New at the Nesbitt

One Ranger, Jackson, Draws Full House
Michael Entertains, Informs
Folkins Brings Out Dance Hall Crowd
Parsons Tells of Armstrong, Hardin
An Evening with Susan Wittig Albert
Author Bennett Appears at Library
Friends of the Library Book Sale
Peter Fletcher Fills the Room
Anders Saustrup, Eccentric Historian, Found Dead
ACE Donates Remaining Funds to Library
Hardin Visit Another "Fabulous Success"
Dorothy Albrecht Medals Awarded
Live Oaks and Dead Folks, 2007
Elmer Kelton at the Nesbitt
Franklin Again Closes Summer Reading Program
Wyman Meinzer Event Draws Record Crowd
Rare and Important Items Donated to Archives
 

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Texas Ranger turned literary figure H. Joaquin Jackson addressed a crowd of sixty in the Nesbitt Memorial Library's meeting room on Tuesday, October 21. Jackson spoke about the history of the rangers and his own career, and about how he came to write two books, One Ranger: A Memoir, and One Ranger Returns. Afterward, the crowd purchased 68 books.

Guitarist Dorian Michael drew a crowd of 38 people on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. The audience interrupted the performance with numerous questions, each of which Michael graciously answered, broadening the evening from a simple recital into a seminar.

On July 22, 2008, Gail Folkins discussed and read from her recent book, Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit, at the library. Folkins' book has stories about and photographs of many nearby dance halls. After her talk, the audience engaged in a lively discussion of their experiences in dance halls. Afterward, Folkins autographed copies of her book.

On May 20, 2008, Chuck Parsons, the well-known Old West historian, appeared at the library. Parsons told a crowd of 28 people about the life and career of John B. Armstrong, the Texas Ranger who captured the notorious killer John Wesley Hardin on a train in Florida. After the presentation, Parsons autographed copies of his newest book, John B. Armstrong, Texas Ranger and Pioneer Ranchman.

Susan Wittig Albert, the highly acclaimed creator of the amateur detective China Bayles, and author of numerous mystery books, including a series featuring Beatrix Potter, ran through the history of female mystery writers and female fictional detectives at the Nesbitt Memorial Library on April 23, 2008. She also told how she began her career as a writer, and of how she decided that her most famous character, Bayles, would be a lawyer and the proprietor of an herb shop. Albert drew a crowd of forty-six, and sold dozens of books. Her newest book, Nightshade, which was published earlier in April, is the sixteenth installment of the China Bayles series.

	Mary Frances Chupik Bennett, author of the novel Invitation to Cat Spring: From European Tyranny to Freedom to Civil War, spoke at the library on April 10, 2008. Bennett's appearance was sponsored by the Shropshire-Upton Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Her novel tells the story of a Czech family’s emigration to America in 1855 and their subsequent involvement in the Civil War. Much of the action takes place in Fayette, Colorado, and Austin Counties. She appeared in costume and related highlights of the story. Her presentation drew forty-two people.

	The Friends of the Library book sale on March 7 and 8, 2008 drew numerous shoppers, and raised about $700 for the library.

Peter Fletcher, a classical guitarist from New York City, made his fourth appearance at the Nesbitt Memorial Library on February 19, 2008, and drew a near-capacity crowd. His incredible performances of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Isaac Albéniz, among others, drew raves from the audience.

	Anders S. Saustrup, former professor at Yale University and the University of Texas, and a powerful, positive influence on the development of the archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, was found dead in his home near Round Top on February 9, 2008. Saustrup, pictured at left in 2006, was born in Denmark on February 7, 1930. In addition to his teaching duties, he worked for the Texas State Historical Association and was instrumental in initiating the production of The New Handbook of Texas. He was also an historical advisor to James Michener when Michener was writing his novel Texas. Michener correctly described him as "most knowledgeable in the minutiae of Texas history." Saustrup spent years working on an edited translation of Reise nach Texas, which was published in Bremen in 1834 and is often said to be the first book in German about Texas. That work brought Saustrup to Columbus where, as he discovered, the book's author's wife and other family members had lived and were buried. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Saustrup's advice helped mold the archives into the outstanding facility it is.

	The Alliance for a Clean Environment, which successfully challenged the proposed expansion of a waste dump in southern Colorado County in the 1990s, closed its books by donating its remaining funds to the Nesbitt Memorial Library on February 5, 2008. The library already housed ACE's records. ACE was represented by its former president, Judge Billy Hefner, and the library by its director, Bill Stein.

Stephen L. Hardin discussed his new book, Texian Macabre: A Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston, at the library on January 15, 2008. Despite cold and rainy weather, Dr. Hardin (pictured at right autographing a book) drew a crowd of 36 people and sold 33 books. It was, as one of those who attended remarked, another "fabulous success" for the library. Hardin's entertaining and informative presentation drew many similar encomiums.

The library's fifth annual cemetery tour, Live Oaks and Dead Folks, drew its biggest audience ever. For the two nights of the tour, Friday, November 2, and Saturday, November 3, 2007, the library sold 271 tickets. The actors were Bob Gillespie (pictured at right as Dr. Joseph W. Brown), Mike Ridlen (as John Cassagne), Allison Jones (as Mathilda Tait), Tracey Wegenhoft (as Caroline Delany), Jim Kearney (as J. W. E. Wallace), Laura Ann Rau (as Kate Oakes), Bill Mosley (as Dr. John H. Bowers), Gary Chandler (as Charley Stafford), Paulina Kearney (as Ruth Gillespie), Libby Flint (as Mabel Miller), and Sally Rogers (as Mary Farrar Holland). The guides were Kathy Burris, Pat Gillespie, Diane Callen, Martha Flint, Jake Wegenhoft, and Bill Stein. The gate was manned by Dorothy Albrecht and Patty Simmons. Joe Wegenhoft, Patty Simmons, and Bill Stein set up the cemetery. The Live Oak Art Center loaned the library two dozen lawn chairs for the event.

Elmer Kelton's appearance at the library on August 7, 2007, was an unqualified success. Between 65 and 70 people attended, and the library sold 75 books. Kelton, who was voted the greatest Western writer who ever lived by the Western Writers of America in 1995, spoke about his early years as a writer and read part of his new autobiography, Sandhills Boy. Afterward, he fielded dozens of questions, then signed books for more than an hour. His wife, Anna, who wrote the afterword for Sandhills Boy, also signed books.

Award-winning photographer Wyman Meinzer appeared at the library on March 20, 2007, and drew a record crowd. More than seventy people ate dinner, then saw Meinzer's entertaining presentation. Afterward, Meinzer autographed copies of his many books. Meinzer, who was named State Photographer of Texas in 1997, presented a program of many of his best known photographs, and told the stories of how he made them.

Beginning in the summer of 2006, the family of James and Mary Elizabeth Hopkins donated a massive amount of material collected by the Hopkinses to the archives. Though the collection will not be processed for years, it has already yielded several rare and important items. Among them were eleven letters written by John Samuel Shropshire to his wife while on the Confederate campaign in New Mexico. Shropshire was the highest ranking Confederate officer killed on the campaign. Previously, ten of his letters were known to exist, and those ten have been repeatedly and assiduously studied by historians. The collection also included Shropshire's Bible, a prayer book given to him on his twenty-second birthday, and a photograph, apparently of his wife and infant son. Besides the Shropshire letters, there was a printed flyer containing a reminiscence of the New Mexico campaign by another Confederate officer, James Murray Crosson. The flyer is apparently unique. Further, there were letters written by Moses Solon Townsend while he was serving in the Confederate army, and letters written by Marcus Harvey Townsend while he was serving in the Texas legislature. Also included was the large journal kept by Fannie Amelia Dickson Darden in the 1880s. This legendary item is popularly known as "Fannie Darden's Diary," and had been out of the public domain for several years. Finally, there was a copy of the pamphlet written by Rowan Green and published in 1877. This is only the second copy of the pamphlet known to exist. The other belongs to the library of the University of Texas at Austin and is in fragile condition. All of these items greatly enhance the library's already excellent archive, and should further elevate the library's reputation as a repository of local history. The last items from the collection arrived in February 2007.