Roland Harper and his Photographs - A Slice of Alabama Life

Roland Harper with camera

Roland Harper in full field gear with hound

Today in Gorgas Library room 205, Elizabeth Findley Shores will talk about her book, On Harper's Trail: Roland McMillan Harper, Pioneering Botanist of the Southern Coastal Plain (UGA Press, 2009). Shores's work on Harper took place primarily at the Hoole Library, where his extensive personal papers are held.

Roland Harper was a field botanist by profession, and took countless photographs during his long professional life. He worked most of his life at the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Born August 11, 1878 in Farmington, Maine, he moved to Georgia with his family in 1887. While earning an engineering degree from the University of Georgia, Harper took his first botany class and became an avid student of local flora.

In 1899, Harper entered the Botany program at Columbia University and earned his PhD in 1905. His work in documenting the fauna of the Southeast was extensive. And he was an interesting and complicated man.

We have a small exhibit of images from his collection in Gorgas Library on the 2nd floor. A larger exhibit of Roland Harper materials will be on display in the Hoole Special Collections Library beginning in May. Here are a couple of interesting photographs from the collection. We hope to see you in Gorgas 205 today to hear Elizabeth Shores talk about Harper!

Root Cellar

People and gator, ca. 1920s.

Up from History: A Lecture on the Life of Booker T. Washington

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Up from Slavery
(J. L. Nichols and Co., 1901)

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The Story of My Life and Work
(J. L. Nichols and Company, 1900)
Featuring an image of the Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama

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Working with the Hands: Being a Sequel to Up from Slavery, Covering the
Author's Experiences in Industrial Training at Tuskegee
(Doubleday, Page and Co., 1904)

Tomorrow, April 9, 2009 at 4 pm in Gorgas Library room 205, Dr. Robert J. Norrell will present the lecture, Up from History: Resurrecting Booker T. Washington's Historical Reputation.

Norell is the Bernadotte Schmidt Chair of Excellence in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee. Norrell previously taught in the Department of History at The University of Alabama. His latest book, Up From History: The Life of Booker T. Washington (Belknap Press, 2009) has received great acclaim and reviews.

Featured here are a few of Booker T. Washington's works from the Hoole Special Collections Library. They, along with 15 other of his works were included in the Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books. A gallery and essay on Washington is also included in the project.

Please join us to learn more about this fascinating and important American pioneer! A signing and reception will follow the talk. Co-sponsored by the Summersell Center for the Study of the South, The University of Alabama Libraries, and the generous support of Dr. Lakey and Susan Tolbert.

Holding Court with The Prince of Frogtown! An Evening with Rick Bragg at UA Libraries

There is just about nothing better than a great story. So if you love great stories told by an outstandingly spectacular storyteller, please join us at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 29th in Gorgas Library room 205 for an opportunity to meet renowned Alabama author, Pulitzer Prize winner and University of Alabama professor of Journalism, Rick Bragg.



His latest book, The Prince of Frogtown (Knopf, 2008) is the final volume of his beloved American saga that began with All over but the Shoutin' and continued with Ava's Man. in The Prince of Frogtown, Bragg closes his circle of family with an unforgettable tale about fathers and sons inspired by his own relationship with his stepson.

This event, like all UA Libraries lecture series events is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow the reading, with books for sale courtesy of the Supe Store. The UA Libraries Lecture Series is made possible in part through the generous support of Dr. Lakey and Susan Tolbert. A copy of the flier is available here for download -- and for more information on the UA Libraries Lecture series visit the website at www.lib.ua.edu/events We hope to see you there!

And if you haven't already, take a look at Rick's piece on Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide recently published in Sports Illustrated.

Family Bible: A Memoir (Wednesday 10/1 @ 7 pm (@ Hoole, of course!)

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 1, 2008, Melissa J. Delbridge will discuss and read from her memoir, Family Bible (UIowa Press, 2008). The event will take place at the Hoole Special Collections Library located on the 2nd floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall on The University of Alabama campus (500 Hackberry Lane).

A native of Tuscaloosa and UA alum, Melissa Delbridge has published essays and short stories in the Antioch Review, Southern Humanities Review, Third Coast, and other journals. She is an archivist in the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University. Delbridge lives with her family in Orange County, North Carolina, where she spends her leisure time letting the dogs in and out, making pickles, plotting vengeance, substantiating rumors, and working on a novel.

Her book, along with many, many others are a part of the Hoole Library's Alabama Collection - as she is an Alabama native.

Please join us for what will certainly be a great event. This is part of the UA Libraries' lecture series and is co-sponsored by New College.

“Delbridge knows sorrow like she knows the rhythm of her own heart. . . . Fans of Carson McCullers won't want to miss this one—witty, tragic, and relentlessly wise.”

—Booklist, starred review

New Exhibit! Mashup #2: Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

Opening this week -- Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the second in what we're calling an "exhibit mashup" -- bringing together a few things in an interesting way.

This exhibit focuses on J.J. Audubon, the ornithologist and artist; T.P. Thompson, a book collector; and the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was documented by Audubon and has recently been spotted and made international news.

The exhibit is inspired by the upcoming lecture and book signing on Thursday April 24th with UA professor, Dr. Michael Steinberg. Steinberg will discuss his new book, Stalking the Ghost Bird: The Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Louisiana (LSU Press, 2008).

T.P. Thompson's books make up the foundation for the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library's Rare Books Collection. The library of over 10,000 items was purchased by The University of Alabama in 1938. Over four decades later, in the 1970s, the Hoole Library acquired the papers of T.P. Thompson. Thompson's papers provide great insight into his passionate hobby as a collector of books and other materials.

This exhibit includes maps and books from his collections as well as images and information that create an interesting portrait of the convergence of these two men and one very big and mysterious bird (Fact: Did you know that the ivory billed woodpecker stands about two feet tall and is the largest woodpecker in the United States!?).

One highlight of the exhibit is a portrait of Audubon, which has been purported to be the only self-portrait the artist ever did. This painting has been on display in the Hoole reading room for many years and has been moved to the lobby for this exhibit.

Another highlight of Thompson's collection and of the exhibit is an important association copy (a seven volume set) of the first octavo edition of Birds of America, published in 1839-1844 by the author & by J.B. Chevailier, Philadelphia. It is inscribed by Audubon and presented to his sister-in-law, Eliza Berthoud. (Image of Audubon's signature and inscription shown here).

T.P. Thompson's passion for collecting and his broad commitment to civic and charitable endeavors in New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th century are very evident in his manuscript collection, and are touched upon in this exhibit as well. He gave freely of his time and his funds for a great many causes, but even more remarkably, he readily opened his home to researchers so that they may use his library.



“Any student who desires to refer to my books
is welcome, as I look upon myself rather as a custodian, than an owner. Good books, while seemingly frail, outlive many generations of proprietors.” - T.P. Thompson

He made a request in his will that upon his death, his books would be made accessible to Southern students. They are, and continue to be, at the Hoole Library.

(Image of Thompson's hand written catalog card for the royal octavo Birds of America shown here)

Mashup #2: Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is on display in the lobby of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and opens today, April 16, 2008. The Hoole Library is open Monday-Friday from 8 am - 5 pm with Thursday evening hours until 9 pm.

Additional resource: It should be noted that The University of Pittsburgh Library has developed a great digital project that allows users to search for Audubon plates by keyword. That site is available at http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/

Libraries Lecture Series: The Warrior Image with Andrew Huebner

Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday April 15 at 4 pm Gorgas 205 for:

The Warrior Image, Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era (UNC Press 2007) with Dr. Andrew Huebner, UA Assistant Professor of History [Download the flier here]

A reception and signing will follow his lecture and presentation. This event is sponsored by UA Libraries with the generous support of Dr. Lakey and Susan Tolbert. Please join us!

About the book: Images of war saturated American culture between the 1940s and the 1970s, as U.S. troops marched off to battle in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Exploring representations of servicemen in the popular press, government propaganda, museum exhibits, literature, film, and television, Andrew Huebner traces the evolution of a storied American icon--the combat soldier.

Huebner challenges the pervasive assumption that Vietnam brought drastic changes in portrayals of the American warrior, with the jaded serviceman of the 1960s and 1970s shown in stark contrast to the patriotic citizen-soldier of World War II. In fact, Huebner shows, cracks began to appear in sentimental images of the military late in World War II and were particularly apparent during the Korean conflict. Journalists, filmmakers, novelists, and poets increasingly portrayed the steep costs of combat, depicting soldiers who were harmed rather than hardened by war, isolated from rather than supported by their military leadership and American society. Across all three wars, Huebner argues, the warrior image conveyed a growing cynicism about armed conflict, the federal government, and Cold War militarization.

The Hoole Library's Wade Hall Photograph Collection holds an important subset of photographs of American soldiers and military personnel. Most of these photographs are snapshots and studio portraits created for personal use and date from the Civil War era through the first Gulf War.

Stories that Heal, Stitches that Bind: Tuskegee Bioethics Community Quilt Project Lecture and the UA/Tuskegee Collaborative Archives Grant Project

Join us on Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 4 pm in Gorgas Library room 205 for:

Stories that Heal, Stitches that Bind: The Syphilis Study and the Tuskegee Bioethics Community Quilt Project
with Professor Muhjah Shakir,

Tuskegee University Bioethics Senior Scholar, National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, Tuskegee University

[Flier for event available here]

Part of the UA-wide African American Heritage Month Celebration and co-sponsored by the Frances S. Summersell Center for The Study of the South, UA Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences and UA Libraries.

In 2006, the University of Alabama and Tuskegee University were awarded a grant, Bringing Alabama's African-American History to Light: A Model Partnership, from the NHPRC (National Historical Publications and Records Commission). The primary goals of this collaborative effort are to process, preserve, and make available to researchers selected collections from both The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and the Tuskegee University Archives. Both universities hired project archivists, Dana Chandler at Tuskegee and Merrily Harris at UA, who are responsible for the processing of collections that are important for further exploring and understanding the African-American experience in Alabama.

Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press

On Tuesday, December 4 at 7 pm in Gorgas Library room 205 Dr. Jeff Weddle, Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Studies will talk about his new book, and screen a documentary film –Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press (University of Mississippi Press, 2007) .

The event will begin with a lecture on the on small press/little magazine history and how Loujon fits into all of it, and will do a brief reading from the book. We will also have on exhibit original Loujon Press titles including this copy of the Outsider 4-5, which features a photograph of poet and novelist Kenneth Patchen in a body cast. These materials are part of the Book Arts Collections held at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.

Following Weddle's talk, there will be a brief intermission, then a screening of the fascinating documentary, The Outsiders of New Orleans: Loujon Press, directed by Wayne Ewing and co-produced by Weddle. The film premiered on November 11^th at the Denver Film Festival. More information is available at http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=21582

In 1960, Jon Edgar and Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb founded Loujon Press on Royal Street in New Orleans's French Quarter. The small publishing house quickly became a giant. Heralded by the Village Voice and the New York Times as one of the best of its day, the Outsider, the press's literary review, featured, among others, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Walter Lowenfels. Loujon published books by Henry Miller and two early poetry collections by Bukowski. Bohemian New Orleans traces the development of this courageous imprint and examines its place within the small press revolution of the 1960s. Drawing on correspondence from many who were published in the Outsider, back issues of the Outsider, contemporary reviews, promotional materials, and interviews, Jeff Weddle shows how the press's mandarin insistence on production quality and its eclectic editorial taste made its work nonpareil among peers in the underground. Throughout, Bohemian New Orleans reveals the messy, complex, and vagabond spirit of a lost literary age.

Jeff Weddle holds a PhD in Communications from the University of Tennessee and has a broad range of interests and expertise. This talk and film are not to be missed! The flier for the event is available for download at http://www.lib.ua.edu/events/documents/weddle_flier.pdf

This event is co-sponsored by UA Libraries, the Program in Creative Writing, and the generous support of Lakey and Susan Tolbert.

UA Professor to speak on her book, which examines the role of ‘mammy’ in modern American Politics and Culture.

On Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 4:30 pm, Dr. Micki McElya, Assistant Professor of American Studies at The University of Alabama will discuss her new book, Clinging to Mammy: The Faithful Slave in Twentieth-Century America (Harvard University Press, 2007). The event will be held in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, on the 2^nd floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, 500 Hackberry Lane, on The University of Alabama campus. The talk will begin at about 4:45 pm in the Hoole Library reading room, followed by a reception and book signing in the lobby of the Hoole Library.

McElya’s powerful and beautifully written book examines the far-reaching image of the nurturing, faithful enslaved woman and her hold on the American imagination. McElya exposes the power of the myth of ‘mammy’, an omnipresent figure in popular culture -- from film, song and literature, to advertising and our grocery store shelves, as well as in national monument proposals, child custody cases, white women’s minstrelsy, activism, anti-lynching campaigns and the Civil Rights movement . These images have existed and persisted from the era of the Civil War to today. It is through her carefully researched and thought provoking narrative that McElya argues, “if we are to reckon with the continuing legacy of slavery in the United States, we must confront the depths of our desire for mammy and recognize its full racial implications.”

Scott Sandage, author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America says, “McElya shows vividly how ‘mammy’ serves as a perfect archetype for analyzing cultural politics of race and gender and how they changed. She gives us parlor theatrics, courtroom drama, legislative debate and movement politics. This is a wonderfully expansive book.”

A small exhibition of materials that illuminate aspects of McElya's book, will be on display in the Hoole Library, curated by Portia Barker, graduate student in American Studies and intern at the Hoole Library, along with Mary Keeley McAllister, undergraduate student assistant who is majoring in Visual Journalism with a minor in American Studies. Jessica Lacher-Feldman is overseeing the exhibit project. Most of the materials for this exhibit are from the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture.

Dr. McElya will refer to the exhibit in her talk. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Jessica Lacher-Feldman at jlfeldma@ua.edu or at 205.348.0500. This event is sponsored by UA Libraries, and in part by the generous support of Dr. Lakey and Susan Tolbert.

Dreams of Africa in Alabama -- Two Upcoming Lectures with Dr. Sylviane Diouf 11/12 and 11/13

The UA Libraries is co-sponsoring a visit with Dr. Sylviane Diouf, curator at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture in New York, and author of Dreams of Africa in Alabama: The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America (Oxford University Press, 2007). Dr. Diouf will be in Tuscaloosa for two talks -- the first on Monday 11/12 at 11 am in Gorgas Library room 205 where she will discuss and present a slide show on African Muslims in the Americas. This talk is based on her work, Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas (NYU Press, 1999). It was named 1999 Outstanding Academic Book by the American Library Association.

Her second talk and book signing (Tuesday 11/13 @ 4 pm in Gorgas 205) is for her newest work, Dreams of Africa in Alabama which was just named co‐winner of the 2007 Wesley‐Logan prize in African Diaspora History of the American Historical Association. She will sign copies of her works after the talk and there will be a reception.

Dreams of Africa in Alabama is available at the Hoole Library as part of the Hoole Library's Alabama Collection, long recognized as the premiere collection of Alabama materials in the world. The collection strives to be a comprehensive collection of all books by Alabamians, about Alabama, and/or published in the state of Alabama. These materials document the unique cultural and historical experience of Alabama.

Both events are of course free and open to the public! Co-sponsors of Dr. Diouf's visit include: UA Libraries, New College, American Studies, African-American Studies, The Summersell Center for the Study of the South, Modern Languages and Classics, and Religious Studies and the generous support of Lakey and Susan Tolbert.

Please join us!!