MISSOURI TIMES the State Historical Society of Missouri February 2011 Vol
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MISSOURI TIMES The State Historical Society of Missouri February 2011 Vol. 6, No. 4 From the President Society greatly expands digital collections, acquires four-campus Western Historical Manuscript Collection, and tightens fiscal belt On January 10 the Society announced the digital launch of six collections that placed thousands of historically significant documents, Online Photos, Art, photographs, newspapers and artworks online, Newspapers, Cartoons including over 400 artworks by Missouri’s two Pages 2-3 most famous artists, George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton; more than 13,000 editorial cartoons by Bill Mauldin, Daniel Fitzpatrick, and Tom Engelhardt; 3,500 photographs of Missouri places and people; more than 1,950 issues of the In consultation with our board, the executive St. Louis Daily Missouri Republican from the Civil director, and University of Missouri leadership, War years (1861-1865); the Columbia Missourian, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding 1908-1922; and 150 transcript and audio files of with then University President Gary Forsee, in interviews held with Missouri political leaders early January, for the Society to assume sole since 1996. management of WHMC. With best practices These collections add to materials made Gift of Hoberg Letters in mind, we will fulfill all research requests and available online in 2010, which included Page 4 information queries concerning the manuscript thousands of Civil War-era documents and collections. the Society’s award-winning journal, Missouri To faciliatate our meeting those service goals, Historical Review, from 1906 to 2001. the Society was closed to the public January 11- Digitization of collections occurred through 15, 2011, for staff members to properly arrange nearly a half-million dollars in grants from the combined services in the Research Center external funding organizations, including within the Society’s quarters. Library Services and Technology Assistance Regrettably, this consolidation of resources, grants, the National Endowment for the necessitated a reduction of our combined staffs Humanities and Library of Congress, and private Page 5 by ten positions. The current economic reality funding sources. is forcing the Society to operate on very lean As our Executive Director Gary R. Kremer resources, and the decision to eliminate staff explained, “The time has long passed since we spring positions has been most difficult. could expect researchers to travel to Columbia, Nonetheless, our digitization initiative will and we are happy to offer Missourians the ability provide improved patron service, easier and calendar to access materials from their homes, libraries, faster access to a significant portion of the Pages 6-7 schools, and offices. We have an incredibly rich historical material within our care, and even documentary and artistic heritage, and it’s time enable us to offer innovative and creative we all took greater notice of that reality.” responses to the reality of diminished state Our commitment to expanding the public’s revenues in the future. access to valuable collections comes as the The State Historical Society of Missouri Society takes over management of the Western looks forward to continuing the high level of Historical Manuscript Collection (WHMC) on professional services that users of its collections the four campuses of the University of Missouri have come to expect. system. This administrative reorganization through combining collections and services has Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., Cape Girardeau been planned for the last few months and was The Ike Skelton Papers President Page 8 announced by the University on November 10. State Historical Society News Over 400 artworks by Bingham and Benton available online Images of hundreds of works from the Society’s rich art collection are available at http://statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri.org/collections/art.php; most notably, major pieces by Missouri’s two most famous artists, George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton. Bingham’s General Order No. 11, seen left, and Watching the Cargo are available online. Also, Benton’s ten large World War II paintings, including works from the Year of Peril series, and more than two hundred original drawings illustrating Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Life on the Mississippi are accessible in digital form. Art historian and noted Benton scholar Henry Adams, who is professor of American Art at Case Western Reserve University, remarked after viewing the artworks online: “This is a marvelous resource. It’s really quite an amazing collection.” This digitization project was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library. Society contributes 100,000 newspaper pages to Chronicling America Web site In 2008 the Society was chosen to represent Missouri in the Newspapers can be accessed through the Chronicling America National Digital Newspaper Project (NDNP) with a $315,971 Web site, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, and will soon be award from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) available on the Society’s Web site. Chronicling America is jointly to fund selection and management of digitization of 100,000 sponsored by the NEH and the Library of Congress. It provides pages from historic newspapers published during the period access to information about historic newspapers and is a long- 1880-1922. term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database Society staff have completed the project and are pleased to of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select announce the online availability of seven Missouri papers: digitization of historic pages. Supported by the NEH, this rich digital resource will be permanently maintained by the Library of Columbia Missourian 1908-1922 Congress. The NEH award program will fund the contribution of Hayti Herald 1909-1922 content, eventually, from all states and territories. Jasper County News 1901-1922 In July of 2010 the Society was awarded its second NDNP Kansas City Journal 1895-1899 grant to place another 100,000 pages of Missouri newspapers Kirksville Weekly Graphic 1880-1896 online by 2012. This second project will cover the period 1836- St. Joseph Observer 1915-1922 1922 and focus on papers from communities along Missouri’s St. Louis Republic 1900-1905 three main rivers: the Mississippi, Missouri, and Osage. Daily Missouri Republican offers online coverage of the Civil War Contact the Society Over 7,800 pages of the St. Louis Daily Missouri Republican published during the E-mail American Civil War, 1861-65, are now available on the Society’s Web site: http://www. [email protected] statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri.org/collections/dailymissourirepublican.php. One of the few daily Missouri newspapers to print continuously throughout the war, the Daily Web site Missouri Republican provides researchers with important contemporary descriptions of significant shs.umsystem.edu events and profiles of Missourians who played key roles in local and national engagements. Digital images of the Daily Missouri Republican were created through a partnership among the Telephone Society, the Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Mercantile Library, and the St. Louis Public Library. Research Ctr: (573) 882-1187 This project was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions Admin Office: (573) 882-7083 of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library. In the coming months, over 23,000 newspaper pages will be digitized and made available for MISSOURI TIMES the antebellum period, 1854-60, and 9,850 additional pages will be added from the years 1860-72. is published by The State Historical Society of Missouri Editor Lynn Wolf Gentzler Assistant Editor Laura O. Wilson MISSOURI TIMES 2 Digitized Editorial Cartoon Collections bring insight More than 13,000 digital images of editorial cartoons drawn from 1917 through the 1970s have been digitized and placed online for easy access. The Society began collecting editorial cartoons in 1946, and this resource continues to grow with a current count of more than 21,000 works from cartoonists Daniel Fitzpatrick, Bill Mauldin, and Tom Engelhardt. The works reflect the attitudes and opinions of the artists and Missouri citizens from World War I, through the Great Depression, World War II, and events that shaped America’s development as a world leader and her troubles at home with social unrest and civil rights issues prevalent during the 1960s and 70s. To access the editorial cartoon collections online, go to: http:// statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri.org/collections/editorialcartoons.php This digitization effort was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library. From the Tom Engelhardt Collection, drawn for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 18, 1962, depicting the personal stories and real people involved in the statistical “unemployment rate.” Images and Photographs Move Online Over 3,500 photographs and negatives from the Society’s collections have been digitized and are available online with access provided through a keyword searchable database. Subjects cover public buildings, landscape and riverfront scenes, bridges, churches, homes, parks, county courthouses, and include numerous collections such as the Charles Treft Collection, Columbia