In May the Russell Library opened our latest feature exhibit, Now and Then: 1973. The exhibit looks back at a pivotal year in modern American history and considers the impact of events that filled the public mind for a moment in time.

1973 was the year of the Roe v. Wade decision and the return of POWs from the war in Vietnam. It was the year President Richard Nixon proclaimed he was not a crook, even as the Watergate scandal unfolded on national television. It was the year of the Yom Kippur War, the Arab oil embargo, the launch of Skylab, and passage of the Endangered Species Act. Forty years later, history reveals 1973 to be a pivotal year in American history with a lasting legacy.

In crafting the exhibit, our outreach staff got into the habit of asking everyone who crossed our paths what they recalled about 1973. And we’d like to take this opportunity to ask you, readers of the libraries’ blog, the same question: How do you remember 1973?

We’re interested to know where you were and what were you doing in 1973. Tell us a story about your life in that year in 2-3 paragraphs, paired with a picture that you don’t mind us posting to the Russell Library’s blog site (http://www.rbrl.blogspot.com). If you’re interested in this opportunity, send an email to russlib@uga.edu. We’ll accept submissions through the end of October 2013.

Marguerite Thomas Hodgson, the daughter of Ralph Reginald Hodgson and Isabella Thomas, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English, was a member of Chi Omega sorority, and served as their advisor/treasurer for many years. The Hodgsons operated several businesses in Athens, originally beginning in 1842 as Hodgson Brothers carriage makers. They also owned the property on which the Varsity and Dairy Queen are currently located, and some of their family homes in Athens later became sorority or fraternity houses. The collection consists of biographical information, genealogy, correspondence, writings, financial papers, photographs, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, and artifacts. In addition to the Hodgson family, Marguerite Hodgson did genealogy research on other branches of her family, including the White family of White Hall, Thomas family, Richards family, and Morton family. Of special interest is the correspondence of Isabella Thomas concerning her trip to Europe in 1910.

William Buchanan Conway (1845-1920), son of  Battaile Fitzhugh Taliaferro and Cornelia Buchanan Conway, was born on Ellerslie plantation in Madison County, Virginia. In 1870 he married Julia Ellen Thomas (1848-1916), and after her death married Lee DuBose Armstrong (1858-1919). He served in Company C, 4th Virginia Cavalry. After the war he studied medicine and graduated from Washington University (Baltimore, Md.) in 1869. He was a surgeon for Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College for fifteen years and in 1891, moved to Athens and practiced medicine. The collection consists of biographical information, financial papers, scrapbooks/school books, medical notebooks, printed material, and photographs. Conway’s typed autobiography describes his life as a child on the plantation, his Civil War experiences, and his medical career. He also wrote a notebook about early medicine and remedies. The school notebook of Mamie Conway (Dr. Conway’s daughter) was begun while she was a student at the Lucy Cobb Institute and later turned into a scrapbook of clippings and mementos. Photographs include the wedding of Mamie Conway and William C. Mizelle/Mizell in 1904.

The Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library is open for research Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturday from 1pm to 5pm, with the exception of University holidays. For more information, please visit http://www.libs.uga.edu/scl or call (706) 542-7123.

With ballads and songs they learned from their father who sang for his family, traditional ballad singers Mary Lomax and Bonnie Loggins will perform a set of songs at 3 p.m. in the auditorium.  Also performing will be Bonnie’s son, Casey, and nonagenarian fiddler Roy Tench, who grew up as a neighbor to the sisters.

Lemuel Payne had a large repertoire of traditional songs that had been passed down orally through generations; he sang unaccompanied for his family in the evenings on his farm in the Mud Creek section of Habersham County.  His songs, including centuries-old British ballads, murder ballads, comic ditties, mountain lyrics, and pioneer-days hymns, have been remembered and performed by his daughters, Lomax and Loggins, who did not begin performing the songs in public until they were in their 80s.

Published by Loomis House Press and CAMSCO Music, the book documents 59 songs, ballads, and fiddle tunes, and includes two CDs with performances. The book chronicles the life of Mary Lomax and the songs she and Loggins learned while growing up in the north Georgia mountains. One commentator called it “the last great ballad collection.” The CDs feature performances by the sisters along with Casey Loggins, Pashie Towery, and Tench.

After the performance there will be a reception and an opportunity to purchase “The Mary Lomax Ballad Book” and have it signed by Rosenbaum and the performers. The program is open free to the public.

Rosenbaum is a familiar presence in the Special Collections Libraries. The retired art professor is a painter, muralist, and illustrator, as well as a collector and performer of traditional American folk music. He researched and created a mural depicting post-1900 Georgia political history for the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies gallery.

His folk music field work in the South and Midwest has resulted in over 14 documentary recordings, several of which are on Smithsonian-Folkways; he wrote and illustrated two books, Folk Visions and Voices: Traditional Music and Song in North Georgia (1983), and Shout Because You’re Free: The African American Ring Shout Tradition on the Coast of Georgia (1998), both published by the University of Georgia Press.

In 2008, Rosenbaum received the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album for “Art Of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music Documented By Art Rosenbaum.”

He has donated his field recordings to the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection.

Hull Street is closed from Baxter Street and Waddell Street from June 10 through June 14. Patrons accessing the Hull Street Deck to park should access  Hull Street from the north via Waddell Street and let the construction attendant know that they need to park in the deck. 

Below is the original construction alert issued by UGA.

UGA Construction advisory:  Lumpkin and Baxter Streets lane and road closures (Ongoing)

When: May 13, 2013 - June 13, 2013

Details: Lanes of Lumpkin and Baxter Streets adjacent to the Bolton Dining Commons construction site will be closed to traffic at various times during the period May 13 through June 13. Through traffic will be slowed, but will be maintained except for the following planned road closures: The block of Lumpkin Street adjacent to the Bolton site will be closed to all traffic on Sunday, June 2 through 5 a.m. Monday, June 3. The block of Baxter Street adjacent to the Bolton site will be closed to all traffic on Sunday, June 9 through 5 a.m. Monday, June 10. During these closures, motorists must find an alternate route.

Just as the Peabody Awards have one criterion (Excellence), so too does the screening series: Things the Peabody Awards Collection Archivist wants to watch.

Each month will be organized loosely around a theme. The theme for June is “Scary Stuff.”

June 7: “Immortal” – This is the premiere episode of a vampire/werewolf drama from the Philippines’ GMA Network from 2010. “Two individuals, Mateo and Lia, find themselves drawn to each other, unsuspecting that as they grow closer together, they are awakening the powers that are lying dormant in both of them – the same powers that will inevitably tear them apart.”

June 14: “A Night at the Movies: The Horrors Of Stephen King” – This 2011 special from TCM is a fun and insightful look into what makes a good horror movie, what makes viewers want to watch horror, and how the genre and movie making has changed over the years.”

June 21: “Deep Ocean” – From the 2007 Peabody Award-winning series “Planet Earth,” this episode scans the ocean’s vast surface and trolls its depths, revealing daytime hunters and night feeders…

June 28: “Under Our Skin: A Health Care Nightmare” – A gripping tale of microbes, medicine and money, “Under Our Skin” exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most controversial and fastest growing epidemics of our time.

Bring your lunch and join us next Friday!

For more information, contact Mary Miller, mlmiller@uga.edu or (706) 542-4789

Free and open to all.

Editor Charlotte Marshall, Milton Leathers, Gary Doster and University Archivist Emeritus Steven Brown will shed light on the forthcoming book “The Tangible Past of Athens, Georgia,” which examines Athens’ architectural history. Wednesday, June 12, 12:30,  Special Collections Libraries Building  Auditorium. For more information contact sabrown@uga.edu

Saturday, May 25 – 10:00 am to 6:00pm

Sunday, May 26 – 1:00pm to 6:00pm

Monday, May 27 – Libraries are closed in observance of Memorial Day

Normal Maymester hours resume on Tuesday, May 28.

The Special Collections Libraries building is fully operational this morning. Retrieval of materials has resumed.

TGIF!