Friends Highlights

The Friends of the UTA Libraries have been in existence now for 15 years, and are committed to enhancing the resources of the Libraries at the University of Texas at Arlington. Along the way the Friends have had many memorable speakers and programs, none better than the offerings of the last two years. Meetings are followed by a reception and frequently include booksignings. Chartered in 1987, the Friends organization is a unique community partnership. Members further their awareness and appreciation of the University Libraries while contributing to the enrichment of their collections and services. The Friends continue to grow as an organization that is leaving its mark on the University and the Arlington-Fort Worth-Dallas area. To learn more about the Friends, visit http://libraries.uta.edu/friends/.

Highlights, September 1, 2000 - August 31, 2001

On September 1, 2000, the year officially began for the Friends’ 2000-2001 slate of officers, who were Charles Deur, president; Daniel Kauth, first vice president; Betty Bob Buckley, second vice president; Valerie Wright, secretary; Richard Francaviglia, treasurer; and Bansy Johnson, parliamentarian. In addition to the new officers, the membership elected Charles Duke, Mary Ellen Emery, Stephen Stillwell, jr., and Terry Wang to serve on the Advisory Council for a two-year term.

September 23, 2000. Bobbie Wygant regaled the Friends with stories of her fifty-year career as a movie reviewer and entertainment reporter with NBC-5 in Fort Worth. The title of her talk was “If I Were to Write a Book.”

October 27, 2000. Don Roberts, founder of the Fair Oaks Press in San Francisco, spoke on “Mark Twain’s Eve.” Roberts’ presentation was based on his recent publication of an expanded edition of Twain’s Diaries of Adam & Eve. Published in book form in 1997, the text was then adapted for a recorded grammy-nominated version performed by Betty Buckley and Mandy Patinkin, with narration by Walter Cronkite.

December 8, 2000. The Friends held their annual holiday program, on this occasion focusing on Casa Manana. Jan Jones, author of the book Billy Rose Presents Casa Manana, spoke on “Looking Back at Casa Manana’s History.” Denton Yockey, Casa’s executive producer, presented “The Gift of Theater.” The talented Casa Kids closed the program with “Cool Yule, a Medley of Holiday Favorites.”

February 16, 2001. The Friends welcomed Etta Hulme, editorial cartoonist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Friends also hosted the opening of an exhibit titled “Etta Hulme and Her Work: A Retrospective.” A Texas native, Hulme earned a degree in fine arts from the University of Texas at Austin. She left Texas for California and worked in the animation department at Disney studios for two years. She moved on to work in commercial art in Dallas and Midland and taught in an art school in San Antonio. Her first venture into editorial cartooning came in the 1950s, when she moved back to Texas. Hulme is one of a handful of women to cartoon full-time for a daily newspaper.

April 20, 2001. The Friends' annual business meeting and election of officers and new Advisory Council members were held before the program. Elected at the meeting were Daniel Kauth, president; Betty Bob Buckley, first vice president; Richard Francaviglia, second vice president; Dorothy Rencurrel, secretary; Mary Ellen Emery, treasurer; and Charles Deur, parliamentarian. Jenny Hudson and Allan Saxe were elected as new members of the Advisory Council. The new officers and council members took office on September 1, 2001.

After the meeting, Friends’ president Charles Deur honored two faculty members with the Friends Faculty Award. The award went to Dr. Ken Philp, professor of history, and, Dr. Vincent Apilado, chair of the Department of Finance and Real Estate.

The evening’s featured speaker was Cissy Stewart Lale, who spoke to the Friends about the prominent Fort Worth attorney and UTA Libraries’ donor “Jenkins Garrett: Renaissance Man.” Lale attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a bachelor’s of journalism degree. In 1949, she joined the staff of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and began a career at the newspaper that would span thirty-eight years. She served as woman’s editor, art writer, fashion writer, and daily columnist. She retired from the newspaper in 1987. Since retirement, Lale has devoted much of her time to researching and writing historical monographs.

July 5, 2001. Charles Deur presented the annual STAR Award to a library staff member who has had outstanding years of service and made substantial contributions to the library. The award is underwritten by the Friends and was presented to librarian Barbara Howser. The award includes a cash prize of $350.

September 1, 2000 – August 31, 2001. Membership dues or gifts in kind from Friends' members (other than through the Adopt-A-Journal program) totalled $9,615.00, and there were 283 new and renewing members for the year.

Highlights, September 1, 2001 - August 31, 2002

September 14, 2001. A favorite of the Friends, returning speaker Jane Roberts Wood spoke about her latest novel, Grace. In a funny but poignant way, she talked about how WW II affected small town America. According to Publisher’s Weekly, the novel captures the mystery of love—its joy, its sorrow, its beauty.

October 26, 2001. This program was in conjunction with a three-day conference entitled “Natural Encounters: Understanding Habitat and Society in North Texas,” sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries, UTA, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), the Cross Timbers Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Dr. Ron Tyler, executive director of the Texas State Historical Association and author of numerous books about the visual arts in Texas and the West, presented a PowerPoint production focusing on John James Audubon, who is famous for his illustrated studies of American wildlife.

October 1, 2001-December 31, 2001. Friends’ members donate $17,560 to the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Endowment to help match a $75,000 challenge grant from the King Foundation of Dallas.

December 7, 2001. Award-winning writer Neila Petrick was the guest speaker for the Friends’ special holiday program. She brought the story of pioneer Texan Jane Long to life with a look at how a cultured and educated woman helped to conquer a wilderness. Petrick recounted Long’s Christmas celebrations in early Texas and how she overcame near starvation, hostile Indians, abandonment, and life as a spy to build a life for she and her family on the frontier. Following the presentation was a festive holiday reception, which included the UTA String Quartet performing holiday music, and copies of Ms. Petrick’s book Jane Long of Texas, 1798-1880 were sold and autographed.

February 15, 2002. The Friends welcomed UTA Associate Professor of Political Science Alan Saxe. His latest book, Politics of Arlington Texas, was the topic of his presentation. Dr. Saxe shared his insights and conclusions about Arlington’s growth and leadership over the past fifty years with the Friends.

March 15, 2002. The Friends invited historian and author Ron Davis to speak about everyone’s favorite actor, John Wayne. In his presentation, Davis focused on the making of the movie The Alamo, a movie that Wayne worked hard for several years to see come to the screen. After the presentation, copies of Davis’s book Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne were sold.

April 17, 2002. At the Libraries’ Spring Reception, second vice president Richard Francaviglia presented the annual STAR Award to a library staff member who has had outstanding years of service and made substantial contributions to the library. The award is underwritten by the Friends and was presented to Jean Sherwin, who serves as stacks manager for the library. The award includes a cash prize of $350.

April 26, 2002. The Friends' annual election and business meeting were held. Friends' president Daniel Kauth conducted the election of officers and new Advisory Council members before the program. Elected at the meeting were Betty Bob Buckley, president; Richard Francaviglia, first vice president; Dorothy Rencurrel, second vice president; Mary Ellen Emery, secretary; Stephen Stillwell, jr., treasurer; and Daniel Kauth, parliamentarian. Betty Clark, Sally Gross, Brent Nicholson, and Lisann Peters were elected as new members of the Advisory Council. Two new positions were added to the council. Nathan Dillinger was added as Undergraduate Student Representative and Marcus Smith as Graduate Student Representative. The new officers and council members took office on September 1, 2002.

After the election, author and oral historian Rebecca Sharpless spoke to the Friends on “Words to the Wise: A Celebration of Women’s Oral History.” Sharpless is Director of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. She has published numerous articles focusing on women and oral history as well as a book entitled Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices: Women on Texas Cotton Farms, 1900-1940 (1999).

At the meeting, the Friends recognized and honored many of the women who have participated in the Women in Arlington Oral History Project, a project conducted by UTA and underwritten by Frank and Cynthia Hill of Arlington.

Friends’ president Daniel Kauth presented the first annual UTA Libraries Learning Partnership Award to Dr. Lorrie Hegstad, of the UTA School of Nursing, and Ms. Helen Hough, the Libraries’ Health Science Librarian. Each recipient received a plaque and a $500 stipend.

September 1, 2001 – August 31, 2002. Membership dues or gifts in kind from Friends' members (other than through the Adopt-A-Journal program) total $8,900.00. There are 297 members who joined the Friends or renewed their membership during the year.