Collections

Collection including correspondence, 1846-1854, of W. H. DeForest written from New Orleans (1846-1849) and San Juan de Nicaragua [Grey Town or San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua] (1851) with descriptions of area, life, and business plans, and a diary (1860), writer unknown, mostly concerning Mobile, Alabama. [14 pieces]

This collection relates to Thornton M. Embrey who served with Company D, 3118th Signal Service Group, during World War II. This collection contains transcripts of radio messages related to the announcement of the surrender of Germany in May 1945 and Japan in August 1945. There are a few additional documents and photographs related to Embrey's postwar service in the U.S. Army.

This collection relates to Thurston Macon who served as a Corporal in the United States Army with 799th Military Police Battalion during World War II. Within this interview, Macon describes his basic training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan, his trip to Australia on the USAT Willard A. Holbrook. He describes his guard detail for General MacArthur in Brisbane, Australia, and Manila, as well as his personal interaction with MacArthur. Macon was also chosen as an honor guard for the Yamashita trial in late 1945.

The Tibbals Collection of Buster Bailey Films capture Bailey's insider's view of circus. The general circus community embraced Bailey's familiar presence on the circus lot, granting him extraordinary access to the lots and venues of a variety of circuses including the Al G. Barnes Circus, Clyde Beatty Cole Circus, Amsterdam Circus, Moscow Circus, Russian Ice Show and Circus Benneweis. Bailey's footage of these circuses feature several performances and circus set-ups in venues across America, including scenes of winter quarters, trains loading and unloading, the backyard, animal acts, spec productions, tumbling acts, rolla bolla acts, clown gags, trapeze and web numbers, and much more. Also captured in this collection are Bailey's tours of European circus parks, the circus parade in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, and the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida.

Union soldier from Maine.

This collection relates to Sergeant Tillman Joe Rutledge, who served in the 31st Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in the Far East's Philippine Division. After the fall of Bataan in April 1942, he was captured as a prisoner of war until 1945. This collection consists of one box of personal papers, including the original diary he kept during his internment and photocopies. It also contains an original draft and signed copy of his book My Japanese POW Diary Story; a 36-page oral history transcript; letters to and from his family; newspaper clippings; various government documents; and photographs.

This collection contains the tape-recorded notes compiled by Timothy Long during the production of "Escape to Dreamland: The Story of the Tamiami Trail," a documentary about the stretch of US Highway 41 that was cut through the Everglades. The collection contains one VHS tape, 6 BetaMax Tapes, 11 Panasonic DVC-Pro tapes, 8 Sony DVCAM Tapes, and 3 Fuji Film DVCassettes.