RSS 2.0 NEWS FEEDSWorld War Two Project
Posted 02.28.08 at 4:54 PMAikin Regional Archives invites letters or e-mails with first-hand accounts of life in Paris, Lamar County or this region of Texas in the earlier years of our century, especially the 1940s.
Who remembers the home-front in your hometown and the joys and sorrows, the challenges and the hidden rewards of those days? Share them with our readers. Your letters and e-mails will become a permanent part of a special Aikin Archives Collection dedicated to preserving those fast-disappearing memories.
We cannot collect too many of them, as “the greatest generation” is rapidly leaving us. What is a better project in which everyone can engage by either setting down memories in some type of format or by actively collecting them? Save them for the young ones coming behind us so that they will not forget the sacrifices made for our freedom and the sense of community that people experienced in those trying days.
Submitting your letters by mail or by e-mail constitutes permission to publish excerpts from them. All documents become a part of the permanent collection of World War II papers in the Archives at Paris Junior College. You may also enclose photos, which can be scanned and returned to you if you request their return.
Photos of Paris and other towns in the area during the ‘40s are especially desirable for this collection. Think in terms of streets, businesses, churches, recreational sites, Camp Maxey, modes of transportation, even men’s and women’s fashions of the time, and their uniforms. All submissions will be acknowledged, and multiple submissions are welcome.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »Old Photographs
Posted 11.30.07 at 5:23 PMDating Old Photographs 1840-1929 is a set of books in the archives published by “A Family Chronicle” that I find very useful. Halvor Moorshead is the publisher and editor of these books.
An article by Andrew J. Morris tells me that the initial clue in dating a photograph is the process used in creating it. The earliest photographic images available were the Daguerreotype and the Talbotype. Daguerre’s invention was unveiled first, in France, in 1839. Talbot introduced his own process shortly afterward, but the two differed in several ways. Later called Calotypes, Talbot’s images were patented, but Daguerreotypes were produced “in the millions.“
Photographic paper was very thin in the 1800s, so prints were glued to cardboard mounts. The size of the mount more easily distinguishes the date than the various processes. The carte-de-visite and cabinet cards were popular at that time.
Ambrotypes were glass negatives with a black background, making the image appear positive, and were cased photos. They appeared in 1854, but lost popularity in the early 1860s when tintypes and card mounted prints replaced them.
The tintype came along in 1856 and was popular until about 1900. The image was produced on a thin metal plate. There was no need for a negative, so tintypes are unique. During the 1860s and ‘70s, tintypes were often placed in CDV (carte-de-visite) mounts.
These books also contain many pages of historical photographs. Dating photographs from clothing styles is another interesting facet of these books.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »Death Record
Posted 11.27.07 at 2:11 PMBack again. It’s been hectic at Paris Junior College as we approach the end of the fall 2007 semester and the Christmas holiday break.
An interesting article in the October 2007 issue of Family Chronicle by Patrick Wohler on deaths and the records which can be useful in tracing family history.
Of course, the first one that comes to mind is the death certificate issued by the attending physician with the time, date, and cause of death. Many agencies require a death certificate, such as insurance companies and probate courts, and copies may be in the files of these agencies, in the hospital that issued it, or in the family papers, as it is a document that we tend to preserve.
Look in newspaper archives for an article, if the death was by unnatural cause, and of course there are obituaries, funeral home records, cemetery records of burials, church archives, and the family Bible, to name but a few.
Comments: 0 | Article Continues ... Continue Reading & Comment »Homecoming 2007
Posted 10.19.07 at 11:18 AMIt’s homecoming 2007 time at Paris Junior College, Nov. 9-10, which is always a busy time on campus. Carroll Dawson, former PJC student and athlete and All-American basketball player, will be the honored Distinguished Alumnus this year. Dawson retired recently as the general manager of the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball League and will be our keynote speaker at the awards banquet on Nov. 10.
A parade featuring cars and floats will kick off the homecoming on Thursday, Nov. 8 , at 4 p.m. On Friday, Nov. 9, the President’s Reception will be in the McLemore Student Center at 6 p.m. At 7:30 p.m. Angels Fall will be presented by the PJC Drama Department in the theater located in the administration building.
On Saturday, The Class of 1957 will meet from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in room 205 of the McLemore Student Center; the awards luncheon will be held in the ballroom at 11:30 a.m.; “Angels Fall” will be performed again at 2:30 p.m.; at 5:30 p.m. the Lady Dragons will play Mountain View Community College in the Hunt Center; and at 7:30 p.m. the Dragons will play Redlands Community College. At halftime the 2007 Homecoming Queen and King will be crowned.
A full weekend for alumni and friends of Paris Junior College. Come out and enjoy the fun.
Comments: 0 | Read & Comment »The Subject of Forgiveness
Posted 10.11.07 at 2:43 PMThanks to Deborah K. Archer, the daughter of Melba K. Bunch, for bringing Melba’s collection of school yearsbooks to the archives at Paris Junior College. They include The Texan (Travis Middle School) from 1969-1980. We have a fine collection of Paris High School Owls and Paris Junior College Galleons, but very few yearbooks from the other Paris schools. Donations are appreciated and used by researchers.
Thanks, also, to Jimmye Hancock, who donated a photograph of the old Palace Drug Store, dated 1923. It brings back memories, not that I date back that far myself, but I instantly remembered the old checkered tile floor and the soda fountain. In the foreground are generous displays of cigars, fountain pens and eyeglasses.
Finally, for this day’s offerings, I want to post a student response to an Aug. 29, 2007, Dallas Morning News article by James Ragland, “Game of Forgiveness Gets Harder,“ which poses the question of whether or not Michael Vick should be forgiven and allowed to resume his NFL career and whether or not a certain high school football player should be forgiven his legal problems and allowed to play.
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