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Books
Special/MVC contains some 50,000 books on all aspects of regional history,
natural history, and culture, as well as rare books on other subjects. All
Special/MVC books are cataloged and searchable by author, title, and subject
in the online catalog.
Theses And Dissertations
Special/MVC is the location for the archival set of all theses and dissertations
done at The University of Memphis. These items are organized by year and
author’s name, and there are inventories available for searching by department.
Copies of most theses and dissertations will eventually be cataloged as circulating
books, though there is often a time-lag between receipt of the item and cataloging.
Such items from recent years will be available in Special/MVC well before then.
Maps
Special/MVC holds some 1000 maps, mostly originals and mostly concentrated
on the lower Mississippi Valley region. Only a portion of these maps have been
fully cataloged, but the department has an easy-to-use card file for locating them.
Oral History Collection
Special/MVC has over 3000 interviews on many topics of local and regional
interest, almost all produced by the Oral History Research Office of the UM
History Department. Some of the transcripts have been bound and cataloged
as books, but most of them are locatable only through an inventory in the
department.
Photographs And Postcards
Special/MVC contains thousands of postcards and tens of thousands of
photographs. Most photos are from the two major Memphis daily papers,
the Commercial Appeal and the defunct Press-Scimitar. In almost all cases,
these are original black & white glossies and not clippings. Very few
predate 1930, but coverage of the period 1930-1985 is very good. There are
other photos in our Icon Lots, and in some manuscript collections. Box
lists and inventories are available in the department.
Memphis Press-Scimitar Morgue Files
When this paper closed in 1984, the Special/MVC Department received
its morgue file (a.k.a. “clipping library” or “library”) along with the
index files. These files consist of clippings from the Press-Scimitar
(and sometimes from other papers), associated photographs, and sometimes
ephemeral materials such as programs, flyers, and brochures produced
by people or organizations covered. The Morgue File Index is available
in the departmental reading room, and consists of hundreds of thousands
of cards organized alphabetically by personal or corporate (i.e. organiza-
tion) name, and sometimes by broad topic or category (i.e. “Desegregation.”)
Manuscripts
There are over 500 separately named collections of manuscript materials—
letters, diaries and journals, and personal, family, and organizational records—
in Special/MVC. The main focus is local and regional history, politics, and
culture. Collections can vary in size from just one or two letters up to fifty and
more boxes covering several decades or generations. Guides and finding aids
to these collections are cataloged as books and searchable in the Library’s
computer catalog, but there are gaps and interested persons are urged to
consult with the Curator or other departmental staff before concluding
that something does not exist.
For questions, suggestions, or comments about the Special/MVC resources, contact Ed Frank, Curator of Special Collections.
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