Tag Archives: military

UA Army ROTC Scrapbooks

Posted on January 22, 2014 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Photographs, Scrapbooks, UA History | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Since last fall, we’ve had the opportunity to digitize a sizable set of large scrapbooks from a surprising source: the University of Alabama Army ROTC. Who knew that military men and women could be so interesting! Dating from 1953 to … Continue reading →

Symbols of liberty

Posted on December 11, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Music, Sheet music, World War I | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Wade Hall Sheet Music collection features a great deal of music from the first two decades of the 20th century, especially music related to World War I. Maybe because America took so long to enter the war, it seems … Continue reading →

Newly Online: James A. Goble Civil War diary

Posted on October 9, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Diaries and Journals, Newly Online, Southern History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sometimes our records of historical events come to us from ordinary and relatively unknown sources. All we know about James A. Goble is that he was a soldier in the First Alabama Infantry, and that while he was born in … Continue reading →

Battle of Chickamauga

Posted on September 19, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Diaries and Journals | Tagged , | 4 Comments

“…I see a hog and black sheep dead. poor things they ought to keep away from where man meets in fearful combat. it is strange that the most intelligent beings on earth endowed with reason and sense cannot settle disputes … Continue reading →

Emmett Dendy WWII Air Mission Diary

Posted on July 31, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Diaries and Journals, Newly Online, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

One of our newest collections was donated by Emmett Dendy, a ball turret gunner in World War II. In the spring of 1945, he recorded 22 air missions in an Air Force Souvenir Handybook. Below is a typical entry: This … Continue reading →

Wish You Were Here: A Century of Postcards

Posted on July 10, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Everyday Life, Foreign Language | Tagged , | Leave a comment

It’s summer, and you know what that means: prime vacation time. Our ways of traveling have changed in the last century or so, along with our means of communicating with our loved ones back home, but one thing has never … Continue reading →

The Siege of Vicksburg

Posted on May 21, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Southern History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

150 years ago today, Vicksburg, Mississippi. was in between two major assaults that began a more than month-long siege of the city. What began as a conflict between Gen. Grant’s Army of Tennessee and the Confederate forces of Lt. Gen. … Continue reading →

Please Write Soon

Posted on February 6, 2013 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, World War I, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

We often think of Valentine’s Day when we think of February, but that month can be hard for people separated from their loved ones. Whether at home or abroad, soldiers have always found it difficult to be days, weeks, months … Continue reading →

The Battle of Lookout Mountain

Posted on November 21, 2011 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Civil War, Cool Collections | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

This Thursday, November 24, is not only Thanksgiving Day, but also marks the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, a major turning point in the Civil War. The defeat of General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee at … Continue reading →

Valentine J. Oldshue Papers

Posted on November 11, 2011 by kgmatheny | Posted in: Cool Collections, World War I | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Today is Veterans Day, a day in which we honor our military veterans. This day began in 1919 as Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the yearly anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1954, the day was … Continue reading →