FSU Special Collections Contributes Digital Collections to Online Portal on the Civil War

Text provided by Sammie Morris
Photographs by FSU Libraries Digital Library Center Staff

To increase access to our rare and unique collections, Special Collections collaborates with the Digital Library Center, Technical Services staff, and other libraries and archives to digitize our holdings and make them available online for research use. Recently, FSU Libraries joined several other members of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) in contributing historical documents, photographs, and publications relating to the U.S. Civil War to a new online portal, Civil War in the American South. This portal, available online at www.american-south.org, commemorates the sesquicentennial of the Civil War by providing access to primary source materials about the “War Between the States.”

Digitized materials come from numerous ASERL libraries and date from 1850 to 1865. Many of these materials have never been viewed before, outside of physical visits to library and archives reading rooms. The site includes over 3,600 digitized items and expects to hold over 5,000 items in the near future.

Materials contributed by FSU Special Collections include Civil War money issued by the U.S. Confederacy, a Civil War era diary by Captain Hugh Black, letters written by Captain Hugh Black to his wife Mary, and letters by Joseph Finegan, Samuel W. Wolcott, and Buckingham Smith concerning the war. All items are part of the holdings of FSU’s Special Collections. Take a look at our collections on the ASERL site and let us know what you think: http://american-south.org/institutions/fda/items/.

To see more digital collections from the FSU Special Collections, visit our collections online in DigiTool: http://digitool.fcla.edu/R/?LOCAL_BASE=GEN01-FSU01&pds_handle=GUEST.

To find more Civil War related collections, search our Archon finding aids database to find unpublished archival documents — http://fsuarchon.fcla.edu/  — or search the Libraries online catalog to find books and journals — http://www.lib.fsu.edu/.

Transcript of original letter from Joseph Finegan, Captain Commanding the Fernandina Volunteers, to Charles H. Macbeth, December 18, 1860. This letter was sent two days prior to South Carolina’s declaration of independence from the Union, offering Florida’s assistance in obtaining possession of the forts in Charleston Harbor, making it a significant document indicating Florida’s intent to join South Carolina in what would become the Civil War (Florida became the third state to secede from the Union on January 10, 1861). To see the original letter go to http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/lib/speccoll/fineganletter.

$5 note of Confederate currency issued in Richmond, VA; Printed by B. Duncan; Serial number #2701-1, Second Series, September 2, 1861. Note the cancellation marks (cut out triangles) along the bottom of the note.

HoTT Distinguished Lecture Series presents Gordon Campbell “The King James Bible: The Book and Its Language”

Text provided by Ben Yadon
Photographs by Ben Yadon, with special credit to Malcolm Shackelford

Gordon Campbell speaks at the event

On April 4, 2011, a crowd of about 60 was on hand in the Scholars Commons Reading Room in Florida State University’s Strozier Library to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible in 1611 and to hear Gordon Campbell deliver the 2011 History of Text Technologies (HoTT) Distinguished Lecture.

Gordon Campbell is the Professor of Renaissance Literature, University of Leicester, as well as editor of Oxford University Press’s new facsimile edition of the Bible and author of Bible: The Story of the King James Bible, 1611-2011. Professor Campbell’s wit and erudition were on display in a wide-ranging lecture that dealt with creators and creation of the King James Version, with special attention given to the choices made regarding the language of the book and the lasting effects of these choices on the English language for the subsequent four centuries. Luckily, for anyone who missed it, a video recording of Professor Campbell’s entire lecture has been archived by our friends over at FSU’s History of Text Technologies Program.

The event also served as an opportunity to showcase some of the treasures from Special Collections’ Julia Stover & Milton Washington Carothers Memorial Collection of Bibles and Rare Books. Prior to the lecture, Dr. Campbell had a private viewing of FSU Special Collections’ first edition-second printing 1611 King James Bible and the 1560 Geneva Bible. Both of these Bibles, from the impressive Carothers Collection, were also on display for the event.

This History of Text Technologies Lecture was put on by the FSU School of Library and Information Studies, the Department of English and the program in History of Text Technologies.

Women for FSU event

Text provided by Gina Woodward
Photographs by Burt Altman, Liz Johnson, Gina Woodward, and Kat Bell

Florida State University Libraries Welcomes The Women for Florida State University

On Saturday, March 19, 2011, Florida State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives and Heritage Protocol hosted the Back-Stage Pass event for the Women for Florida State University (FSU).

The Women for FSU is an organization for women who share a passion for Florida State University.  The members span multiple generations and diverse backgrounds, but they are united by the desire to support the university in whatever way they can.  Members choose their level of involvement and join in activities as their schedules permit.

Over 85 women participated in the Back-Stage Pass event. As they arrived, they were greeted by Julia Zimmerman, Dean of the University Libraries. The groups were then divided up, with half of the participants visiting Heritage Protocol while the other half visited Special Collections, then switching between locations.

Sammie Morris, Associate Dean for Special Collections and Digital Initiatives, spoke to the participants about the wide variety of rare books and manuscripts available for research in Special Collections.  Several examples from the collection were on display, including a signed copy of The Chimney Corner by Harriet Beecher Stowe, books on women’s rights, women in Southern literature, women’s efforts during World War I and World War II, and women’s education. The display included a 15^th century handwritten and illuminated manuscript created by nuns in Venice, Italy.  Additional manuscripts included letters from Helen Keller and Harriet Beecher Stowe; scrapbooks of Betty Wood McNabb, a 1930 Florida State College for Women (FSCW) alumna and pilot; and a lengthy handwritten oration on poetry delivered by Lucile Gregory at FSCW in 1911.

Dr. Christie Koontz, a faculty member in FSU’s College of Information and an expert on marketing and storytelling, served as a guest speaker at the event. Dr. Koontz read an excerpt from Lucile Gregory’s 1911 oration and talked about the serendipity of archival research, in particular how connections can be made with archival material that lead to the creation of new knowledge. The audience shared Dr. Koontz’s awe that Lucile Gregory gave her award-winning 11-page oration entirely by memory, as was the custom at FSCW at the time.

Dick Puckett, who along with Ed Franklin made up the famous Florida State University Flying Seminoles, also served as a guest speaker.  The Flying Seminoles performed in Native American costumes, and had unusual baton twirling dance routines with the Marching Chiefs and at other events.  He spoke about his memories of FSU and the personal items he has donated to Heritage Protocol, a university-wide organization dedicated to collecting and preserving FSU history.  Visitors to Heritage Protocol were able to view historical photographs of FSU and FSCW, as well as yearbooks, documents, and memorabilia.

John M. Shaw event

Childhood in Poetry books by John MacKay Shaw

On Thursday, March 17, Florida State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives hosted an event highlighting the John M. Shaw Childhood in Poetry Collection. On display were works by Robert Burns, Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne, and many others.

Over 40 people were in attendance at the event, with appetizers provided by A  La Provence. Speakers for the event included Julia Zimmerman, Dean of the FSU Libraries; Fred Standley, Professor Emeritus of FSU’s Department of English; Cathmar Prange, daughter of John M. Shaw; and James Birchfield, Curator of Rare Books at University of Kentucky Libraries.

Prior to Dr. Birchfield’s remarks, Doris Henderson, President of the St. Andrew Society of Tallahassee, presented a gift of $2,000 to benefit the Shaw Collection. John M. Shaw served as the first president of Tallahassee’s St. Andrew Society, and the Society has been a long-time supporter of the Shaw Collection.

Following his remarks, Dr. Birchfield presented to Special Collections an original handwritten poem by John Henry Eaton, Territorial Governor of Florida. This 1834 manuscript is comprised of six lines of verse composed for a young lady’s album. It will become part of the Shaw Childhood in Poetry Collection.

Available below is a selection of photos from the event. The collection will continue to be featured in the Special Collections Exhibit Room on the first floor of Strozier Library until April 15.

Maurice Sendack Collection	Various Children’s Titles
The Pied Piper of Hamelin Collection	Zilpha Underwood, Liz Johnson, and Sammie Morris of University Libraries
Doris Henderson, of the St. Andrew’s Society, examines some of the exhibit	Some of the event crowd mingles
Group preparing to enter the Special Collections Exhibit Room	The guest book
Doris Henderson speaks to the group	The group listens to one of the speakers at the Shaw event
Cathmar Prange, daughter of John Shaw, prepares to speak to the group	Cathmar Prange speaks at the exhibit
James Birchfield, Curator of Rare Books at University of Kentucky Libraries, speaks to the group	The crowd listens attentively to James Birchfield’s speech
The four speakers: Fred Standley, James Birchfield, Cathmar Prange, and Julia Zimmerman	A guest views part of the collection
Gina Woodward, Mafe Brooks, and Sammie Morris pose with the exhibit sign	Julia Zimmerman and Sammie Morris pose before the exhibit
The crowd mingles around the appetizers table