Tag Archives: farming

Everyday mysteries of the archives

Posted on September 3, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Agriculture, Diaries and Journals, Letters, Small Collections, Southern History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Part of the fun of looking through archival material is solving mysteries. When we don’t know much about the provenance of the collection –when there’s only the material itself to go on –that mystery is even more challenging, but potentially more fun. … Continue reading →

Hugh Davis farm journals, 1848-1880

Posted on November 5, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Agriculture, Diaries and Journals, Southern History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hugh Davis (1811-1862) was an Alabama lawyer turned plantation owner. Being a learned man, his record books from the Beaver Bend farm are thorough and articulate, describing both day-to-day activities and overall running of farming operations, including the relationship between … Continue reading →

Doodles

Posted on March 1, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Cool Collections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Earlier this week we featured one of our newly online collections, the John Horry Dent Papers. In this collection you can find something kind of fun we sometimes come across in Special Collections… doodles! I have included images of some … Continue reading →

Newly Online: John Horry Dent Papers

Posted on February 27, 2012 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Agriculture, Cool Collections | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The John Horry Dent Papers contain three ledgers (a plantation book, a farm journal, and letter copybook) and a folder of miscellaneous letters written by John Horry Dent of Eufaula, Brabour County, Alabama, and Cave Springs, Floyd County, Georgia, dating … Continue reading →

Cotton production in the 60’s

Posted on August 19, 2011 by kgmatheny | Posted in: African-American History, Cool Collections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

One of the major forms of agriculture in the south, cotton production shaped the lives of many. The Marjory L. Smith Slide Collection contains 71 color slides taken by Marjorie in and around Hayneville (Lowndes County) Alabama in the early … Continue reading →