Broadside (circa 1883) offering farmland and timberland near New Berne, N.C.
Source: Edward B. Ellis, Jr. Papers #753.4
Staff Person: Dale Sauter
Description: Original broadside (circa 1883) offering a “Rare Chance for Capitalists!” Offered for rent or lease by Mrs. Virginia Harrison of New Berne, N.C. is Camp Palmer, “one of the finest farms in Eastern North Carolina.” She also states she has “a good cotton farm” and “fine timber lands” available as well.
Posted by Dale Sauter under East Carolina Manuscript Collection, broadsides and Tags: advertising, agriculture, labor, North Carolina
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Der Bat Artist / Maurice Sendak RIP
Source: Stuart Wright Collection – Randall Jarrell Papers #1169-005.6.u
Staff Person: Jonathan Dembo
Description:
Poet Randall Jarrell collaborated on three children’s books with illustrator Maurice Sendak: Fly by Night (1976), The Animal Family (1965) and The Bat-Poet (1964). Of the three, The Bat-Poet has always been my favorite. Shortly before publication of The Bat Poet, in 1964, Sendak sent this undated letter to Jarrell. In place of a signature, Sendak signed his letter with a characteristically charming and tiny pen & ink cartoon of himself in the guise of “Der Bat Artist” flourishing his brush in hand (or foot) and about to create. The miniature drawing perfectly captures the spirit of Jarrell’s poetic hero, who, like a real human child, tale is just so eager and sweet and shy and curious, yet manages all this without being too cloying. The small bat wants to know things, and then he wants to sing, and when that doesn’t work, he begins to make up poems, trying to express himself. He sets out to explore the day world, for example, and he gets a creative crush on the vain yet talented mockingbird. Little by little, he puts his observations into words. When he received Sendak’s letter, Jarrell filed it carefully inside his copy of The Bat Poet, where it remained until Joyner Library acquired it in 2010.
This post is in honor of Maurice Sendak who died on 8 May 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut at age 83.
Posted by Jonathan Dembo under East Carolina Manuscript Collection, Format, Stuart Wright Collection, drawings (visual works), letters (correspondence) and Tags: Children's Books, Der Bat Artist, Illustrators, Maurice Sendak, poets, Randall Jarrell, Stuart Wright Collection, The Bat-Poet
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Vaisseau de 90 Canons “Le Suffren” 1829
Source: Rare Books Vault V13.F82 P37 1883 plate 48
Staff Person: Ralph Scott
Description: A vessel of 90 canons named “Le Suffren” in the French Navy in 1829. Le Suffren was named after the French Admiral Pierre Andre Suffren de Saint Tropez (1729-1788), the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez. From 1776 to 1783 Admiral Suffren fought British Naval Forces in American, European and Indian waters. In 1783 at the Battle of Culladore, Suffren forced the English admiral Sir Edward Hughes to retire, thereby preventing a re-supply fleet from reaching the colony of India. Several subsequent French naval vessels were named after Admiral Suffren: a pre-dreadnought in 1899, a heavy cruiser in 1927 and frigate class laid down in 1962. This print is from a book of reproductions of maritime models held by the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Le Suffren was laid down on 21 August 1824 and launched 27 August 1829. Renamed Le Ajax as a hulk on 8 August 1865, she was scrapped in 1874. Le Suffren displaced 4,000 tons and had a length of 60 meters and a beam of 16 meters. She was one of the largest wooden warships of her day.
Posted by Ralph Scott under Rare Book Collection, military records and Tags: Admiral Pierre Andre Suffren de Saint Tropez, Battle of Culladore, Louvre, Sir Edward Hughes
Comments: 1
Senator Sam Ervin
Source: Jack Holland Spain Papers, Manuscript Collection #1122
Staff Member: Nanette Hardison
Description: This image from 1973 is a portrait of Senator Sam J. Ervin with a written note of appreciation to Jack Spain for his service as the Senator’s administrative assistant. Senator Ervin served as a North Carolina senator from 1954 to 1974. During his career as Senator, he was instrumental in bringing about the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 and in participating in the investigation of Watergate in 1972 which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
Posted by Nanette Hardison under East Carolina Manuscript Collection, photographs and Tags: North Carolina, politics
Comments: 2
Missouri State Pension for Ex-Confederate Soldiers
Source: Carl Woodrow Thurman, Jr. Collection #15.1.a
Staff Person: Jonathan Dembo
Description: James T. Thurman, aged 72, and still suffering from a Civil War wound to his thigh, “weak lungs” and a “chronic cough”, submitted this pension application, on 18 June 1913, to the Adjutant General’s Office, in Jefferson City, Missouri. After a long life of physical labor, he could do no more. His physical condition, he said, made it impossible for him “to do manual labor” any more and he needed financial assistance. Like many Confederate soldiers, Thurman was illiterate and required the assistance of Notary Public Hemmit Dale to complete the application form. His “mark” is visible between the J. and T. of his “signature.” The application is marked “approved & service papers returned” and dated 9 July 1913. Thurman’s pension application is accompanied by two documents: a “Memorandum of Service” and an Adjutant General’s certificate authenticating his Civil War service. The documents indicate that Thurman was a resident of Bloomington, Macon County, Missouri and had enlisted as a private in Company B, 5th Missouri Regiment Infantry Volunteers in Springfield, Missouri, on 11 January 1862. Thurman had previously served in Company F, 4th Regiment, 3rd Division of the Missouri National Guard.
The document may be more significant for what is doesn’t say. It doesn’t say how Thurman served honorably throughout the war until he was paroled after the surrender in April 1865. The 5th Regiment, under the command of Col. James McCown, Lt. Col. Robert S. Bevier, and Maj. Owen A. Waddell, was involved in nearly continuous combat during the war. It fought at Iuka (19 Sept. 1862) and Corinth, Mississippi (3-4 Oct. 1862), Lexington, Tennessee (18 Dec. 1862) and at Pea Ridge [Elkhorn Tavern] Arkansas (7-8 Mar. 1862), where it was part of Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen’s command. Thurman got his thigh wound from a shell fragment at Pea Ridge. It participated in the simultaneous battles of Grand Gulf (29 April, 3 May 1863) and Port Gibson, Mississippi (30 April – 1 May 1863) while defending Vicksburg. A few weeks later the regiment fought at Champion’s Hall, also known as Baker’s Creek (16 May 1863). The 5th was captured en masse, on 4 July 1863, when Vicksburg fell to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s forces and spent several months as prisoners of war. The harshness of the siege and subsequent captivity can only be guessed. Gen. Bowen never recovered from the effects and died on 13 July 1863. After an exchange of prisoners, the understrength 5th joined Brig. Gen. Francis M. Cockrell’s Brigade and was consolidated with the 3rd Regiment, and served with General John Bell Hood’s army in Tennessee (Nov. 1864-Jan. 1865) and during the Atlanta Campaign (1 May – 8 Sept. 1864) where it fought at Allatoona (5 Oct. 1864). Transferred to to the defense of Mobile (17 Mar. – 12 April 1865) it participated in the Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama (1-9 April 1865).
The 5th, which mustered 476 men in May 1862, suffered staggering casualties during the war. It lost 6 killed, 62 wounded, and 19 missing at Corinth; 4 killed, 49 wounded and 37 missing at Champion’s Hill; 20 killed and 52 wounded during the siege of Vicksburg; the combined 5th/3rd Regiment lost a total of 128 casualties (killed and wounded) during the Atlanta Campaign (18 May – 5 September 1864) alone. It lost hundreds more by disease and desertion. By the end of the war there were few left to surrender. The survivors of the bloodbath, including James T. Thurman, then faded from history.
Posted by Jonathan Dembo under East Carolina Manuscript Collection, Format, military records and Tags: 3rd Division Missouri National Guard, 3rd Missouri Regiment Infantry Volunteers (CSA), 4th Regiment Missouri National Guard, 5th Missouri Regiment Infantry Volunteers. Company B (CSA), Alabama, Arkansas, Atlanta Campaign (1864), Bevier Robert S. (Lt. Col. CSA), Bloomington Missouri, Bowen John S. (Brig. Gen. CSA), Champion's Hill Mississippi (1863), Civil War, Cockrell Francis M. (Brig. Gen. CSA), Confederate States of America, Corinth Mississippi (1862), Dale Hemmitt (Notary Public), Fort Blakely Alabama (1865), Franklin and Nashville Campaign (1864-1865), Franklin Tennessee (1864), Georgia, Grand Gulf Mississippi (1863), Grant Ulysses S. (Gen. USA), Hood John Bell (Gen. CSA), Iuka Mississippi (1862), Lexington Tennessee (1862), Macon County Missouri, McCown James (Col. CSA), Mississippi, Missouri, Missouri. Adjutant General' s Office, Mobile Alabama (1864), Notary Publics, Pea Ridge Arkansas (1862), Prisoners of War (1864), Soldiers Pensions, Springfield Missouri, Tennessee Campaign (1864), Thurman James T. (Pvt. CSA), Vicksburg Mississippi (1863), Waddell Owen A. (Maj. CSA)
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Presidential Candidate John Kennedy
My first thought when viewing this picture was about how the times have changed. This is Presidential Candidate John Kennedy riding in a motorcade on his way to an ECU rally. You would not see that today. Today important people travel in bullet proof limousines. I remember his campaign, and am saddened by what happened to him and his brother. BTW that’s a 1960 Mercury Monterey convertible that he’s riding in, and the car in front is a 1959 Cadillac (note the distinctive “fin” just to the left of center at the bottom).
Posted by harbitk under Uncategorized and Comments: 2
Children in China
Source: Ola V. Lea Papers, (East Carolina Manuscript Collection #351)
Staff Person: Lynette Lundin
Description:
Miss Ola Lea, was a native of Virginia and a Baptist missionary to China and Taiwan for thirty-seven years. In 1925 she accepted her assignment of teaching in China until the outbreak of World War II. These are photographs of children in China, in their padded winter garments.
Posted by Lynette Lundin under photographs and Tags: Children, China
Comments: 3
Rise Stevens
- Source: University Archives Yearbook Collection, 1943 (UA50-01-1943-165).
- Staff Person: Arthur Carlson
- Description: This image from the University Archives features famed opera singer Rise Stevens. Born Rise Steenberg, 11 June 1913 in New York City, she studied at the Julliard School before moving to Vienna, Austria to pursue a career in opera. In 1938, she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera where she caught the eye of Hollywood film executives who cast her in The Chocolate Soldier (1941) and Going My Way (1944). For over two decades, Stevens performed as the Met’s leading mezzo-soprano, earning top billing on many successful productions. Upon her retirement from the stage, she served as the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera Company while also serving as a coach for aspiring opera singers. This image was taken during her visit to East Carolina during World War II. Her visit provided some distraction of glitz and glamour to a student body faced with the daily specters of global war in Europe and the Pacific and examinations here on the home front.
Posted by carlsonar under University Archives, photographs and Tags: East Carolina Teachers College, Musician, Opera
Comments: 2
The New Era: Washington, N.C. Occupied March 1862
Source: North Carolina Collection (Uncataloged Rare Materials)
Staff Person: Fred W. Harrison
Description: War officially reached the port town of Washington in March 1862, with the arrival of Federal troops escorted by the gunboat Picket. According to one account, “two companies and a band marched from the wharf to the courthouse playing national aires.”
As evidenced by this rare edition of a Yankee newspaper dated June 25, 1862, and operating in Washington, Union forces quickly assumed control of business activity and general functions of the town. James H. Turner and A.W. Hahn are listed respectively as editor and printer of the paper. Found within the four pages are reports of Rhode Island’s presentation of a magnificent sword to Gen. Ambrose Burnside and a speech by Edward Stanley, Provisional Governor of North Carolina, appointed by President Lincoln. Stanley delivered an address to the citizens of the state in Washington on June 17, 1862.
Posted by harrisonf under North Carolina Collection, newspapers and Tags: Civil War
Comments: 1
Confederate States of America $100 Bond
Source: William Moore Family Papers (Manuscript Collection #596)
Staff Person: Martha Elmore
Description: As often happens in time of war, the Confederate States of America helped to finance the expenses incurred in the Civil War by issuing bonds. In this example, a $100 bond is issued on March 2, 1863 (in compliance with the February 20, 1863, Act passed by the Congress of the Confederate States), and is eligible to be paid in full with 7% interest on July 1, 1868. The certificates at the bottom could be turned in separately to receive increments of the interest payments instead of waiting until July 1, 1868, to receive all of the interest. The coupons are dated as to when they can be used. The first coupon would allow the bearer to receive $2.92 for interest due January 1, 1864. This bond resides with papers related to the William Moore family of Greene and Pitt counties, N.C.
Posted by Martha Elmore under East Carolina Manuscript Collection, financial records and Tags: Civil War, Confederate States of America
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