Special Collections in 2022: 1st Quarterly Review

The purpose of The Compass Rose is to raise awareness of Special Collections' resources and to foster the use of these resources. The blog series also reports significant new programs, initiatives, and acquisitions of Special Collections. 

This is the newest in an ongoing series spotlighting new acquisitions and reproductions of our content. For more on our previous featured material, read our previously published Quarterly Review blogs.

Special Collections is continually acquiring new materials and image reproductions of items from our collections are regularly used in new publications and by media outlets. This post reviews where and how materials from our collections are being used around the world in January, February, and March of 2022.

This rare Bird's-eye View of Downtown Dallas, promoting the State Fair of Texas, was published in 1912 by Civic Art Publicity Co. of Dallas, Texas, drawn by artists Hopkins & Motter. This piece provides a large, detailed view of the Dallas skyline, centered on the Southland Hotel and main Dallas Train Station. It also includes insets of the State Fair Grounds with portrait of Syndey Smith, the Dallas Viaduct (Houston Street Viaduct), and the Wilson & Titche-Goettinger Buildings. Company names shown include Seay-Cranfill & Co., Whilte Engraving Co., Sanger Bros, St. George Annex, Davis Hat Co. and the Oriental Hotel, plus others.

Through the generosity of UTA alumnus Dr. Jack Franke, Special Collections has been actively adding to its collections of African maps. The elaborate cartouche below at right features an Egyptian pyramid, obelisk, and sarcophagus with an indigenous African, palm tree, lion, elephant, and Ottoman scimitars, military standards, and cannons. The cartouche is seen on one of the four large sections of the map (measuring about 48 x 57 in.) by Aaron Arrowsmith, Sr., published in London in 1802. President Thomas Jefferson had an almost identical map of Africa by Arrowsmith hanging on the wall of his main house at Monticello in Virginia. Below at left are four colorful engraved city or town views on one sheet of paper that were originally part of the popular multi-volume Civitates Orbis Terrarum or Cities of the World published by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg in Frankfurt am Main between 1582 and 1617. The views include, clockwise from top: Calcutta, India, Mina (Elmina, in present Ghana in West Africa), Cananor (Kannur, India), and Ormus (Ormuz on the Persian Gulf). All views ultimately derived from earlier Portuguese sketches and represent ports frequented by Portuguese traders.

In an ongoing effort to increase diversity and representation in our collections, Special Collections has received funding by the Dean of the Libraries to acquire materials that document the lives of people of color in Texas. These recent purchases include a booklet on the history of African American life in Travis County, Texas produced in 1940 by history students at the HBCU Samuel Huston College, as well as an official souvenir program to the annual convention of the National Negro Business League in 1938.

These newly acquired National Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Tournament Programs span 1977-2014. Wheelchair basketball for women emerged in the mid-1960's. In 1968, a U.S. team competed alongside U.S. men in the Paralympic Games in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since only a men’s division existed in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) at that time, the few women who played in the U.S. competed on teams consisting primarily of men. As of 1970, only one team had been formed, the University of Illinois "Ms. Kids." In 1977, a proposal to create a Women’s Division was submitted to and subsequently approved by the NWBA delegates.

This collection includes numerous original copies and photocopies of several different student newspapers published across the UTA campus from the 1920s-1970s; among these are copies of The Ex-Press and The Free University Press newspapers. The Ex-Press newspaper is described as "a periodical published privately by Lloyd Clark for the ex-students and associates of North Texas Agricultural College [now UTA], Arlington." The editions of Ex-Press included in this collection span 1944-1948. The Free University Press was published by UTA students and in one of its first editions described itself as "an experiment," calling for article submissions from students, faculty members, administrators, and interested members of the community. Their stated goal was to "open up lines of communication and stimulate an interest in the educational processes of the university." Dr. Allan Saxe, longtime political science professor at UTA, was among the first to publish in The Free University Press. The editions of The Free University Press included in this collection span 1970-1971.

This collection contains pamphlets, maps, and ephemera (labor agreements, training materials, postcards, stationary, promotional literature) mostly from American Airlines but also Pan American-Grace Airways, Braniff Airways, and Piedmont Airlines. The American Airlines system map, pictured below, is dated January 1938. There is also an illustration of the Boeing 707 seen below, which was first introduced in 1958 with Pan American World Airways and was later used by American Airlines. The Boeing 707 was the first jet designated exclusively for presidential use and was also used to carry the body of John F. Kennedy after he was assassinated back to the Washington, D.C. area.

TARO (Texas Archival Resources Online) makes descriptions, or "finding aids," of the rich archival collections in repositories across the state available to the public. Finding aids assist users in locating information in our collections and serve as a descriptive guide to the unique materials only available here in Special Collections. Here are our most recent finding aid uploads to TARO:

• Ditto Family Papers (AR702)
• Shirley Sue Smith Papers (AR743)
• John W. Carpenter Papers (AR754) 
  • John W. Carpenter (1881-1959) was a prominent Dallas businessman, civic leader, agriculturalist, and industrialist that inspired tremendous growth throughout Texas and the Southwest in the 20th century. His papers include personal correspondence and records of his business interests as well as material related to his involvement with the Trinity Improvement Association, Big Bend National Park, Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Texas State Fair, and a multitude of other organizations. 
• Pinkie J. Harris Papers (AR761)
  • The Pinkie J. Harris Papers is an engaging collection that offers a rare and intimate insight into the lives of Black Texans from many different perspectives and experiences. 
• University of Texas at Arlington. Self Studies (AR781)
• Gordon McGinnis Papers (AR784)
  • Gordon McGinnis (1919-2002) served as a Sergeant of Company B 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion during World War II. The Gordon McGinnis Papers are composed primarily of military records, photographs, and personal correspondence between 1942 and 1945.  
• Margarita Rosales Photograph Album (AR785)
• UTA Women's and Gender Studies Program Posters (AR789)
  • The UTA Women's and Gender Studies Program Posters consist of posters published by the program between 1997 and 2018, mostly advertising the Annual Women's History Month Lecture Series. 
• “Cadet Echos” Poster (AR791)

Materials found within Special Collections’ holdings have been used across a wide variety of outlets, including (but not limited to) features in local news stories, on television shows, printed in publications, and used in public exhibitions. Below are some examples of where and how our materials have been used this quarter.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram collection, which came in increments to UTA Libraries from 1984 to 1999, is often used in a variety of news articles and columns published by the original donor, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. This quarter, the Star-Telegram used photographs from the collection for nine stories: 

• “The celebration of New Year’s babies in Fort Worth wasn’t just about human births,” January 1, 2022 by Carol Roark
• “This amateur Fort Worth golfer was a world champion. His ‘handicap’ will surprise you,” January 6, 2022 by Mike Nichols 
• “The real story of the Fort Worth marshal played by Billy Bob Thornton in ’1883’ series,” January 7, 2022 by Mike Nichols
• “PHOTO ARCHIVES: Fort Worth Stock Show Scenes, 1930s-50s,” [photo slideshow] January 15, 2022
• “PHOTOS: Downtown Fort Worth scenes, streets & skyline from 1890s to 1950s,” [photo slideshow] January 22, 2022
• “Program rewards kids for reading before kindergarten,” [photo used print article] January 31, 2022 by Isaac Windes
• “PHOTOS: Fort Worth snow, ice & winter scenes from 1880s to 1950s, from Star-Telegram,” [photo slideshow] February 2, 2022
• “This Fort Worth building is empty today. But it has a rich history as a Black nightclub,” February 5, 2022 by Carol Roark
• “It’s time to develop a plan to save and adapt all of Fort Worth’s Farrington Field,” March 12, 2022 by Carol Roark
• "Remembering Lucille Smith’s chili biscuits, Fort Worth’s legend of American soul food," March 24, 2022 by Bud Kennedy

Other local news outlets published the following stories using our collection materials: 

• Texas Monthly: “The Photo the Dallas Cowboys Never Wanted the Public To See,” December 31, 2021 by Sarah Hepola; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• The Dallas Morning News: "From the Archives" series, “Before the Stars, Dallas had the Texans: the history of the city’s first professional hockey team,” January 16, 2022 by Spencer Bevis; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• Fort Worth Magazine: “Broken and Alone” article on boxer Donald Curry (pp. 54-63) by John Henry, February 2022 print issue; images used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection 
• The Shorthorn: “How the University Center has changed over the years,” February 16, 2022 by Franceska 'Wolf' Isaly; images used from the UTA News Service Photograph Collection and UTA Photograph Collection
• WFAA, Good Morning Texas: “A Conversation with Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Opal Lee,” February 28, 2022 by Briana Castillo; image used from the Basil Clemons Photograph Collection
• UTA News: “Library Exhibit Celebrates 50 years of CONHI: ‘A Tribute to Nurses: UTA and Beyond’ connects past, present, future of nursing education,” March 4, 2022 by Neph Rivera; images used from the UTA College of Nursing Records and Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• City of Arlington: “Arlington Community Band Continues Rich Tradition with Concert Series,” March 18, 2022 by Jeremy Thomas; image used from the UTA News Service Photograph Collection
• The Shorthorn: “College of Nursing and Health Innovation celebrates 50 years,” March 25, 2022 by Steven Shaw; images used from the UTA College of Nursing Records

• Swedish Dictionary of National Biography, published by the National Archives of Sweden, January 2022; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• The Historic Fort Worth Stockyards by J’Nell Pate and Carolyn Brown, published by Texas A&M University Press in February 2022; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion article (in Dutch), published by TracesOfWar.com, March 2022; image used from the Gordon McGinnis Papers
• Rise and Shine: A Centennial Celebration by Debra W. Nyul celebrating Lily B. Clayton Elementary School’s centennial, published in March 2022; images used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• Article for Louisiana History titled “Charles Gayerré’s Civil War Adventures” by Michael Martin, published by the Louisiana Historical Association on March 15, 2022; images used from the Chase Family Papers

• Murder Under the Friday Night Lights (S1: E1), “The Cheerleader Murder,” Investigation Discovery series, aired January 4, 2022; images used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• LBJ: Triumph and Tragedy, CNN documentary series, aired February 2022; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection 
• Freed to Kill, Fox Nation documentary series produced by Robert Riggs, aired March 2022; images used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

• Exhibit titled Saddles on Parade: The Artistry of Edward Bolin, displayed at the Sid Richardson Museum, January 14-May 29, 2022; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• Exhibit titled 1883: The Journey West, displayed at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, February 11-March 20, 2022; image used from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection
• Exhibit titled A Tribute to Nurses: UTA and Beyond, displayed in UTA Special Collections, Central Library on the sixth floor, March 2022-September 2022; images used from the UTA College of Nursing Records, UTA School of Nursing Records, and the Etta Hulme Papers

Visit The Compass Rose in June for our next quarterly blog review!