Category: UNCATEGORIZED

Female Mimics, 1963

In February 2017, UTSA Special Collections received a treasure trove of unique items in a donation from the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA). “The purpose of the DTA is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.”[1] Because the DTA does not maintain physical materials on-site, after they digitize donations they find a suitable home among their contributing partners for the materials. In this instance, K.J. Rawson of the DTA contacted UTSA Special Collections as a possible repository for these items. Ten issues of Female Mimics magazine including the 1963 Premiere Issue are a jewel of the donation. The magazine was the first “glossy publication to focus on cross-dressers.”[2]  Issues now held in UTSA Special Collections date from   1963 through 1967.

Drag Magazine, 1973

Two issues of Drag magazine from…

New Orleans has seen its share of debates over Civil War statues and monuments lately (although it interests me that the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place, a Reconstruction event that was clearly linked to the restoration of white supremacy, is sometimes classified as a “Civil War” monument). It looks as if three clearly Confederate monuments may be relocated, although I’ll believe it when I see it (note that this blog has not taken a position on removing such monuments, believing that it’s up to the community to decide …  a point lost on some readers, particularly those who want to erect straw men to go with their whine).

Now comes a project that I find amusing, to say the least. New Orleans has recently opened a new streetcar line along North Rampart Street, which is northeast of historic Jackson Square.

Courtesy WGNO.

In keeping with a restoration theme,

This blog post was written by student clerk Alesia Hoyle.

In honor of March being Women’s History Month, UTSA Special Collections staff have chosen to highlight the prominent and prolific Mexican American Business and Professional Women’s Association (MABPW) of San Antonio.  Select items from the collection are now on exhibit in the two glass cases outside Special Collections on the 4^th floor of the John Peace Library. The exhibit was curated by graduate student workers Alesia Hoyle and Mindi Gandara, and showcases the history of the organization, including its organizational values and objectives. The exhibit also gives a face to MABPW members and illustrates some of the local events the organization sponsored.

The red purses carried by MABPW members symbolize that women’s pocketbooks are always “in the red” because of the inequality of women’s pay compared to what men make.

This nonsectarian, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization was founded by Luz Escamilla…

By Paul M. Sparrow, director

Manzanar Camp, Dorothea Lange, 1942

Throughout American history our presidents have struggled to find the right balance between the highest ideals of our founding charters and the cold realities of national security. This is especially true in times of war. President John Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and Woodrow Wilson suppressed free speech and trampled on the First Amendment.

Seventy-five years ago, at the beginning of World War II, one of our greatest champions of human rights approved the incarceration of approximately 80,000 American citizens, and another 40,000 legal aliens , in the name of national security. President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, provided the legal basis for the removal and confinement of people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast.

“Evacuees” in Los Angeles load their baggage…

Love, for some, can blossom while pursuing higher education. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we collected love stories, campus activities, and legends from UTSA’s history. Here are some of the university’s most notable Roadrunner love stories.

1975: The First Roadrunners to Fall in Love at UTSA

Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Bingham, with their English Bulldog, Winnie. Gil Barrera Photographs of UTSA, MS 27.

The Binghams were the first students to meet, fall in love at UTSA, and get married. They fell into Love’s clutches rapidly; classes started on June 5, 1973, and by December 1974 they had gotten married.

Elizabeth Pampa and Joe Garza. Gil Barrera Photographs of UTSA, MS 27.

Elizabeth and Joe were the second set of students to meet, fall in love at UTSA, and get married. As tradition goes, the rice showering their heads in this photograph represents well-wishes for their marriage.

1970’s: Bridge of Love

This month we continue “Names and Places of UTSA,” a blog series on university history, with a post by archives student assistant, Kira Sandoval.

Street sign at the corner of Brackenridge and Ximenes Avenues, UTSA Main Campus. Photo by Kira Sandoval.

On the south side of UTSA’s Main Campus, George Brackenridge Avenue connects Ximenes Avenue to the Child Development Center, University Oaks, and several parking lots. The street is named in honor of an important historical figure of San Antonio and UTSA’s history, George W. Brackenridge. He was a busy philanthropist and businessman who largely influenced the central Texas region. Though he lived and died before UTSA came into existence, he played an important role in shaping Texas education. Brackenridge Avenue was named after this figure because of his service as a San Antonian on the UT System Board of Regents for over 27 years. However, his legacy…

By Paul M. Sparrow, director Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only person who will ever have FOUR presidential inaugurations (thanks to the 22nd Amendment.) And each and every one of his inaugurations was historic in its own way.  Every president from Washington to Roosevelt had been inaugurated in March. Why? Because the U.S. Constitution originally stipulated that the Federal Government would start on March 4^th each year. FDR’s first inauguration in 1933 was the last inauguration held in March. The inauguration date was changed with the passage of the 20^th Amendment, which moved the date up to January 20^th.  During his first inauguration President Roosevelt delivered one of the most famous lines in American history – “The only thing we have to fear, is, fear itself.” But that line does not appear until the 7^th draft of the…