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!

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.