A Star is Born: Happy Birthday Mark Twain!

He was born on November 30, 1835, just as Haley's Comet passed in the night sky. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is a true American literary icon, and widely read today just as he was 100 years ago. 

These two beautiful blue books are excellent example's of 19th century editions of two of Twain's most beloved and widely read classics, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (published in 1891 by the American Publishing Company in Hartford, CT) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (First American edition, 1885, published by Charles L. Webster and Company, New York).  Both of these books are housed in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and were featured in Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books, along with many, many other Twain titles. A gallery and essay on Twain is available on the site as well, that we so cleverly called "Son of a Comet, Star of the West: The Life and Literature of “Mark Twain”.

Save the Date! Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood

Happy October (Island)!

October Island by William March.  First Edition, Little Brown and Co., 1952.

March's sixth novel, published in 1952, did not receive the same critical praise as some of his earlier works.  Some did like the novel, like the New York Times critic, Charles Poore, who praises March's "novel of salt and savor" full of "quiet, uninsistent irony" and his "mordant undertones of commentary on what it truly means to be an outcast."  But we love it, and we love our William March all the same.  And we really love this dust jacket, which is full of mid-century style. Happy October.

It's Truman's Birthday!

September 30 marks the birthday of Alabama native son, Truman Capote.  To learn more about one part of Truman's legacy, join us on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 5:30 pm for Ralph Voss's talk on Truman Capote and the Legacy of In Cold Blood. This talk is not to be missed!  A small exhibit of  In Cold Blood related items and Capote books, including some from his own personal library, will be on display!

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September...A Proclamation

Detail from Abe Lincoln's yarns and stories : a complete collection of the funny and witty anecdotes that made Lincoln famous as America's greatest story teller (Publishers' Bindings Online, and from the Wade Hall Collections of Southern History and Culture)

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect on January 1 of 1863.  This historic and immensely significant document is not just something to read about in a textbook, but it is something to experience.  To better understand history, we must take advantage of the primary sources around us, looking beyond interpretation of the past. Newspapers and journals from the period provide unique insight into the sentiment of the day, allowing researchers to look at the world through someone else's eyes.  Editorials, political cartoons, and coverage from different parts of the country will show subtle and not so subtle differences in views. Special Collections Libraries and rich digital resources of primary materials allow you to do this.  So come by, or go online, and take a look at the newspaper and journal coverage of historic events.  A small display of the coverage of the Emancipation Proclamation is on display in the lobby of the Hoole Library -- without interpretation.  Come by, and read a little bit.  Or Visit the National Archives website to see digitized pages of the original proclamation. You'll be glad you did! 

"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God."    --Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation

 

100 Years, A Million Dollars, 1000 Strong and a Few Cool Photos!

 

 

 

 

HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA'S

MILLION DOLLAR BAND!

The Million Dollar Band will be joined on the field tomorrow, September 22, 2012 by Million Dollar Band alums during the halftime show, making the band 1000 strong!

Bonus points if you can tell me the name of the Drum Major in that first picture!   

Beautiful pictures and the wonders of geneology research!

Unidentified couple, ca. 1910.  Gift of Dr. Wade Hall.

This wonderful photograph is just one of the many, many, many (!!) photographs in our collections.  The people in the photograph are unidentified, but someone out there might know who they are.

Many of the Hoole staff had the opportunity to attend the annual Federation of Genealogical Societies annual conference which was held in Birmingham last month.  The staff learned a great deal and will be able to pass that knowledge along to our researchers.

One exciting item to note is that the rich online genealogical resource, AfriGeneas will be free for the entire month of October.  So, bookmark it and give it a try!  And if you know who this handsome couple is, please send me a note!