Ancient Coins on Display
The exhibit "Coins: Heads and Tales of History" is currently on view in Special Collections on the second floor of M.D. Anderson Library. Featuring ancient Greek and Roman coins that can enlighten us about the past, the exhibit was curated by Dr. Frank Holt's history graduate students. Coins will run through Friday, December 14, 2007.
Leon Hale Exhibit Celebrates Six Decades of Writing
The new exhibit Leon Hale: A Texas Journey opens on March 1, 2007. Drawn from materials in the Leon Hale Papers, the exhibit traces the life and career of Hale, a journalist, essayist, and fiction writer best known for his folksy columns in the Houston Post and Houston Chronicle. The exhibit will be on view on the 1st and 2nd floors of M.D. Anderson Library through August 23, 2007.
Houston Public Library Exhibit: Houstonians During World War II
Photos, posters, medals, and other artifacts from World War II are on display in an exhibit on the first floor of the Julia Ideson Building of Houston Public Library in downtown Houston.
Entitled Houstonians During World War II: A Tribute to the Greatest Generation, the exhibit includes rare archival photographs, colorful propaganda posters, memorabilia from the two Navy cruisers named USS Houston, ration coupons, medals (including a Nazi German Iron Cross), and Japanese occupation currency from Java and the Philippines. Persons depicted in the exhibit include famous Houstonians George H.W. Bush and Oveta Culp Hobby.
Viewing hours for this free exhibit are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The library is at 500 McKinney, at the corner of McKinney and Smith Streets downtown. The exhibit will be on display through March 4, 2007.
A Few Spirits from… Ghosts in the Books
Did you miss seeing the recent exhibition Ghosts in the Books, held at the Museum of Printing History? You now have a second chance to learn about how the former owners of books speak to us, as described by UH faculty member and Engines of Our Ingenuity radio host Dr. John Lienhard. A small selection of works from Ghosts in the Books will be on display through February 16th, 2007 on the second floor of M.D. Anderson Library, just at the top of the staircase.
Ship of Ghosts Reading Wed., Nov. 15th
Please join the University of Houston Libraries for a reading by James D. Hornfischer, author of Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors, now available from Bantam Books. A riveting account of the story behind the library’s own Cruiser Houston Collection, Ship of Ghosts has been chosen as a Main Selection of the History Book Club and the Military Book Club, and as an Alternate Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club.
The reading and book signing will be held in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion at the M.D. Anderson Library, University of Houston, Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 6:30 pm. Attendees are also invited to enjoy the USS Houston (CA-30) exhibition on display near the Pavilion.
To reach the Library from I-45 South (coming from downtown), exit Spur 5 South (44B). Turn right at the first stoplight and take University Drive to the entrance to the University. A parking garage is on your left. M.D. Anderson Library is past the student center towards the center of campus. The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion is located on the 2nd floor, accessible from the elevator or staircase just inside the front entrance. If you need special assistance, please contact Julie Grob by e-mail at jgrob@uh.edu or by phone at 713-743-9744.
Donald Barthelme Literary Papers Finding Aid
Photograph by Jerry Bauer
The finding aid for the Donald Barthelme Literary Papers is now available on the TARO website. Special Collections acquired the collection from Marion Barthelme in 2002.
Donald Barthelme grew up in Houston, Texas, and attended the University of Houston as an undergraduate. After moving to New York City in 1962 he began regularly contributing short stories to the New Yorker, becoming well-known for his use of untraditional structures and his sense of the absurd. Barthelme would go on to publish numerous collected works, four novels, and a book for children. In 1979 he joined the faculty of the UH Creative Writing Program in Houston, eventually becoming Director, a position he held until his death in 1989. Barthelme’s Sixty Stories is considered a classic of contemporary American literature.
The Barthelme Papers include typescript drafts, galley proofs, and page proofs of Donald Barthelme’s novels, collected works, short stories, and other writings, plus collages and collage stories created by Barthelme. The collection also includes letters and cards from Barthelme’s writing friends and colleagues, and about a dozen photographs of the author.
Cruiser Houston Finding Aid Online
A guide to the Cruiser Houston Collection, an archival collection of materials related to the USS Houston (CA-30) and her crew, is now available online at TARO. The heavy cruiser, first launched in 1929, was named for the city and port of Houston. On March 1, 1942, the Houston was sunk by the Japanese in Sunda Strait following a fierce battle, and her surviving crew members were made prisoners of war. Most of them worked as slave labor on the Burma-Thai Railway, immortalized in the film Bridge on the River Kwai. Following the war, the survivors formed the USS Houston Survivors Association, as well as a companion organization for younger family members called The Next Generation.
The Cruiser Houston Collection contains over seventy boxes of photographs, correspondence, diaries, copies of the ship’s newsletter the Blue Bonnet, POW records, memorabilia, and much more. Some recent donations are not yet lised in the finding aid, but are also available for use. For assistance with the collection, please contact curator Julie Grob by e-mail at jgrob@uh.edu, or by phone at 713-743-9744. For information about the USS Houston Survivors Assocation and the Next Generation, please contact the organization directly by e-mail at ca30ng@aol.com or by phone at 512-989-0000.
USS Houston Scholarship Open to UH Students
The USS Houston Survivors Association and the Next Generation welcome applicants from the University of Houston student body for their Scholarship Program. The scholarship is open to any university undergraduate with a keen interest in the story of the USS Houston (CA-30). The scholarship amount typically ranges from $1000.00 to $1500.00.
The USS Houston (CA-30), a heavy cruiser named for the city of Houston, was both the favorite ship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet during World War II. Following the Houston’s sinking by the Japanese in 1942, her surviving crew members became prisoners-of-war. For more details, see the USS Houston (CA-30) Exhibit on the second floor of the library, the online Cruiser Houston exhibit, or the archival Cruiser Houston Collection available for use in Special Collections at M.D. Anderson Library.
Those eligible to apply include students entering the final year of high school with anticipation of going to college, as well as all college and university undergraduates up through the final year of study. Previous applicants and winners may reapply. Applicants are required to present grades and evidence of other personal attributes, and to write an essay about the crew of the USS Houston.
Applications are accepted beginning June 1 with the deadline for submission extending to November 1. Applications and specific information about applying may be obtained any time by mailing a request to:
John Keith Schwarz
2500 Clarendon Blvd Apt 121
Arlington, VA 22201
Otto Schwarz, 1923-2006
Otto C. Schwarz, founder of the USS Houston Survivors Association, died on August 3, 2006. A Seaman First Class on the heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30), Otto participated in the Battle of the Java Sea and the Battle of Sunda Strait during World War II. Along with his fellow surviving crew members, he was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese following the sinking of the ship in the Battle of Sunda Strait in March 1942. As a POW, Otto worked as slave labor on the Burma-Thai Railroad, where many Allied POWS died due to the brutal conditions.
Following the war, Otto founded the USS Houston Survivors Association as a way to maintain the bonds between his fellow shipmates. He published the Blue Bonnet newsletter for decades before declining health forced him to pass along the editorship to Val Roberts-Poss and Lin Drees. He encouraged his fellow survivors to preserve their own history, gradually building a significant collection of documents, photographs, and artifacts which the organization donated to the University of Houston Libraries in 1981. (This collection continues to grow). The story of the USS Houston (CA-30) and her crew has been preserved through the USS Houston Monument in downtown Houston, the permanent USS Houston exhibit here at the UH Libraries, and a number of books, oral histories, and documentary films.
Those of us who knew Otto will remember his incredible passion for the ship, his knowledge of almost every aspect of the ship’s history, and his drive to commemorate the lives of his fellow crew members who perished during the battle or in the POW camps. He was a man of great personal warmth, deep patriotism, and immense modesty.
Otto is survived by his wife Trudy, and his sons John and Edward.
Provocative Paperbacks on View
The new exhibit Penguins, Pulps, and Pretty Ladies: A History of Paperbacks will open on May 1, 2006 and run through the end of the fall semester on the 1st floor of the M.D. Anderson Library.
