“Honk if You Like Ike”: Panel Discussion Highlights new UT Tyler Political Ephemera Collection

Deirdre Joyce, University Archivist, informs us of a new event and exhibit at the library in honor of American Archives Month:

The University Archives and Department of Special Collections (UASC) at The University of Texas at Tyler will be hosting a panel discussion entitled “Honk if You Like Ike: American Political Campaigning in the Twentieth Century” on October 14, 2009 at 6:00pm.  The event will be held on the fourth floor of the Robert R. Muntz Library and will feature a discussion that complements the UASC’s most recent acquisition, the Tim Anthony Jackson Collection of Presidential Campaign Memorabilia. The discussion is being held in conjunction with American Archives Month, which takes place during the entire month of October.

The panel will feature three UT Tyler faculty members:  Dr. Courtney Cullison (Asst. Professor, Political Science), Dr. Marsha Matthews (Asst. Professor, Communication), and Dr. James Newsom (Lecturer, History) each of whom will discuss the nature of American political campaigns and the salient points of analysis that political ephemera lend to their respective disciplines.  The discussion will be moderated by Vanessa Curry, advisor to UT Tyler’s student newspaper, the Patriot Talon. Numerous items of political ephemera from the collection will be on display, including campaign buttons dating back to President William J. McKinley, bumper stickers dating from the 1950s, campaign literature for both winning and losing candidates, and political novelty items, including an actual voting booth from the disputed Florida presidential election in 2000.

In addition to materials from the Tim Anthony Jackson Collection, visitors to the library will also be able to view records and ephemera from other manuscript collections that highlight the political campaign theme.  Pieces from the Sarah McClendon papers, the Bill Ratliff papers, the William M. Steger papers, the E.F. Jarrel papers and the University Archives will be on display during the entire month of October in locations throughout the library.

American Archives Month is a collaborative effort by professional organizations and repositories around the nation to highlight the importance of records of enduring value. Archivists are professionals who assess, collect, organize, preserve, maintain control of, and provide access to information that has lasting value, and they help people find and understand the information they need in those records.

The University Archives and Department of Special Collections (UASC), located on the ground floor of the Robert R. Muntz Library, handles materials of historical and/or archival interest to The University of Texas at Tyler and the surrounding community.