The Special Collections Christmas Selections

                Tis the season, everyone!  Can’t you feel it in the air?  The crying students furiously searching for books and typing their papers here in the library, all with matching Java City cups…yes, finals season is truly the most magical time of the year.

                Jokes aside, here in Special Collections we want to get into the holiday spirit, and perhaps you too would like a breather from those five tests you have coming up.  So I went searching through our collections and found an eclectic array of Christmas-themed books and items that I think are definitely worth checking out.  So without further ado, I present to you “The Special Collections Christmas Selections”!

Rare Home Movie From the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers Has Been Preserved

We are pleased to share with the world a piece of history that was in danger of being lost forever.  “Home movie: Travel scenes in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, circa 1959” is an amateur film/home movie from the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers that Donna Guerra, our former Project Archivist, had the foresight to protect.  She successfully acquired a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to send the film to Colorlab for preservation.  The film is now available for anyone to watch streaming online.

This silent 16mm film, shot in the late 1950s, is one of three home movies that we are fortunate to have in the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers. Thanks go to Donna Guerra for all her hard work in making this film available to the public and preserving it for future generations!

Donna Guerra has enumerated a number of reasons why this is an important film to preserve and I include them, in her words, below:

• “Although other areas of the United States have 16mm films available that reflect African American life in the 1950s, I have not been able to locate such films by amateur or non-professional African American persons from the Southwest United States. Therefore, the relative dearth of access to such films, both regionally and locally in San Antonio, makes preservation of and access to our film of critical importance.  One local repository at the University of Texas at San Antonio holds a small quantity of archival materials created by local African Americans.  However, the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers stand alone as the most single and substantial (100 cubic feet) African American collection in San Antonio.  In addition, the two films already digitized are the only 16mm films created by African Americans from San Antonio in the 1950s that are available on the world wide web.  And further, preservation of this film would complement the two digitized films to which we already provide world wide web access.”
•  “One of the main contexts of the film is that it provides evidence that African Americans engaged in international travel, and that the impetus for this particular travel was faith-based.  Reverend Black was very involved with various local, regional, and national Baptist organizations.  Reverend and ZerNona Black, along with other United States attendees, were part of a Baptist World Alliance (BWA) travel group.  The BWA was established in 1905 in London, England, as a more liberal voice and often times has been a vocal defender of human rights.  The film provides a ground for sociopolitical considerations regarding the conditions that made it possible for African Americans to travel overseas in the 1950s.  Would travel have been made more possible as a faith-based activity, rather than for leisure alone?” 
•  “The particular portion of the film that takes place in London shows signage that reads, the ‘American League Incorporating the Coloured Peoples Benevolent Association Office,’ at 27 Red Lion Street, Holborn WCI.  There is a speaker standing, with a sign below him that says ‘Coloured Peoples Welfare’. After doing some research on the internet, in British web catalogs and in academic subscription databases, on the association names and the address, I was able to find very little.  I did find a small amount of evidence that revealed that the address of 27 Red Lion Street has historically been home to a variety of radical and socially progressive groups, including the Freedom Press, a radical bookshop and publisher… I believe the evidence of the event depicted at 27 Red Lion Street in the context of the BWA Golden Jubilee Congress holds excellent research value.”

 

•  “The rarity of African American home movies depicting work and social life, and events, puts the film in a rare category.”
•  “There is no real likelihood that the film exists in duplication anywhere, which qualifies it as rare and unique.”

We are grateful to the National Film Preservation Foundation, Colorlab, and Donna Guerra, for making it possible for us to share this rare film with you. 

Interested in Erotic Art? Holy art? Classic Literature?

Check out:

The Anatomy of a Book: A Barry Moser Exhibit

Come to our Opening Reception: October 30, 2014, 4:30-5:30pm to hear from the curator of this exhibit, view the exhibit, and enjoy refreshments. Learn what Moser means when he refers to himself as a “booksmith”. Read insightful quotes from the artist. Enjoy incredible illustrations.

Most of all, come and learn what makes a book, a book, in the hands of a master book artist.

If you can’t make it to the opening reception, stop by Special Collections and Archives (Library, Room 208) during our open hours, typically Monday-Friday 1:15-5pm (check this calendar for up to date hours: http://libguides.trinity.edu/archives) between now and April.

This exhibit is a celebration of the author, essayist, teacher, and illustrator, Barry Moser, most known for his engraved illustrations.  However, as you will see in this exhibit, he does so much more. He has completed works ranging from classic literature like The Scarlet Letter: A Romance to beloved children’s books such as Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit to religious works like the Bible.  Come and see these amazing works (among many others!) and learn the intricacies that go into designing a Barry Moser masterpiece.

This display was made possible by the generous donation of the limited-edition Pennyroyal Caxton Bible (No. 229 of 400 copies).  This was a wonderful gift of Bruce and Suzie Kovner.

--Brandi Russell, Trinity Student (Class of 2015)

Trinity During World War I

Announcing New Exhibit on Trinity and World War I

Curated by Meredith Elsik

Special Collections & Archives is marking the centennial of World War I with a two-part exhibit available on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the library.  Come learn about the general history of WWI and view numerous books about the “Great War” on the 3rd floor, part of a traveling exhibit that will be here until December. Then come down to Special Collections (on the 2nd floor) to learn about Trinity’s involvement in the First World War.  We hope it will give you an idea of what life was like for students on campus following the United States entry into the war in 1917.  Special Collections is open Monday through Friday, 1:15-5pm unless otherwise posted. 

See Special Collections current hours at http://libguides.trinity.edu/archives .

A Brief Overview of the War Years at Trinity  

Written by Meredith Elsik

Come to the exhibit to learn more!

Changes came quickly to the Trinity campus, then located in Waxahachie, Texas. Trinity students soon saw men in military uniform on campus with the War Department’s creation of the Students’ Army Training Corps. (S.A.T.C.)  Their activities outside of class also took on a patriotic flavor as they became involved in activities designed to support the war effort.

The S.A.T.C. program was designed to use colleges and universities as military training facilities, while at the same time it was hoped they would help slow down the declining enrollment of men which concerned college administrators.  Apparently the concern was such that “one visitors committee expressed the fear that Trinity might even become a school for girls”. (Everett, 83)

It also meant that money had to be spent on remodeling for housing the new S.A.T.C. unit on campus. Apparently a new shower and bath house was needed, which along with plumbing and other expenses cost almost $3000 according to the Trinity Bulletin. However, the Bulletin also reported that all claims to the government were paid and “Trinity University lost nothing in a financial way because of its service to the government.”

Just as we hear reports and concerns about the Ebola epidemic today, the 1918 influenza epidemic was also a concern on the Trinity campus during the war years.  The influenza epidemic supposedly killed an estimated 50 million people around the world, while World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives (The National Archives).  Classes on campus were cancelled and the TU Bulletin reported as many as 35 men in a local Sanitarium suffering from influenza.  Luckily, the Bulletin reported that there were no fatalities among students cared for in Waxahachie.

The War came to an end with the Armistice signed on November 11, 1918. The S.A.T.C corps was disbanded and apparently the end of military discipline brought about problems with President Samuel Hornbeak reporting that the trainees “went wild” (Brackenridge, 87).

At the first Commencement following the war, there must have been relief that the war had ended, but sadness also, as seven current or former Trinity students, who had given their lives in service to their country during the war, were honored.

If you would like more information, you might take a look at the following sources used for the exhibit and blog post.

Both the school newspaper, The Trinitonian, and the school yearbook, The Mirage, have been digitized and are available online through the following link.

http://lib.trinity.edu/lib2/dig_coll.php

Books covering the history of Trinity University:

Brackenridge, Douglas R. Trinity University: A Tale of Three Cities. San Antonio: Trinity University Press. 2004. Print

Everett, Donald E. Trinity University: A Record of One Hundred Years. San Antonio: Trinity University Press. 1968. Print.

Trinity University Bulletins – Special Collections & Archives

Sources for 1918 Influenza Epidemic:

The Influenza Epidemic of 1918:

https: //virus.stanford.edu/uda/

The National Archives. The Deadly Virus – The Influenza Epidemic of 1918

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/

Trinity Then and Now

The following post is by guest blogger Anh-Viet Dinh '15 about his project Trinity: Then and Now. The project is located at http://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/dinh1/.

The “Then and Now” project (also titled Portals to the Past) was inspired by a series of photographs found online, where photographers would superimpose their own family pictures onto the current location in the photograph. When I began taking these photographs for my beginning digital photography class in March 2012, they were assigned as a “Visual Poetry” assignment, which required us to tell a story with a series of photographs. I originally wanted to take HDR landscape photos transitioning from day to night, but while thinking about other possible photographs, I ran into the website DearPhotograph.com. This blog features hundreds (probably thousands) of photographs taken by people from all around the world, showing their historical family photographs superimposed onto the present scene. Seeing these photos is what sparked my imagination and helped me develop the idea of taking Trinity University’s historical photographs and incorporating this type of photography.

I remembered seeing photos on one of the school’s servers and went searching for potential photos to use. The only criteria I used to select the photos was if there was a significant change in scenery. The number of photos I could use were limited since many of those I found were taken from the one of the older campuses, in an ambiguous location, or in a helicopter (I’m betting aerial views would be pretty hard to superimpose...). I did eventually find the ones I would use for my very first photos, including the historical photo of the reflection pond, and the photo of cardiac hill.

Not only was I limited in what photos I could use, but my camera was clearly not suited for this type of photography! At the time, I was using a Canon t1i with an 18-55mm. The idea was to be able to have a wide enough view to see how the present scene differs from the past photograph, but with the equipment I was using, I was only able to get a limited view of the scene in one shot. Therefore, with the exception of one photograph, the final pictures that were produced were composed of 3-9 photographs each. The photo of the cactus garden behind Calvert Hall, was composed of 9 vertical pictures stitched together oh Photoshop. This method was necessary in order achieve a wide angle view of the scene, but could be achieved by simply using a wide-angle lens. After critiquing the three initial photographs submitted to my fellow students in class, one of my friends, Jane, insisted that I showed my work to her art history professor, Kathryn O’Rourke, who mentioned that she was working with Amy Roberson from Special Collections on another project and that my project could potentially be incorporated into her first-year class the following fall semester. Dr. O’Rourke forwarded some photos to me from Special Collections and ultimately virtually introduced me to Amy, who guided me through selecting even more photos from Special Collections. When I met Amy in the summer for the first time, I was shown the enormous library of photographs that Amy had, and it blew my mind. I remember when she pulled out a long drawer of cards and told me to go through some of the cards to see if I liked the description of the photos. There must have been tens of thousands of cards for me to choose from! Amy had photos both in the form of reversal film, film negatives, prints, and digital collections. Before working on this project, I had no idea that Special Collections would have the amount of photos it did, let alone the different forms of photos it had. I eventually found a number of potential photographs and finished my project, launching the mini exhibit the following fall semester with the help of Dr. O’Rourke’s students. Overall, I am grateful to have been able to see a small assignment turn into a collaborative project involving so many different people that made this project a success.

We love the pieces that Anh-Viet created using our collections. Thank you!

February 4, 2014: Events to Celebrate the Opening of the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers, Ruth Taylor Recital Hall

We are greatly anticipating this coming Tuesday, February 4, 2014, for our official, celebratory opening event for the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers. Here is the information for the event.

An exhibit accompanies the event, and opens Monday, February 3, 2014 -- we will have a large video display with two silent, 16mm movies to view, as well as an audio station with a playlist to listen to a selection of sermons, music, and speeches. The exhibit is located in Special Collections and Archives, 2nd Floor, Coates Library, and will be up throughout February, Black History Month. We hope to see you here!

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March in San Antonio

San Antonio is well-known for its large scale Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March, evidence of which is found in the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers. Reverend Black himself was deeply aligned with the actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. on a national level when King was alive and locally, over the years, with the celebration of MLK. Jr. Day.
The 2014 march is on January 20, at 10 am. The City of San Antonio MLK Jr. Commission and Trinity University annual MLK Jr. Commemorative Lecture is this Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 7:30pm in Laurie Auditorium. This year, Julianne Malveaux, an economist, and noted author, will deliver the lecture. Malveaux has contributed to the public dialogue on issues of race, culture, gender, and how their economic impacts are shaping public opinion. The title of her speech is "From the War on Poverty to the War on Poor People. What Would Dr. King Say?"

Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March photo album, San Antonio, 1987

Link 

Reverend Black on stage with Rev. R.A. Callies at Martin Luther King, Jr. March, 1993

Link

Reverend Black at Martin Luther King, Jr. March, 2006 (left to right with Reverend Black, are Reverend Edward K. Maney, City Council person for District 2, Sheila D. McNeil, and Chairman of Martin Luther King Commission, Reverend Herman Price)

Link 

One of the primary persons responsible for the first MLK, Jr. Day marches was Reverend Raymond Aaron Callies (1929-2011), founder and pastor of the First Gethsemane Baptist Church on San Antonio’s Eastside. According to the Callies family, the first grassroots MLK, Jr. Day march in San Antonio took place in 1972. A brief history of the San Antonio march, written by Mario Marcel Salas included in the 2005 MLK March souvenir booklet in the collection, states that the march grew to roughly fifty people between 1978 and 1980, and included some of San Antonio’s most active civil rights community members. Salas writes:

Many of the original fifty people involved in the initial march included Rev. R.A. Callies and family, Corine Duncan, T.C. Calvert, Bettye Roberts, Rick Greene, Mario Marcel Salas, Rev. C.C. Houston, Lillian Sutton Taylor, Rev. Christopher Griffin, Vashon Byrd, Jessie Mae Hicks, Bobby Roberts, George Clark, John Stanford, John Inman, Charles Middleton, John Allen, William Boyd, and many others, including members of the local chapters of SNCC, the NAACP, and ROBBED organizations. This initial effort did not enjoy community-wide support, nor was it very popular, as many saw the work of King concluded. The march received very little press coverage, but the marchers marched in all types of weather. In the early 1990s one such march involved freezing temperatures and sleet.




The earliest MLK, Jr. Day march document in the papers is the event brochure for  MLK Day 1986, the last march before the City and the MLK Commission (formed in 1986 by Mayor Henry Cisneros) sponsored the march for the first time in 1987. Reverend Black served with the city’s MLK Commission for many years.

This post features some of the documents in the Claude and ZerNona Black papers that relate to the MLK, Jr. Day observances, and are primarily found in:  Series 7: Printed Material, Sub-Series 8: Ephemera, Folders 1 and 2, Event Brochures: Juneteenth and Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrations, spanning the years  1982-2010; and, in Series 4: Organizations, Sub-Series 6: Assorted Organizations, Conferences, and Meetings, Folder 44: Martin Luther King Commission, 1988-2010; and in various photographs and photograph albums in the collection.
-- Donna Guerra