources…Continue Reading Ebby and the Legends of St. Paul