In 1950 the Wimberley, Texas artist James Buchanan “Buck” Winn was commissioned by the Pearl Brewery in San Antonio to paint The History of Ranching, a massive mural to adorn the walls of the Corral, the brewery’s oval-shaped hospitality room. At 280 feet, the mural was considered the longest in the world, depicting the story …
Continue reading "The long journey to restoring “The History of Ranching”"
By Wittliff staff member, Library Specialist, Sherri Turner-Herrmann. Rock and roll hit me like a freight train early on. When I was 8, my cousin introduced me to Alice Cooper and that’s when the first train hit. Shock rock, hard rock, heavy metal and punk! Alice Cooper, KISS, Judas Priest, ACDC, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, …
Continue reading "“It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” in Tennessee and Texas"
Texas music lovers hold ZZ Top especially dear. After 50 years, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard feel more like friends than rock icons. Here at The Wittliff Collections, we love ’em, too. The new Netflix documentary “ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” sent lead archivist Katie Salzmann digging a little deeper …
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By Wittliff student worker, Eric Robertson-Gordon. Growing up, my childhood was filled with movies. My father would often show me and my sister movies that he remembered loving when he was a child. My dad was a cinephile and it percolated down to me and my sister as young children. Throughout those years, he would …
Continue reading "Re-discovering Peter Pan at The Wittliff"
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 12, 2020; source: Juice Consulting) – On the evening of March 11, 2020, author, filmmaker and producer Tamara Saviano, whose papers reside in The Wittliff Collections, was awarded the 2020 Margaret Moser Women in Music Award at the 38th Annual Austin Music Awards held at ACL Live. This distinguished award is …
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The forgotten 60-second Marine Corps. recruiting spot fades in with the familiar symphonic chorus of “MacArthur Park” – “Someone left the cake out in the rain . . .” But the voice is not that of actor Richard Harris, who sang the ubiquitous hit in 1968. It’s Waylon Jennings singing his Grammy-winning, countrified version of …
Continue reading "Waylon and Lefty: Marine Corps pitch men?"
Once upon a time, you had to be listening live to catch Bookmarked, the literary talk show hosted by Priscilla Leder on KZSM in San Marcos. Now Bookmarked is available as a podcast, and among its archived programs, you’ll find delightful, in-depth interviews with several of The Wittliff’s acclaimed writers. Leder, a Distinguished Professor Emerita …
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The Digital Preservation Coalition cites November 7th as World Digital Preservation Day. It is just another day here at The Wittliff Collections, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you some of our ongoing digital preservation work. You may be familiar with some of The Wittliff materials that are available …
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Written by Wittliff student worker, Hannah Alvarado. Representing the life of an artist using only their photographs is a seemingly impossible task. Especially a life as singularly impactful as photographer, screenplay writer, author and The Wittliff Collection’s late founder, Bill Wittliff. David Coleman, The Wittliff’s director since 2011, is one of three contributors who took on …
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By Wittliff student worker, Jessica Henriquez. Jane Sumner, an award-winning film journalist for The Dallas Morning News, has interviewed directors, producers, writers, book authors, and the former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards. Through the years, she’s kept her roughly-recorded microcassettes and has now donated them along with her archive of article drafts, awards, and interview …
Continue reading "Processing Jane Sumner’s audio archives opened up a fascinating world to me."