Smith, Grayson
New York, N.Y., 1966
New York, N.Y.: Forbud Books, Inc, 1966. Good. 5¼" x 7 1/8". Stapled wrappers. Pp. [45]. Good: wrappers heavily worn with moderate staining and some chipping; toned leaves with staining to edges of most.
This is a rare and early gay-themed comic book, featuring "Batfag" and his sidekick "Sparrow." We have not been able to locate any secondary sources regarding it, save for an old listing on Worthpoint which stated that the book's author, Grayson Smith, was an alias for Don "Duck" Edwing. Edwing wrote and illustrated for MAD Magazine for nearly 50 years, including the famous "Spy vs. Spy" comic from 1987 to 2002. We were not able to corroborate the information in that listing.
In this comic, Batfag was called upon by the police commissioner to stop "Jack the Snipper," the "anatomy separating menace before the entire male populus is walking around without their doozy dippers!!" Our hero sprung to action, vowing, "I've got to get over to that men's * drool * steam-bath fast - and save all those dear boys!" In the story, Jack had as a pet a massive, "extinct dickey-doo-bird . . . a diet of diced doozy slices are all they were believed to eat (lucky bird)," and several pages show Batfag and Sparrow attempting to battle the bird. The book was filled with charming and hilarious details, like framed photos of "Dad" and "Mom" on Batfag's dresser, both showing mustachioed men. There were a variety of emblems on Batfag's costume - his chest read "Kiss Me Baby" on the cover, "fore" on one page and "skin" on the next, and once, "legalize pot." One scene showed a police officer scampering away with a pile of "confiscated pornography," and while battling the bird, Batfag quipped, "Gee, if only I was a girl . . . this bird would go nuts, trying to find it!!"
A rare and thrilling gay superhero comic. The last page told readers to "Watch for the next issue: Batfag vs. King Cohen" but no evidence suggests this was ever created. OCLC shows three holdings.
Mostly Georgia, 1984
Mostly Georgia, 1984. Very good +. Eight commercial photo albums with mylar-covered gummed leaves containing a combined 969 color photos + large embroidered riding scarf, four jacket patches and a painted, heavily used helmet. Most photos measure approximately 3½" x 5" to 4" x 6" and around fifteen percent or more are captioned on versos. Generally very good plus or better, one of the albums good only due to water damage, a couple of albums a bit grubby as well; photos generally near fine or better.
This is a collection of nearly 1,000 photographs and a few other items compiled by an outlaw biker from Georgia. Someone self-identifies in one of the albums, and there's a pistol license as well as an addressed envelope with the same name, but we can't be sure he's the compiler. At least two albums are from 1976 and 1977, and a lot of the photos in those albums involve members of The Outlaws; the other six albums, as well as the patches and helmet, focus on the Remaining Few South Georgia (RFSG) chapter. The present incarnation of RFSG may not be the same as those shown in these albums, but The Remaining Few exists today as a non-profit established in 2009 and its Facebook page shows many examples of philanthropic rides for noble causes. The groups shown in these albums may have had a philanthropic side as one photo implies they participated in a toy drive, but these albums depict nothing but riding, rallying and partying. And funerals-there are at least four different series showing members gathering at tombstones or freshly marked graves.
Many photos show members hanging around a clubhouse. They are heavy in partying images, but also show members relaxing, playing pool and simply acting silly. Close examination of the walls of the clubhouse can provide a lot of insight into the ethos of the club as we see a lot of Nazi and Confederate imagery and there's a bunch of handwriting on the walls to be read. There are also many shots in the woods where they held campouts and cookouts. We see members passed out, and treated appropriately with varying degrees of magic marker on their faces, and at least two show a man with his penis out over the head of a snoozing fellow biker.
Many photos show female members, sometimes seen wearing jackets reading "Property of" a particular motorcycle club. At least 25 photos show nude women including a series where several of them are dancing fully nude inside a clubhouse. A couple of these include body paint.
A bevy of images show individual bikes, treasured tattoos and several show the act of tattooing. One great shot shows a member whose back is completely covered in ink. Images at rallies (one of which is identified as "Southern Jam" in June 1984) include shots of other outlaw motorcycle clubs as well as rides all over Georgia. One album has around eight great intentional multiple exposures and there's a series showing a small outdoor music festival, possibly showing Willie Nelson performing and including three images of Jimmy Carter. Another series shows members skinny dipping.
Some photos are captioned verso, though we've only lifted a few and have little idea of the total-a reasonable estimate is around 100 or so have captions. Often it's simply a date, but some have a little more detail, and some listed member names such as "Spider," "Paranoid," "Buzzard," "Lazy," and "Gorilla."
The collection is accompanied by a helmet, scarf and a few patches. The helmet is fantastic: it's colorfully painted with the logo of the Remaining Few and shows signs of heavy, heavy use. The large black and orange scarf is embroidered with "RFFR" and presumably the former owner's initials. Also included is a middle insignia embroidered with multicolored threads, top and bottom rockers and an embroidered small "M.C." patch.
A large trove of images, with some artifacts, shedding light on the inner workings of outlaw bikers in Georgia during the mid-70s and 80s.
Rankin, Jeannette
Washington, D.C., 1942
Washington, D.C., 1942. Very good. Group of 16 pieces of ephemera measuring between 3¼" x 5½" and 11½" x 9". Most items very good: one with a tiny tear and moderate creasing at edges, not affecting any text; a few with light edge wear and a few small soil spots; some scattered light spotting.
This is a fantastic group of speeches, ephemera and campaign materials related to the first woman to be elected to national office in the United States, Jeannette Rankin.
Jeannette Rankin was born in 1880 near Missoula, Montana and graduated from the University of Montana in 1902.
After a brief period as a social worker in Spokane, she moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and became involved in the women's suffrage movement. She helped organize the New York Woman Suffrage Party, served as president of the Montana Women's Suffrage Association and as field secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1911, Rankin became the first woman to speak before the Montana legislature. In 1916 she ran for the state's seat in the House of Representatives, and became the first woman elected to the United States Congress. Her vote against entry into World War I likely cost her re-election, and Rankin went to work as field secretary for the National Consumers League and later as legislative secretary for the National Council for Prevention of War (NCPW). She bought a farm in Georgia, founded the Georgia Peace Society, lobbied and lectured around the country on behalf of various pacifist groups. As World War II loomed, Rankin once again ran for Montana's seat in the House, winning election in 1940. She was the only member of Congress to vote against entry into the war and again was not re-elected to a second term. Rankin went on to study pacifist teachings in India and mobilize against the Vietnam War, inspiring an all-women's protest group who became known as the Jeannette Rankin Brigade. In 1968 she led the Brigade on an anti-war march in Washington, D.C., the largest march by women since the Suffrage Parade of 1913. Rankin died in 1973 and as of 2023 is still the only woman to be elected to Congress from Montana.
This collection contains Rankin's speeches, statements and excerpts of speeches from both her terms in Congress. Several include their original distribution envelopes, featuring her printed signature in the top right corner. The speeches cover issues such as federal farm loans, wages and working conditions for women, food conservation, war risk insurance for the wives of soldiers with children, and government control of mines. There is also an extract from Rankin's statement to Congress when she was working for NCPW, regarding the Navy Department Appropriation Bill of 1936. A campaign postcard urges Republican voters to "Keep Our Men Out of Europe" and a pamphlet was addressed to the "Women of America": "The Choice is Yours - Shall it be Peace or War?" There are two blank pieces of Rankin's stationery, one of which listed her committees, and a typed circular letter from the President of the American Federation of Labor urging Montana voters to "give every aid" in electing Rankin to a second term.
Only one of these documents were located in OCLC: the extract regarding the Navy Appropriation Bill, with three holdings. Harvard holds a collection of Rankin's papers, but the finding aid notes that the collection is lacking in terms of her career - it mostly contains family papers, some correspondence and news clippings. There are also small collections related to Rankin at the University of Montana and at Swarthmore, similarly sparse and mostly comprised of secondary materials.
A fantastic group of primary documents revealing the work and words of the first female member of Congress.
Phoenix, Arizona, 1969
Phoenix, Arizona, 1969. Near fine. 24 contact sheets each measuring 8" x 10", with a total of 196 images; three 8" x 10" photographs are also included. Most images measure 3" x 2½". Generally near fine or better; five of the contact sheets are trimmed and missing a few images each.
This is a collection of photographs related to an art fair and other events at the Heard Museum in April 1969. The museum was initially founded in 1929 and closed for eight months beginning in the summer of 1968. It reopened with a gala on March 29, 1969. Per contemporary news accounts, that reopening coincided with "a 10-day celebration featuring dances and arts and crafts displays by tribes from the United States, Canada and Mexico."
The photos here document the events of the celebration with all but a few showing Native Americans and/or their art. Approximately 85 shots are devoted to an arts and crafts fair where we see Native Americans exhibiting their works for sale. Identified vendors include Navajo Community College and Philip Cassadore. Cassadore was a musician who made several records related to Apache songs and music. Other images here include a sand painting demonstration, a woman weaving a rug, and several show Native artists sketching or painting.
The non-art show images show Native Americans in traditional clothing participating in dances, some show an awards ceremony, and others show some of the smaller events of the festival. The three 8x10s each show a Native American in traditional clothing.
Terrific images of an under-documented Native American event at the Heard Museum.
England, Gladys Veatrice
Illinois, 1930
Illinois, 1930. Good. 11¼" x 14¼". String tied leather over flexible card, embossed with "University of Illinois" medallion. 32 pages with 54 black and white photographs adhesive mounted and another 26 laid in + approximately 50 items of ephemera. Most photos measure 4½" x 2¾" and a few are captioned. Album good: moderate wear, string tie renewed, most leaves loose; photos and ephemera generally very good.
This is a scrapbook compiled by a young African American woman from Illinois, Gladys England. It covers her years of college and early adulthood. We learn a bit about Gladys from her handwritten text in the beginning of the album which begins with a transcription of William Ernest Henley's poem, "Invictus."
That's followed by this musing:
"I know that I am responsible for my actions. I will accept this responsibility and play the woman. I will not be ever seeking excuses for my weakness. I know I do not understand all the secret springs of the acts of others, hence I will be charitable in my judgments . . . I know that the world is managed by a power and a will not of myself and greater than myself, hence will try to understand and conform to it . . .
I know that whatever God may be, a constant effort to do right is the only way to secure his approval. Whatever wrong I may have committed, He becomes my friend when I begin to do right . . . If we have choice thoughts to express, now is the time to express them. If we have energy for achievement, now is the time to release it. If we have beautiful emotions involving those we love, now is the time to liberate them. Let us live now. In five minutes the tide of affairs may be moving us in another direction."
The next several pages have 55 classmate signatures and addresses. The signers included their hometown, nickname and a short thought or quote and the vast majority of students were from Mounds. At the time, Mounds had reached its peak population of a little over 2,000 people and today the community is over sixty-percent African American. Gladys also listed a group of important events beginning with the University of Illinois homecoming in 1924, her marriage in 1927, and the birth of her son in 1930.
The photos show Gladys and her friends around campus and homes. There's a series showing the group posing with a stringed instrument, others show them playing tennis, and several show them wading through a flood. There's also an exceptional 8"x10" portrait of several women which we presume includes Gladys.
Important ephemera include five items related to Alpha Phi Alpha including an engraved dance invitation, dance card and her pledge ribbon. There are also several other invitations from Black fraternities or sororities. Also notable is a one page program for "An Effort Toward Better Racial Relations" and invitations to events for a few little known African American groups, the Tri-City Commercial Club in Cairo, Illinois, the Chancellor Club and The Imperial Social Club.
A lovely album, with important ephemera, documenting a young African American woman's time at the University of Illinois.
Lawrence, Kansas, 1938
Lawrence, Kansas: Haskell Institute, 1938. Very good. 10¾" x 7¾". Stapled wrappers. Pp. 32-55. Publication sequence: Commencement Numbers: Vol. 37, No. 40 (Jun 8 1934); Vol. 38, No. 37-38 (May 24 1935); Vol. 40, No. 37 (Jun 18 1937); Vol. 41, No. 36 (Jun 17 1938); Fiftieth Anniversary Homecoming Souvenir Program (Nov 10-12 1934); Fiftieth Anniversary Number: Vol. 38, No. 11-12 (Nov 23 1934). Generally very good or better: some light spotting and staining to wrappers, two with inked name of former owner; a few small stains, scattered light spotting and creases.
Together with:
[28 Pieces of Ephemera Related to the Haskell Institute]. Lawrence, Kansas: [circa 1930]-1938. Items range from 5" x 2" to 7¾" x 10¾". Generally very good.
This is a collection of rare printed ephemera documenting the Haskell Indian boarding school, as well as six scarce issues of its official news publication, The Indian Leader. The issues also function as heavily photographically illustrated programs for four years' commencements as well as the school's 50th anniversary celebration.
Haskell Institute was founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children in Lawrence, Kansas. It is now a college serving members of federally recognized Native tribes known as Haskell Indian Nations University, and is the oldest continually operating federal school for American Indians. The Indian Leader is the world's oldest Native American school newspaper, and students from Haskell's print shop were responsible for its printing from the start. In the 1930s, Dr. Henry Roe Cloud, a Yale graduate and the school's first Native American Superintendent, named himself the paper's editor-in-chief. The Leader of those years, and the ones on offer here, was known for its high quality of reporting, focusing on global current events, general happenings around Haskell and within the United States government, sports and student life, and social news regarding the school's alumni, faculty and staff.
The present issues of The Indian Leader are significant not just for their scarcity and physical condition, but also for their vivid documentation of specific and important school events. Four of the issues are deemed a special "Commencement Number," and serve as a combination newspaper, yearbook and graduation program for the years of 1934, '35, '37 and '38, respectively. Also present is the "Fiftieth Anniversary Number" of 1934 and that same year's "Fiftieth Anniversary Homecoming Souvenir Program."
The books are rich with photographic images and detailed narrative, providing histories of the school, faculty and staff reports, commencement addresses, news of former students and of other Native schools and agencies. There are group portraits and lists of "Commercial," "Vocational" and "High School" graduates, identifying hometowns, tribal affiliations and placements into new fields of work. Each issue reveals student clubs and activities with a large focus on sports, including shots of teams and individual athletes, rosters, schedules and scores. There are dozens of great images of students training for new trades such as child care, cooking, carpentry, gardening, plumbing, printing and "arts and crafts." We meet the winner of "Posture Queen" three years running, the students voted "Campus Brave" and "Campus Queen," and the 1938 book has a full-page aerial shot of the campus.
The "Fiftieth Anniversary Homecoming Souvenir Program" ran a summary of the "Pageant of the Wa-ka-rusa" as well as the game's starting line-up, "Band Concert Program and Line of March For Parade." There were photos and bios of coaches and athletes, one page introducing the South Dakota competition, updates on "Former Haskell Football Stars," a few ads and lists of contributors. The "Fiftieth Anniversary Number" reported that Haskell had won the game, and there is a shot of the team in Indian headdresses. It also covered the "Throng at Haskell's Golden Jubilee," the "Potawatomi Celebration" and an Armistice Day address by Kansas State Senator Arthur Capper. Nearly every book ended with a colophon noting that it had been "put into type and printed by students in the Haskell Print Shop."
This collection also documents day-today life at the school, with a number of printed invitations, programs and ephemera. These include a list of "Worth While Books For High School Students" and a grammar card, "Compliments of the English Department," as well as programs for musical performances, graduation exercises, religious services and a student awards ceremony. Five items announced the school's upcoming 50th anniversary, including a flyer of "Interesting Facts About Haskell." Several of the items (and at least two of the issues of the Leader) belonged to a teacher in Haskell's Home Economics department, Lora Mendenhall. Mendenhall had previously taught at Chilocco, and left Haskell to become head of Home Ec at the Concho school near El Reno, Oklahoma in 1939.
While The Indian Leader is generally well-represented in institutions, exact OCLC holdings are difficult to ascertain. We conducted a thorough search and determined that the present issues are likely to be held at fewer than ten institutions. OCLC shows two additional entries for holdings of Commencement Number issues, but none with the ones here, and we found no entries for either of the Fiftieth Anniversary issues. Similarly, we found only one holding of any of the present ephemera: a "Haskell Institute Celebrates Fiftieth Anniversary" announcement, at the Kansas City Public Library. A detailed inventory is available.
Burnham, Joan
Michigan, 1982
Michigan, 1982. Very good. 15" x 12". Full leather post binder. 128 pages with 423 photographs, 143 items of ephemera and a few dozen news clippings. Photos are in a range of sizes, most are in color and most are captioned. Album very good with light wear and lightly toned leaves; contents generally near fine or better.
This is a massive scrapbook documenting international dance culture throughout the state of Michigan with an emphasis on belly dancing in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. It was compiled by Joan "Mikola" Burnham of Kalamazoo. Per the scrapbook, Joan was the wife of an attorney and started a small business around 1975, the Belly Dance Academy of Kalamazoo, (BDAK). While we don't know when Joan started in belly dancing, the book shows that when she decided to make a business of it, it took off immediately.
Per the scrapbook, BDAK's first workshop was held March 13, 1976. That seminar also featured a famous dancer named "Süheyla" was held at a Kalamazoo YWCA and featured an Arab makeup demonstration as well as a bazaar. In the eight years covered by this book, Joan compiled documentation which shows she helped expose thousands to belly dancing and other international forms of dance such as Egyptian, Tunisian and Bedouin. The book also documents other women-owned businesses and performers as Joan performed with a number of other groups, and nearly every dance group documented here was led by a woman.
The book has flyers and event programs from dozens of shows, from hypnosis conventions to Middle Eastern festivals, mall openings to women's club demonstrations. There are also two rare books of poetry -one related to prisoners, another written by a belly dancer. The book has performance contracts, correspondence and thank yous, and some exposure to national dance events and conferences as well. The album also shows that Joan reached out to important dancers asking for tips and written materials.
The photos are devoted almost exclusively to dance demonstrations including two shots of performing for a Jerry Lewis telethon in Kalamazoo. Some show outside gatherings of dancers, and a couple show dancers getting dressed and madeup. We'll note here that the photos also document hundreds of authentic costumes.
A massive and comprehensive resource documenting international dance communities of Michigan, with an emphasis on belly dancing and women-owned businesses.
Sharp, Nat
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1974
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1974. Good +. 40 loose black and white photos, all but 2 measuring 5" x 7". Good plus or better due to varying degrees of wear and/or creasing.
This is a group of photos documenting two school events in the Cincinnati area taken by a Black photographer, Nat Sharp, all but two of which have his backstamp. Per Mae Naijiyya Duncan's "A Survey of Cincinnati's Black Press & Its Editors" (Xlibris Corporation, 2011), Sharp was a staff photographer at the Cincinnati Herald as well as Pride Magazine which was published from 1968 to 1978.
The event from November 1974 is seen in a 13 shot series with many having a banner in the background reading "1st Annual Falcon and Falconettes Banquet of 1974." It's clear from the ages of the students that it's an elementary school, but we cannot identify either school. Images include award presentations, speakers, and a few show students eating at tables. The other group is a 23 shot series of a student fashion show. While a couple of photos show teens or tweens, its clear this event was also at an elementary school as part of a holiday pageant. All photos in this series show students posing on the 'runway.'
Worthy of further research and documenting the work of a Black photographer in Cincinnati.
New York, 1992
New York: High Awareness, Inc, 1992. Very good. Poster measuring 23¾" x 18". Very good with scattered light creases.
This is a large calendar meant to bring awareness of the history of slavery, as well as lynchings in the United States.
The days of the calendar are in columns at opposite edges of the poster, with three large illustrations in the middle. The illustrations depict the process of enslaving Africans, with visceral drawings of the capturing of new slaves, the middle passage, and breaking camp. Interestingly, in the breaking camp image, a young man is being whipped and the aggressor is also Black. At the bottom of the poster are two columns of text which detail the lynchings which are highlighted in red on the calendar. In between those columns is text dedicating the poster to Ida B. Wells whose early investigative journalism led to the topic of lynchings becoming part of the national conversation.
A searing reminder of slavery and lynching. OCLC locates no copies.
Camden, New Jersey: The Long Photographic Art Studios, 1912. Very good. Inscribed by the author on the ffep. 12¼" x 9½". Blue cloth, gilt. pp. 43 + four interspersed plates containing a map, a chart and three original photographs. Very good: light wear that is stronger at spine tips and corners, a few minor stains.
This is a finely produced travelogue documenting the sites and peoples of several different Latin American countries. According to the book's forward, the author created it because,
"The Panama Canal . . . should be the means of drawing this entire Western Hemisphere into closer bonds of commercial and social intercourse. Our neighbors . . . regret that their brothers of the United States do not understand them as they deserve to be understood . . . Let us not forget that they number nearly one hundred million strong and they and their respective countries are rapidly forging to the front ranks of modern nations. The opening of the Panama should be a day of rejoicing for the peoples of the Three Americas."
Per the title, over three months, Long traveled to the listed countries and recorded detailed descriptions of each town or city he visited; he also provided brief histories of each country. In Cuba, he spent time in Matanzas and Santiago as well as providing this description of Havana,
"visitors seem transported as they note the carefree throngs that eat, drink and make merry in the brilliant cafes and places of amusement along the broad and handsome Prado . . . streets in the old section are exceedingly narrow . . . The metropolis contains several modern office buildings, which appear like skyscrapers from the alleyways below, and the mansions of the wealthy, especially along the Malecon, are homes of splendor. On the other hand, the one-story dwellings of the working classes are devoid of ornamentation, the iron barred windows giving them the appearance of penal institutions."
From Cuba Long went to Jamaica where in Montego Bay, "women display far more animation than men, driving carts, wheeling barrows, hawking long ropes of tobacco and smoking big black cigars with the sang froid of a veteran." Next was Columbia, with a first stop in Barranquilla, with this lyrical description of the end of siesta, "at the stroke of six the sunset gun sends forth its booming notes, and with an hour the Zocala fills [with people] . . . Along the plaza they stroll and chat the señors emitting great clouds of the noxious weed, the demoiselles flashing glances of Andalusian hue. They are of every rank and every class . . ." He also spent several pages describing Bogota.
In Costa Rica he was impressed by San Jose, "it is not hyperbole to say that there are but few cities of the same size that display more animation or progressiveness we find in San Jose." He briefly discussed Punta Arenas before heading to Mexico where he spent a couple of pages on Mexico City and Cuernavaca, respectively, while also providing much detail on rail travel in the country. There are short passages on Jalapa, Orizaba and the last several pages are devoted to descriptions of Mayan ruins in the Yucatan peninsula.
Also of note are the plates which include three original black and white photographs as well as a map of the Isthmus of Panama with the completed canal. The photos include a Cuban tobacco field and a view of the canal from the Gatun Dam.
OCLC locates four copies over two entries; one has 17 plates, the other has 15. With ours a third variant, we imagine Long issued these books based on the number of photos or maps he had on hand. A rare travelogue documenting the sights and peoples of several Latin American countries and embellished with original photographs.
Camden, New Jersey: The Long Photographic Art Studios, 1912. Very good. Inscribed by the author on the ffep. 12¼" x 9½". Blue cloth, gilt. pp. 43 + eight interspersed plates containing a map, a chart and six original photographs. Very good: light wear that is stronger at spine tips and corners, a few minor stains.
This is a finely produced travelogue documenting the sites and peoples of several different Latin American countries. According to the book's forward, the author created it because,
"The Panama Canal . . . should be the means of drawing this entire Western Hemisphere into closer bonds of commercial and social intercourse. Our neighbors . . . regret that their brothers of the United States do not understand them as they deserve to be understood . . . Let us not forget that they number nearly one hundred million strong and they and their respective countries are rapidly forging to the front ranks of modern nations. The opening of the Panama should be a day of rejoicing for the peoples of the Three Americas."
Per the title, over three months, Long traveled to the listed countries and recorded detailed descriptions of each town or city he visited; he also provided brief histories of each country. In Cuba, he spent time in Matanzas and Santiago as well as providing this description of Havana,
"visitors seem transported as they note the carefree throngs that eat, drink and make merry in the brilliant cafes and places of amusement along the broad and handsome Prado . . . streets in the old section are exceedingly narrow . . . The metropolis contains several modern office buildings, which appear like skyscrapers from the alleyways below, and the mansions of the wealthy, especially along the Malecon, are homes of splendor. On the other hand, the one-story dwellings of the working classes are devoid of ornamentation, the iron barred windows giving them the appearance of penal institutions."
From Cuba Long went to Jamaica where in Montego Bay, "women display far more animation than men, driving carts, wheeling barrows, hawking long ropes of tobacco and smoking big black cigars with the sang froid of a veteran." Next was Columbia, with a first stop in Barranquilla, with this lyrical description of the end of siesta, "at the stroke of six the sunset gun sends forth its booming notes, and with an hour the Zocala fills [with people] . . . Along the plaza they stroll and chat the señors emitting great clouds of the noxious weed, the demoiselles flashing glances of Andalusian hue. They are of every rank and every class . . ." He also spent several pages describing Bogota.
In Costa Rica he was impressed by San Jose, "it is not hyperbole to say that there are but few cities of the same size that display more animation or progressiveness we find in San Jose." He briefly discussed Punta Arenas before heading to Mexico where he spent a couple of pages on Mexico City and Cuernavaca, respectively, while also providing much detail on rail travel in the country. There are short passages on Jalapa, Orizaba and the last several pages are devoted to descriptions of Mayan ruins in the Yucatan peninsula.
Also of note are the eight plates which include six original black and white photographs as well as a map of the Isthmus of Panama with the completed canal. The photos include a Cuban tobacco field, a view of the canal from the Gatun Dam, a giant Aztec calendar and ruins at Uxmal in the Yucatan.
OCLC locates four copies over two entries; one has 17 plates, the other has 15. With ours a third variant, we imagine Long issued these books based on the number of photos or maps he had on hand. A rare travelogue documenting the sights and peoples of several Latin American countries and embellished with original photographs.
[San Antonio, Texas?]: Johnson Brothers Printers, [188?]. Good. 7½" x 5 1/8". Stitched illustrated wrappers. pp. 51. Good: wrappers chipped, portion of spine perished; faint distributor's stamp and penciled date of 1888, leaves lightly toned.
This is a land promotional for San Antonio with a large portion of the text devoted to the area's climate and its benefits to the sick, with a number of testimonials from doctors and those healed. The book's introduction mentioned that "San Antonio needs no exaggerated description" while pointing out that "its charming, bracing, health-giving climate-its historic interest-its pleasing scenery-its comfort-its hospitable, educated, refined, thriving, contented people, and its rapid growth in population and wealth, makes it to-day the most complete and attractive resort on the American continent." There are also sections on nearby cities and resorts, hunting and fishing, the history of the area and its plans for near future growth. The rear wrapper is especially important, listing the costs of living for San Antonio including food and lodging prices as well as listing many boarding houses along with their addresses.
We can date the distribution of the pamphlet to January 1888 or later based on the stamp on the first page for the Hotel Maverick which also contains the text "Townsend Home Oconomowoc, Wis. F.P. Hord, Proprietor." A brief mention in the December 31, 1887 issue of the San Antonio Daily Light stated that Hord had recently purchased the Townsend property in Wisconsin.
OCLC locates seven copies over three entries.
San Francisco, CA: The Whitaker & Ray Co, 1900. Very good. 8 3/8" x 5 5/8". Cloth over flexible boards. Pp. 57, [2]. Very good: covers lightly scuffed, soiled and creased; tiny tear and offsetting to ffep; two pages moderately spotted and two with a tiny closed tear; a bit of creasing at margins; lightly toned.
This is a lovely cookbook composed exclusively of recipes by women in Sonoma County, California.
The book holds 230 recipes in 17 categories including breads, salads, soups, pickles and fish. Sweets were the star, with sections for puddings, pudding sauces, pies, "frozen dainties," cakes and "confectionery." Each recipe noted the California "Miss" or "Mrs." responsible for its inclusion, and there were small quotes at the beginnings of most sections, such as "Love in a cottage and cottage pudding with it" and "'An't please your Honour,' quoth the peasant, 'This same dessert is very Pleasant.'" A segment devoted to "breakfast and luncheon dishes" included waffles, baked eggs and "codfish balls," and one section held recipes intended "For the Invalid's Tray." The book also suggested a "mock chicken salad" made with veal, a "coffee jelly" and Mrs. Sutherland's "favorite pudding." A few cooking tips and "rules" were interspersed, and one page advertised Sonoma County's Oakmead Orchards, with instructions on cooking dried fruits. There were full page ads for the insurance agencies responsible for the book's publication, and a table of weights and measures for liquids and select ingredients was included at the rear as well.
A "choice" presentation of California women's culinary expertise, issued at the turn of the century. OCLC shows three entries with a total of 17 holdings.
Columbia South Carolina: Sargeant Photo Company, 1930. Very good. String tied album with flexible card covers. 11 5/8" x 15½". 40 leaves with a total of 38 black and white photographs. Photos measure 8" x 10" and nearly all are either adhesive mounted or stapled along one edge, a few are captioned. Album very good with moderate wear, photos generally very good or better.
This is an album of large professional images featuring Columbia, South Carolina's City Ice Company (CIC), as well as the South Carolina Ice Manufacturers Association. It was created during a period where refrigerators were becoming more common, and the use of ice companies was diminishing. Per contemporary news accounts, CIC applied for a charter to do business in December 1926 and in January 1927 issued this statement as to its purpose:
"The City Ice Company . . . was organized to give to the people of Columbia a more efficient ice delivery service. The new ice company will deliver ice of the Palmetto Ice company, the Arctic Ice Company and the Columbia Ice and Fuel Plant . . . a co-operative delivery system is about to be put into effect by the leading department stores of Columbia for the convenience of their customers and it is felt that the same beneficial results can be made in the delivery of ice . . . this system of unified ice delivery is now being used in practically all the large centers of the country . . . the delivery equipment of the new company will be so attractive in appearance that the people will point to it with pride . . . the new company will shortly open an office conveniently located on Main street where an attractive display showing the many uses of ice will be maintained."
Around one third of the photos relate to the CIC, with three showing the aforementioned window displays and four interior shots of the showroom exhibiting refrigeration products like coolers and ice boxes. Also per that press release, at least four show ice delivery men with their "attractive equipment": horse drawn refrigerated carts. A couple of horse-drawn parade float shots are great as well. One shows a line of African American employees in uniform alongside a float for CIC which asks "Is Your Refrigerator Sanitary?" Another parade shot from the early 1930s shows CIC's support for The New Deal and the National Recovery Administration. There's also an outstanding image showing workers at the icing stations at Andrews Yard.
At least eleven photos depict South Carolina Ice Manufacturers Association trade show exhibits, including a few captioned in the negative as having occurred at the 1927 South Carolina State Fair in Columbia. These elaborate displays involve waterfalls and icebergs, penguins and polar bears, all touting the benefits and usefulness of ice over newer technology with messages such as "A Block of Ice Never Gets Out of Order."
An album of stunning images, showing the efforts of the ice industry to remain relevant during a time of unrelenting change.
[New Orleans, Louisiana]: N.P., 1954. Very good. 7¼" x 3¾". Plastic spiral-bound at top edge, thin card covers. Pp. 68 + two blank pages for notes at rear. Very good: covers lightly spotted with a few small stains to rear; a few pages lightly soiled at top edge; a bit of light scattered spotting.
This is a rare and fantastic book of recipes written by an early African American female celebrity chef and television host, Mandy Lee.
Amanda "Mandy" Lee was the on-air pseudonym for Ruth Porter Prevost. She was born in Slidell, Louisiana in 1917, and a 1950 New Orleans census listed her occupation as "lunch room supervisor" for a parish school. Later that year, Lee took over as host of a cooking show on New Orleans' WDSU-TV when Lena Richards died. Richards had been the first African American woman to host her own television cooking show, making Mandy the second. Contemporary news accounts called Mandy "a jovial person with a delightful smile and a rich laughing voice" and spoke of the "warm regard that New Orleans housewives have for her . . . On the streets she is immediately recognized and spoken to and in the fan mail you really learn of her popularity." Lee died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 1954; she was 37.
This cookbook featured an introduction by Harnett T. Kane on what could be misconstrued as a title page. Kane, who authored over 30 books on Louisiana history and culture, wrote that "New Orleans food is, of course, the best that America can offer" and called Mandy one of the city's "most resourceful artists of skillet and baking oven, a mistress of high cuisine." The book contained 80 recipes in nine categories. Sweets were the star - there were sections for Cookies, Cakes and Pastries, all separate from a fourth category of Desserts - but there were also recipes for a "Creole Grillade," "Upside Down Burger Pie" and a few surprises like a "Sophisticate Salad" and broccoli with a "Horse-radish Cream." Of course several pages featured New Orleans-style seafood including "Old Plantation Okra Gumbo," fried shrimp and "Mandy's Oyster Loaf." Each recipe page had a "Mandy Lee Says..." section at the bottom, with a cartoon illustration of Lee's smiling face and a handy tip or ingredient alternative.
A great book of Southern recipes by a young Black cooking star who came to an untimely end. OCLC locates three holdings, and there is another copy presently available online.
South Dakota, 1893. Very good. 6¾" x 11¼". Steel post binder with contemporary semiwraparound enclosure made of thick wood boards, held together with a calf backstrip. 25 thick card leaves, most of which are interleaved with typing paper with a total of 50 albumen photographs glued down, one per page. Photos measure 4 3/8" x 7 5/8" and 39 are captioned in the negative, though a few are hard to read. Album very good: moderate wear, leaves a bit wavy; photos generally near fine or better.
This is an album of large photographs depicting the Sioux at the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation (RSIR, also known as the "Rosebud Agency") in South Dakota. The album also features some of the early work of an important photographer who dedicated his life to documenting the Rosebud Sioux, John Alvin Anderson.
According to an article by Claes H. Jacobson, Anderson emigrated from Sweden at the age of one in 1870, and his family eventually settled, in 1883, in Sparks, Nebraska, close to the border of South Dakota and near RSIR. ("John Anderson: A Swedish Immigrant and Pioneer Photographer among the Rosebud Sioux Indians" (Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, v. 60, no. 2: Swedish-American Historical Society (April 2009)). John became a carpenter as a teenager and purchased his first camera in the mid-1880s. Per Jacobson, "At this time . . . John became an apprentice to [a local photographer]. Unfortunately, no exact date has been found to confirm exactly when John took his first photographs, but it was probably around 1885." Anderson also started collecting Lakota artifacts around this time and ultimately spent forty-five years on the reservation. Over that period Anderson built a collection that led to his becoming a museum curator for its exhibition, though he sold the collection to the BIA in 1938. Per Jacobsen, Anderson's
"interest in photography on Rosebud Reservation was an important part of his life . . . there he met daily with tribal members in the store, learned to speak the Lakota language, became close friends with many of them, and developed opportunities to photograph them in his small studio or in outdoor settings. His photographs, taken between the mid-1880s and the late 1920s show not only the Sioux of the past but also what he witnessed of their daily activities in the transitional years."
Anderson ultimately issued two photobooks on the Sioux, 1896's "Among the Sioux," and "Sioux Memory Gems," published in 1929 and including poems from Anderson's wife, Myrtle.
With a few exceptions, all of the photos here depict Sioux and/or their living conditions. Per Jacobsen, Anderson recorded visiting Rosebud in May and June 1889 when the Sioux Land Commission visited for a "Great Council" with General George Crook. Crook then hired Anderson to take photos of Sioux for $20, thereby establishing him as a professional photographer. The few dated photos here show either 1889 or 1893. Jacobson pointed out that Anderson's existing notebooks mention that he was hanging around the reservation's corral and witnessed a slaughter of cattle in June 1889 and that in July he witnessed "Indians . . . dancing all day in spite of the hot weather," allowing for the inference that some of the undated dancing and allotment photos mentioned below were taken as early as 1889.
According to Jacobson,
"The Rosebud Sioux, or Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Burnt Thigh People), or Brule Sioux, as they are also known, are part of the larger Teton Sioux group who once lived as nomads and hunters on the prairies of central North America from about the 1750s until the mid-nineteenth century . . . by the beginning of the 1880s, the buffalo had been virtually wiped out. The last buffalo hunt of the Sioux took place in 1882 and thereafter a lifestyle and livelihood disappeared. As part of peace treaties between the Sioux and the United States government, the Sioux were forced onto a number of reservations, including the one at Rosebud in south central South Dakota, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs became responsible for providing the Sioux with meat to prevent mass starvation. Large herds of cattle were driven from Texas to the reservations in South Dakota to be slaughtered in corrals . . . Between 1890 and 1915, the Rosebud Reservation was home to some 5,000 Sioux."
Approximately 15 photos relate to cattle and/or allotments. More than one shows huge crowds of hundreds, if not thousands, of Sioux on horses and with covered wagons awaiting receipt of supplies. One shows several men butchering a steer and there's a great shot of a lone woman with her horse, surrounded by dogs, with the caption, "Sioux Squaw on way home from beef issue." Another shows a series of tipis in the foreground with the slaughter and issue house in the background, while several show men working with cattle in the corrals themselves.
At least ten show Sioux around their homes. These include a great shot of a woman tanning a hide, while another shows two women preparing a meal. Another amazing shot shows a family sitting outside their tipi with much of their belongings off to one side and what appears to be hides drying on wooden poles.
At least 12 photos depict dances/religious ceremonies. Two of these are captioned "Squaw Dance." One shows a large crowd watching a single dancer with the caption "War Dance," another with the same caption shows several dancers. One captions reads "Sioux Indians Dancing the Omaha," another reads "Scalp Dance," a third reads "White Buffalo Dance." There's also a shot of a log and mud structure captioned "Sioux Indian Dance House."
Other images include the Sioux mounted police force and a great birdseye view of a large swath of the reservation. One, with a caption, "Modern Indian Village," shows several buildings made of cut logs alongside a few tipis.
The Nebraska State Historical Society has a collection of Anderson Rosebud photographs but they are otherwise institutionally rare and a collection of 22 photos sold at Cowan's in 2020. Exceptional images documenting the Sioux during a significant time of transition at Rosebud and taken by a photographer who spent much of his life preserving their culture.
Memphis, Tennessee: US, Incorporated, 1954. 12" x 9". Stapled wrappers. Pp. 32. Very good plus with minimal wear and light toning.
This is the first, and only, issue of US Magazine, published by a group of noteworthy African Americans in Memphis, Tennessee. It's filled with well-written articles, features and over 80 images covering important African American individuals and accomplishments in the 1950s.
As this was its inaugural issue, the editors dedicated an entire page to sharing the goals of the magazine. US wanted to "portray the achievements of the Southern Negro in pictorial format" and to "spotlight the efforts of persons of good-will who seek America's greatest destiny in improving race relations and establishing greater understanding among all her citizens." It touted itself as "the authentic voice that will tell the thrilling story of the New South" and promised to be "wholesome, educational, inspirational, entertaining, and, always, a synonym for human dignity."
Importantly, the magazine brought together prominent African Americans as writers, advertisers and other positions. One of US' two associate editors, Nat D. Williams, likely wrote this issue's main photo essay, "Beale Street, U.S.A.," about Black Memphis. Williams, known as "Nat D," became the first African American disc jockey in Memphis, in 1948, when he went on the air for WDIA. Known for his "jive" patter on the air, Williams is credited with heralding the change of radio to appeal to the Black community. He is in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame. He was also the first city editor of the Black Memphis newspaper, the Tri-State Defender.
The other associate editor, Mae Jones Street Kidd, was a biracial businesswoman, civic leader, and a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1968 to 1984. She was also hired by the National Negro Insurance Association to create a public relations plan for all of its member companies. Kidd organized the first Louisville Urban League Guild, served as President of the Lincoln Foundation, and was a frequent presence in civil rights marches and events. Another important contributor to the magazine was A.A. Latting, listed as its Counselor. Augustus Arvis Latting was one of Tennessee's first Black lawyers. He went on to become a judge, and was known as the "Dean of Black lawyers."
Other photos and features in the magazine highlighted Jacques A. Beauchamp, who "blazed the trail for Negro Boy Scouts in the South" and Hollis F. Price, an educator at LeMoyne College in Memphis. Entertainment and sports were also featured including an article on Memphis's Melrose high school football team, who came in first in the 1953 Negro Prep football competition. A number of profiles were also included, such as one on Lelia O'Neal Walker, a "prominent Negro church and club woman."
Rare, well produced, and documenting the efforts Black leaders hoping to share both the mundane and extraordinary aspects of African American life in the South in the 1950s. OCLC shows one holding.
New York City: National Woman Suffrage Publishing Company, Inc, 1919. Very good. 6¾" x 4¾". Handbill. Very good: 2" stain to lower corner; lightly toned.
This is a rare handbill, illustrated with a map showing the status of women's suffrage throughout the United States.
In "Make the Map All White: The Meaning of Maps in the Prohibition and Suffrage Campaigns" (University of Colorado Law Review, Volume 92, 2021), author Susan Schulten wrote that a breakthrough in the women's suffrage movement came with a map created by journalist Bertha Knobe for Appleton's magazine in 1907. Rather than show only which states had full suffrage and which did not, Knobe's map used shading to indicate states that had made at least some progress. Schulten argued that the map "caught on for its ability to reframe a period of relative failure as a story of success, which in turn became a call to action. Across the country, suffragists quickly began to create and distribute similar maps to advance state campaigns for voting rights."
The map on offer here works off of Knobe's design, showing how many and which states were currently enjoying full suffrage (15), primary suffrage (2), and the right to vote for the President of the United States (29). The general pattern is of full suffrage in the western states, primary voting rights in the Midwest and upper New England, and nothing whatsoever in the southeast region. The handbill urged, "Make the Whole Map White by Quick Ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment."
A simple but impactful handbill. Not located in OCLC.
Barrow (Now Utqiagvik), Alaska, 1959. Very good. 7" x 11". String tied, cloth over wood. 47 leaves with 109 black and white photographs adhesive mounted rectos only with another 8 laid in; 57 photos measure 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" or larger, the rest a mix of sizes; several are captioned. Album very good with moderate wear; photos generally very good or better.
This is a photo album with approximately 80 photographs showing Native Americans in the northernmost regions of the United States. It was compiled by a Caucasian man who appears to have been in the military, but he may have been a civilian employee who we think was there to work at the Point Barrow Long Range Radar Site as a dentist. The compiler is seen in at least 15-20 photos and we know his name, and that he was a dentist, due to an included award of merit he received for his service in Point Barrow.
Point Barrow is one of the northernmost cities in the world; it's north of the Arctic Circle and today has a population of around 5,000. At the time these pictures were taken, a little over 1,000 people lived there. While there are some great scenic shots showing ice floes and radar monitoring areas, the vast majority of the photos depict Native Americans, presumably the Iñupiat, an Inuit group who has lived in the area for more than 1,500 years. In 1940, the group incorporated as the Native Village of Barrow Iñupiat Traditional Government, now a federally recognized Alaska Native Iñupiat "tribal entity", as listed by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs around 2003. They also wrote a constitution and by-laws under the provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
This album shows our compiler and many of his Iñupiat friends a little under 20 years after that incorporation. Approximately 53 photos relate to hunting, with around 30 specific to whaling. One of the loose photos shows a man in a canoe dressed in fur, its verso reads "Henry is in his 60s and whaling since 10 years old. A ready smile, he calmly accepts the long cold hours of waiting. He has harpooned many whales and is still one of the best." Several show numerous tribe members, including women, assisting with a freshly killed whale. Another captioned photo shows the compiler in the foreground with a freshly killed reindeer; behind him in the near distance can be seen the bodies and antlers of hundreds and hundreds of living reindeer. We also see images of a seal hunt, fishing, and several showing hunters with their equipment and/or their canoes.
The rest of the photos include approximately 13 portraits of Iñupiat as well as at least 20 showing that the compiler was clearly close with some of the native people. These include an internal shot of barracks showing him and fellow servicemen hosting Native children as well as a multishot series of what appears to be a games night showing a lot of laughing, happy people appearing to play limbo as well as dancing.
A fascinating album juxtaposing the brutal work of Native Americans hunting with joyful images of recreation.
[Philadelphia, PA]: [Pan African Federation Organization], 1978. Very good. 11¼" x 9¼" black vinyl commercial three-ring album. Pp. [185] + 5 pages of handwritten quiz questions laid in. Very good: album chipped at two corners and lightly mottled; some scattered small stains and light edgewear; some pages printed lightly or crooked, as issued; one page loose at bottom ring and a few reinforced at an earlier date.
This is a binder documenting an obscure course in African and Black American history that was produced by a little-known Philadelphia group, the Pan African Federation Organization (PAFO). The materials reveal a deeply moving effort to advance Black Americans' knowledge of African culture, replete with an attending student's copious underlining and manuscript notations.
There is very little online evidence to be found on PAFO, which was incorporated in Philadelphia in 1978. Two sources reported people earning a "bachelor of historical education" from PAFO, the group gave a presentation on Black history at an AME church in Philadelphia in 1984, and there were brief mentions of membership in newspaper accounts as late as 2010. An introduction found in this binder, dated September 1978, was signed "Napendo Ulinzi Milele" which translates in Swahili to "Love Security Eternity." This motto was found in only one other location: the cover of a book entitled The Journey of the Songhai People, which was co-authored by brothers Calvin R. and Edward W. Robinson and first published by PAFO in 1987. One section of the present course book (mentioned below) strongly alludes to the Robinsons being its authors.
Dr. Edward W. Robinson was born in 1918. He served as Pennsylvania's executive deputy secretary, executive director of Philadelphia's Minority Business Council, and was the first African American to be appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the city's Federal Reserve Bank. Also an attorney and educator, Robinson is credited with the infusion of African history as mandatory curriculum into the Philadelphia public high school system. His mission, in his words, was "to effect a positive change of attitude toward the ancestral value of people of African descent by the total world society through dramatically exposing the beauty, grandeur and sophistication of ancient Egypt and the Songhai Empire." He produced the 1970 spoken word history album Black Rhapsody and wrote scripts for seven motion pictures. His younger brother Calvin self-published four books on African history, and the two co-hosted a radio show called The Elders Speak from 1990 to 2000.
This binder contains a nineteen-section crash course situated at the intersection of Pan-African and Black American history. Introductory materials include the text of a 1973 speech by Philadelphia Representative David Richardson on the Capital Punishment Bill, the lyrics to James Weldon Johnson's "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and a list of books sourced for the course, including works by Herbert Aptheker, W.E.B. DuBois, Daniel Chu and Elliott Skinner. On the verso of this bibliography is a handwritten list of additional references. The authors also listed PAFO's "Purposes and Goals," which included "To recreate in the minds of our people the glory, the pomp, the splendor and the honor that was ours in a land far away from where the kidnappers carried us" and "To develop an intertwining philosophy based on the culture of the Songhai Empire, and out of the experiences of the degradation suffered on this American soil." They pointed out that:
"In this approximately 66,000 word digest, we are merely trying to present the essence of our Black past, Western African . . . We hope that as you read and study this text, that in spite of all the tactical maneuvers projected by the white power structure against Black people's thrust for self determination, manhood and dignity, that somehow we shall overcome it."
Most of the course sessions ranged from about two to ten pages long, though one 45-page section focused on the "Background of the Brainwash Against Black Peoples" and enumerated various theories on evolution, speciation and brain composition. There were copies of two hand-drawn diagrams, one a chart of chronological time and one on the composition of skin and hair. It detailed the "advantages of melanin," also revealing its authors: "Dr. Ed. Robinson and Calvin Robinson's grandmother, a gorgeously richly pigmented lady, had fewer wrinkles at age ninety-one than those of us less richly pigmented descendants had at thirty years of age."
About 20 pages were dedicated to "The Value of History," mainly centered on William Leo Hansberry's contributions to African American education. Other sessions concerned ancient African civilizations, the development of the Western Sudan, "Songhai's Beginning" and a two-part session on its expansion. The course veered through the fall of the Songhai Empire, "the Middle Passage and the Triangular Trade," and "the unmitigated pressures to destroy our Black Family during our bondage." It argued that "the white world conspired against us, with one concern and that was to forever keep us in servitude (for their profit)" and that "our flesh financed the entire Industrial Revolution." One session detailed examples of "Our Fathers and Mothers in Revolt Against Their Captors" in Jamaica, Haiti and on the American mainland. Later sessions covered the "Period of The Black Reconstruction," in which "Blacks took steps towards oneness," through to the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. There was also a segment on "Post-Reconstruction Freedom Fighting" groups and leaders such as Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, the Niagara Movement, NAACP and the Urban League. The final session, "The Spirit of Nationalism," conveyed an African proverb: "Not to know is bad, not to wish to know is worse." It bewailed that "the total society has been historically programmed to loath our pre-Colonial African culture and to loath the genetic pool from which we were produced," and argued that "Black people must unite to change the image and the values by the study of themselves from the beginning of our culture."
A rare, impactful and thorough reflection on African and Black American history, intended to enlighten the modern African American population. No holdings were located in OCLC nor any evidence found of its existence online.
[Fountain Valley, California]: [Three Star Nursery, Inc.], 1990. Very good +. 11" x 8½". Thin card wrappers; bound booklet of 37 leaves, printed rectos only. 32 pp. typed report + 4 pp. photocopied archival documents + compiler statement at rear. Very good plus: a few small faint soil spots to wrappers; internally fresh.
This is a reproduction of a rare (and apparently now impossible to locate) United States government report on the Crystal City Internment Camp (CCIC). It was reproduced here with help from the National Archives by a Japanese American who had been incarcerated at CCIC.
CCIC opened in December 1943 near Crystal City, Texas as part of a program called the "Enemy Alien Control Unit." Along with Japanese American citizens and immigrants, the camp held Americans of German and Italian descent who had come under FBI suspicion. Many had been deported from Latin American countries. CCIC was designed to hold families during World War II; wives and children (often American citizens) opted to be interned with the men rather than lose them completely, a situation deemed "voluntary internment." By August 1944, there were over 2,000 Japanese and over 800 people of German descent interned at CCIC, housed separately by ethnicity. The camp was officially closed in February 1948.
A statement at the rear of this work shares that it was compiled by Kimiyo Hayakawa (later Takahashi), a Japanese American born in Los Angeles. We found a CCIC registry online that listed her family; she would have been around 18 at the time of incarceration and her father, a nurseryman, was assigned to the camp's greenhouse. Kim and her brother Gary operated a nursery in Los Angeles for decades after the war. The rest of the book consists wholly of material found in the National Archives. There is a photocopied government office memorandum that instructed CCIC division heads to prepare a "summary narrative" to be submitted "to the Bureau of the Budget for incorporation into a general war effort history of government agencies." It is unclear whether such a history was ever produced. This report, completed in 1945, is the only evidence we could find of a CCIC history created by employees of the camp.
The narrative discussed the establishment and construction of CCIC, including factors behind the selection of its location and acknowledgment of its severe overcrowding. There were thorough statistics on the arrival and numbers of Japanese, German and Italian "inductees," lists of camp policies, procedures, staff members and their roles. It claimed that "the vast majority of personnel employed at Crystal City were untrained in the work they were called upon to do" and bemoaned the isolated conditions which affected not only the hiring of staff but also the procurement of supplies.
Camp life was also covered in the report, which stated the staff's goal of providing "normal life for the internees, so far as circumstances would permit." It described the methods of distribution of clothing and necessary goods, cultural events organized by the internees, and work, recreational and entertainment programs. There were notes on visitation, surveillance and the censorship of correspondence: "the known fact that a third party will read a letter does not seem to bother the composer; so family secrets are bared, promises made and broken, anger and distrust portrayed, etc., just as though the writer or receiver was not in custody." Four pages were dedicated to internee education, noting the installation of an "official school, based on the regular school system in Texas . . . open to enrollment by any child, German or Japanese, who desired to continue or begin the American education." There were also distinct German and Japanese schools. The report recommended that ethnicity-based separation be utilized in other camps, noting conflicts between the "pro-American and pro-enemy factions" and suggesting that if there were separate groups not only of "like nationality, but of like attitude as well . . . internment utopia might be realized."
A rare compilation of data and descriptions of life at a family detention camp during World War II, made available through the dedication of a formerly incarcerated Japanese American. No holdings found online or in OCLC.
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