Now Available: Extensive Collection from Photographic Studio in Columbus, Mississippi

O.N. Pruitt (right) with his son Lambuth (far left) and probably Pruitt’s brother Jim (center). Both Lambuth and Jim also worked as photographers. Photograph circa 1925.  The Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
O.N. Pruitt (right) with his son Lambuth (far left) and probably Pruitt’s brother Jim (center). Both Lambuth and Jim also worked as photographers. Photograph circa 1925. The Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Southern Historical Collection is pleased to announce that the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection has been processed and is now available for use by researchers.  The collection contains over 140,000 photographic negatives produced by two studio/commercial photographers, O.N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks, in Columbus (Lowndes County), Mississippi, and the surrounding area from the late 1920s into the 1970s.  Images are studio portraits as well as images of events, scenes, and people taken outside the studio.  The collection also includes about 800 digital scans and about 200 prints made from these negatives.  Pruitt and Shanks were trusted photographers of the community and images in the collection document life in Columbus, Mississippi during the time in which they were active.

There are several series/subseries in the collection that have been processed, but have not yet been added to the finding aid and digital collection (Digital Southern Historical Collection).  Look for future posts announcing the additions.  Archival processing and preservation of the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection was made possible through a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources Group (Mellon Foundation).

Finding Aid:
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/p/Pruitt,Otis_N.and_Calvin_Shanks.html

Materials in the Digital Sothern Historical Collection:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/ead/searchterm/05463/field/descri/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress/

Now Available: Extensive Collection from Photographic Studio in Columbus, Mississippi

O.N. Pruitt (right) with his son Lambuth (far left) and probably Pruitt’s brother Jim (center). Both Lambuth and Jim also worked as photographers. Photograph circa 1925.  The Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
O.N. Pruitt (right) with his son Lambuth (far left) and probably Pruitt’s brother Jim (center). Both Lambuth and Jim also worked as photographers. Photograph circa 1925. The Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Southern Historical Collection is pleased to announce that the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection has been processed and is now available for use by researchers.  The collection contains over 140,000 photographic negatives produced by two studio/commercial photographers, O.N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks, in Columbus (Lowndes County), Mississippi, and the surrounding area from the late 1920s into the 1970s.  Images are studio portraits as well as images of events, scenes, and people taken outside the studio.  The collection also includes about 800 digital scans and about 200 prints made from these negatives.  Pruitt and Shanks were trusted photographers of the community and images in the collection document life in Columbus, Mississippi during the time in which they were active.

There are several series/subseries in the collection that have been processed, but have not yet been added to the finding aid and digital collection (Digital Southern Historical Collection).  Look for future posts announcing the additions.  Archival processing and preservation of the Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection was made possible through a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources Group (Mellon Foundation).

Finding Aid:
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/p/Pruitt,Otis_N.and_Calvin_Shanks.html

Materials in the Digital Sothern Historical Collection:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/ead/searchterm/05463/field/descri/mode/exact/conn/and/cosuppress/

SHC partners with Southern Jewish Historical Society, grant supports digitization of part of the Mordecai Family Papers

Earlier this year, the SHC received $1,000 from the Southern Jewish Historical Society‘s Lowenstein Archival Grant program to support the digitization of 39 writings (diaries, travel accounts, memoirs, prose and poetry) from the SHC’s Mordecai Family Papers. The SHC’s Mordecai Family Papers are heavily used on site by scholars, students, and members of the local community. We were honored to receive this support from the SJHS and we are pleased that we can now make these writings available to researchers online, via the Digital SHC.

We are also pleased to share the news that the SJHS will hold its Thirty-fifth Annual Conference in Chapel Hill this year, October 22-24, 2010. In honor of the SJHS conference, the SHC will mount an exhibit celebrating the history of Jews in the American South.  The exhibit will run October 22-December 22, 2010 (on the 4th floor of Wilson Library).

From the Digital SHC

Detail from a page in the Martha Ryan Cipher Book, SHC #1940-z

Today’s digital feature is the Martha Ryan Cipher Book, SHC collection #1940-z. From the finding aid:

“School mathematics exercise book kept by Martha Ryan, probably of Perquimans County, N.C., circa 1781. The volume is bound in homespun fabric with ornate decorations on each page. Mottos, ship designs, and other patriotic decorations, and inscriptions such as “Liberty” or “George Washington” on many of the pages reflect the Revolutionary influence.”

We have digitized the entire cipher book. Please see the finding aid to view it online (once you reach the finding aid, scroll down and click on the link for “Folder 1” to view the digitized material). Enjoy!