What’s been going on since Amy Chen said goodbye? For one, you have two new blog managers: Chris Sawula and Kate Matheny.
Chris is Director of Research & Academic Programs for the A. S. Williams III Americana Collection. Among other things, he’s in charge of outreach and instruction for the Williams Collection, located at Gorgas Library on the 3rd floor. Kate is Reference Services & Outreach Coordinator for Special Collections. She’s holding down Amy’s old fort at Hoole Library.
While both of us are new to our positions, we’re not new to UA Libraries or to the collections we’re working with. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions about these collections or to schedule instruction sessions.
Thing number two: We have some really cool recent acquisitions we’d like to share! All of these are housed at Hoole. Stay tuned for similar updates from the Williams Collection.
Thelma O’Brien photographs and letter (MSS.4144)
The collection contains photographs, snapshots, and one letter from the estate of Thelma O’Brien of Boston, Massachusetts. Many of the photographs and snapshots are identified and include her family members. One of the snapshots is of Ms. O’Brien with two other women, one of whom she identifies as her lip reading teacher. The letter is from the assistant principal at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf recomending that Ms. O’Brien think about applying for a position at the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles, California.
Online finding aid
Thomas Harvey (T. H.) Houston papers (MSS.4145)
Collection of photographs and papers of this Alabama Methodist clergyman. Thomas Harvey Houston (1895-1967) served as pastor of serval churches across Alabama, including: Saint Paul Church in Montgomery; Sweet Home in Gadsden; Brownsville in Birmingham; and Lakeside in Huntsville.
Online finding aid
Different bands of Comanches and their probable location and population: manuscript (MSS.4147)
The collection contains the nine page manuscript by Lieutenant J. S. Stewart (CSA), describing the various bands of Comanches, indicating the tribe numbers and probable locations in Arkansas and Texas. The document most likely was written with a view to recruiting the Indians to the Confederate cause.
Online finding aid
Chauncey Leonard letter (MSS.4148)
The collection contains a letter from Chauncey Leonard, an African American U. S. Army chaplain during the Civil War, to the father of one of the soldiers at the hospital in Alexandria, Virginia.
Online finding aid
Five certificates attesting to the service of African American sailors during the Civil War (MSS.4149)
The collection contains affidavits which confirm the service of African American sailors during the Civil War. In them, white citizens of Massachusetts in good standing, swore under oath that the black person named in the document served aboard the U.S. ship listed in the capacity stated.
Online finding aid
Robert Court Fletcher World War I correspondence and dog tags (MSS.4151)
The collection contains sixteen postcards and letters from Robert C. Fletcher of Birmingham, Alabama, to his sister Fay. Fletcher’s dog tags are also included.
Online finding aid
Melton’s Bluff receipts (MSS.4150)
The collection contains six receipts concerning Andrew Jackson’s farm, Melton’s Bluff, on the Tennessee River in Alabama.
Online finding aid
Page Windham constable appointment document (MSS.4152)
The collection contains an 1818 document signed by Alabama territorial governor William W. Bibb appointing Page Windham a constable for Monroe County.
Online finding aid