Daily Archives: January 6, 2012

January Reference Area Display

This month, the reference area turns its attention skyward for an astronomy display. Stop by the reference area to find books and atlases on the heavenly bodies.

Books on Display

  1. Great atlas of the universe / L. Benacchio. QB982 .B45 2007
  2. Norton’s star atlas and reference handbook (epoch 2000.0).  QB65 .N7 1998x
  3. Handy astronomy answer book / Charles Liu.  QB52 .L58 2008
  4. Observer’s sky atlas : with 50 star charts covering the entire sky / E. Karkoschka.  QB65 .K3713x 2007
  5. Concise catalog of deep-sky objects : astrophysical information for 500 galaxies, clusters, and nebulae / W.H. Finlay.  QB856 .F56 2003
  6. Firefly encyclopedia of astronomy / edited by Paul Murdin & Margaret Penston.  QB14 .F57x 2004
  7. Cambridge dictionary of astronomy / Jacqueline Mitton.  QB14 .M55 2001
  8. Atlas of the Galilean satellites / Paul Schenk.   QB404 .S43 2010
  9. Atlas of the night sky / Storm Dunlop ; illustrated by Wil Tirion and Antonín Rükl.  QB65 .D86x 2005
  10. Encyclopedia of planetary sciences / edited by James H. Shirley and Rhodes W. Fairbridge.   QB600.2 .E53 1997
  11. National Geographic Map of the Heavens (2 charts.)

Comments Off on January Reference Area Display

Filed under Reference

“May I learn many valuable lessons this year”

New Year's postcards, early 20th century

New Year’s postcards, early 20th century

Like all Americans, Kentuckians throughout history have responded to the arrival of each new year with a range of activities and emotions.  Their varied expressions of hope, excitement or trepidation can be found in some of the collections of WKU’s Special Collections Library.

On January 1, 1861, 20-year-old Bowling Green native Josie Underwood wrote in her diary of the splendid New Year’s ball she had attended in Memphis, Tennessee.  The spell of the evening was broken only once when, “like Banquo’s ghost,” the spectre of Southern secession entered the conversation–then, wrote pro-Union Josie, “we were all off like horses in a race.”  A year later, with the Civil War raging, Josie’s entry for December 31, 1861 mourned “the last night of this sad and trying most eventful year of my life–and our country’s life.  God grant us Peace before another shall end!”

After the war, hope returned.  While staying with relatives in Indiana, 14-year-old Mary Elizabeth Cosby wrote to her father in Muhlenberg County of the commotion surrounding the 1866 New Year’s celebrations.  “I never in all of my life heard such rin[g]ing of bells and firing of guns as there was at twelve o’clock that night,” she reported; even the local waterworks blew its whistle.

Much later, in Bowling Green, Mackie Smith had two reasons to celebrate the dawn of the year 1900: January 1 marked both a new century and her 20th birthday.  To commemorate this fresh beginning, she set out her lofty aims in the pages of her new journal.  “Little book,” she inscribed, “into thy pages shall I pour my joys and griefs for this coming year.  Keep thou the secrets I shall impart to thee. . . . Oh may I learn many valuable lessons this year. . . . Oh may the resolves and resolutions I make ever form a bright picture oh may it not fade and grow dim, but live and shed its undying lustre with matchless splendor.”

Click on the names to download finding aids for these collections.  For more collections relating to Christmas, New Year’s and other holidays, search TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.

Comments Off on “May I learn many valuable lessons this year”

Filed under Manuscripts & Folklife Archives