Tag Archives: 1890’s

Temperance to Prohibition

Posted on May 28, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Sheet music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

From 1920 to 1933, the United States was officially a “dry” nation. The 18th Amendment made the sale, production, and transportation of alcohol illegal. But the first steps toward ridding the U.S. of alcohol began in the century before, with … Continue reading →

Family Pets, part one: Cats

Posted on May 16, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Everyday Life, Photographs, Southern History | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

While our collections document some important local, national, and international history, they also chronicle the lives of individual families, giving us insight into the everyday lives of Americans over the last couple of centuries. It’s no surprise that a big … Continue reading →

Campus Rewind: Woods Hall

Posted on March 4, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Photographs, UA History | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Woods Hall has a long history on the UA campus, longer than most other buildings. Built right after the Civil War, it was still a landmark over a hundred years later, when student protests halted its demolition. It was renovated … Continue reading →

A Day in the Life: November 28

Posted on November 28, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Photographs, Scrapbooks, Sports, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On this date, through the years… * 1860. Alabama. Hugh Davis laments the political tumult of his day, which in hindsight we recognize as the prelude to Civil War. Davis writes: “Revolution. Fire. Precipitation. Slaughter. How rapidly, how fearfully the … Continue reading →

Native American Heritage Month

Posted on November 20, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Cool Collections, Foreign Language, Small Collections | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Did you know November is Native American Heritage Month? The W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library houses some really interesting collections pertaining to the Choctaw Indians living in Mississippi and Louisiana at the turn of the twentieth century. The Choctaw … Continue reading →

Small Photo Collections: Horgan Industrial photos, Birmingham, 1889

Posted on October 5, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Industrial, Photograph Albums, Small Collections | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The John Horgan, Jr. photo album contains 23 images of industrial sites around Birmingham. Taken in 1889, these images are a good example of early photography, but they can also provide a helpful context for other collections in Acumen. For … Continue reading →

Newly Online: C. H. Miller Store Records

Posted on July 12, 2011 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Business Records, Cool Collections, Newly Online | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The C H. Miller Store Records collection contains the records of a general store in Marengo County, Alabama, from 1891-1908. The collections consists of ledgers, daybooks, correspondence, and miscellaneous materials from Miller’s business. These records offer an opportunity to see … Continue reading →