Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

 

Sadie Hawkins Week - Girls Get Your Man!

The week including March 26-28, 1963 marked Sadie Hawkins Week on the Tarleton campus.  Sponsored annually by the Owls and Silver Keys social clubs, good ole Dogpatch style Sadie Hawkins week allowed girls to ask the boys for dates.  Activities included a greased pig race, tow sack race, corn husking contest, and ended with a girl ask guy Saturday night dance, with attendees sporting the usual Dogpatch attire.

Rules included – dates made prior to March 26 were null and void, girls had to ask for all dates and furnish the money - $1.50 per couple for the dance, plus the girls had to spend more money on their fellas than themselves – marriages had to follow the Leap Year tradition where the girls had to ask the guys and provide the ring.  All propositions and advances had to be made by the girls…in the form of a footrace where the unmarried gals chased the unmarried men – if caught the guys had to marry the gals.

Law and order was maintained by Sheriff Mighty Aldridge and deputies Shrimp Sewalt and Mouse Currin.  Gossip was provided by Loway Lewis.  Marrying McCoy performed the Hitchin’ Ceremony and Shotgun  Arthur persuaded the fellows if the girls were having any trouble catching them.

The decorations in the gym included hay bales for seats, a tire swing hung from the ceiling.  Dogpatch pictures and signs adorned the walls depicting the “Dogpatch Haven of Tarleton”.  A dog, some chickens and a goat were housed in a pen at one end of the gym.  The Cruisers, a dance band from Brownwood, provided the music.

Prizes were awarded.  The best “Li’ Abner” was Dr. Robert Keighton,  and the best “Daisy Mae” was Kathy Higginbotham.  Judy Hermes and Troy Kennedy won the tow sack race.  Cheryl Barton and Bonnie Lewis tied in the corn husking.  In addition, the new spring pledges to the Owls and Silver Keys were presented.

A grand time was had by all!

Grassburr, 1963.
JTAC,  March 19 and 26, 1963, April 2, 1963.

Massacre at Goliad

It was Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836.  Texas’ independence had been declared only 25 days earlier. The Battle of the Alamo had occurred on Mar. 6.  On Mar. 19, Col. Fannin, who had occupied Goliad, was on his way with his troops to Victoria, Texas as ordered by Gen. Sam Houston, when they were overtaken by Mexican General Urrea. Fannin eventually surrendered. His army of 400 men, made up of a few Texans but mostly volunteers from other states, were taken back to Goliad, along with another 120 previously uncaptured men who had eluded Urrea. These troops, now numbering over 500 were incarcerated in the fort at Goliad.  Urrea put the men to work rebuilding equipment and the fort.  While Mexican President Santa Anna had ordered that all men held at Goliad be executed, Urrea could not imagine killing such a large number of men in cold blood and 

allowed the men to continue working on rebuilding.  When Santa Anna learned that Urrea had not executed the men, Santa Anna sent word to Urrea to comply to his order to which Urrea replied with a request for clemency.  Santa Anna replied, by way of message carried by Col. Jose Portilla, to execute the men. Upon Portilla’s arrival at Goliad, he found that Urrea was away from Goliad on other business, but had sent a message to Portilla instructing him to allow the men to continue their work at the fort. Portilla, although conflicted by the widely divergent commands understood the superiority of the President’s command to Colonel’s, and moved all the men out of Goliad on the morning of March 27, 1836.  They were organized into three groups, each heading a different direction.  Santa Anna’s cruel, Napoleonic commands were about to be carried out, even though the captives, themselves, believed that they were marching to New Orleans, and would be released to return to their families.  Not far outside of Goliad, the Mexican soldiers, who flanked the volunteers on either side, ordered them (in Spanish) to kneel, then turned shooting the men at point-blank range. Only a few who were able to run away under cover of the smoke from the shooting survived. The injured, who had remained back at the fort, were carried outside and shot, or fatally wounded with sabers and bayonets.  Fannin, himself, was shot at the very last.  According to  John Crittenden Duval’s account of Goliad as taken from The Quarterly of Texas State Historical Association, 526 men died at Goliad that day, more than double the number killed at the Alamo.  One hundred and eighty-three men died at the Alamo. From Feb. 27 to Mar. 27, 1836, a total of 709 men died defending Texas against Mexico.

Resources include:

Corner, W., and Duval, B. H. (1897). John Crittenden Duval: The last survivor of the Goliad Massacre, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, 1(1), 47-67. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784850

"Goliad surrender and massacre at (March 19-27, 1836)." Encyclopedia of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. Jefferson: McFarland, 2007. Credo Reference. 10 May 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. Retrieved from:  http://www.credoreference.com/entry/mcfalamo/goliad_surrender_and_massacre_at_march_19_27_1836

Other resources available through Dick Smith Library:

Brown, G. (2000). Hesitant martyr in the Texas Revolution: James Walker Fannin. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press.

Stout, J. A. (2008). Slaughter at Goliad: The Mexican massacre of 400 Texas volunteers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.

Carradine, D., & Verklan, L. M. (2005). Massacres II [electronic resource]/produced, written, and directed by Laura Verklan. [United States]: History Channel: A&E Television Networks: [New York]: Distributed by New Video, c2005.

Top 10 Influential Women in History

Discovery has compiled a list of the top 10 influential women in history based on the following criteria:

• The women changed the opinions or actions of others.
• Their impact was international.
• Their influence was positive.
• The effects were sustained over time.
• They come from a variety of professions and geographic locations.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/top-10-most-influential-women.htm

10. Maria Montessori (1870-1952): Education Pioneer

Films on Demand video: Maria Montessori: Her Life and Legacy
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=22636&xtid=44903


9. Helena Rubinstein (1871-1965): Unexpected Entrepreneur
Madame : an intimate biography of Helena Rubinstein.
Book: Call Number TP983.A66 R86 1971 - General stacks

8. Margaret Mead (1901-1978): Tireless Anthropologist
Films on Demand video:  A Conversation with Margaret Mead—From NBC's Wisdom Series
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=22636&xtid=43390

7. Grace Hopper (1906-1992): Dedicated Computer Scientist
Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age
Ebook: https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=291790&site=eds-live

6. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954): Suffering Artist
Films on Demand video:  Frida Kahlo: Portrait of a Woman
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=22636&xtid=3191

5. Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986): Feminist Philosopher
Simone De Beauvoir, Philosophy & Feminism
Ebook: https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=74596&site=eds-live

4. Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994): Nobel Prize-winning Chemist
Article: Ferry, G. (2010). The making of an exceptional scientist. Nature, 464(7293), 1268. doi:10.1038/4641268a
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=49787330&site=eds-live

3. Gertrude Elion (1918-1999): Inspired Medical Researcher
Article: Colvin, M. (1999). Gertrude Belle Elion (1918-1999). Science, 284(5419), 1480.
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=1902417&site=eds-live

2. Doris Lessing (1919- ): Humanist Writer
Films on Demand video:  World of Ideas: Doris Lessing
https://zeus.tarleton.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=22636&xtid=32217


1. Queen Noor (1951- ): International Humanitarian
Leap of faith [sound recording] : memoirs of an unexpected life
Audiobook: Call Number DS154.52.N87 A3 2003 - Lower Level

Do you agree with their Top 10 List?
Find more information about these influential women @ Tarleton Libraries.

 

Celebrate Texas History RHRD Style

The Dick Smith Library is one of twenty four depositories in the Regional Historical Resource Depository (RHRD) program located throughout the state at academic and other institutions that meet requirements of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to house historical records of local governments. The purpose of the Regional Historical Resource Depository (RHRD) program is to collect, preserve, and make available the historic records of local governments to the public. The majority of the records have fulfilled their administrative, fiscal, and legal values and are permanent only because of their historical value. Without the RHRD program many of these records would not be publicly accessible if the local government still possessed them.

The Dick Smith Library holds records for the following counties: Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Shackelford, and Stephens Counties. The records are either microfilm or actual textual records. Records of Erath County can be found in both microfilm and textual format (sometimes both for the same record). While Coleman, Comanche, and Eastland counties are available only as textual records, Brown, Callahan, Shackelford, and Stephens counties records are on microfilm.

The different types of records, which may not be available for all time periods or counties, include tax records, probate, civil and criminal court minutes, birth and death records, deed records, marriage, naturalization, marks and brands, school records, and sheriff's jail dockets, to name a few. Records on microfilm can be borrowed using the Interlibrary Loan system. For a list of county records that are available on microfilm, see  https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/local/index.html.  For a list of institutions that hold records and what counties they hold, see, https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/local/depositories.html . For information on the microfilm and textual holdings of the Dick Smith Library and how to use them, contact either Gary Spurr, spurr@tarleton.edu, or Amanda Pape, pape@tarleton.edu.

Nutrition and More

Along with Texas and Women's History, March is also National Nutrition Month.

You can learn more about nutrition by watching the video Nutrition and Weight Management or by searching for other videos on this topic in our Films On Demand database. The Dining Services at Tarleton, known as Sodexo, also has a small display up in the library with a focus on making better food choices. Along with taking a gander at the display, you can find books on nutrition and exercise in the library by searching our database Discovery @ Tarleton or swinging by the new books area on the main floor and looking through the selection of books on nutrition and exercise that is there.

Live Well. Be Happy. Come to the Dick Smith Library!

March is...Texas History Month

Have you taken the time to commemorate Texas History Month?

Why not do so by watching The Alamo, a documentary presented by The History Channel, which is available through the Library's Films on Demand database?

Films on Demand allows our users access to thousands of high quality videos and multimedia from a number of notable channels and programs. It offers special features such as embedding and closed captioning. 

For more information, visit our website. 

Top 10 Tuesday: 12 New Audiobooks

Here, in no particular order, are ten (and a bonus two) new audiobooks recently acquired by the Dick Smith Library.  Many of these won either a Newbery Medal or an Audie Award.  You can find them on the lower level in the Audiovisual Collection.

 1. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt, call number AV-Audio PZ7 .H9156 UP 2011 - a timeless story that won the 1967 Newbery Medal.

 2. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, call number AV-Audio PS3563 .C383495 P37 2011 - a popular choice with book clubs, this is a biographical novel about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson.

 3. Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski, call number AV-Audio PZ7 .L54 ST 2011 - historical fiction about life in central Florida in the early 1900s, it won the 1946 Newbery Medal.

 4. The King's Speech by Mark Logue, call number AV-Audio DA585 .L57 L64 2011 - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration/Male, based on the Academy Award-winning film.

  5. The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf, call number AV-Audio PZ7.5 .W64 WAT 2011 - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Distinguished Achievement in Production.

6. New York to Dallas : an In Death novel by J. D. Robb, call number AV-Audio PS3568 .O243 N48 2011 - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Romance.


 7.  Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, call number AV-Audio PZ7 .G15334 DD 2011B - the 2012 Newbery Medalist.

 8.  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, call number AV-Audio PS3566 .A7756 S76 2011 - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction.


 9. Bossypants by Tina Fey, call number AV-Audio PN2287 .F4255 A3 2011 - double 2012 Audie Award Winner, for Audiobook of the Year and for Biography/Memoir.

10. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, call number AV-Audio PS3604 .I2255 L36 2011B.  this realistic fiction title is another popular choice with book clubs.

11. Feast Day of Fools by James Lee Burke, call number AV-Audio  PS3552 .U723 F43 2011 - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Mystery; set in southwest Texas.

12. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor, call number AV-Audio PZ7 .T214826 DAU 2011B - 2012 Audie Award Winner, Fantasy.

Extra! Extra! New Newspapers at the Dick Smith Library!

Photo courtesy of NS Newsflash (http://flic.kr/p/ayGkBN)

Howdy! I hope you had a fun (and maybe even restful) spring break! I wanted to take a moment and mention a few newspapers we've just added to the collection. For those of you looking to read up on current events from local counties feel free to take a gander at Cisco Press and the Glen Rose Reporter, now located on the newspaper shelves on the main floor of the library.

In the next few months we'll also begin to recive the Clifton Record, Comanche Chief, and Hood County News. I hope you enjoy the new additions! Don't forget, we have other Texas newspapers available as well, including Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Austin-American Statesman, and our very own Stephenville Empire-Tribune.

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Going…..Going…..Gone!!

Fifty years ago this month marked the groundbreaking for the new student center – what is now the Tarleton Center.  Ceremonies began with the Tarleton Texan Band playing the color song, followed by the posting of the colors.  The podium was placed in the northwest corner facing south, with chairs for eight dignitaries.  Included in the “stage” party was Tarleton President Howell, Leon Stanley, general contractor, W.E. Parrish, architect for Wyatt C. Hedrick, and other Tarleton and A & M employees.

President E.J. Howell turned the first spade of dirt with the silver shovel that was presented to him by Mr. Leon Stanley.  The engraved silver spade stated “This spade commemorates the occasion of groundbreaking on March 12, 1963 for the new Student Center, Tarleton State College, Stephenville, Texas…E.J. Howell, President; Wyatt C. Hedrick & Associates, Architects and engineers; and Leon H. Stanley, general contractor".

Before the construction began, however, the original Hunewell Bandstand had to come down, as shown in the above photos.  It was located in the construction area.  The Hunewell Bandstand was a gift from the classes of 1926, 1927, and 1928, and was built by Tarleton staff and students with rock quarried from the college farm.   

The bandstand was named for Tarleton band director and music professor Dennis Hunewell, the same faculty member who endowed Tarleton with the Hunewell Ranch that is still used today.  The Tarleton Alumni Association raised funds for the new replica of the Hunewell Bandstand it was constructed in Heritage Oaks Park in 2005. Today it is a popular venue for many events.

Have a Great Spring Break!!

Grassburr, 1963.

JTAC January 15, 1963, March 12, 1963, March 19, 1963.

Flesh out your topic with a concept map

Do you have a vague idea of your topic for a speech, paper, or other project, but aren't sure how to get started?  A concept map might be just what you need.

One of our databases, Credo Reference, has a fantastic Concept Map search tool.  It can help you visualize related concepts and find out more about a new topic.

To access it, do the following:

• Go to the library's homepage: www.tarleton.edu/library.
• Under Databases, click on the A-Z database list link.
• Under C-D, click on Credo Reference.

Once you're in the Credo Reference database, go to the top of your screen and click on Concept Map.  Then type in your topic and click SEARCH.

Click on Concept Map at the top of the page.

For example, if you do a Concept Map search for the words organic food, you get the results below.  Notice that the map is for "Organic", not "organic food."

Credo Reference concept map search for "organic food."

Each topic will open up related subtopics that can help you concentrate on one aspect of your topic.  If you hover your cursor on "Organic Produce", you'll get a short definition and a link to more information (see below).

Hover your cursor over one of the topics to get a definition and a link to more information.

 If you click on the Read more link, you'll be taken to the entry for "Organic Produce."  This page includes a lengthy explanation of the topic, links to related topics, and links that allow you to save the entry as a PDF or to email it to yourself for further reference.  At the bottom of the page is a citation helper.

Tip: The Concept Map search tool uses Flash. This means you will not be able to view it on Apple devices such as the iPod Touch and the iPad.

Morningstar Investment Research Center

On this the 8th day of March in the 196th year of the New York Stock Exchange, I thought I'd blog a little bit about the Dick Smith Library's Morningstar database. It's our #1 database to go to for NYSE information, and, if you're a Finance major, you'll definitely be using it quite often.

This database can be quite overwhelming at first, especially if you're a beginner. However, Morningstar has a very useful tab that will help you navigate the database more easily. It's too easy to just jump in too fast and too soon and find yourself lost in the middle of a ton of information that is not easily understood if you're not careful. I suggest looking at Morningstar's Help & Education tab first. They have user guides and quick guides as well as online tutorials and glossaries to help with specific investment terms. They also provide database training webinars and online courses devoted to specific areas that only take up about 10 minutes of your time and have a quiz at the end.

Morningstar provides individualized company profiles showing the status of a company's stock through the years as well as providing specific articles from financial analysts predicting a company's future and giving a heads-up as to what is going on within that company. Morningstar also rates each of these companies based on a comparison between a stock's current market price and Morningstar's assessment of that stock's fair market value. This makes it easier to choose which stocks you may or may not want to invest. It also provides comprehensive financial information on mutual funds, and it allows you to create your own Portfolio as a test-drive. So, if you just want to practice investing to get the hang of things, it allows you put together your own portfolio and track it over a certain amount of time.

Check it out if you're interested. It's located on the Library's A-Z Database page.

Pianist, Van Cliburn

 Van Cliburn, famous and extremely talented pianist, died Feb.27, 2013 at the age of 78.  Cliburn’s talents were compared to other renowned classical pianist such as Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz.  Cliburn made his home in Fort Worth, even though he could have chosen, as many artists do, to live in New York.  He was born in Shreveport in 1934, but his family moved to the east Texas town of Kilgore where he was reared.

from www.billboard.com

         Cliburn knew he wanted to be a pianist at the age of 5.  He was playing with nationally acclaimed orchestras such as the Houston Symphony by the time he was 12.  His first piano teacher was his mother.  When Cliburn was 23 years old he went to Russian to compete in the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow at a time when the cold war was at its height.  Russia intended to use the competition to show the world that it was the superior power in classical piano, however Cliburn’s performance astounded Russia and the world.  Cliburn played Tchaikovsky’s First Piano concerto, then he played Rachmaninoff’s Third.  Applause thundered through the hall.  One man remarked that Cliburn played as if Rachmaninoff had played the piece.  Cliburn was allowed to win the competition only after Khrushchev, himself, approved.  Cliburn’s talent and appreciation of the Russian people helped to bring a tentative harmony between the US and Russia.  The only ticker-tape parade held for a classical artist was thrown when Cliburn arrived in New York heralding his talent and diplomacy. His good looks, quiet manners, and Christian principals allowed this young to act as an unofficial United States ambassador.                                                                           

from welltempered.wordpress.com

Cliburn was honored with a having a National Guild of Piano Teachers competition named for him in 1958.  This competition morphed in the world-renown, international piano competition, The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which is this year celebrating its 50^th anniversary.  

          To illustrate the extent of Van Cliburn international fame, I have snipped a search done in Lexis Nexis Academic which shows the mere beginnings of the list of articles published around the world about this man.

Top 10 reasons to use Films on Demand

1. All videos include public performance rights and can be shown on campus or in the library to students, faculty, patrons, and community members.
2. About 600 new titles are added every year.
3. Videos can be searched by subject categories, which include Communication, Criminal Justice, Education, Sociology, and many more.
4. Users can create and share customized playlists.
5. Videos can be shared through permalinks, embed codes into BlackBoard, and playlists.
6. Most titles have closed captioning.
7. Videos are mobile-friendly for iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, and Android.
8. If you need help, there are several video tutorials from searching for content to editing playlists.
9. Most films have Interactive Transcripts which allow you to view the full text of the video, search within the full text, or click on any word in the transcript to jump to that exact point in the video.
10. Video contributors include: PBS, National Geographic, Royal Opera House, TED, Ken Burns, and others.   

Films On Demand is a state-of-the-art streaming video platform that can be accessed from the Library Database page: http://www.tarleton.edu/library/databases.html

Library Lovers Month Recap

Library Lovers Month went off without a hitch! We had an overwhelming response to our whiteboard question and our Twitter contest was entertaining. The library handed out buttons all month in support of Library Lovers Month as well as candy on Library Lovers Day (2/14). Library staff also focused blog posts around libraries.

February's display was focused around "What do you love to do?" We asked library stuff to answer this question and put books based on their interests in the display case. We hope you learned some great things about our staff! The library appreciates all the fantastic comments you had to say about us and looks forward to next year's Library Lovers Month!

Leave comments for this year's Library Lovers Month or suggestions for next year's celebration!