You could be forgiven for assuming that a collection of 400 works written by 19th century poetesses would encompass a mostly positive worldview. It would even be safe to assume, for example, that the kinds of women who had the educational backgrounds, available leisure time and access to commercial (and private) printers would tend to…
Category: Long Reads
The Power Behind the Call: Examining the Rhetorical and Presentation Styles of G.W. Truett’s Sermons
This is the second installment in a special three-part blog series on the project to digitize and present online the final sermons of George W. Truett (1867-1944), noted pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas and namesake of Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Read the previous installment here. The human voice is a…
How A Depression-Era Huckster’s Radio Station Brought God’s Word to Mexico – and Beyond – Via George W. Truett
This is the first installment in a special three-part blog series on the project to digitize and present online the final sermons of George W. Truett (1867-1944), noted pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas and namesake of Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. One of the most interesting examples of God’s ability to…
“A University’s Reach Should Exceed Its Grasp, Or What’s An Architect’s Rendering For?” (With Apologies to Robert Browning)
The history of any institution with as storied a history as Baylor’s is bound to be marked with moments when optimism outpaces reality. For every Baylor Stadium wrought out of sheer will – and two bowl games and a Heisman Trophy – on the banks of the Brazos River there are a dozen dreams unrealized…
“And On Your Right Is One Of Only Five Cruse Large-Format Scanners In Texas”: Tips From the Tour-Guiding Trenches
Since opening our doors in October 2008, the Riley Digitization Center has hosted dozens of groups for tours, demos, information sessions, mingling, and general collegial carousing. Baylor presidents, regents, library fellows, donors, academics, provosts from other universities, students (graduate and undergraduate), former congressmen, football players – the list is almost endless. Over the course of…
Gather ‘Round and Download the Tale: A Primer for Digital Storytelling in Archives
The storytelling urge is an ingrained part of human behavior spanning back to our earliest conversant days, when “This plant bad, that plant good” wasn’t just helpful advice for staying alive, it could also pass for a rollicking tale around a campfire. Among the myriad ways we’ve progressed here in the 21st century is in…
Bonnie and Clyde (and Pat) and The Texas Collection Artifact That Ties Them Together
Frank Jasek, the library’s resident bookbinder and preservationist extraordinaire, wheeled the book truck into my office, his face aglow with mischief. “Have you ever seen one of these before?” he asked, gesturing to a large bound volume measuring about a foot tall by two feet wide. The words “CALABOOSE REGISTER” were stamped on its cover….
The Rise and Fall of the Soash Empire: A West Texas Hard Luck Story
Everything’s bigger in Texas, the hoary old chestnut reminds us, and no group of people understood the Lone Star State’s geographic expansiveness like the speculators who bought up acres of prime Texas land for pennies on the dollar and hoped to turn a quick profit by selling them to newly arrived immigrants and Yankees looking…