The iconic photograph of the legendary Vaughan Brothers – Jimmie and Stevie Ray – sitting on a couch, smiling, arms over each other’s shoulders and flanked by electric guitars was taken by Scott Van Osdol and Jeff Rowe in spring 1984. Perhaps no other photograph captures the public’s romanticized image of the blues guitarists in …
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In honor of Pride Month 2022, I wanted to give a behind-the-scenes look at the John Rechy papers which I’m currently processing. John Rechy is a native El Pasoan who is recognized as a pioneer LGBTQ author. In 1963 he published his landmark novel City of Night, a fictionalized account of his experiences as a …
Continue reading "Rechy archive illustrates our society’s changing views on the LGTBQIA community"
An all-star collection of 23 Texas writers along with an acclaimed artist gathered at the Wittliff Collections on Mother’s Day to celebrate a sparkling new literary anthology devoted to Texas Rivers. Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures & Glimpses of Nirvana Along Our Storied Waterways is collection of the best writing on the Lone Star State’s …
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You may not know his name, but you would recognize his cartoons of talking animals, talking pasta, kings, and corporate bosses. Over the course of his career, Charles Barsotti published more than 1,300 cartoons in The New Yorker and thousands more in other publications including USA TODAY, Parade, Playboy, Texas Monthly, an array of …
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The recent acquisition of a substantive Steve Ray Vaughan archive is the latest gem preserved at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, home of more than 500 historic literary, photographic, film and music collections. The new SRV collection offers intimate insights into the life and career of the legendary guitarist in three distinct arenas: …
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By Kimberly Conner To experience Inhabiting Darkness (Habitar La Oscuridad) is to understand that whether we navigate the world with sight, or without it, we are united by a shared humanity. This collection of stunning black and white images offers a rare insight into what it means to live with visual impairment. Curated based on …
Continue reading "Inhabiting Darkness (Habitar La Oscuridad): The photography of Marco Antonio Cruz shines a light on compassion"
Written by Wittliff archivist, Karen Sigler, This article was originally published in the Society of Southwestern Archivist and now resides in Texas State Universities digital archives. If the world were given your personal library, what would it tell them about you? What if you were known for your political observations and didn’t mind being blunt …
Continue reading "From Politics to Poodles: A Look into Molly Ivins’ Personal Library"
Photographer Eric O’Connell photographed the chaos and atrocities of September 11, 2001 and survived. Speaking with him recently about the upcoming twentieth anniversary, he said “it brings him reflective pause on what happened to him personally” and added, “that all the struggles we (the nation) are going through today spun from that day.” The Wittliff …
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In 1994, sculptor Cindy Debold met the Grey Ghost. Her first impression of the legendary blues pianist born Roosevelt Williams was that he was rather frail and shy. He was 90 at the time. The Grey Ghost arrived at Debold’s Austin studio with music historian and record producer Tary Owens to sit for a plaster …
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Polka Dot Slim. Pork Chops. Babe Stovall. Re-Pete. They are the nicknames of African American street performers who worked the New Orleans’ French Quarter in the early and mid-1960s. One of them is likely Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles.” The true identity has remained mysterious. Was it really about an old man Walker met in …
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