Summer Activities

Do you remember the lyrics of the song that go something like this: "Summertime, and the feeling is easy…." Nothing could be further from the truth. Gone are the days--if they ever really existed--that colleges were sleepy, deserted institutions in the summer. That is certainly not the case at UTA in the summer in general and for Special Collections in particular.

The summer of 2000 was one that will long be remembered. Special Collections once again played host to the Texas Rangers Summer Academy kids every Friday in June. As the division has done in the past, the staff worked with approximately 50 fifth graders rising (kids who had just finished the 4^th grade) each Friday, teaching them the types of information that can be gleaned from historical maps, letters, artifacts, and newspapers and how this information is relevant to their lives. The students were also visited by historical re-enactors from the Texas Living History Association—individuals like William Barret Travis, Jane Long, and Davy Crockett.

Staff has devised a number of interesting--and fun!--activities for the kids to do while they are at UTA, including a session on Texas history resources on the internet in the library classroom. The division’s participation in the institute over the past three years has been made possible by a grant from the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The division also hosted two more summer sessions with the 21 teacher-consultants who are working with the Cartographic Connections Project, a project funded by the Houston Endowment, Inc. This project’s goal is to devise ways to introduce historical maps into the classrooms across the state. The teachers, coming from all parts of the state, worked with library staff and faculty in analyzing maps and writing teaching strategies around them. Special Collections staff and university faculty are building a website based on the project.

Special Collections staff also started a series of behind-the-scenes programs for interested library staff. The purpose of these programs is to promote better understanding among all staff as to what goes on in Special Collections and why. The programs have been a hit, with the first ones focusing on historical images and archival finding aids.

What follows is a photo collage of some of the activities that took place this past summer. And who said the "living was easy"?

Special Collections staff member Donita Maligi talks about the historic photograph collection.	Two Cartographic Connections teachers, Sherri Braddock and Diana Mays, examine maps from 1875.
Jane Long discusses her role in Texas History at the Texas Rangers Summer Academy.	Kit Goodwin (right), a cartographic archivist in Special Collections, shares a thought with a teacher.

Special Collections
The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
Phone: (817) 272-3393 * Fax: (817) 272-3360 * E-mail: Reference Desk

Activities in Special Collections Heat Up in the Summer By Gerald D. Saxon

Activities in Special Collections Heat Up in the Summer
By Gerald D. Saxon