The DJ Screw and the Rise of Houston Hip Hop exhibit has come down and Special Collections is busy prepping for the next exhibit, also related to music but from a completely different time and place.

The next exhibit, Sacra et Profana: Music in Medieval Manuscripts, encompasses the sacred music of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic peoples as well as the profane, or secular, music. It also considers manuscripts’ physical nature, their production by hand and development to print. It is scheduled to open on October 10.

The exhibit was produced in the context of a seminar taught by Dr. Judith Steinhoff entitled “Art Exhibition: Music in Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts,” which engaged the students in all aspects of the creation of an art exhibit.

For more information about the exhibit and the class’ work, visit the exhibit page. And if you missed the DJ Screw exhibit, you can still learn about it or take a look at some of the featured items in the UH Digital Library collection, DJ Screw Photographs & Memorabilia.

Watch the blog for more information about Sacra et Profana: Music in Medieval Manuscripts as October 10 approaches!

A list of locations where Mexicans were denied service, from the Alonso S. Perales files, 1940s.

The digital collection formerly called Photographs from the Alonso S. Perales Papers has been expanded and renamed Selections from the Alonso S. Perales Papers. In addition the the previous published photographs, the collection now contains documents that further highlight Perales’ life and career as a civil rights lawyer, diplomat, and political leader.

Alonso S. Perales (1898-1960) was one of the most influential Mexican Americans of his time.  Perales saw himself as a defender of la raza, or race, especially battling charges that Mexicans and Latin Americans were inferior and a social problem. Perales was one of the founders of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in 1929 and helped write LULAC’s constitution, and he served as the organization’s second president.

Alonso S. Perales

An intellectual who firmly believed in the law, Perales wrote about civil rights, religion and racial discrimination, which he argued “had the approval of the majority.” His work included the pamphlet “Are We Good Neighbors?” and the two-volume set, “En defense de mi raza.” A member of the American Legion and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Perales was also a columnist for “La Prensa” and other Spanish-language newspapers.

View the complete collection in the UH Digital Library, or learn more about the conference that accompanied the release of the original digital collection, In Defense of My People: Alonso S. Perales and the Development of Mexican-American Public Intellectuals.

Special Collection’s new exhibit, DJ Screw and the Rise of Houston Hip Hop, is now open to the public in the MD Anderson Library on the University of Houston campus.

This exhibit tells the story of DJ Screw, the originator of the “chopped and screwed” genre of production, and the collective of rappers and friends known as the Screwed Up Click. While telling this story, the exhibit looks at the larger context of theindependent, entrepreneurial, and rough-edged Houston hip hop music scene.

A handful of the items in this exhibit can be viewed online in the DJ Screw Photographs & Memorabilia collection, but if you live in Houston or will be in Houston between now and September 21, a visit to see the entire exhibit is in order!

This exhibit is presented in conjunction with this week’s related conference, AWREADY! The Houston Hip Hop Conference. Even if you didn’t register for Wednesday’s panels, you can still attend two related events. The first is the Graffiti, B-Boy & B-Girl Exhibition opening reception Tuesday, and the other is the 2012 College DJ Battle Wednesday. For information about these events and the rest of the conference, visit the conference web site

If yesterday’s dose of hip hop coverage wasn’t enough, take a look (and listen) to these two interviews about the conference and exhibit.

Interview: Julie Grob, Abcdr Du Son. This interview in a French webzine contains great information about the materials in the hip hop collections, and the motivation for collecting them.

UH Moment: DJ Screw. If you missed this on the radio yesterday morning, you can listen here and read more details.

If you’d like to attend the conference next week, be sure to register today!

Two recent stories have been published about the DJ and Houston Hip Hop exhibit and upcoming conference, so take a look!

Universities explore local hip-hop culture, The Daily Cougar

Awready!: U Of H Examines Houston Rap’s Legacy, Houston Press

Friday is your last day to register for the conference, so don’t delay!

Watch this blog for more information about the exhibit next week.