Posts filed under ‘Special Collections’
Census Research Class, February 23rd, 3-5pm.
The Emily Fowler Library will present a free Census Genealogy Research Class on February 23rd, from 3-5pm. The US Census is an invaluable resource for genealogy research and there helpful tips and tricks for navigating the forms. There are idiosyncrasies as well, which we will discuss. To register, call 940-349-6813.
US Census form
In The Weeds. 2/14/13: Quakertown Marker Dedication
The formal dedication for the new Official Texas Historic Marker for the Quakertown Community will be held this coming Saturday February 16, 2013 at 10:00a.m. at the Denton Civic Center 321 E. McKinney St. Librarian Laura Douglas was involved in writing the historic narrative as part of the marker application process and will receive a Certificate of Commendation. You may know her from visiting the Special Collections Department here at the Fowler Library.
Joseph and Alice Skinner walk along Bell Ave. with Old Main in the distant background.
We have an exhibit of photos, books and maps of Quakertown at the Emily Fowler Library running through the end February in the Special Collections department and an archive of Quakertown history available if you wish to learn more.
Also, mark your calendars for an upcoming program at the Emily Fowler Library about Quakertown on March 23 to be presented by Kim Cupit, Curator of Collections at the Courthouse On The Square Museum.
In The Weeds, 1/22/13: Christmas in Icaria
This coming Thursday, January 24th, 2013, The Denton County Courthouse Museum will present a program about a little-known part of Denton County history. Please read the following for more information:
Christmas in Icaria
a film by Daniel Garcia and Aurelio Medina
Brought to you
by the Denton County Office of History and Culture
with a short presentation on New Icaria
by Mike Cochran
at 12:15 PM, Jan. 24
in the Commissioners Courtroom -
Courthouse on the Square, 110 W. Hickory St.
The film is the work of Spanish filmmakers Daniel Garcia and Aurelio Medina, who traveled to Denton County to make a film about New Icaria, the French communist experiment which tried to settle near present day Justin, Texas in 1848. The film makers interviewed a few locals, among them, Bill Marquis of Stony, Texas and a descendant of the colonists.
Etienne Cabet, the founder of the Icarian movement in France was a visionary, communist, author, journalist and rabble rouser during the tumultuous times after the French Revolution. He envisioned a perfect world, a utopia, based on equality for all citizens, and at the height of his popularity, he had tens of thousands of followers in France. In 1848 he decided to make his utopian vision a reality and he decided to build it in Justin, Texas. What could possibly go wrong?
The film will be introduced by local historian, Mike Cochran, who will present a short lecture on the New Icarian colony and the Icarian movement.
The program will be offered Museum exhibits and lectures are free and open to the public. Handicapped parking and accessibility through the north entrance.
Free Genealogy Databases Class, 12/1/12
The Special Collections Department at the Emily Fowler Library will present a class on using the genealogy databases we subscribe to such as Ancestry.com and Family Search as well as the indexes and local history resources we have available on our homepage. The class will be held Saturday December 1st, 2012 from 3:00pm-5:00pm at the Fowler Library.
Cat-Top
With so much genealogy information being added daily to these and other databases, knowledge of efficient search strategies, techniques, and learning what each has to offer make your research faster and more enjoyable.
This class is free but registration is required. Please call (940) 349- 6814 or contact me at chuck.voellinger@cityofdenton.com to register or for more information.
In The Weeds, 11/7/12: Amelia Found at TWU
This is one of those really cool collisions between people and institutions. If you don’t mind, let me recount the story of how this happened because I think it has value in itself.
A few weeks back, Associate Professor of History at TWU Kate Landdeck contacted me about a project she is working on. I mentioned The Portal to Texas History website as a repository of the Denton Public Library photo archive. In the course of our conversation, Dr. Landdeck informed me that, in one of our photos, Amelia Earhart can be seen. While doing research for her project, she had identified one of the people in a photo entitled “Three Unidentified Women” as Amelia. Sure enough, there she is. Apparently, Ms Earhart was touring the country promoting aviation, especially for women.
Here’s one of several photos in the series of Ms Earhart at TWU:
As anyone with a collection of old photos can relate to, sometimes not everything you have has been meticulously identified and archived. It takes fresh eyes to see something that was previously unknown. Here’s the Jan 27th, 1936 Denton Record-Chronicle on her visit to TSCW (TWU): 1.27.36DRC
We are most grateful to Dr. Landdeck for indentifying Amelia for us and anyone who uses the Portal!
In The Weeds, 10/6/12: Neon Cowboys and Pink Ladies
The Denton Courthouse on the Square will host a photography exhibition of the work of local historian and former city councilmember Mike Cochran entitled “Neon Cowboys and Pink Ladies” from Oct 16th to December 31th. This is a collection of photographs of neon signs in the Southwest in the 1970′s. I’m anxious to see this because I have an “old sign” fetish myself and find it nearly impossible to pass one wherever I see one without taking a picture.
Neon Cochran
Along those lines, we have the following titles at the Denton Public Library that might whet the appetite:
In The Weeds, 9/18/12: 1862 Gainesville Hangings Commemorated
A local group comprised of professors from North Central Texas College, The Clark Family and the Texas State Hist0rical Association will present a program dedicated to the commemoration of the mass hangings of suspected Union sympathizers in Cooke and surrounding counties during the Civil War.
You can read more about the hangings here and we have a couple books available in the Special Collections Dept. here at the Fowler Library for your perusal:
Tainted Breeze by Richard B. McCaslin, professor of History at UNT and speaker at the event, and…
George Washington Diamond’s Account of The Great Hanging At Gainesville, 1862 edited by Sam Acheson and Julia Ann Hudson O’ Connell.
The event is open to the public and here is the text of the email we received:
“The Clark family would like to extend a warm invitation for you to join them on October 13, as they will now host commemorative events to honor the 150th anniversary. Several days ago, the Texas State Historical Association and North Central Texas College, deemed they would like to participate and co-partner with the Clark family in remembering Cooke County’s Civil War experience.
Remembering Our Past, Embracing Our Future
October 1862 – 2012
October marks the 150th year since the Great Hanging at Gainesville. The Clark Family in collaboration with the Texas State Historical Association and the Honors Program at North Central Texas College, invite you to join them for commemorative events, special guests and catered luncheon on
Saturday, October 13, 2012 at the Civic Center
311 S. Weaver St, Gainesville, Texas
| 8:30am – 12:30pm | Speakers – Richard McCaslin, Leon Russell,
Ron Melugin and L.D. Clark
|
| 12:30pm | Catered Luncheon by Rohmer’s Restaurant
$7.00 adult, $3.00 children under 10
|
| 3:30pm – 4:30pm | Clark Cemetery
Intersection Clark Rd and CR220 Sons of the Union Veterans-Color Guard/Rifle Ceremony
|
| 5pm | Clark-Carri Farm (1/2 mile from the cemetery)
629 Clark Rd Gainesville Hor d’ oeuvres & Bonfire
Special Guests
** New Book** – The Texas State Historical Association will unveil its newest publication, The Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862: The Accounts of Thomas Barrett and George Washington Diamond, with an Introduction by Richard McCaslin and Afterword by L.D. Clark. (Combined accounts of Barrett and Diamond )
|
RSVP – before October 5, 2012 to: NathanielClarkfamilyreunion@gmail.com or colleen.carri@gmail.com
- posted by Chuck.
Free Online Genealogy Resources Class, Sept 1st, 2012
Do you like saving money? Do you wonder if there are free websites to help with your genealogy research? The Emily Fowler Library Special Collections Dept. will present a class on Saturday Sept 1st, 2012 at 3pm that shows the researcher some useful and *free* websites that can assist you. Call 940-349-6814 to register and for more information. Oh, and the class is…free!
Free is good.
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint 8.24.12: Folkies invade NTSU!
In my research for someone unrelated in the old Denton High Bronco yearbooks circa 1962, I came across the following photo of one “Steve Fromholz”…
Bad Luck Steve
I figured it had to be the singer-songwriter because it fit the era and that name is kinda unusual. The next one is pretty sweet:
Friendly Steve
Which led my brain to vaguely remember a picture of him at NTSU. Sure enough, here he is in the 1964 Yucca yearbook with the more well-known Michael Martin Murphy singing an old appalacian tune that the Stanley Brothers recorded and Ralph Stanley made hugely popular about a decade ago thanks to the “O Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack and movie.
Wherefore Art Thous
Some kind of unbroken circle, what with the resurgence of folk-influenced music of current Denton bands such as Hares on the Mountain. The so-called “folk craze” of the early ’60s swept many a college campus but, I don’t know how many could say in retrospect that they had two very fine musicians in the making. You can read about Steve here and Michael here and about the Folk Music Club at North Texas State here.
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint 5/8/12: Pops
As many of you have already heard, Denton’s long-time blues emissary and character, Pops Carter passed away a couple weeks back at age 93. Much has been written about him over the years and it doesn’t take long to find some of it so I won’t recount his life here. You might want to check out his Facebook page and communicate with them, perhaps. I do, however, want to tell a couple personal stories and share some of Alec Williams’ pictures from the Fry Street book he and we published last year.
One of my first live music experiences in Denton was in the Fall of 1987 when my then-roommate in Bruce Hall, John Rylander, got a gig for a night playing bass with Pop’s band at the Char Hut (later the site of Jackson’s Pizza and Texas Jive- now demolished). I went to hear them and wished I could’ve been playing with them but what I remember most is how wiped out John was when he got back to our dorm room. He wasn’t a regular gigging musician at the time and was concentrating on his music composition studies, so playing several hours was a workout. Never let anyone tell you that playing blues is “easy”.
Pops at The Depot, 1983
Pops also sat in with my band on at least two occaisons- there may have been more but that was a while back. I bet most if not all musicians around here who had Pops sit in would to a man or woman tell you how his presence lit up the joint. And, if your gig was dying, as some of mine surely did, he made you feel good about what you played and could make the people like you for at least as long as he was onstage. Well, that was my experience, at least. Thanks, Pops.
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