Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Arkansas State University Collection, 1979-2013

NEARA finding aids

This collection contains two alumni directories and five school annuals.

Bethel A.M.E. Church 150th Anniversary Souvenir Journal, 1863-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains one 150th anniversary souvenir journal.

National Society Of The Daughters Of The American Revolution (Nsdar) Records, 1901-2013

Finding aids

This collection includes lineage books of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution containing the numbers and genealogies of NSDAR members, as well as magazines presenting messages from the society's president general, articles on historical events, and news from different departments of the NSDAR. It also includes yearbooks, publications, minutes, scrapbooks, and programs for the Arkansas state chapter, as well as its regional and local ones.

Shirley Ann Barham Genealogical Collection, 1756-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains genealogical research photocopies, family research books, and maps collected by Shirley Ann Barham related to the Henry, Kugle, Almond, Houston, and Chaffin families.

Arkansas Department Of Education School District Consolidation And Annexation Records, 1937-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains records generated by the Arkansas Department of Education pertaining to the consolidation and annexation of various school districts throughout Arkansas, including court transcripts and information obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. The bulk of the material is dated 2003-2006, though it includes a 1937 study on a proposed reorganization of Arkansas' school units funded by the Works Progress Administration. Another significant portion of the material is centered around the Lake View School District (Phillips County), their 1992 lawsuit against the State of Arkansas, and ongoing consolidation issues.

Friends Of Jenkins Ferry Battlefield Records, 2000-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains reports, correspondence, email research, research notes, minutes of meetings, publications, forms, hand-outs, and newsclippings involving the Jenkins Ferry Battlefield in Grant County, Arkansas, and the Friends of Jenkins Ferry Battlefield organization.

Donald E. Grigg Papers, 1980-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains correspondence, articles, photographs, and other documents related to Donald E. Grigg's work with the Vietnam Veterans' Leadership Program.

Women's Professional Basketball Collection, 1948-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains programs, tickets, schedules, photographs, correspondence, printed ephemera, and diaries, that shed light on several Arkansas women who played professional basketball from 1948 through the 1970's. The collection also includes oral histories with Patricia Ann and Betty Lou Johnson, Leeona Eveans Overturf, Joan Rupp, and Linda Yearby.

Department Of Arkansas Heritage: Central Office Records, 2001-2013

Finding aids

This collection is comprised of various materials, including videos, pamphlets, reports, and photographic materials, from the Department of Arkansas Heritage and its agencies that promote the department, the agency, or aspects of Arkansas history, culture, and/or heritage.

Arkansas Department Of Information Systems Records, 1994-2013

Finding aids

This collection contains annual reports, strategic plans, and other agency publications from the Arkansas Department of Information Systems.

Snodgrass Family Collection, 1907-2013

Finding aids

The collection contains a scrapbook and loose material from the scrapbook consisting of newspaper clippings, commencement invitations, correspondence, programs, schedules, and medical school journals, which belonged to William A. Snodgrass. It also contains photocopies of research done on Andrew Jackson Snodgrass and other members of the Snodgrass family, and an original United Confederate Veterans certificate for Andrew Jackson Snodgrass. The collection also contains military research on WWI completed by Phillip A. Snodgrass and correspondence related to William A. Snodgrass's work as Director of the American Red Cross Hospital Unit T.

Halfway Out Of The Dark: Christmas 1863, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

A note received any day letting you know a son is gravely wounded is horrible. Receiving it on the first day of December is particularly horrible. In this month of gathering together, hearing your son is suffering can't be cheering. [excerpt]

Tarnish'd With Ashes And Soot: A Classic Poem’S Dank Corners, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The legend is striking: Clement Clarke Moore, sitting with his children on a Christmas Eve in 1822, reading them a poem he has scrawled out that day, inspired by a winter shopping trip. Little Charity and Mary were likely entranced at six and three. Clement, a one-year-old, and Emily, a newborn, likely weren’t as enrapt by the lilting rhymes.

The poem for Moore’s children found new life a year later, published in a Troy, New York newspaper. And since then, A Visit From Saint Nicholas has been embedded in our culture. [excerpt]

Realization: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Though my own musings have led me to doubt the traditional interpretation of the Battle of Gettysburg’s military importance, I still hold Gettysburg to be the greatest battle of the American Civil War, without question worthy and deserving of continued study. In order to reconcile these two points of view I pondered further, attempting to unearth other, less-thought-of reasons for the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg to the course of the American Civil War. [excerpt]

And With The Sound The Carols Drowned: Captives In Bleak December, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Christmas was coming, and a knot of officers of the 87th Pennsylvania suddenly found their December a bit brighter. Nine boxes had been sent along to the officers, packed to the brim with, "all kinds of necessaries and delicacies, such as will be conducive to our comfort and health while in our present condition." And the soldiers were pleased.

Any soldier would be pleased to have a pair of warm socks, a stack of stationary or a can of preserved vegetables from home. But these men were doubly pleased.

The letter of gratitude they wrote to the Gettysburg Compiler was …

Examination: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Gettysburg, the first three days of July, 1863. An epic clash of titans sways back and forth across the fields and hills of this small Pennsylvania town. The two armies who fought here left in their wake over fifty thousand men broken in three days of combat, and the significance of their actions to the course of the American Civil War has rarely been doubted. The Union’s victory at Gettysburg put a halt to Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North, an invasion that could have broken the Northern civilians’ will to continue prosecuting the war. The crushing repulse …

Commemoration: Reflections On The 150th, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

There is nothing quite like residing in the town of Gettysburg during the years leading up to the sesquicentennial of the great battle fought here in 1863. As a devoted student of that great internecine conflict known as the American Civil War, I had applied to Gettysburg College in 2011 with the full knowledge of what was to come only two short years in the future, and could not have been more excited for it. [excerpt]

The Legacy Of 1940: The Election Of Franklin D. Roosevelt To A Third Term, Kyle Lindsay

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

For my honors history thesis, I examined the decision of Franklin D. Roosevelt to run for a third presidential term in 1940. This decision was an important one, for no other President in American history had been elected to a third term. My research indicated that despite his personal wishes, Roosevelt believed that he had to run again in 1940 to guide the United States during the uncertain period leading up to World War II.

Houchin, W. M. (Lg 39), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Land Grant 39. Original land grant, 15 November 1871, by which Preston H. Leslie, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, granted to W.M. Houchin, W.B. Thompson, H.F. Curd, D.B. Curd, assignees of A.M. Houchin, 200 acres in Edmonson County, Kentucky.

“Home Again”: The Contrasting Experiences Of Richard D. Dunphy And Lewis A. Horton, S. Marianne Johnson, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Union veterans returning home from the war in 1865 faced a myriad of experiences and reacted to the return to civilian life in a variety of ways. Richard D. Dunphy and Lewis A. Horton, both double-arm amputee veterans of the Navy, ably demonstrate the differences in experience and reaction to the war and life afterwards. [excerpt]

Keen, Douglas, 1904-1978 (Sc 2798), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2798. Letter of Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky attorney Douglas Keen, 28 October 1929, setting out his qualifications, deploring political “mud-slinging” against him, and seeking support in his electoral campaign as the Republican nominee for County Attorney.

Bryant, David Lee, 1923-2000 (Sc 2799), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan for Manuscripts Small Collection 2799. Typescripted personal history of David Lee Bryant (1923-2000) describing his upbringing in Todd County, Kentucky, his World War II military service, his capture by the Germans and liberation by the Russian Army, his subsequent work for a wholesale grocery firm, and his wife and three sons. Includes article about Bryant published 5 February 1986 in the (Greenville, Kentucky) Leader-News, and explanatory letter of his son Gary L. Bryant, 21 November 2013.

Allen, John G., 1837?-1863 (Sc 2795), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2795. Pocket diary of John G. Allen, containing a few brief notations made while Allen was serving in the Union Army in 1862 and was encamped near Nashville; letter to his sister from camp, 24 November 1862, assuring her that he has had enough to eat; two promissory notes of Allen’s; and a summons to Allen to appear in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky Court to answer a claim for debt.

Promissory Note - Allegany County, Maryland (Sc 2797), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2797. Promissory note and bond from an unknown obligant (bottom half torn), given to John Sigler for 30 pounds, payable in grain.

Totty Family (Sc 2793), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2793. Correspondence and research materials relating to the genealogy of the Totty family of Kentucky, and related families Carter and Cosby. Includes military records, birth, marriage, will and deed records, and pedigree charts.

Account Book - Paducah, Kentucky (Sc 2796), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2796. Merchant's book of accounts for foodstuffs, animal feed, wood and drayage in the Paducah, Kentucky area.

An Evening With David Blight, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Monday evening, November 18, students from Gettysburg College got to sit down and discuss memory with Dr. David Blight from Yale University, author of the renowned work Race and Reunion. The session was conducted as an informal panel with Dr. Blight and Gettysburg College’s own Dr. Isherwood and Dr. Jordan. Dr. Blight spoke about beginning his work when memory studies was not an official field and stumbling his way headlong into working with the memory of the American Civil War. When discussing whether or not memory studies were a fad that would pass away, Blight reassured the audience that people …

Richard D. Dunphy: To Him, A War Goes On, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Although I have so far treated Richard Dunphy as a man who achieved heroism through valor and suffered greatly for it, there is another side to his character that I have not yet explored. In 1899, his wife, Catherine, accused Richard of being too irresponsible to handle his own pension money. Furthermore, she accused him of abusing his family and failing to pay his bills. To resolve this conflict, the Bureau of Pensions sent Special Examiner E. G. Hursh to Vallejo to investigate. He collected about a dozen depositions in order to evaluate the validity of these claims. Richard Dunphy …

Spicker, Maxwell Pryse, Jr., 1920-1985 (Sc 2794), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2794. Letters of Maxwell P. Spicker, Jr., to his parents in Louisville, Kentucky, written during his U.S. Army service in World War II. He writes of his training and leisure activities at Fort Riley, Kansas, Seattle, Washington and Gainesville, Texas, and confidentially to his father of his request for an overseas assignment. Includes photographs of Spicker and fellow soldiers.

Johnston, Ira J. (Sc 2792), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2792. “Memories of a WWII Veteran,” by Ira J. Johnston. Johnston recalls the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, entering the U.S. Army, basic training, his service in France and Belgium, combat on the advance through Germany, the food he ate, interacting with German civilians, a surprise meeting with his brother-in-law, his return home, the Japanese surrender, and his discharge.