By Digitization and Curation Assistant, Abigail Moon
During these past few months, I curated an exhibit about the origins of Texas folk music at a small coffeehouse in Dallas in the early 1960s. It was called the Rubaiyat, which can be found in the Avenida gallery. The source materials for the exhibit are from the personal papers and business records of its founder. The archive was donated to The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in 2024.
When I began to select the materials to be displayed in the Rubaiyat exhibit, I had to decide which items captured the atmosphere of the Rubaiyat: intimate, youthful, homegrown, and even a steppingstone for some artists. The Rubaiyat was a place where an audience of young and curious minds would gather shoulder to shoulder to share the honest, unfiltered spirit of folk music and the creative energy of their peers. The musicians, many just starting out, ranged from local regulars to passing guests, some of whom would go on to wider recognition, while others remained cherished parts of the local scene. Utilizing these aspects of the Rubaiyat, I searched for that feeling of youth and community within the materials. This can be found in this photograph of a young man, Eric Millard, performing in front of an audience at the Rubaiyat in the 1960s.
The young crowd intently watches Eric, a regular, as he strums his guitar and sings a story through a melodic folk tune. This photo really captures the Rubaiyat, as the young couples intently watch Eric with quiet respect, hearing their young entertainer’s voice as he sings to them. Everyone in this photo has one thing in common, and that’s a shared admiration for folk music. With the Rubaiyat being one of the few places in Texas to house a place for folk music, the Rubaiyat served as a haven for these young people, whether they were dreamers or content with being a local gem.
Ron Shipman, founder of the Rubaiyat, believed in providing a space for these dreamers. Throughout the late 1950s to the 1960s, the Rubaiyat thrived as a coffeehouse and a folk music venue in Dallas, Texas, its audience mainly comprising of young high school and college students seeking to experience folk culture and its music that was seemingly on the rise in popularity. When the Wittliff received Shipman’s collection, I was presented the opportunity to create an exhibit alongside our music curator, Hector Saldaña. Of course, I was eager to take on this task.
When opening the set of archival boxes, which consists of photographs, newspaper clippings, legal documents, personal journals, and other various historical contents, I knew I had to explore these in order to understand how I may translate this into an exhibition. Utilizing my archival experience, I methodically examined the contents of each box, discovering original photographs of the Rubaiyat – interior and exterior shots of the Rubaiyat, images of a young Ron Shipman, performers on stage, and captivated audience members.
This provided a foundation to begin interpreting the collection, which requires careful consideration of context, potential biases, and the audience’s reception. Through this process, I became increasingly aware of the delicate balance between historical context and curatorial storytelling, preparing me to combine my appreciation for archival work with exhibition curation. I found my experience working in the Wittliff’s archives established a solid footing for exploring curation. Understanding how to accurately label, organize, and view the materials from an outside perspective allowed for a smooth transition in displaying these in a public exhibit, whether it be through photographs, used coffee menus, promotional flyers, or personal notes written by Ron Shipman himself. Ultimately, curating this exhibit reaffirmed my passion for archival storytelling and bringing forgotten spaces like the Rubaiyat back into public consciousness.