[Letter to George Converse from Benjamin Buckingham], 1896. In this letter, Benjamin Buckingham informs George Converse of Herreshoff’s proposition to the Secretary of the Navy to build 30-knot boats.

Highlights include:

97 Texas-related oil negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie as part of the TexTreasures FY2013 grant

14 slides showing PWAP murals by Jerry Bywaters and Alexandre Hogue for the Dallas City Hall, 1934

Der Vormarsch der Flieger Abteilung 27 in der Ukraine, the 48 page portfolio, was added as a compound object

[Potrero del Llano No. 4 burning] , ca. 1914-1915, from the Manning collection.

six panoramic photographs and maps of SMU in the 1920s

116 prints by Merritt Mauzey

37 pairs of aerial images from White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas

[White Rock Lake Aerial Overview (labeled)]

The White Rock Lake Aerial Photographs, 1927 Fairchild Survey digital collection is now available online. There are 37 photographs in the collection, which were taken by Fairchild Aerial Surveys for Dr. Samuel G. Geiser. Except for an overview aerial of the lake and surrounding area taken in 1926 at an altitude of 18,000 feet, the photographs were taken from an elevation of 4800 feet in 1927 and feature many popular recreational sites and other notable areas of the lake.

The aerial survey collection is held by Southern Methodist University’s DeGolyer Library. Regional historian George Cearley identified important features in the photographs such as major roads, railways, and landmarks. In the digital collection, there are two versions of each image, labeled and unlabeled. Labeled images include George Cearley’s annotations, which appear below the image.

DeGolyer Library digital collections are part of CUL Digital Collections, which contain thousands of digitized photographs, manuscripts, imprints, and works of art held by SMU’s Central University Libraries special collections.

The White Rock Lake Aerial Photographs, 1927 Fairchild Survey is one of a growing number of Dallas aerial photograph surveys, which also include the Edwin J. Foscue Map Library’s Dallas Historic Aerial Photographs, 1930 Fairchild Survey and Dallas Aerial Photographs, 1945 USDA Survey.

About White Rock Lake

White Rock Lake, which originated as a city project, was commissioned to provide water to the growing city of Dallas. City officials began purchasing land around White Rock Creek in 1909. Winding branches of White Rock Creek are visible in Grid 02, Grid 03, and Grid 13. The dam and pump station, seen in Grid 11, Grid 12, and Grid 35, were completed in 1911. Due to drought, however, White Rock Lake did not fill up until 1914. It eventually became a popular recreational destination, but the lake was closed to swimming in 1933 when it was appropriated for use as a water source. White Rock Lake was never reopened for swimming, but the trails are still used today. Also visible in Grid 35 is the White Rock spillway, an ever-popular spot for visitors even today.

[White Rock Lake Aerial Overview (labeled)]

Source: Sally Rodriguez, Images of America, White Rock Lake, 2010, Arcadia Publishing.

Digital Collections Guidelines and Procedures

Items in Central University Library Digital Collections are digitized following the SMU Central University Libraries Digitization Guidelines and Procedures. Digital collections are created under the guidelines of the SMU CONTENTdm Guide: Framework for Building a Collection, or through specialized metadata profiles tailored for the collection.

Lockheed, Delta Air Lines, Planes & Models, 1940, by Robert Yarnall Richie

We created a new Instagram account. Please follow us on Instagram under the user name: culdigital

We created a new Tumblr account. Please follow us on Tumblr at the user name: culdigital

Highlights include:

Der Vormarsch der Flieger Abteilung 27 in der Ukraine (The advance of Flight Squadron 27 in the Ukraine),a 48-page portfolio containing 263 photographs documenting the German occupation of the Ukraine during World War I in the spring and summer of 1918

180 Texas-related oil negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie as part of the TexTreasures FY2013 grant

13 negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie for Lockheed Aircraft in Dallas, 1940

[Chinese junk], ca. 1937, by Sir Victor Sassoon

297 documents and photographs in the newly created the Edward C. Fritz Papers, 1950s-2008

53 pages from two albums from the Sir Ellice Victor Elias Sassoon papers and photographs, including the Shanghai, album, 1936-1937 and the Shanghai, album, ca. 1937

11 cards from the Baldwin Locomotive Works builder’s cards

Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad: the old reliable route to the West via Quincy, a promotional railroad pamphlet

Offizier-Korps der Flieger Abt. 27 (Officer corps of Flight Squadron 27), Spring 1918

SMU DeGolyer Library’s Der Vormarsch der Flieger Abteilung 27 in der Ukraine (The Advance of Flight Squadron 27 in the Ukraine) is now available online.  This portfolio, comprising 263 photographs mounted on 48 pages, is in effect a photo-documentary of the German occupation of and military advances through the southern Ukraine in the spring and summer of 1918. As such, it provides a rare glimpse into German military and reconnaissance maneuvers in the Eastern Front at the close of World War I.

Both the full portfolio and the 263 individual photos, scanned at a higher resolution, are available.

Gesprengte Bruecke ueber die Samara (Bombed bridge over the Samara), Spring 1918, Samara Fiver, Dnipropetrovs’ka Oblast, Ukraine

The photographs in this collection include dozens of rare aerial views; German and Russian military equipment; German and captured French aircraft; city and rural scenery; railroads, ports, bridges and infrastructure; landmarks and historic buildings; local civilians; military parades, funeral processions and burials; and soldiers, officers, and political figures.

The photographs show troops, people, and scenery in cities and towns such as Kovel, Rivene Zhytomir, Smila, Kiev, Yekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovs’k), Taganrog, Rostov-on-Don, Novocherkassk, Sevastapol, Yalta, Kerch, and more. The portfolio contains numerous aerial shots, presumably taken for reconnaissance purposes, including many photos that depict battles and/or destruction underway. Of particular interest are photographs we have identified of Kaiser Wilhelm II, General Karl Albert von Knoerzer, Generalfeldmarschal Hermann von Eichhorn, and Pavlo Skoropadsky.

Brennende Ziegelei westlich Rostow, (Burning brickyard west of Rostov), Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia, ca. May 1918

Another set of photographs in the portfolio show the take-over of Rostov-on-Don by the Germans and their allies in May 1918. One page shows photographs of the negotiations underway during the take-over. We have tentatively identified the Bolshevik negotiators, who are blind-folded, as Kliment Voroshilov, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and Sergei Syrtsov.

Bolschewistischer Panzerwagen, (Bolshevik armored train car), Chaplino, Dnipropetrovs’ka oblast, Ukraine, Spring 1918

Many images in the collection illuminate the juxtaposition between the professional and personal sides of the men in the squadron. There are 11 photographs that show Bobby, a French Bulldog, who belonged to one of the members of Flight Squadron 27. Several photographs show squadron members posing with civilians, including women, peasants, servants, and gypsies. Other photographs show an outdoor concerts and carnivals, as well as images of squadron members swimming. A number of photographs show the burials and/or funerals of various people who died during this time, including the burial of several members of Flight Squadron 27, who died in a railway collision at Oleksandriya on March 27, 1918.

The aerial photography is notable. The photographs include aerial shots of Kiev, Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovs’k), Taganrog, Novocherkassk, Yeysk, Rostov-on-Don, Bataysk, Sevastopol, and Simferpol.

DeGolyer Library digital collections are part of CUL Digital Collections, which contain thousands of digitized photographs, manuscripts, imprints, and works of art held by SMU’s Central University Libraries special collections.

[Dugan Brothers, Portrait of African-American executive], 1938, by Robert Yarnall Richie

To de Potrero del Llano, Pozo No. 4, 1910

31 photographs of the Potrero del Llano oil field camp from Folder 2, Oil Album in the Manning Texas and Mexico collection

21 works on paper by Jerry Bywaters, thanks to funds from the Texas Art Collectors Organization

17 items were uploaded or reformatted as compound objects from Alexander Gardner’s seminal 1866 work, Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War

Untitled (mural painting study) by Jerry Bywaters

22 cards from the Baldwin Locomotive Works builder’s cards

7 photographs from Photographs of Mexico by Lorenzo Becerril

100 Cantonment Burgwin Postings from Series 06, U.S. Army Continental Commands 1822-1861. Record Group 393. Orders.

]]> http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/03/01/500/feed/ 0 http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/03/01/500/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OffTheShelf-CulDigitalCollections/~3/l9nAjIIZHgQ/ http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/02/04/cul-digital-collections-january-2013/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:58:14 +0000 Cynthia Boeke http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/?p=483 Continue reading →]]>

In January 2013, CUL uploaded 346 items into our CONTENTdm collections. CUL now has approximately 30,021 published items.

Highlights include:

15 negatives of Larry Hagman from the J. Allen Hansley photographs at the Rosewood Crescent Club, 1988

30 videos from the SMU Video Archive Series producted by Central University Libraries

131 Texas-related oil negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie as part of the TexTreasures FY2013 grant

26 photographs in the Texas Instruments Records collection

12 card photographs from the Albert L. Beach photographs of Texas and Mexico

20 cards from the Baldwin Locomotive Works builder’s cards

26 prints and drawings of Texas art, including 11 drawings by Perry Nichols and
10 prints and drawings by DeForrest Judd

Encyclopadie des Landwirthschaft (Encyclopedia of Agriculture) by Edward Eisenlohr, comprising 44 pages

Ein Verlobungs – Epos des Glycerinus Bombenmeier. (Epic Poem for the Betrothal of Glycerinus and Bombenmeier.) by Edward Eisenlohr, comprising 16 pages

24 negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie, including the Lago Refinery in Aruba on the brink of World War II and King Ibn. Saud and Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia ca. 1946

Fame and fortune weekly. Stories of boys who make money. Fighting for fame or the struggles of a young author and other stories.

The horse thief, or, The maiden and Negro: a tale of the prairies. ]]> http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/02/04/cul-digital-collections-january-2013/feed/ 0 http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/02/04/cul-digital-collections-january-2013/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OffTheShelf-CulDigitalCollections/~3/CfPf_VjUJMU/ http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/2013/01/15/degolyer-library-photos-of-the-klondike-gold-rush/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:34:36 +0000 Cynthia Boeke http://blog.smu.edu/offtheshelf/?p=469 Continue reading →]]>

Str Nora at Bennett, ca. 1896-1899

Thirty-three prints from the DeGolyer Library’s Alaska, photographs accession are available on line. The photos document the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s.

Gold was originally discovered in 1896 in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Over the next 4 years an estimated 100,000 people migrated north in search of gold. Prospectors searching for gold often began their journey in Seattle and then proceeded north to the gold fields in the Yukon Territory of Canada.

The native Tlingit and Tagish tribes navigated and utilized northern trade routes known as the Chilkoot and White Pass Trails, both of which became preferred routes of the Klondikers. The arrangement of the photographs within the collection reflects major stops along the popular Chilkoot Trail and then north to White Horse.

Ho! For the Atlin Gold Fields.

The Chilkoot Trail, a 33-mile trek from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett, British Columbia, gained popularity for its direct route and cheap rates. En route to Dyea, prospectors went through Skagway, Alaska, as seen in On The Skagway Wagon Road. During the late 1890s Skagway existed as a lawless, corrupt city dominated by a famous gangster known as Jefferson “Soapy” Smith.  However, many residents chose to stay in Skagway and provide goods and services to the Klondikers. In the photo Str Lady Lake – Skagway, prospectors are seen arriving at Kelly & Co. Druggists, a popular pharmaceutical and apothecary supplier specializing in the needs of traders and prospectors in the area.

Tram Around White Horse Rapids., ca. 1896-1899

Another stop frequented by Klondikers, Bennett, British Columbia, appears in numerous photographs within the collection. While in Bennett, prospectors made preparations for the final push towards Dawson City and the goldfields. Malnutrition and starvation were common among Klondikers due to frigid temperatures and the lack of food available on the trails. In Killing Cattle at Lake Bennett for Dawson, prospectors are seen preparing cattle, most likely for their own consumption while on the trip to the goldfields.

The remainder of the trip, over water, required prospectors to build or purchase rafts or boats in which to travel. Tents fashioned into general stores, like the one depicted in Wilson’s Store at Bennett – Aug. 1898, provided Klondikers with at least some of the needed supplies to finish their journeys to Dawson.

The Alaska, photographs are part of the U.S. West: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints digital collection, which provides a sample of the photographs, images, albums, and more, relating to the U.S. West held by SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

Tagish Post, North West Mounted Police

Sources of Information

Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike, http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/75skagway/75skagway.htm

University of Washington Digital Collections, Early Advertising of the West, http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/advert,127

The Klondike Gold Rush, http://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/goldrush.html

[Jack Kilby holding microchips and the first Cal-Tech calculator presented to Patrick E. Haggerty on March 29, 1967]

Silicon Grown Junction Transistor [original sketch by Mort Jones], 1954

First Transistor Radio, 1954

Organized in 1930 as Geophysical Service, the company was formed to provide oil exploration services using the reflection seismograph. This technology used sound waves to look deep into the earth to search for oil deposits. By decade’s end, the company’s seismic crews were engaged by the world’s largest oil companies in virtually every major oil field.

Through reorganization, the oil exploration unit became a subsidiary named Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI). In 1941, the GSI subsidiary was sold to Eugene McDermott (cofounder of Geophysical Service) and key employees J. Erik Jonsson, Cecil H. Green, and H. Bates Peacock. In 1951, the company name was changed to Texas Instruments Incorporated, and in 1953, TI obtained its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

[First TI logo], January 1951

More recent developments include three-dimensional (3D) seismic data processing technology (1975), speech synthesis chips (1978), digital signal processors (1982), quantum-effect ICs that operate at room temperature (1993), and Digital Light Processing™ (DLP™) (1995).

[Klixon-type thermostat]

The digital collection contains a sampling of major Record Groups within the physical collection. For more information on how the physical collection is arranged, please view the finding aid.

New additions to CUL Digital Collections in November 2012

In November 2012, CUL uploaded 640 items into our CONTENTdm collections. CUL now has approximately 28,940 published items.

Highlights include:

92 Texas-related oil negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie as part of the TexTreasures FY2013 grant

38 negatives by Robert Yarnall Richie, including 14 aerial views of mansions and other places in New York and 18 negatives of musicians in the Houston Symphony Orchestra from October 1940

The Cunard Express Steamer “Lusitania” pamphlet, 1906

57 early campus newspapers in the Southern Methodist University Student Newspapers collection

Photographic views of Sherman’s campaign, from negatives taken in the field, ca. 1864-1866, by George Barnard, containing 61 prints and an accompanying booklet.

33 photographs showing various scenes in Alaska and Canada during the Gold Rush of the late 1890s

Hunting journal, 1877, a 94-page document by Algernon Heber Percy and his wife

179 slides in Octavio Medellin: Works of Art and Artistic Processes

10 images from the El Paso, Texas and Paseo del Norte, Mexico photographs

59 documents in the Cantonment Burgwin Postings collection

10 cards from the Baldwin Locomotive Works builder’s cards

Shown above right: Bow view – ‘”Lusitania” from the The Cunard Express Steamer “Lusitania” booklet, 1906, uploaded this month. Shown above left: Watercolor from page 65 of Hunting Journal, 1877.

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