News from the DeGolyer Library
May 2019

Southern Methodist University
"A Highway to the Pacific" Closes May 31st
"A Highway to the Pacific": Building the Transcontinental Railroad.
On May 10, 1869, the last rail was laid, a golden spike was driven, and the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met at Promontory, Utah, having built together the first transcontinental railroad in the world.

Our current exhibit tells the story of this "highway to the Pacific" through original pamphlets, maps, photographs, government surveys, and more. Visit the Hillcrest Foundation Exhibit Hall to learn more about this great technological achievement, the intense political debate surrounding it, and how it played a leading role in the long-term development of the American west.
Located in the Hillcrest Foundation Exhibit Hall in the Fondren Library, “A Highway to the Pacific ” will close Friday, May 31st
Mark your calendars--May 31st is the 200th birthday of Walt Whitman.

The DeGolyer is working with the renowned collector Robert Harris to mark the bicentennial of Whitman’s birth with a major exhibit and accompanying catalog, opening in the fall semester, 2019. Mr. Harris has selected some of the treasures from his collection, ranging from the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass to a souvenir viewbook on the 1957 opening of the Walt Whitman Bridge over the Delaware River.

On display will be rare books, newspapers, periodicals, broadsides, posters, and photographs, all documenting Whitman’s place in American literature and culture. We are grateful to Mr. Harris not only for his curatorial expertise and generosity in lending parts of his collection but also for his estate plans, which will keep his collection intact in the DeGolyer Library where it will be preserved for future generations.
News & Notes
Foodies will want to check out Cynthia Franco's post on the DeGolyer's best cookbooks. Featured in " Eggs and artichokes: Easter recipes from the DeGolyer cookbook collections" are books and recipes from Neiman Marcus, SMU staff and alumni, and a stunning handwritten cookbook from Mexico written down in 1816.

In " Too Good to Throw Away?" Samantha Dodd marked Earth Day by exploring the life of Jan Scurlock Sanders, a Dallasite who led the fight to prevent the creation of a Sierra Blanca nuclear waste dump.

Follow the link above to learn about Sanders' lifelong commitment to the environment and social justice, and click here to view the finding aid to her papers, which are part of our Archives of Women of the Southwest.
From the Stacks
Collections Highlight
We love when SMU classes visit the DeGolyer to work with our collections, and this semester we were able to host multiple sessions with Prof. Jo Guldi's seminar on the British Empire. One of the projects involved students working with our collection of 18th and 19th century newspapers-- click here to view our holdings.

New Accessions

Waste not, want not! A recent accession came into the DeGolyer featuring a marbled cover. But if you look a bit closer , you can see (upside down) text on the original waste paper binding on the front and back cover.

Want to learn more about marbling in bookbinding? Click here to view books in our collection on the subject.
Newly Digitized Items

31 stereographs were recently digitized by the Norwick Center for Digital Solutions and added to the the U.S. West-Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints digital collection. Many of these images are also included in our "Highway to the Pacific" exhibit, which closes May 31.


DeGolyer Library
DeGolyer Library | Southern Methodist University | 214-768-3637 | degolyer@smu.edu | https://www.smu.edu/Libraries/DeGolyer