Written by Dan Du, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina - Charlotte (Special Collections Research Center travel grant recipient, 2023-2024)
Special Collections
Sep 2016
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September 21, 2016 -
September 8, 2016While his family was busy with operating the Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Norfolk-born Alexander Galt, Jr. (1827-1863) possessed artistic aspirations.
Jul 2016
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July 29, 2016On October 11, 1918, an 7.5 magnitude earthquake shook the homes of residents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Within minutes, the town was inundated by a large Tsunami. Destruction of buildings and homes in Mayaguez and surrounding towns was widespread. -
July 21, 2016By Ellen Cloyed, W&M Libraries Rare Books Cataloger If you like old books, look carefully at any inscription you find within – you may have a valuable treasure as well as an unexpected mystery to solve. -
July 11, 2016Just as Great Britain is on the eve of having its first woman prime minister to serve since Margaret, Lady Thatcher stepped down in 1990, Swem Library’s Special Collections received a few letters written by Nancy, Lady Astor, along with a printed image that she captioned. -
July 6, 2016Alma Mae Clarke Fontaine (1909-1999) loved the theater. As a young woman living in New Rochelle, New York, she kept scrapbooks between 1923 and 1926 to document her trips into New York City to attend the theater. These erudite scrapbooks reveal a avid but thoughtful audience member.
Jun 2016
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June 27, 2016The Panama Canal is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. In June 2016, an extensive nine year expansion to accommodate larger and deeper shipping vessels was completed. The Panama Canal is just as significant to industry and consumer savings today as it was when it first opened in 1914. -
June 15, 2016After an exchange of words with his father and an undisclosed dispute with the local sheriff, Carson J. Dale (1888-1916) abruptly left his home in Wiggins, Mississippi and headed to England to join the fight in WWI. Under the guise of being Canadian, he joined the 1/6th Gloucestershire Regiment. -
June 8, 2016In 2000, the presidential election pitted Vice-President Al Gore against George W. Bush in a contentious and mudslinging campaign season. Issues at the forefront of the campaign focused primarily on domestic topics, such as Medicare and Social Security reform, foreign policy, and taxes. -
June 1, 2016The Chapin-Horowitz Collection is my go-to treasure-trove for fun and unexpected sources on pretty much any undergraduate course topic that comes our way during the school year.