News from the DeGolyer Library
August 2020

Southern Methodist University
Our Latest Virtual Exhibit
“Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes: An Exhibition Marking the 100th Anniversary of the Passage of the 19th Amendment” features over 100 objects from the collections of Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, Helen LaKelly Hunt, and the DeGolyer Library. The exhibit includes materials such as rare books, pamphlets, broadsides, photographs, sheet music, manuscripts, and ephemera documenting the history of the women’s rights movement, from the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) through the 19th century and early 20th century, with emphasis on the roles women played first in the abolitionist movement and then in the suffrage movement. Represented are well-known figures such as the Grimke sisters, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth, as well as more local figures and organizations, such as the Women Suffrage Association of Oklahoma.

Related video clips from faculty in the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, New Feminist Discourses and Social Change, are available here as well:
 
 
Special thanks to Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, Helen LaKelly Hunt, Bonnie Wheeler, Crista DeLuzio, Susanne Scholz, and Lolita Buckner Inniss.
Spotlight: Class of Covid
They didn't interview these mustangs, but beginning last spring, a team of three undergraduate students and two graduate students conducted almost 100 interviews with SMU faculty, staff, and students. The Zoom interviews discussed the subject's experiences with Covid-19 and its impact on the university. Usually we'd refer you to the oral histories, but for privacy, they'll be closed for 16 years. Instead, read more about the genesis of the project by clicking here.
New Publications
Houston Displayed, or, Who Won the Battle of San Jacinto? was first published in 1837. Written by “A Farmer in the Army,” Col. Robert Coleman, it cast grave doubts on the military exploits, political ambition, and personal character of Sam Houston, who had just become the president of the fledgling Republic of Texas. Edited with an introduction and scholarly annotation by Stephen L. Hardin, Houston Displayed is the thirteenth volume in our Library of Texas series, published in conjunction with the Clements Center for Southwest Studies.
From Anderson’s Holler … to Washington, New York, Newport News, Casablanca, Sicily, Salerno, Naples, Anzio, Rome, Florence, Poltava, Southern France, Dachau, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Washington, Nuremberg, and Tokyo is a memoir by Melvin C. Shaffer, who served as a medical photographer in World War II. From the mountains of West Virginia to the far reaches of the globe, Shaffer recounts his experiences of the brutality, cruelty, and horror of the bloodiest war in history, laced with irony, touches of humor, and grace. For those interested in personal narratives of World War II, From Anderson’s Holler is a must-read!
Click the images above to order these titles
New Finding Aids


Davis Company, Ltd. was a Hong Kong and New York business directed by Paula Davis in the early part of the twentieth century. The company’s interests included construction, railroad development, mineral exploration, harbor improvement, mills, Dragon Car Motor Company, and the unsuccessful manufacture of arms for various warlords in China. This collection contains business correspondence and reports for prospective projects in China.


Joseph Angell, professor of English at Colorado State University, collected correspondence, writings, and event publications on the author Thomas Mann. Angell and Mann formed a friendship during Mann's time in the United States, and Angell helped establish (and was the long-time curator of) the Thomas Mann Collection at Yale University.
News & Notes
In a recent post, Samantha Dodd explores Margaret Burkhalder’s scrapbook, which details a road trip taken with a group of nurses out west in the summer of 1936.

Remembering Maura looks at the life and accomplishments of Maura McNiel. As one of the first presidents of the Women for Change Center (now the Women's Center of Dallas) Maura advocated for services supporting women's education and employment. Click here to view the collection record.
From the Stacks
Collections Highlight
A page from James J. Strang’s account book of tithings, 1851. Strang (1819-1856) was the leader of a schismatic Mormon group based in Voree, Wisconsin, and later Beaver Island, Michigan. His group was known as Strangites, and at its peak counted approximately 12,000 members. However, Strang was murdered by two members in 1856, and without an appointed successor, most of his followers joined other organizations, though some Strangite groups are still in operation. Mss 0017c. Click here to view the James J. Strang papers finding aid.
Recent Accessions

This year, we accessioned a large collection of political sheet music from collector Danny O. Crews. Our latest virtual exhibit, "Women's Voices, Women's Votes" highlights women's suffrage and anti-suffrage sheet music, including J.J. Gallagher and B.A. Koellhoffer's 'Oh! You Suffragettes' (1912) which portrays marching suffragettes as masculinely attired aggressive agitators.

Newly Digitized Items

143 images from the Elmer and Diane Powell Collection on the Mexican Revolution were added to the digital library by the Norwick Center for Digital Solutions. The images from 1893 to 1931, like the postcard featured here, capture revolutionary figures including Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, Pascual Orozco, and more.
DeGolyer Book Plate
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