cool@hoole

Got a minute? Tag it! Crowdsourcing Comes to University Libraries!!!

2012-02-02T09:01:00.006-06:00

Think you know The University of Alabama? Well, come on and tag it! The University Libraries has started a new crowdsourcing project, allowing anyone to view and tag photographs from the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library!

Why tag our photographs?

We have thousands of digitized photographs! Many of these photos may lack adequate or complete descriptions of the people, places, or objects displayed. By applying your own "tags" (key words, descriptions) to our photographs, you can help us fill in the blanks and provide more thorough and accurate information for students and researchers using our collections.

The more you tag, the richer the experience for all! And besides, it's not only easy, but it's FUN!

Visit http://tagit.lib.ua.edu/ and get started! It's easy, no password is needed, so just get in there, pick some photographs, and start tagging away! If you have questions, feel free to contact us!

Happy Tagging!!!!!

More Vintage Hoop Shots!

2012-01-31T17:12:00.008-06:00

These were too good not to share --- part of a little something I'm working on today, here are some University of Alabama basketball action shots and players from the 1940s-60s! Roll Tide!

Vintage Kicks, Vintage Hardwood

2012-01-31T14:47:00.003-06:00

This cool and mysterious photograph is of the feet of the 1964 University of Alabama basketball team, part of the University of Alabama photographs collections. The vintage hardwood is Foster Auditorium, where Men's basketball played before the days of Coleman Coliseum. The sneakers and the venue have changed, but it always is an exciting couple of hours, cheering on the Crimson Tide basketball team! And if you can't make it to see them live, there's always ESPN! Roll Tide!

Summersell Center Fellowships Call for Applications!

2012-01-17T14:26:00.002-06:00

Summersell Center Announces 2012 Short-Term Fellowship Program

To support the study of southern history and promote the use of the collections housed at the University of Alabama, the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South will offer four fellowships in the amount of $500 each for researchers whose projects entail work to be conducted in southern history or southern studies at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library (http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/), the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection (http://www.lib.ua.edu/williamscollection), or in other University of Alabama collections.

Applicants should send two copies of

A current CV
One letter of recommendation (which may be sent under separate cover)
A description of the research project, no longer than two double-spaced pages, which includes a description of the particular resources to be used during the term of the fellowship

The deadline for applications to be received by the Summersell Center is March 16, 2012. Decisions regarding awards will be made by May 1, 2012, and research may be conducted anytime between June 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. Both academic and non-academic researchers at any stage of their careers are encouraged to apply. Because fellowships are designed primarily to help defray travel and lodging expenses, however, eligibility is restricted to researchers living outside the Tuscaloosa area.

Send all application materials to:
Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South
Department of History
University of Alabama
Box 870212, 202 ten Hoor Hall
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

Any questions about the fellowships may be directed to Joshua Rothman, Director of the Summersell Center, at jrothman@bama.ua.edu or 205.348.3818.

Remembering the Queen of the Blues

2011-12-15T10:33:00.025-06:00

Nearly 50 years ago this week, Dinah Washington passed away at the young age of 39. Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Moving with her family at a young age to Chicago, she went on to become one of the most distinctive singers of her time. Her biggest triumph came with the 1959 Grammy-winning “What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" and she topped the charts again with “Baby, You’ve Got What it takes” a sizzling duet with Brook Benton. A gospel star at age fifteen, she was discovered by the legendary musician and fellow Alabamian Lionel Hampton at eighteen. She spent most of the rest of her short life in clubs and theaters and in the studio --- making music.

Dinah's distinctive and heartfelt voice quickly became her trademark -- she was a song stylist, crossing over from the "race music" category to the pop and jazz charts. Known in her day as the Queen of the Blues and queen of the Juke Boxes, Dinah was regarded as a rare "first take" artist, her studio recordings reflecting the same passion that she brought o every one of her live performances. She was known to make every single song she sang her own, having once said, George Gershwin wouldn't know his own song when I'm through with it. I can't stay hidebound to any melody."

Please enjoy Dinah's remarkable live performance of All of Me from 1958, complete with a very participatory audience. She was loved, and continues to be loved for her remarkable singing voice, an unmistakable sound that can never be matched. And she lived a fascinating, sad, and far too short of a life. To read more about Dinah, read Nadine Cohodas's book, Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington ( Pantheon, 2004). Much of the research on Dinah's earliest years was done at the Hoole Library! She spoke to a rapt audience at UA in 2005 about her book -- we even had a little Dinah-esque performance with blues singer, Elnora Spencer.

Not to be outdone, Nadine's latest book, Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone (Pantheon, 2010) is a look at the fascinating life of this incredible singer and activist. Mark your calendars -- Nadine may be joining us again in spring 2012 to talk about her work!

Two Kinds of Santas!

2011-12-12T16:50:00.005-06:00

Both on publishers' bindings, and both in glorious green cloth.
The Old Santa Fe Trail (Macmillan Co., 1898, from the Hoole Richard Minsky Collection) and A Captured Santa Claus (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905, from the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture) Both of these books are included in the award-winning digital project, Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books.

The Bad Seed is the Big Shocker!

2011-12-08T16:44:00.008-06:00

Al Hirshfeld's drawing of the cast of the play, The Bad Seed, published in the New York Times, December 5, 1954.
Can you find the "Ninas"?

Fifty-seven years ago today, on December 8, 1954, the Sherwood Anderson theatrical adaptation of William March's novel, The Bad Seed opened on Broadway. March, born William Campbell, was a native of Alabama and a former student of The University of Alabama.

If you haven't read the novel, you should. And though we can't travel back in time to see the play as it first appeared, most of the actors moved from stage to screen for the 1956 film adaptation.

March's papers are held in the Hoole Library, and there is a larger-than-life bust of him in our reading room too. A fascinating man of many talents, look for more on March in the months to come! In the meantime, make some popcorn, get under a blanket, and watch one of the creepiest children of American cinema do her stuff.

Notice from the Tuscaloosa News, 1956 on the film, The Bad Seed

Great Literature in Different Packages: Moby-Dick

2011-11-18T09:02:00.005-06:00

Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Armed Services Edition
New York : Council on Books in Wartime, 1944
AC 1 .A7 G-209

Moby Dick Comic. Authorized Edition
New York : Dell Pub. Co., 1956.
Hoole Library Harold E. Selesky Comic Collection

On November 14, 1851, one hundred and sixty years ago this week, the great American novel Moby-Dick was first published in a single volume in the United States by Harper and Brothers.

Though the novel had very limited success during Melville's lifetime and beyond (he died in 1891), it stands today as part of the Western canon, and one of the most important American novels.

The "Melville Revival" began around the time of World War I, when the novel found new relevance in the wake of the Modernist movement. The book continues to speak to readers, with complex metaphors representing good and evil, power, and class. Literary critic Nick Selby said, "Moby-Dick was now read as a text that reflected the power struggles of a world concerned to uphold democracy, and of a country seeking an identity for itself within that world."

These two examples of Moby-Dick shown here represent interesting examples of the rethinking and repackaging of great American literature. The first, an example of an Armed Services Edition, offers a compact version of the novel to American servicemen. These small paperbacks were distributed widely during World War II and exposed soldiers to a variety of great works of both the 19th and 20th centuries, along with a variety of other materials. The Hoole Library holds nearly a complete collection of Armed Services editions, one of the most complete collections held in libraries.

The second image is the cover of the 1956 Dell comic edition of Moby-Dick, based on the 1956 film starring Gregory Peck (best known by fans great Alabama literature as the beloved Atticus Finch in the film version of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird) as the tyrannical Captain Ahab. Though this is a far cry from Melville's dense prose, it is a welcome introduction to the great American authors, perhaps inspiring children to take the leap from comics to great American Literature! But there is room for every form and interpretation of this epic tale.

Veterans in our Collections: William March and Many More

2011-11-11T15:25:00.011-06:00

From our collections, the "dog tags" of William March (né William E. Campbell), Alabama author and a highly decorated United States Marine.

William March saw action in World War I, and received the French Croix de Guerre, the American Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross for his service. March went on to write several novels and short stories, his first being Company K (1933, Smith and Haas), first serialized in Forum magazine from 1930-1932. Company K is a series of 113 vignettes that capture the individual experiences of the men of a fictional company in World War I. Its brutal and frank portrayal of the war experience has made it one of the most significant literary representations of the Great War.

William March Campbell (1893-1954) in his Marine uniform, 1919.

A well-traveled envelope sent to William March while he served in WWI, 1918.

William March's stripes

The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library holds significant materials that illustrate the daily life and experiences of the men and women of the United States Armed Services in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the collections are of well-known future authors such as William March and William Bradford Huie (who participated in D-Day and served as an aide to Vice Admiral Ben Moreell of the renowned Seabees), and still many more are of regular men and women who served their country both overseas and on the homefront.

Photographs, letters, diaries, scrapbooks and other personal materials are important tools in researching and understanding this important aspect of our history and culture.

For more information about our holdings relating to American servicemen and women, please contact us!

Tonight at Hoole! They Authentic Animal!

2011-11-09T11:23:00.002-06:00

With special furry and feathered guests courtesy of the Alabama Museum of Natural History! Please join us.

Year-Round Costumed Fun

2011-10-31T15:28:00.003-05:00

From a family production of the HMS Pinafore ca. 1899 (Perkins Family Papers) and an interpretation of "clouds" from the May Festival, 1928, Tuscaloosans don't just wear costumes on Halloween!

More Hoole Ghouls!

2011-10-26T19:02:00.008-05:00

These images are all from the early 1960s and from the office of Educational Media. It might have been for fun, or for a Theater class, or maybe something else entirely. If you know, tell us!

Costumed Kids and Co-Eds!

2011-10-26T10:20:00.008-05:00

Educational Media Photographs, ca. early 1960s, Hoole Special Collections Library

A Jester and a Fairy, ca. 1900. Perkins Family Papers, Hoole Special Collections Library

Halloween Party at UA, ca. early 1950s,
The George Nichols Photographic Collection, Hoole Special Collections Library

Here are just a few of the many costumed characters that show up in our photo collections! Stay tuned for more this week! Happy Halloween!

The Crimson Tide in 1917

2011-10-20T17:40:00.004-05:00

This beautiful image of the Crimson Tide football team from 1917 is taken from a glass negative taken by the Geologist Eugene Allen Smith and is accessible in our digital collections. And while things with regard to football have grown a little in the past century, the enthusiasm has always been there. Our roster has grown a little bit as well. Roll Tide!

Quercus Macrocarpa

2011-10-19T14:06:00.004-05:00

Here is an elegant botanical photograph of Quercus Macrocarpa or the Burr Oak (with a box of matches for scale), taken by botanist Roland Harper in 1949 near the town of Snowden, Alabama. From the Roland Harper Collection, and available in our digital collections at http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0001_2008032_0007640. Plant a tree for Tuscaloosa!

Homecoming Memories

2011-10-07T12:18:00.010-05:00

Here are just a few of many, many images relating to the Homecoming tradition at The University of Alabama. Images from the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s! What is your favorite Homecoming memory!?

New Hoole Hours!

2011-09-29T14:08:00.011-05:00

Twelve striking sermons
Louisville, Kentucky: Pentecostal Publishing Company, 1918
From the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture
and featured in Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books

Beginning on Monday, 10/3/2011,
the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library will be open:

Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 9 am - 5 pm

and extended hours on Tuesday & Thursday from 9 am - 9 pm.

We look forward to your visit!

Pencils Never Lie

2011-09-16T10:52:00.004-05:00

Save the Date! 9/20 at 5 pm for E.A. Smith@Hoole

2011-09-11T15:55:00.002-05:00

Remembering Sue Allen

2011-08-29T16:24:00.005-05:00

We are mourning the passing of Sue R. Allen, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 93. Sue was an inspiring scholar and teacher of book history and an exceptional and gracious individual. She will be missed by all who were lucky to have known her. Sue was a member of the advisory group for the Publishers' Bindings Online project, and it was through taking her Rare Book School course Publishers' Bookbindings, 1830-1910 that my own passion and obsession with the 19th and early 20th century book blossomed. Sue Allen was a personal hero, whose enthusiasm and exuberance were contagious. When she called a book "charming" -- you saw it too. And you were charmed.

The following memorial statement was written by her son, and shared with the Rare Book School community.

Born in Natick, Massachusetts, on August 2, 1918, and raised in the Boston area, Sue was graduated from Girls’ Latin School and the Massachusetts College of Art. As the graphic artist at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, her calendars and other pieces delighted readers with their clarity and spirited liveliness. In 1955, she married Greer Allen, then a designer at the University of Chicago Press, and subsequently University Printer at Yale; their marriage lasted almost 50 years, until his death in 2005.

When Sue came upon nineteenth-century American bookbindings in the early 1970s, she found a small, poorly organized field, dealing with a little-appreciated subject matter. Seeing the importance of preserving and valuing the books that brought mass literacy to the American people, Sue single-handedly defined and structured the field as it stands today. With her artist’s eye, she identified the changing styles of book covers and endpapers over the decades from 1830 to 1910, and placed these styles in the context of broader changes in the decorative arts and the technology and economics of publishing. She also highlighted the work of artists, designers, binders, and publishers, particularly the hitherto little-known work of engraver John Feely and agricultural publisher Orange Judd.

Among the longest-serving instructors at Rare Book School, having taught from its founding at Columbia University, Sue inspired hundreds of librarians, conservators, book dealers, and collectors as she taught them about the bookbindings that became her passion. Her deep knowledge of the subject matter and her lively, engaging style won her the love, admiration, and loyalty of her students and others in the field.

Author and coauthor of several articles about nineteenth-century American bookbindings, Sue was nearing completion of her long-awaited book on the subject at the time of her death. In accordance with Sue’s wishes, her son John will be contacting several friends and former students familiar with her work to assist in finishing the book.

At her son’s instructions, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Sue Allen Fund, Rare Book School, Attn: Danielle Culpepper, P. O. Box 400103, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103 via check payable to Rare Book School.

Sounds Like Alabama!

2011-08-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

The Year of Alabama Music at Hoole! Sounds Like Alabama

2011-08-11T10:11:00.009-05:00

The Alabama Tourism Department has named 2011 the “Year of Alabama Music” and the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library is jumping on the celebration band wagon. Our new exhibit is opening soon -- one that will that will show music of all genres and from all corners of the state of Alabama that are held in our collections. We're calling it Sounds Like Alabama: Alabama's Contributions to American Popular Music from the Hoole Library's Collections.
You can learn more about Alabama music and the exhibit through a series of Twitter (@coolathoole) and on the Cool@Hoole Facebook page (Like Cool@Hoole: The Blog of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library) posts, we will feature songs written by Alabama natives that have gone #1 on the Billboard charts, along with tidbits about various artists and songwriters. So follow us daily to get your toes tappin’ to some true Alabama sounds of every conceivable stripe.

Here’s a preview of just a few of the songs from the past century that might be featured in our tweets and posts! Enjoy!!!

Here’s a preview of just a few of the songs from the past century that might be featured in our tweets and posts! Enjoy!!!

1920: St. Louis Blues, written by W.C. Handy and performed by Marian Harris:

1944: Smoke on the Water, written by Zeke Clements and Earl Nunn, performed by Red Foley. This song also went #1 when performed by Bob Wills in 1945.

1955: Wallflower, written by Hank Ballard, performed by Etta James.

1966: When a Man Loves a Woman, written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, performed by Percy Sledge. This song also went #1 in 1991 when Michael Bolton covered it.

1978: Too Hot Ta Trot, written by Lionel Richie, performed by the Commodores.

1980: Tennessee River, written by Randy Owen, performed by the band, Alabama.

1993: Nuthin’ But A G Thang, written by Frederick Knight, performed by Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg

2002: The Good Stuff, written by Craig Wiseman, performed by Kenny Chesney.

Alabama Music Exhibit Coming Soon! Tweet!

2011-08-03T16:50:00.003-05:00

Be sure to follow @coolathoole on Twitter and look for cool blog posts here about our upcoming Alabama Music exhibit!

Alabama's Storyteller, Kathryn Tucker Windham

2011-06-29T09:38:00.009-05:00

We recently said goodbye to renowned storyteller, author, photographer, and radio personality, Kathryn Tucker Windham. She will be greatly missed, but she will live on in our hearts and through her stories. The Hoole Library houses over twenty different works, including sound and video recordings as part of our Alabama Collection.

Born in Selma, Alabama and raised in Thomasville, Ms. Windham inherited her gift of storytelling from her father, a local banker, at a very young age. From early on, she also showed a keen interest in writing. At the tender age of twelve, she began writing movie reviews for the Thomasville Times.

Her career as a reporter would continue to grow, and she began to work as a freelance journalist in Thomasville after graduating from Montgomery’s Huntingdon College in 1939. Windham became a police reporter and features writer for Montgomery’s Alabama Journal. Her work as a reporter in a very masculine profession was groundbreaking and inspiring to women writers all over Alabama and beyond.

Ms. Windham also had a lifetime love of photography, a passion and talent she put to use as a courthouse reporter and editor for the Birmingham News. Later, she would begin publishing books of her photographs and including them in works. She is well known for many, many things, but many think of her 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey when they think of her. Everyone loves her ghost stories. Inspired by an inquiry about “Jeffrey,” a friendly ghost residing in the Windham’s home in Selma, Windham began a series of collections of ghost stories, the first being 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, published in 1969. She followed up with collections of ghost stories from Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, more Alabama ghosts, and Southern ghosts.

She has been featured as a teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee over twelve times. She authored a book, My Name is Julia and created a one-woman play of the same name, which she performed in period costume about another great Alabamian, Julia Tutwiler. The play was debuted at the Birmingham Public Library in 1981.

There is a special place in my heart for Kathryn Tucker Windham -- as her stories were the foundation for the first major exhibition I did at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library. In Fall, 2000, just after coming to The University of Alabama, I worked with MFA candidate in the Book Arts, Suzanne Gray, on her MFA Thesis exhibition, Piano Lessons and Other Recollections, a book of stories by Ms. Windham, which was printed, illustrated, and bound by Suzanne Gray as her thesis project. The exhibit featured Suzanne's work as well as a selection of Ms. Windham's books, and included a tombstone pinata which I keep in my office to remind me of that exhibit and the opening.

Detail from Piano Lessons and other Recollections, stories from Kathryn Tucker Windham
Major Tiara Press, 2000. From the Hoole Library Book Arts Collection
Prefaces by Lori Allen Siegelman and Suzanne Gray.
This book was letterpress printed by Suzanne Gray from photopolymer plates and lead types on Frankfurt paper using Adobe Garamond and Garamond Italic typefaces. ... Twenty-six of the 125 copies are bradel bound with hand-colored illustrations and are in protective containers. They are lettered A to Z. Ninety-nine copies are quarter-cloth bound and numbered 1 to 99.
Illustrations by the printer; decorative papers by the printer and Suzanne Moore.

Students, scholars, and storytellers alike will return to Ms. Windham's stories and books. They are here for you to enjoy! I like to think that maybe Kathryn Tucker Windham herself is here with us sometimes -- I'd love nothing better to catch a glimpse of her and Jeffrey in the stacks, making mischief. She of all people, would appreciate that notion -- inscribing her books to her legions of fans, young and old, like this:

Makes your eyes light up. Your tummy say, "Howdy!"

2011-05-13T15:50:00.004-05:00

Stove Pilot. Eleventh Edition, September, 1955. Alabama Collection. TX 715.U54

A couple of pages from the fantastic community cookbook, Stove Pilot, part of the Hoole Library's Alabama Collection and in the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture. Stove Pilot was done in several editions, compiled by the Women's Club at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama for the benefit of overseas recovery. The recipes are enchanting and humorous and the drawings are even better. The recipes for Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy are side by side, and in the right order -- making those of us who are old enough to remember, or those artificially aged by our professions to hum a little tune made famous (??) by Dinah Shore, Ella Fitzgerald and June Christy. So if you are thinking about baking this weekend, no cake! Go to the oven and make some ever-lovin'....

"I never get enough of that wonderful stuff!"

Old Timey Summer Fun!

2011-05-13T14:27:00.007-05:00

These images, all from the Wade Hall Photographs Collection, and all available online in our Digital Collections give us just a little taste of summertime nostalgia. Take the time to take a swim, or a boat ride, go on a picnic, play with your dog, or go for a drive and stop for a BBQ sandwich -- or a 40 cent Southern fried chicken platter (the "Pig Stand" featured above was in Binghamton, New York)!! Enjoy!

Aftermath of the 1932 Tornado Outbreak in Alabama

2011-05-10T11:28:00.015-05:00

These five images are from the Roland Harper Photographs Collection -- photographs by Roland Harper of aftermath of the deadly tornado outbreak in the deep south on March 21 and 22, 1932. The destruction and loss of life was staggering, with the state of Alabama being the hardest hit.

The Roland Harper Photographs collection, 1878-1966 contains over 7500 photographs, as well as negatives and albums. Subject include botanical and geological subjects, as well as images of farms, people, houses and everyday scenes. The photographs cover thirty-one states, the bulk of the collection are from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, New York, California, Arkansas, and Maryland. These images are a powerful and essential resource in understanding the natural history of this region, providing accurate, precise, and well-documented snapshots of a time and place.

The papers of Roland Harper are also housed in the Hoole Library. Sixty three linear feet of materials from Harper, include his diaries, correspondence, research notes, writings, publications, personal and family materials, cemetery records, scrapbooks, as well as photographs, materials relating to race relations, and a substantial collection of transportation timetables and clippings. Some of the photographs and other materials from the collections are available online through our Digital Collections.

These images can in no way allow us to understand the tragedy of those 1932 tornadoes, where 268 people in Alabama alone lost their lives.

The devastation from the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak in Alabama is beyond comprehension. The University of Alabama, while in the center of the city of Tuscaloosa, was physically untouched. There are areas all around the campus that are damaged and destroyed. And we have lost members of our UA community to these storms.

These images from the 1932 tornadoes are a testament to the resilience of Alabamians -- we will be back, with the help of countless supporters from all over the world, and we will be stronger and better than ever. Please continue to help in any way that you can.

Celebrate Earth Day!

2011-04-22T10:57:00.002-05:00

Utricularia juncea, Eriophorum, Lefhamthus, and Azalea visersa, in bog just N. of lake; 3:22 pm, Lake Ronkonkoma, New York.

Diazo print, Cyanotype. From the Roland McMillan Harper photographs collection, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.

All Latin, Big and Small

2011-04-11T16:41:00.002-05:00

Now that they've seen Paree!

2011-03-31T15:41:00.009-05:00

It was 122 years ago this week, on March 31, 1889, that the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by the tower's designer, Gustave Eiffel. Among the dignitaries were the French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard and over 200 construction workers -- the men who risked their lives to build the tower.

These two images of the Eiffel Tower are from a photo album/scrap book belonging to Dr. Herman and Mattie Hesse. The album contains picture postcards and photographs from the Hesses' trip to Europe aboard the S.S. Berlin in the summer of 1930. These souvenir cards are typical of the items sold near the tower. This photo album is part of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library's extensive photograph collections. While the name may sound familiar, it is not the same (Nobel Prize-winning) Hermann Hesse of Siddhartha and Steppenwolf fame!

The remarkable landmark structure of the Eiffel Tower plays a role in the mystique and draw of Paris as the ultimate destination --- signifying decadence, exoticism, and elegance among other things.

Sheet music from the Wade Hall Sheet Music Collection offers incredible insight into the sounds of eras gone by. The piece featured above is housed in the Hoole Library, and is included in our rich digital collections -- the piece is available here: http://acumen.lib.ua.edu/u0004_0000002_0001605

This World War I era hit, How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After they've seen Paree) really says it all. Paris at the end of the first World War and in the 1920s was in stark contrast to rural life in America.

This wartime hit continued to be sung and performed and remained popular through the 1930s and 1940s. It was performed in the World War II era classic film, For Me and My Gal, by none other than Judy Garland!

Here are a few versions for your listening pleasure -- one from the 1910s, one from the 1930s, one from the 1940s, and two more "modern" versions in banjo and "barbershop"!

Happy Opening Day! How about That!

2011-03-31T11:36:00.001-05:00

Mel Allen and Micky Mantle, from the Mel Allen Collection, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama.

Who is that Banjo-toting man?

2011-02-18T12:24:00.004-06:00

Anyone?

It's none other than Dr. Werner Von Braun. Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) pictured with his wife, Maria, at the first annual picnic of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in 1969 -- celebrating the moon landing! This is from the Marshall Space Flight Center employee newsletter, and a far cry from the stoic look Dr. Von Braun usually put forth in public.

Come to Hoole on Tuesday to see more space-y stuff!

Love, and the Year of Alabama Music

2011-02-09T16:05:00.009-06:00

In honor of Valentines Day, and of course, in celebration of the Year of Alabama Music! Love Will Keep Us Together, by the Captain and Tennille, A&M Records, 1975, from the Wade Hall Sound Recordings Collection at the Hoole Library. So, here's Alabama's own Toni Tennille -- of the Captain and Tennille!

Cathryn Antoinette Toni Tennille was born in Montgomery on May 8, 1940. Part of a musical family, her dad, Frank Tennille, was the singer for Bob Crosby and the Bobcats, a local big band ensemble. Her mom, Catherine, was the host of Montgomery's first daytime talk show. Toni studied at Auburn University and went on to worldwide fame as part of this musical duo.

Love Will Keep Us Together was written by Howard Carpenter, and was the title track of their A&M Records debut album in 1975. The song had been covered by Neil Sedaka on his 1974 album Sedaka's Back. Just one year later, Love will keep us Together the first of many #1 hits for Captain & Tennille, topping the Adult Contemporary Chart. Love Will Keep Us Together was also the first of two of their songs to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Enjoy!

Our Super Starr: Alabama and Green Bay's Bart Starr

2011-02-04T12:50:00.013-06:00

Detail from Quarterbacking by Bart Starr with Mark Cox (Prentice-Hall, 1967) from the Hoole Alabama Collection

The Green Bay Packers will make their fifth Super Bowl appearance this Sunday, and what better way to celebrate is to talk a little bit about someone who who knows a thing or two about winning Super Bowls for the Packers.

Detail from A Perspective on Victory (NFL Books, 1972) from the
Hoole Library's Alabama Collection

Bart Starr donned a #15 green and gold jersey to play quarterback for the Packers from 1956 to 1971. Starr’s first season as starting quarterback was 1959, Vince Lombardi’s first year as coach of the Packers. With Starr at quarterback, the Packers won five NFL Championships in seven seasons. Starr led Green Bay to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders in the first and second Super Bowls, respectively. And Starr was named Most Valuable Player of both of these games (Guess who was MVP of Superbowl III -- Fellow University of Alabama player and graduate, Joe Namath!). After Starr concluded his playing career, he remained with the Packers, first as an assistant coach in 1972 then as head coach from 1975 to 1983. Starr appeared in the Pro Bowl four times, was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1976 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, and has a National Football League award named in his honor, given annually to an NFL player of outstanding character. He is one of five Green Bay Packers alumni to have his number retired.

Bart Starr, from the 1956 Corolla in his uniform as Quarterback for the Crimson Tide.

Bryan Bartlett Starr was born in Montgomery, Alabama on January 9, 1934. Prior to his professional career with the Packers, Starr played football at Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery under head coach Bill Moseley. As a senior quarterback and punter, he earned all-state honors. Under both “Red” Drew and J.B. Whitworth, Starr served as quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Starr is featured in the book, Crimson, sharing that The University of Alabama is one that “has always offered uniquely strong foundations for athletic achievement, as well as academic excellence.” Of his time here he says in Crimson, “It was at The University of Alabama where I was privileged to meet so many people who have left their footprints on my life, and where still today, I gain strength and feel a strong sense of pride for what my alma mater has done for me and for so many others who came before me, after me , and for those still to come.” Starr is a successful businessman, inspired public speaker, and tireless charitable work, including the Rawhide Boys Ranch, which was established by Starr in 1965 to work with at risk youth and their families.

On Superbowl Sunday, Alabama fans can lend their support to both the Packers and the Steelers, as we have two former University of Alabama football players competing on opposite sides of the football field in Super Bowl XLV this Sunday. Charlie Peprah now plays for the Green Bay Packers and Anthony Madison plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The cheering will be extra loud at Hoole's own Allyson Holliday's house -- a native of Green Bay, shown here with Bart Starr as a little girl, with her dad and sister, but we should all give a cheer for Bart Starr, Alabama's very own Super(bowl) Starr!

Hoole Library's own Allyson Holiday, being held by Bart Starr (on the left). Her dad (in pre-cheesehead Packers gear) and sister are on the right.

Thanks to Jamie Burke for her Bart Starr Super-sleuthing and scanning!

Guess who's coming to Hoole? Wayne Greenhaw!

2011-01-31T09:24:00.006-06:00

Few Alabama authors have written more, and have produced so much variety as Wayne Greenhaw. He has written novels, plays, works of non-fiction, and several hundred articles in regional, national, and international publications.

Wayne will be at the Hoole Library on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 5 pm (talk to begin at 5:30 pm) to discuss his new book, Fighting the Devil in Dixie: How Civil Rights Activists took on the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama (Lawrence Hill Books/Chicago Review Press, 2011)

Greenhaw is the 2006 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer, given annually by the Alabama Writers’ Forum and Alabama Southern Community College at Monroeville’s Alabama Writers’ Symposium. In 2005, Greenhaw was recipient of the ninth Clarence Cason Award for Nonfiction, given annually by the University of Alabama’s College of Communication, joining such distinguished writers as Gay Talese, Rick Bragg, Diane McWhorter, and Howell Raines. Greenhaw's short story, "The Old Guy," won first place in the Hackney Literary Awards at Birmingham Southern College's 2007 Writing Today conference.

After graduating from high school in 1958, Greenhaw traveled to Mexico from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, by four different trains. In the central Mexican mountain Spanish colonial town of San Miguel de Allende he attended Instituto Allende. He returned for the next three summers, studying at the writing center under Ashmead Scott.

At The University of Alabama he studied under the legendary Hudson Strode. In 1967, after working as a reporter for the Alabama Journal, Montgomery's afternoon newspaper, his first novel, the Golfer, was published by J.B. Lippincott Company.

After his first nonfiction book, The Making of a Hero: Lt. William L. Calley and the My Lai Massacre, was published in 1971, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard.

Throughout his years as a journalist in Alabama, where he was a stringer for the New York Times, Time magazine, and others, Greenhaw met and nourished friendships and relationships with Dr. Martin Luther King, Governor George C. Wallace, numerous political personalities and Southern cultural icons. Greenhaw was a protegé and mentee of fellow Alabama author and University of Alabama graduate, William Bradford Huie. As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the birth of William Bradford Huie, Greenhaw, along with Huie's widow Martha, spoke at the opening of the exhibition on November 10, 2010.

Wayne Greenhaw's talk on his new book, Fighting the Devil in Dixie will begin at 5:30 pm, but doors will open at 5 pm. Books will be on sale for the event, and a reception will follow. This event is free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by University Libraries, the Alabama Center for the Book, the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, and the WBH@100 Collaborative Group. As part of the event, Wayne Greenhaw will present the Hoole Library with some personal copies of his works to be included in the Alabama Collection. In addition, we have a very special guest to introduce Mr. Greenhaw!

About Fighting the Devil in Dixie:

" Shortly after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Ku Klux Klan—determined to keep segregation as the way of life in Alabama—staged a resurgence, and the strong-armed leadership of Governor George C. Wallace, who defied the new civil rights laws, empowered the Klan’s most violent members.

As Wallace’s power grew, however, blacks began fighting back in the courthouses and schoolhouses, as did young Southern lawyers like Charles “Chuck” Morgan, who became the ACLU’s Southern director; Morris Dees, who cofounded the Southern Poverty Law Center; and Bill Baxley, Alabama attorney general, who successfully prosecuted the bomber of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and legally halted some of Wallace’s agencies designed to slow down integration. Fighting the Devil in Dixie is the first book to tell this story in full, from the Klan’s kidnappings, bombings, and murders of the 1950s to Wallace’s run for a fourth term as governor in the early 1980s, asking forgiveness and winning with the black vote."

Saying So Long to a son of Sand Mountain, Charlie Louvin

2011-01-27T17:51:00.005-06:00

Charlie Louvin, born Charles Elzer Loudermilk on July 7, 1927, passed away yesterday, January 26, 2011. A native of Jackson County, Alabama, the furthest county in the Northeast of the state, the Louvin brothers (Ira and Charlie) began their career in Gospel music in the 1940s. Ira was killed in 1965 in an automobile accident, but not before releasing over a dozen albums. Charlie went on to a solo career that lasted the rest of his life, and the brothers are 2001 inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Charlie Louvin, and the Louvin Brothers will live on in their music, which to many transcended the religious messages. Oddly, they are most often remembered for their shocking 1959 album cover for Satan is Real. Widely considered one of the "worst" and "most iconic" album covers of all time, it features the Louvin brothers standing in front of a quarry in front of a giant plywood Devil, while hidden tires soaked in kerosene burn behind them as fire & brimstone.

Critic Scott Walden called the Louvins bluegrass music's Velvet Underground and said "their comprehension of the tortured throes of a drunkard's Satan-infested soul are no less profound than Lou Reed's own understanding of a heroin junkie wrestling with a world devoid of meaning beyond the piercing tip of the needle... The depth is there in Satan is Real. This album transcends the immediate kitsch appeal of its cover. There is a reason why songs from this album have been performed by the more commonly accepted genius of artists such Gram Parsons, Johnny Cash, and Emmylou Harris."

The Hoole Library does not have this album, but would welcome someone to donate it to the collections! (hint hint!)

Rest in Peace, Mr. Louvin.

Stepping back a little further today! Chaucer!

2011-01-25T11:00:00.004-06:00

An English class will visit later today and get to know a little bit more about Special Collections, and a little bit more about Chaucer!

In case you feel left out, visit the Digital Scriptorium to take a peek at the magnificent Ellesmere Chaucer at the Huntington Library! Big beautiful images! Pilgrims! Impossible to read writing! And little pink dragons like this!

Happy Belated, Mr. E.A. Poe!

2011-01-21T09:35:00.006-06:00

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
1893, New York, New York: E. P. Dutton and Company
From the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture
and Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" -
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never - nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore:
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting -
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Brrr!!

2010-12-13T08:42:00.003-06:00

The land of the midnight sun : summer and winter journeys through
Sweden, Norway, Lapland and northern Finland

Designed by Edwin Abbey, Paul B. Du Chaillu's Land of the Midnight Sun was published in 1881 by Harper and Brothers, New York. From the Richard Minsky Collection and Publishers' Bindings Online.

Crest? Bookplate? Something else entirely?

2010-10-27T13:53:00.003-05:00

Tipped in to a rare book, stamped on a piece of newsprint. We have our own theories, but want to know what you think! Is there an unspoken law about bookplates and "ex libris" or is it okay to say "fac et spera?" Cool, though, right?

A Royal Decree!

2010-10-22T09:52:00.005-05:00

Our amazing volunteer manuscript processor James shared this cool little item he came across while processing the Mabel Smythe-Haith papers. Everyone loves a big fancy decree, deed, or diploma -- something with seals and stamps and stuff. Pretty cool. What’s even cooler? Mabel Smythe-Haith herself.

Mabel Smythe-Haith, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, was a brilliant student – leaving home to study at Spellman College in Atlanta at the age of fifteen. She left Spellman in her senior year, graduating from Mount Holyoke College. She went on to receive a Master’s degree in Economics from Northwestern and a PhD from University of Wisconsin.

Dr. Smythe-Haith was married to Hugh H. Smythe while he was an ambassador to Syria from 1965-1967 and ambassador to Malta 1967-1969. President Johnson appointed her the US envoy to UNESCO in Paris, France, in 1964. She was the U.S. ambassador to the United Republic of Cameroon concurrently with the Republic of Equatorial Guinea from 1977-1980. She worked with Thurgood Marshall on the preparations for Brown v. Board of Education. After a distinguished career as a U.S. ambassador and civil rights advocate, Ms. Smythe-Haith served as Melville J. Herskovits Professor for African Studies at Northwestern. Additionally, she was awarded two honorary law degrees and other academic honors. She later worked as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs until 2000. She passed away in Tuscaloosa in 2006. There are additional papers at the Library of Congress, and the Mabel Smythe-Haith papers at the Hoole Library will be open to researchers shortly. Stay tuned!

Margaret Armstrong, Myrtle Reed, and those Purple Books!

2010-10-20T14:46:00.014-05:00

Six purple bindings designed by Margaret Armstrong, all from the Minsky Collection at the Hoole Special Collections Library, and all in Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books!

Publishers' Binding: Remembering Cuba (Week) Edition

2010-10-20T09:32:00.004-05:00

So last week was Cuba Week at The University of Alabama. Here's a little Memories of Cuba (Week) binding for you to enjoy....

Memories of Cuba and other poems
by Janan Ewan
Boston, R.G. Bager, 1908.
pba01177, from the Hoole Alabama Collection

Favorite Seasonal Publishers' Binding: Halloween Edition

2010-10-19T13:41:00.005-05:00

If Tam O'Shanter'd had a wheel : and other poems and sketches

by Grace Duffie Boylan
Binding design by Blanche McManus (Signed binding: B.Mc.M)
New York, E.R. Herrick, 1898.
pba02560, from the Richard Minsky Collection, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library

and Witches!

Chahta-Lma.

2010-10-11T15:15:00.009-05:00

Among Hoole's many fascinating treasures is this slim manuscript volume - eight pages of hand written text, which came to us as part of the T.P. Thompson Collection. The detail above gives us the words for rain, wind, sun, moon, star, earth, mountain, and stone -- first in French, then in Choctaw.

Written about 1885, this "Vocabulaire de la langue des Indiens Choctaw (lac Ponchartrain) Louisiane" is in the hand of Abbé Adrien Roquette, who was also known by many as "Chahta-Lma", Choctaw for "Like a Choctaw" -- a beautiful sentiment. This name was bestowed upon him by the Choctaw people as a sign of belonging and respect. In hindsight this can be viewed in many ways -- but the simplest notion of all is to see this expression as a reflection of everyone being connected as people -- to say that you are one of us. A pure expression of belonging and connection.

This manuscript volume has been digitized, and is available as part of our digital program here.

The original item is part of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library. To read more about Abbé Roquette, there is a 1913 biography available via Google Books.

No matter our language or our differences, we are one people. On one great, beautiful terre... yakni...earth...

Remembering Tony Curtis: William Bradford Huie@100

2010-09-30T15:19:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, we lost one of the great elder statesman of the American cinema, Tony Curtis. Among his many great films is one that was written by Alabama author and University of Alabama graduate, William Bradford Huie. Huie's book, Hero of Iwo Jima was turned into the 1962 film starring Tony Curtis about Marine Corporal Ira Hamilton Hayes, one of the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Huie, in his role as war correspondent and reporter, wrote numerous memorable pieces, including several about his experiences and the experiences of others during World War II and its aftermath.

We will celebrate William Bradford Huie in November and through the Spring 2011 semester, with an exhibit, a film screening, and several other events based on his life and work. Visit http://www.as.ua.edu/wbhuieat100/ and http://wbhuieat100.blogspot.com/

Marveling at Marbling

2010-08-31T17:47:00.007-05:00

One of the many wonders of working with rare books is the magnificent things you find within -- like these amazing marbled end papers. This is just a taste of what I came across today working with Confederate Imprints and Alabama collection materials from the mid-19th century. Enjoy!

Two Birds: Moving In and Happy Birthday

2010-08-16T16:20:00.005-05:00

Julia Tutwiler Hall, March 1950, from UA Libraries Digital Collections

Yesterday marked the 169th anniversary of the birth of the pioneer educator and reformer, Julia Strudwick Tutwiler. Born in Tuscaloosa on August 15, 1841, she brought higher education for women to Alabama, and worked tirelessly for prison and other social reform. She is considered a pioneer and activist far before her time. She even wrote the the song, Alabama, which was adopted as the Alabama state song on the 100th anniversary of her birth in 1931.

Many, many reminders of Miss Julia's legacy remain, though the one seen here has since been replaced. This photograph, taken in 1950, is of the "old" Tutwiler Hall, which has since been replaced with a second Tutwiler Hall, located just across from Bryant-Denny Stadium on Bryant Drive. We have many more dormitories on campus these days -- beautiful new buildings with a river view and new amenities. But it is always interesting to look at where we have come from.

And with that, we not only celebrate the birthday of Julia Tutwiler, but we welcome all the new students and returning students to The University of Alabama!

Temperature and Tragedy: 90 Degrees in the Shade

2010-08-05T15:39:00.011-05:00

90 Degrees in the Shade by Clarence Cason,
published in 1935 by the University of North Carolina Press

Cason's important book of essays on Southern culture is a compelling snapshot of aspects of life in Alabama during that period. In light of the ongoing heatwave, 90 degrees in the shade sounds like a welcome relief.

On the page between the half title and title page, there is a photograph of a group of men in their shirtsleeves, sitting at a table under an old tree on a few metal chairs and an old barrel. There's a dog on the ground, looking into the distance, panting. They are probably playing cards. Under the photograph, the caption states, "Air-conditioning cannot be a grand success in the South for the reason that the honest natives of the region recognize the natural summer heat as a welcome ally in that it makes the inside of houses and offices agreeably uninviting, if not actually prohibited territory."

Our weather and our constitutions have changed remarkably since then. Air conditioning is not only welcomed, it's outright required.

Cason, a native of Ragland Alabama, was a 1917 University of Alabama graduate, where he was the managing editor of the Crimson-White, UA's newspaper. After graduation, Cason enlisted in the United States Army, serving France during World War I. Upon his return from Europe, he worked as a reporter for several newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Times. He taught high school briefly, and also attended a theological seminary before returning to school to earn a Master's Degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Clarence Cason, in his 1917 Corolla (UA yearbook) portrait.

He taught at the University of Minnesota, then in 1928 he was hired by The University of Alabama to develop a journalism school. He published, mentored, and in the early 1930s, he began to compile his essays on the south. This was to become his book, 90 Degrees in the Shade. Tragically, and despite the love and encouragement of his colleagues and friends, Cason took his own life just days before the book's release. It is said that it was his overwhelming fear of how his book was to be received by his fellow Southerners became too much for him to bear.

Cason's legacy lives on at The University of Alabama, with the Clarence Cason Award, established in 1997 to honor exemplary non-fiction over a long career.

The Hoole Library holds several editions of the book, including the first edition shown above. To take a look at portions of the book in Google Books' version of 90 Degrees in the Shade, it is online here:

And to read a fascinating article by literary scholar, Phil Beidler about Cason and his contemporary, Carl Carmer (author of Stars Fell on Alabama, published in 1934), entitled, Yankee Interloper and Native Son: Carl Carmer and Clarence Cason: Unlikely Twins of Alabama Expose click here. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to get a sense of aspects of life in Alabama in the 1930s.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Hoole's incredible Tiffany Window....

2010-07-30T09:31:00.012-05:00

Art Historian Dr. Robert Mellown's article, originally published in the Winter 1993 issue of Alabama Heritage Magazine is now available on our website. Along with the article, you'll find a link to a series of beautiful details of the window in our Cool@Hoole Flickr page, photographed by Teresa Golson.

But just because we can, here is the article as it appears on the Hoole website!

A Stained-Glass Tiffany Knight By Robert O. Mellown
Originally published in Alabama Heritage, Winter 1993 (No. 27)

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
It is sweet and noble to die for one’s country.

For centuries, this stern and dignified pronouncement by the Roman poet Horace has been associated with patriotism. Appearing on countless European and American war memorials, the Latin inscription also adorns a beautiful stained-glass window in Tuscaloosa at The University of Alabama. Designed in 1925 by Tiffany Studios in New York and commissioned by the Alabama Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (U.D.C.), the handsome memorial commemorates the role university students played in the Civil War.

The window is a fascinating social document as well as an exceptionally fine work of art. When it was installed, sixty years had passed since Yankee troops burned the neoclassical campus of the University of Alabama on April 4, 1865. By 1925 the mythmaking of the "Lost Cause" was in full swing throughout the South.

Few Southerners were still alive who could recall the war years, and as their numbers dwindled Confederate veterans and their families (especially their wives and daughters) took steps to ensure that the memory of those who had fought in the nation's most tragic conflict were not forgotten. Memorials of all sorts, in a wide variety of media, were erected in cities, towns, and battlefields across the South.

Perhaps the most ubiquitous monuments erected during this period of romanticizing the Civil War were the monuments to Confederate soldiers placed on courthouse squares throughout the South. Aesthetically, a wide gap existed between those marble or concrete Rebel soldiers, rifle at the ready, and Tiffany's ideal "Christian Knight" depicted on the university's richly colored memorial window. Nevertheless, the sentiment remained the same. An inscription on the window might well be placed on any Confederate memorial: "As crusaders of old, they fought their heritage to save."

The dedication of the memorial window may have represented the zenith of the cult of the "Lost Cause" in west Alabama. The ceremonies took place in front of the newly constructed Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library (now Carmichael Hall), where the window was originally located. The audience consisted of the university community, Tuscaloosans, officers ofthe United Daughters of the Confederacy, and seven elderly Confederate veterans who had been University of Alabama cadets during the Federal invasion of April 1865.

The audience's enthusiasm was whipped into a feverous pitch by speeches, including one by former governor B. B. Comer (also a former university cadet), and by patriotic songs sung by the varsity glee club. These included "We're Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground" and "The Bonnie Blue Flag." According to reporters, toward the end of the program "the Glee club sang the song that these veterans had patiently waited for—Dixie! They leapt gallantly to their tottering feet and the old, wild rebel yell rose lustily, terribly from their feeble throats. After this outburst," the window was unveiled, the setting sun illuminating its rich hues.

The window itself is a showcase of various types of glass and construction techniques which made Tiffany-designed products internationally known. Particularly impressive is Tiffany's use of scores of intricately cut pieces of glass to describe the details of the knight's armor and the delicate details of the landscape.

Tiffany "painted" with glass, his palette consisting of an astonishing variety of luminous opalescent glass that he created by combining white milk glass with one or more colors of pot metal glass. Depending on the combinations of colors, such glass could be used to imitate the veins in the marble columns or the soft hues of the cloud-filled sky.

"Drapery glass" was used to create not only the color but the texture of the knight's flowing robe. This technique, invented by Tiffany, required the glassblower (protected by asbestos gloves) to toss a glob of molten glass on an iron table, where he kneaded and folded the red-hot mixture like bread dough until the desired loops and streaks were formed.

The extraordinary depth and luminosity of the knight's attire, including the shirt of chain mail that extends below his breast plate, were achieved by sandwiching or "plating" several layers of differently textured and colored glass on top of one another. These built-up areas are visible on the back of the window.

To achieve the effect of dappled light shining through foliage in the background, Tiffany used "mottled glass" and a few touches of "confetti glass." These types of glass, perfected in the Tiffany studios, were made by throwing various chemicals (for a mottled effect) or broken glass scraps (for a confetti effect) into the molten glass. As was usually the case, actual paint was used only to define the noble features of the knight, but even here the designer incorporated plated glass to achieve the glow of living flesh.

The production of a Tiffany memorial window was labor intensive, requiring hundreds of hours of work and a high level of craftsmanship. For these reasons, large windows cost several thousand dollars, a hefty sum in 1925, when glass workers received three dollars a day and their supervisors were paid twenty-one dollars a week.

The University of Alabama window cost $5,000, but Tiffany studios gave the U.D.C. a $1,700 discount. Even with the discount, the organization found it necessary to pay off the sum in installments.

In 1939 the Alabama window was removed from the old Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on campus and installed in the present main library, which bears the same name. This year [1993], in a move partially funded by the U.D.C., the window will be relocated once again, this time to the new collections building on the east side of the University of Alabama campus, where it will grace the walls of the William Stanley Hoole Special Collections Library*.

*The window is in the lobby of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library on the 2nd floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, 500 Hackberry Lane, and is visible from the street below. Please visit the library to see the window in person. You can also view a series of photographs we have placed as a set on Cool@Hoole's flickr page. These images were graciously taken by photographer and friend of Hoole Library, Teresa Golson in July 2010. (Photographs in the original article [not shown here] were by Alice Wilson). Special thanks to Dr. Robert Mellown and Donna Cox Baker and Alabama Heritage for allowing us to republish this piece online.

Keeping Cool with the Perkins Collection

2010-07-28T08:34:00.003-05:00

Ice and snow at Asylum Farm, February, 1899.
Negative by Dr. George R. Raw, from the Perkins Family Papers, 1813-1928.

This photograph, taken on the grounds of Bryce Hospital in 1899, is an example of the photographs in the Perkins Family Papers. The photographs in the collection are from the 1890s and 1900s, and contain two photographic albums with 209 images, 72 loose photographs, and 121 glass negatives. The life of Julian C. Perkins, his wife Mary (Mamie) Kennedy Perkins, their children Edwin, Brook, and Julian, and their extended families is well documented in this photographic collection compiled by their son Edwin. There are also photographs of The University of Alabama (Woods Hall and President’s Mansion); photographs of Tuscaloosa and surrounding area around 1890; John Robinson’s Circus arriving to Tuscaloosa; Tuscaloosa Street Fair; some parts of Birmingham around the same time period; and Meridian, Mississippi.

This image, along with much of the photographs from this collection is accessible through our digital collections.

Just doing our part...Cool, indeed.

2010-07-27T16:32:00.006-05:00

Call of the Wild by Jack London
Published in New York by MacMillan, 1903.
From the Richard Minsky Collection,
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama

Signed binding, "CX", in green ungrained cloth with gold, black, red, and white stamping on front and spine. No decoration on back. Cream endpapers. Top gilt.
Book is illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull.

With temperatures at record highs, it seems that a few cool and refreshing images might be just the thing!

Sending you Patriotic Wishes!

2010-07-02T15:28:00.005-05:00

A few envelopes selected from the Commemorative and Patriotic Illustrated Envelopes
donated by Dr. Wade Hall. Happy Independence Day!

Finding joy in Muddville: The Literary Mystery of Casey at the Bat

2010-06-29T16:02:00.011-05:00

A Treasury of Humorous Poetry (Dana, Estes and Co., 1902)

The crack of the bat is certainly a sound that many associate with summer. And what better way to celebrate that than with a little poem. But not just any ordinary poem…but with the legendary and beloved baseball poem, “Casey at the Bat”.

Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat”, despite being memorized by generations of American kids, is considered to be a modern literary mystery, its origins clouded with a bit of intrigue about where the poem came from, and just who wrote it.

“Casey” first appeared in the San Francisco Examiner in 1888, and it was first made popular that same year by the actor, comedian, and baseball fan, DeWolfe Hopper. Hopper made it a national sensation when he declaimed it in a New York theater in August, 1888 in front of his beloved New York Giants on the day his dear friend (and Hall of Fame pitcher) Tim Keefe had his nineteen game winning streak stopped.

Hopper went on to recite it countless times on the Vaudeville circuit, on radio, and even as a short film in 1923. It also became famously attributed to Victorian baseball legend Mike “King” Kelly, but Kelly was not the author, but rather like Hopper, recited the poem (poorly, in fact) before audiences. With Kelly and Hopper, by the turn of the 20^th century, “Casey” had become part of the modern American cannon.

Our beloved “Casey” first appeared in a hard cover book fourteen years later, 1902, in the volume, A Treasury of Humorous Poetry: Being a Compilation of Witty, Facetious, & Satirical Verse Selected from the Writings of British & American Poets. Dedicated to one of America’s greatest satirists, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) and edited by Frederic Lawrence Knowles, it was published by Dana, Estes & Company. Knowles inclusion of “Casey” was logical, but unfortunately, the poem was misattributed to one “Joseph Quinlan Murphy”, an error which was soon corrected, by striking Murphy’s name from the author index in front of the book and properly crediting Thayer in the poem index at the rear. The copy featured here is the original uncorrected printing and is part of Hoole Special Collections Library’s Rare Books collection.

Miscredited "Casey" from Hoole's copy, page 299.

Today we are more than reasonably sure that Thayer was in fact the author of “Casey”. Thayer graduated from Harvard in 1885 and was hired by William Randolph Hearst as the humor columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, a post he held from 1886-1888. On June 3, 1888, Thayer signed his name as “Phin” to the very last piece he wrote for the Examiner, a poem entitled “Casey,” adding to the confusion over who actually wrote the poem. It is also said that Thayer denied having written the poem for some time, than later recanted.

(Corrected 1919 edition from Google Books)

At his Harvard class reunion in 1895, Thayer recited the poem himself, lending further credence to his place as the author of this beloved poem.

“Casey” lives on in many forms, an American legend, memorialized in a 1927 movie, Walt Disney cartoons, and a commemorative postage stamp, as well as books, and ballads that respond to “Casey” by numerous authors. The following are just a few noteworthy performances of and homages to “Casey at the Bat”, by Hopper, Disney, James Earl Jones, and Jackie Gleason.