Quercus Macrocarpa

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!

Keeping Cool with the Perkins Collection

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.

The Alabama Slide!

The Alabama Slide -- A Fox Trot (1915)
from the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture. Accessible through the University Libraries Digital Collections!

Cool@Hoole is back from a semester-long hiatus! So glad to be back -- and looking forward to sharing some really, really cool things with you!

Spring Semester has Sprung! Classroom visits and Photographs of Photographs!

The spring semester at The University of Alabama begins today, and it is a good of a day as any to mention the very cool experience of bringing students to Special Collections!


Featured above are two photographs by UA student Samantha Hernandez. Samantha, a student of photography and a truly excellent photographer, took these photographs during a classroom visit last year for a course on the history of photography.

The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library houses a growing and diverse collection of historic and contemporary photographs. Included are photographs of individuals, structures, and scenes from around Alabama, as well as of people, buildings, and events at The University of Alabama. The earliest photographic image of the University dates to 1859. The Hoole Library is home to an impressive collection of photographs of nearly every format and type including salted paper print; matte collodion; daguerreotype; tintype; cyanotype; ambrotype; and albumen.

One of our most prominent photograph collections is the Wade Hall Photography Collection. A continuing gift of Union Springs, Alabama native Dr. Wade Hall, this collection is a truly international in scope, and provides a unique view of American life and experiences around the world, including Europe, South and Central America, Asia, the South Pacific, North Africa, and the Middle East. The collection of more than 24,000 images includes photographs taken by families on vacation trips in both the 19^th and 20^thcenturies, portraits of floods, fires, and other catastrophes. The collection comprises a broad scope of subject matter ranging from images of farm life in rural America to images of historic events and locations, including the American liberation of a Nazi concentration camp and the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Photographs of African-Americans make up a significant part of the collection. The collection contains examples of almost every type of popular 19^th and 20^th century photographic process.

As part of the University Archives, photographs from The University of Alabama are also a significant component of our collections. These include a vast collection relating to the history of The University of Alabama and members of the university community as well as historic photographs of the city of the Tuscaloosa area. Other important collections include a group of photographs of Alabama steamboat and river traffic, and glass plate negatives by the Alabama
Geological Survey.

As part of our Digital Program, photographs from our collections like this one (featuring a festive New Years feast!) from the Perkins Family Papers are accessible online.


Faculty members who would like to discuss a classroom visit should contact me at jlfeldma@ua.edu to initiate arrangements with as much notice as possible! Please note that we do not have a classroom, so class visits are limited by size and available times. Welcome back everyone, and a very happy new year!

On Subversive Words, Meat and Threes, and the Lasting Importance of Ephemera

"Paris is flooded with words, people are speaking loudly and openly; leaflets are scattered in the shops, people are stubborn in their opinions." 

Revolution takes ideas -- and ideas are spread through words. Arlette Farge, in her book, Subversive Words: Public Opinion in Eighteenth Century France (Penn State University Press, 1995) references phrases like the one above that were penned as commentary in the time leading up to the storming of the Bastille in July of 1789.

The leaflets or pamphlets were used to spread the word -- but never created with the intention of lasting over 200 years. But thankfully, they have. The UA Libraries' Digital Collections includes forty-seven (to date, with more to come!) pamphlets from the French Revolutionary period. These items have been digitized from the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library's Rare Books Collection. There are over 300 of these pamphlets in our collections. The pamphlets include writings by some of the best known players of the French Revolution and Directory periods, including Robespierre, St. Juste, Desmoulins, and Danton.  A few images from the collection are shown here. 

John Lewis in his book Collecting Printed Ephemera defines ephemera as “a term used for anything printed for a specific short term purpose; such things as a bus ticket, a circus poster, a christmas card or a Valentine, a police summons, a tax demand, a pin packet, a soapflake box, a wine label, a beer mat, a cigarette card, an airline ticket, a train timetable or a travel brochure. There is hardly any limit and although books are outside our field, magazines, comics, and newspapers are very much a part of it.”

These pamphlets were printed quickly, subversively -- and distributed readily throughout Paris and its environs. The format of the pamphlet and leaflet in France serves as a long-standing method of expressing and distributing political and social thought, and was critical in fueling the fires of revolution in Paris in 1789, just as they did forty years ago in the year 1968.

While electronic venues and 2.0 tools -- personal blogs, resource sharing tools like Flickr, You Tube, and social networking sites like Twitter have changed the way we share and spread information, the notion of ephemeral means of spreading information is something that, for the creator, was not designed for the long haul. This is one of the ongoing challenges for special collections librarians -- identifying and collecting the stuff today that helps to document the past, and will help illuminate the future.

Even if you can't read them -- and especially if you can, it's very exciting to look at these primary documents to gain a better understanding of what those words meant when expressed and acted upon at a watershed period in history - not just in France, but in several parts of the world. 

Speaking of ephemera, an article featured in the Tuscaloosa News today featured a former Hoole graduate student, Robb McIlwain's Tuscaloosa Menu Project.  His widely used community resource brings a much-needed resource to the public.  And what about those pesky print menus? Well, they have made their way to the Hoole Library -- a much valued resource that helps document the local and regional flavor (pun intended!).  As the virtual collection grows,  so we hope does the print collection. And those doing like projects around the state are encouraged to contact us. 

Ephemera (old, and new!) is indeed very, very cool!

Bicycles, Babies, and Circus Parades: A Glimpse at Life and Leisure in Late Victorian Tuscaloosa

We have just added a new digital collection to the UA Libraries' Digital Collections -- selections from the Perkins Family Papers (Perkins Family Papers, 1813-1928, mss no. 1127). The Perkins digital collection consists of 294 incredible photographs of a broad array of subjects, including intimate family photographs, photographs of rivers, people, buildings, activities, and much more -- including images the circus coming to town! The image above captures the Jim Robinson Circus Parade in downtown Tuscaloosa.

A Picnic in the Park

The Perkins online collection offers a unique glimpse into leisure life and activities in late Victorian America. The Perkins Family Papers spans the period from 1813 to 1928, with the bulk of the collection being from the 1840s to the 1910s.

The Perkins Family Papers as a whole consists mainly of photographs and correspondence between family members. Within the collection, there are diaries, ledgers, a scrapbook, an unpublished novel, printed invitations, death notices, receipts, legal documents and other financial papers, and memorabilia. The Perkins collection relates to Stephen C. and Carolina A. Perkins; their son Julian C. and his wife Mamie Kennedy Perkins, and their children: Edwin, Brook, Julian H., and Maud. The majority of the correspondence and papers were generated by Caroline A. Perkins and Mamie Kennedy Perkins and concern mainly family matters.

The finding aid for the entire collection is available at http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/findingaids/pdf/ms_1127.pdf

The digitization of this collection was made possible by EBSCO Industries.

"Mrs. Perkins & her Wheel"

The family life of Julian and Mamie Perkins and their children are well documented in pictures compiled by their son, Edwin. Here are a few fun highlights Edwin captured that are part of the nearly 300 photographs now available online.

"Fancy Bicycle Rider"

"Baby Dan" and the family dog -- with someone behind them camera shy!

Brook K. and Julian Herbert Perkins in their HMS Pinafore costumes

Brook K. Perkins and his cat, Wang

Remembering Robert F. Kennedy

This photograph of Senator (and Presidential Candidate) Robert F. Kennedy and University of Alabama president, Frank Rose was taken when Kennedy visited UA in March of 1968 as part of the Emphasis program.

Robert F. Kennedy not only visited campus as part of Emphasis, but he is to be remembered as the Attorney General of the United States who oversaw the successful and peaceful integration of The University of Alabama in June of 1963. Working with his future successor, Nicholas Katzenbach, Kennedy brought about this important step forward and is forever part of UA's place in American Civil Rights history.

When Senator Kennedy visited campus in 1968, just three months before his assassination, he gave the keynote address for Emphasis '68 -- a talk entitled "America at the Crossroads". To listen to the audio file of his speech, visit here. To view the program for Emphasis '68, visit here. You can also read his speech and view it as it was given to us here. All of this material is part of the Emphasis collection, part of the UA Libraries' Digital Collections.


In his address to the students of The University of Alabama, he said the following -- words which ring true today as they did some forty years ago.

"It is the fate of this generation to live with a struggle we did not start in a world we did not make. But the pressures of life are not always distributed by choice. And while no nation has ever faced such a challenge, no nation has ever been so ready to seize the burden and the glory of freedom."

Cool as a Plate Glass Negative: Selections from the Eugene Allen Smith Collection

Camp kitchen and cooking staff, Central Coal and Iron Company, undated

The Eugene Allen Smith Collection spans more than four decades from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century. The collection depicts Smith's field work and travels. E.A. Smith was a professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at The University of Alabama from 1871-1913, and served as Alabama State Geologist from 1873-1913. We have 209 images from from his collection of plate glass negatives accessible through the UA Libraries Digital Collections.
The photographs featured here illustrate the broad spectrum of subjects -- from industry, to natural history, to The University of Alabama's history, to travel photographs.

View of Atlanta and Georgia Southern Railroad, undated

A native of Autauga County, Alabama and was born in 1841. Smith entered The University of Alabama at the age of nineteen and graduated with an A.B. degree in 1862. In his long and successful career as Alabama State Geologist he was instrumental in documenting, mapping, discovering and publicizing the abundant resources in the State.

Chemistry laboratory and classroom, Tuomey Hall, University of Alabama campus, undated

Smith was responsible for creating the first comprehensive Alabama geological survey as well as documenting these findings to fellow scientists and to the press, bringing to public view each new discovery of coal, iron, or other minerals. It was Dr. Smith who also first realized the historical value of Moundville and its artifacts, and actively focused public interest on this important archaeological site. His impact as an advocate for the state of Alabama is still felt to this day. The extensive Mineralogy collection stated by Smith in the 1870s is housed at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, located in E.A. Smith Hall also on the UA campus.

View of unidentified temple in China, undated

The purpose of the UA Libraries Digital Program at the University Libraries is to develop accessible digital collections of materials that support the teaching and research of UA faculty and students, and that, in turn, further the mission of The University of Alabama.

The Digital Program coordinates major digitization projects, actively develops policy and procedure relating to digital project and program development, and is active in soliciting digital project proposals and ideas for proposals, regardless of size, format, or technological medium. The program works with idea submitters to develop ideas into potentially viable projects, evaluating each individual digital project proposal. The Digital Program's role is to assess and seek out potential digital projects, and in turn make recommendations about implementation and development of these potential projects to the Dean of University Libraries.

Of birthdays, Campus Humor Magazines, and the Pulitzer Prize!

One of the most beloved Alabamians and University of Alabama alums has a birthday this week - Happy Birthday, Harper Lee! And it was 47 years ago this week that she received quite a birthday present -- the Pulitzer Prize in Letters for her novel (and one of the most read and beloved books of the 20th century), To Kill a Mockingbird.

What many people don't know about Ms. Lee is that she got her literary start right on The University of Alabama campus as a columnist and editor. In 1946, she served as the editor of The University of Alabama's humor magazine, Rammer Jammer. The UA Libraries have started to digitize the Rammer Jammer , with some of the earliest issues available here with more to come!

The images featured here are from three of the major University of Alabama student publications -- an article from the Crimson White ("Little Nelle" Heads Ram, Maps Lee's Strategy") which appeared in the October 8, 1946 edition; a page from the 1947 yearbook, the Corolla (which are also being digitized as part of the Corolla Digital Initiative -- did you know that you can sponsor a Corolla and make it available online! ); and Rammer Jammer, the UA humor magazine which was published from the mid-1920s through the mid-1960s -- it later became known as Mahout.


All of these publications are housed at the Hoole Special Collections Library (of course!) and are very, very cool -- and now some of them are available online, which is also very cool indeed. But we all know who is the coolest -- and we wish her a very Happy Birthday!

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/

A-Day 2008: UA Athletics and Terry Saban help raise funds for University Libraries

This cool image from 1968 Corolla - the '68 Corolla is available online as part of UA Libraries' Digital Collections (and part of the Corolla Digital Initiative and of course analog versions of all Corollas are available at the Hoole Library

Celebrate A-Day and give to a great cause! UA Athletics and Coach Saban's wife, Terry will help raise funds in order benefit academics for all UA students by taking donations for the University Libraries at the A-Day Game tomorrow, Saturday April 12, 2008. Terry Saban, UA students, faculty, staff, and student-athletes, including members of the UA men’s basketball team, will be collecting donations for the University Libraries at each gate at Bryant-Denny Stadium and in the Walk of Champions area before the A-Day Game and inside the stadium throughout the first half. Volunteers collecting donations will be wearing green shirts with the message “Athletics & Academics Support UA Libraries” printed on them.

“By helping raise money for the Libraries we are helping the entire University,” said Mal Moore, director of UA Intercollegiate Athletics. “Our Libraries must remain in the forefront with new resources and services and 21st-century technology,” said Terry Saban, wife of UA head football coach Nick Saban. “The University’s libraries provide critical services and resources that our students need to excel academically. We want our libraries to be just as good and nationally recognized as our athletic programs.”

“The money raised for the University Libraries on A-Day will be invested solely in what we know students need,” said Louis A. Pitschmann, dean of UA Libraries. “Although the Libraries continue to invest heavily in books, we need to acquire more and also to provide students with the online databases they need to remain competitive academically. Students at the Capstone are using libraries more than ever before, more than 1.3 million times last year.”

On A-Day, donations can also be made at the Bruno, McLure, Rodgers and Gorgas Libraries. Donations will be accepted in cash and check form. Donors who wish to give via credit card can go online to participate at www.lib.ua.edu , then must click on the “Make a Gift” link. For more information, contact Cheryl Altemara at 205-348-1416 or caltemar@ua.edu.

Forty Years After -- Emphasis '68 -- Directions: American Society at the Crossroads

In March of 1968, The University of Alabama hosted a powerful group of speakers brought together to discuss problems and issues in American Society. Emphasis '68: American Society at the Crossroads stands today as a snapshot in time, that serves to help us understand the political, social, cultural, and economic shifts that were taking place in 1968. Among the speakers were Robert F. Kennedy, who would be assassinated just a few short months later in June of 1968.

Sponsored by The University of Alabama Student Government Association (SGA), the student-run Emphasis Committee organized annual symposia in the late 1960s and early 1970s that served to enlighten and inspire students on the UA campus. It is interesting to note that former Alabama governor, Don Siegelman was president of the SGA when Emphasis '68 took place and was instrumental in bringing these speakers to The University of Alabama campus.

The featured speakers for Emphasis '68 were Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Roy Wilkins, Melvin Belli, John Kenneth Galbraith, Strom Thurmond, Ferenc Nagy, and several others.

Our digital collections now feature the 1968 Emphasis program, as well as streaming digital audio and transcripts of some of the speeches, which are accessible here. (You will need RealPlayer to access these speeches, which is available here) In addition, we have now made the 1968 Corolla is also available online though our Digital Collections.

The year 1968 -- forty years later it evokes -- even for those who didn't live through it -- thoughts of unrest, war, violence, uncertainty, change. In 1968, we lost not only Robert F. Kennedy, but the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. It was a revolutionary year for politics, music, art, and more. Emphasis '68 serves as a fascinating time capsule that allows us to better understand campus life at The University of Alabama as well as the world around us during that tumultuous time, exactly forty years ago.

(Images featured here are the cover of Emphasis '68 -- Directions: American Society at the Crossroads; a detail of the Emphasis '68 program featuring drawings of then SGA President Don Siegelman, and Emphasis '68 co-chairs Redding Pitt and Ken Rogers, and page 146 of the 1969 Corolla which features information about the Emphasis '68 program. All this and more is available as part of our digital collections at University Libraries. All original items are part of holdings of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.)

Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale -- Collot's Atlas now online!

In 1796, French general and military engineer Georges Henri Victor Collot descended the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on a spying mission from the French government. Returning to France in 1800, Collot died in 1805.


His Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale was published in Paris in 1826, and a copy of the atlas is part of the Hoole Library's Rare Books collection. We have digitized the atlas in its entirity and it is available online as part of our digital collections. Pictured here are the title page and two plates from the book, one featuring a typical log cabin observed by Collot, and a map of the sources of Mobile Bay and the Yazoo River.