We have officially entered the dog days of summer and your SCRC processing team has been keeping cool by preparing another exciting group of new and updated finding aids to share! As usual, all of the following collections are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center and the finding aids are available on our website (or use the links included below).
John U. Guillory, Jr. music compositions, C0533
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
A collection of 36 pieces of sheet music composed by former George Mason University professor and physicist Dr. John Ural Guillory, Jr. (1940-2013). All musical composition pieces are photocopies of handwritten or typed pieces, some with cover pages and some with accompanying lyrics, written between 1963-2012. Each composition includes a title, date, attribution, including the names of sources and lyric contributors, and other information required for performance, such as musical instruments, written at the top of the first page. There are possible duplicate copies of a few individual titles.
A physicist by training, Guillory received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in physics from the University of California, Berkely in 1970. He joined the faculty of George Mason University in 1993 and helped develop the graduate program at the Institute for Computational Sciences and Informatics. In the early 1970s, he founded Musica Antiqua, a Medieval and Renaissance musical ensemble, and served as the group’s director, musicologist, and wind instrument performer for 25 years, retiring in 1999. Additionally, he served as president of the Washington Early Music Society, performed with the Story Minstrels, and wrote over 30 musical compositions and 20 scholarly works on music history.
Selections from newly processed postcards, C0317
Phil Teigen North American churches postcard collection, C0317
Additional processing completed and finding aid updated by Meghan Glasbrenner
This collection contains postcards from churches of many denominations across the United States and Canada collected by Philip M. Teigen (b. 1941) a trained historian of science and medicines. The collection contains five series, divided by the denominations of the churches depicted in the postcard, with some series further divided to indicate if the image shows the exterior or the interior of the church. Series 1 includes postcards of Lutheran churches, Series 2 includes postcards of Roman Catholic churches, Series 3 includes postcards of Episcopal churches, and Series 4 includes postcards of a variety of churches, including Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Orthodox, and other denominations, as well as non-denominational. Series 5: Additional postcards (circa 1910s-2000s) includes additional postcards donated in 2019. Dates for postcards in this series were determined based on stamps where possible and were otherwise estimated based on style and design. It is divided into four subseries, replicating the denomination arrangement used in the first four series, and postcards are arranged alphabetically by use or denomination and then alphabetically by state.
Hugh Goodwin family collection, C0527
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
The Hugh Goodwin family collection contains correspondence, writings, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials created and collected by Hugh’s grandparents Charles and Beatrice (also known as Trix) Goodwin and his Great Uncle Jack Clarke documenting their work and travels in West Africa and Egypt. Correspondence includes letters sent by Jack Clarke to his family while stationed in Egypt during World War I, letters and postcards sent to family and friends by Charles and Beatrice Goodwin, and letters sent to Charles and Beatrice by others, including several individuals they met while living in West Africa, where Charles worked for eight years as an engineer for a manganese mining company.
The majority of the materials include typed and handwritten notes and manuscripts of articles and stories, most dealing with experiences and people in West Africa, written by Beatrice under the pen name Trix Goodwyn, as well as a manuscript written by Jack Clarke titled “Clarke’s History of the War.” The collection also includes a large number of photographs and scrapbooks, most documenting Charles and Beatrice’s time living in West Africa, as well as two small albums containing photographs of Jack Clarke’s experiences in Egypt during World War I, as well as newspaper clippings, most dealing with West Africa or stories about the Goodwin family, and general mementos and ephemera.
Selected watercolor costume design with fabric swatches by Robert Perdziola, C0448
Robert Perdziola original costume designs for Alma in Summer and Smoke, C0448
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
A group of eleven preparatory pencil costume design drawings and five watercolor costume designs with fabric swatches by Robert Perdziola for the character of Alma in an unidentified production of Tennessee Williams’ play Summer and Smoke. The eleven pencil sketches depict costume designs for the play’s Prologue, scenes 1-9, and scenes 11-12. The five watercolors depict costume designs for scenes 1-2, 4, 7-8, and 11 and are each accompanied by attached fabric swatches and include a pencil signature by Perdziola.
For over 30 years, Perdziola has worked as a costume and set designer for operas, ballets, and theatre throughout the United States and internationally, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Theatre of Chicago, Monte Carlo Opera, Saito Kinen Festival in Japan, and numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. He has also worked extensively in the Washington, D.C. area, including at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia and Shakespeare Theatre Company, and been nominated for numerous awards, including receiving three Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Costume Design in 2001, 2002, and 2006.
George Mason University Faculty Senate records, R0034
Collection reprocessed and finding aid updated by Robert Vay
The George Mason Faculty Senate contains records created and/or accessed by the Faculty Senate, its previous iterations, and/or Faculty-related committees dealing with such issues as promotion and tenure, academic freedom, and compensation and benefits. Types of records include correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, and records pertaining to the establishment of the Faculty Senate including the Charter, amendments, and by-laws. The bulk of the records covers the years 1966-2000, with additional records covering the years 2007-2012. During the 1960s through the early 1970s George Mason College was small enough for the general faculty to meet as a whole. In 1972, Mason established a University Senate comprised of the president, provost, deans and department heads from the two academic units: The College or Arts and Sciences and The College of Professional Studies. The organization currently known as the Faculty Senate was established by charter on April 3, 1974.
Cover of Langston Hughes poem pamphlet featuring illustration by Charles White, C0447
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Bifold pamphlet for poem “The Negro Mother” by Langston Hughes inscribed and signed by the author with illustration by Charles White created for the “Make History Live Series” by the Hugh Havilon Gordon Cultural Center. When opened, the inside shows the full text of Hughes’ poem, along with a stamp at the center bottom attributing the pamphlet to the “Make History Live Series”. An inscription and signature from Hughes is included in green pen in the top left and bottom right portions of the interior pages reading: “For the House of Literary curios – Langston Hughes, New York, December 1, 1961.”
Best known as a writer of poetry, novels, short stories, and plays and a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, Langston Hughes (1901-1967) first published his poem “The Negro Mother” in 1931 in his poetry collection The Negro Mother and Other Dramatic Recitations. A prominent figure in the Chicago Black Renaissance, Charles W. White (1918-1979) was a painter, printmaker, and educator. As an artist, he primarily created black/sepia and white drawings, paintings, and lithographs depicting figurative portrayals of African American history and experiences. His work has been exhibited throughout the country and in 1972 he was the third African American artist elected to full membership in the National Academy of Design.
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