Monthly Archives: October 2011

by | October 12, 2011 · 8:58 pm

We’ve Been Everywhere: Impressions from Beijing

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Thanks to Ken Foushee and his team, the first installment of the new library lecture series “We’ve Been Everywhere” kicked off on the morning of October 12, 2011 in Helm 100. The first lecture entitled “Impressions from Beijing” featured Lynne Ferguson, Artist-in-Residence at the Kentucky Museum & Library, Eric Fisher, Libraries Facilities Coordinator, and Haiwang Yuan, Special Assistant to the Dean for Web & Emerging Technologies.

IMG_8310They went to Beijing the past summer with 40 other WKU employees and students from the Confucius Institute at WKU. They talked about their life and studies at the North China Electric Power University in Beijing that partnered with WKU’s Confucius Institute in sponsoring the trip. While Lynne focused on her learning experience, Eric took the audience to the Great Wall as well as the Imperial and Summer Palaces in China’s capital. Before the lecture concluded, Haiwang answered many interesting and insightful questions about Chinese culture and history related to their trip.

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by | · 10:37 am

Bond Brothers, Inc.

Oscar S. Bond and a Bond Brothers tie yard

Oscar S. Bond and a Bond Brothers tie yard

The age of railroads was not only the age of iron, steel and coal, but of wood — specifically, the millions of board feet required for cross ties, which were laid transverse to the rails to absorb the load and maintain the correct gauge.  As the proprietor of a store in Olaton, Kentucky, Oscar S. Bond (1876-1971) got into the business of selling cross ties when farmers would offer them to him in exchange for merchandise.  In 1908, he and two brothers incorporated Bond Brothers, Inc. in Elizabethtown and began to purchase timberland to supply the firm’s operations.  In 1922, the company acquired land for a wood treatment plant in Louisville, its new headquarters.  Securing contracts with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Bond Brothers was poised to become the country’s leading supplier of cross ties.

By the time the family sold the company in 1957, annual revenues were $10 million and operations included 29 lumber yards, 118 tie yards, 24 sawmills and 3,000 employees.  In addition to cross ties, the company produced creosoted lumber, poles and fence posts.  Oscar Bond also ran an 1,800-acre cattle farm (part of the former Shakertown farm) in Logan County and served as a director of Elizabethtown’s First Hardin National Bank.

A collection of Bond family papers housed at WKU’s Special Collections Library offers a look at this prominent Kentucky business and the personal and financial affairs of Oscar Bond and his wife Mary (Baird) Bond.  Included are dozens of photos of Bond Brothers operations — workers, tie yards and equipment — as well as of family members who contributed to the company’s success.  Click here to download a finding aid.  For more collections relating to railroads and other Kentucky businesses, search TopScholar and KenCat.

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by | October 11, 2011 · 1:39 pm

Henry Clay: The Essential American

The Warren County Public Library’s American History speaker series concludes October 13 with David and Jeanne Heidler, bestselling authors of Henry Clay: The Essential American.

David and Jeanne Heidler have written numerous books and articles dealing with the history of the early American republic, the Antebellum period, and the Civil War
Their most recent work is Henry Clay: The Essential American. The Heidlers present Clay in his early years as a precocious, witty, and optimistic Virginia farm boy who at the age of twenty transformed himself into an attorney. They reveal Clay’s tumultuous career in Washington, including his participation in the deadlocked election of 1824 that haunted him for the rest of his career, and shine new light on Clay’s marriage to plain, wealthy Lucretia Hart, a union that lasted fifty-three years and produced eleven children.
The Heidlers will speak at Christ Episcopal Church (next door to the Main Library) on Thursday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m.

Free tickets are available at any library location or by email: jaynep@warrenpl.org
WKU Students will be able to swipe their student ID for these events. For more information about these events, call 270-781-4882.

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by | October 5, 2011 · 11:57 am

“Greyhound to Vegas” by Robert Dickey

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St. Augustine, FL resident and retired Kentucky lawyer Robert Dickey was this month’s WKU Libraries’ Kentucky Live lecture series speaker. Dickey talked about his latest book Greyhound to Vegas, the Odyssey of Hilda Reynolds Krause at Barnes & Noble, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

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by | · 11:56 am

Singer/songwriter Sarah Lou Richards draws a crowd at Java City yesterday

Sarah Lou Richards at Java City, Fall 2011

Nashville songwriter and performer Sarah Lou Richards performed for the lunch crowd yesterday at Java City.  Ms Richards, who takes her inspiration from Ryan Adams, Brandi Carlile, Patty Griffin, and David Wilcox, delivered songs of love, longing and loss with an energy and emotion that drew a large crowd by the end of her concert.

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by | October 4, 2011 · 1:00 pm

Sean Kinder named Outstanding Academic Librarian by Kentucky Library Association

kinder_seanSean Kinder, WKU Associate Professor, was recognized with the Outstanding Academic Librarian Award by the Kentucky Library Association at their awards luncheon Thursday, September 29 in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I was extremely moved and very grateful for the nomination and honor,” said Kinder. “Knowing it came from my friends and colleagues in the library profession made it all the more meaningful, and I hope they know how thankful and appreciative I am of their support.”

Mr. Sean Kinder is an Associate Professor in the Department of Library Public Services at Western Kentucky University Libraries, where he has served as the Humanities/Social Sciences librarian since January of 2001. In addition to reference responsibilities, Mr. Kinder is the library’s liaison to the international students, the honor’s program, and is responsible for collection development and research instruction for modern languages, sociology, journalism & broadcasting, folk studies, anthropology, archaeology, pop culture, and other select departments. He chairs the committee for the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award which has honored authors and illustrators from across the globe who have completed Kentucky-related books for youth. Kinder is currently working on a book documenting the life of 1930s Hollywood celebrity Una Merkel.

kinder2“We were very excited to hear of Sean’s recent honor,” said Brian Coutts, Department Head for WKU Library Public Services, “He’s an outstanding librarian and the recognition is very well deserved.”

This is the sixth time in 16 years that a WKU Librarian has received the Outstanding Librarian of the Year recognition from the Kentucky Library Association. For more information about the Kentucky Library Association, go to kylibasn.org.

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by | October 3, 2011 · 5:04 pm

October Reference Book Display: Happy Halloween!

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For the month of October, the Reference Area will have all your favorite scariness on display: witches, ghosts, and more! Stop by and take a look.

Books on Display

1. Haunted places : the national directory : a guidebook to ghostly abodes, sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations / Dennis William Hauck. BF1472 .U6 H378 1996

2.The encyclopedia of ghosts and spirits / Rosemary Ellen Guiley. BF1461 .G85 2000

3.Encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft and wicca / Rosemary Ellen Guiley. BF1566 .G85 2008

4. Spirits, fairies, gnomes, and goblins : an encyclopedia of the little people / Carol Rose.GR549.R65 1996

5. Vampire book : the encyclopedia of the undead / J. Gordon Melton. GR830 .V3 M45x 1994

6. The encyclopedia of mummies / Bob Brier. GN293.B75 1998

7. The Halloween encyclopedia / by Lisa Morton. GT4965 .M673 2003

8. The Hollywood book of death : the bizarre, often sordid, passings of more than 125 American movie and TV idols / James Robert Parish. PN1998.5.P37 2002

9. Encyclopedia of serial killers / Michael Newton. HV6245 .N49 2006

10. The Greenwood encyclopedia of folktales and fairy tales / edited by Donald Haase.  GR74 .G73 2008  (3 volumes)

11. Clowns & tricksters : an encyclopedia of tradition and culture / Kimberly A. Christen. GR524.C48 1998

12. Murder … by category : a subject guide to mystery fiction / by Tasha Mackler. PR830.D4 M22x 1991

13. Hooked on horror : a guide to reading interests in horror fiction / Anthony J. Fonseca and June Michele Pulliam ; foreword by Stine Fletcher. PN3435.F66x 1999

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by | October 1, 2011 · 11:13 am

Phi Delta Theta

Phi Delta ThetaFormed in 1848 at Miami University (Ohio) by six students Phi Delta Theta has grown to over 160 active chapters. The WKU chapter was formed May 7, 1966 when the Phi Delta Chi chapter won their petition to become a Phi Delta Theta chapter. 

Records and photos of both Phi Delta Chi and Phi Delta Theta were donated to WKU Archives this past week.  These records have been processed, described and a collection inventory is now available online at:

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_fin_aid/281/

These and other records are available for researchers to use in the Harrison-Baird Reading Room.  Selected images have been digitized are now available through KenCat our online catalog. 

We are always looking for documentation of student organizations, fraternities and sororities.  There are gaps in the records regarding these groups.

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