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 State Fair of Texas begins its 135th year this week in Dallas. In 1886 it was originally called the Dallas State Fair and Exposition, and by 1905 the annual event at Fair Park became the State Fair of Texas. The pandemic did not allow a full fair experience in 2020, but it wasn’t the…Continue Reading 135 years of the State Fair of Texas
Summer in Miami…Texas You can spend your summer traveling to Paris (Texas), or Italy (Texas). But why not instead take a trip to Miami (Texas)? Miami, the county seat of Roberts County, is on U.S. Highway 60 between Canadian and Pampa in the southeastern part of the county. This photograph and scrap album, kept by…Continue Reading Summer in Miami…Texas
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. However, it was two and a half years later before Texas slaves got the message when Union Major General Gordon Granger issued the order in Galveston, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United…Continue Reading Juneteenth National Independence Day
As we are now at the hundredth anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, people look back at the atrocity with questions even today. They wonder how such a thing could happen. The Tulsa massacre occurred when white mobs attacked the affluent Greenwood African American community. The complete devastation of the Greenwood neighborhood, known as…Continue Reading 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Anniversary
Despite the recent damp spring weather, we are looking forward to sunnier days ahead. Summer is fast approaching and with that barbeques, beach balls, and swimming. Browsing through the SMU digital collections of the Archives of Women of the Southwest, Kenda North’s photographs of sun bathers stood out. Some of the 1970s summer fashion featured…Continue Reading Swimsuit Season!
“I’ll be home for Christmas,” promised Bing Crosby in 1943 in one of that year’s top hits. “I’ve been here all year anyway,” quips one of the myriad of memes trending on social media at the end of 2020. Both allude to situations in which protagonists long to be reunited with their loved ones for…Continue Reading (Not) home for the holidays
“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
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
Today’s social environment reflects the turbulent and difficult times in which we find ourselves. We are experiencing national and global anger over the senseless killing of George Floyd and other African Americans by police. Black lives do matter, and people of good will acutely feel for those who are in pain. We are aware that…Continue Reading Black Lives Matter