Our latest book display focuses on space flight, an area of our collection which many readers may not have explored, but which has a prominent place in 20th century US history.
On 12th April, the International Day of Human Space Flight marks the anniversary of the first human space flight in 1961 by Yuri Gargarin. This was a key moment in the Space Race, the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop their space flight technologies amidst the tensions of the Cold War. The Soviet Union were the first to hit many of the milestones in this race, including the first human space flight as mentioned, but the US programme was the first to successfully land humans on the moon.
As well as books within the Vere Harmsworth Library’s collection, the display highlights online resources that may be of interest. One great place to start is the history pages on NASA’s website, where a wide range of reports, articles, primary documents, bibliographies, timelines, biographies and more can be found. For those interested in the early stages of the Space Race, the Library of Congress’s research guide, Sputnik and the Space Race : 1957 and beyond links to some well-selected articles and online collections of primary source documents.
The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.
Our new book display explores the life and work of scholar, writer and political activist Angela Davis.
Davis has worked and campaigned over several decades for racial and gender equality, and wider social justice. She was a co-founder of Critical Resistance, an organisation working to dismantle the prison industrial complex, and was a longstanding member of the Communist Party USA, even running twice as their vice-presidential candidate in the 1980s. She was also a member of the Black Panther Party. Her academic work focuses on feminist and Marxist philosophy, critical theory, punishment and imprisonment, and African American studies. She is perhaps best known for her incarceration in 1970 and the “Free Angela Davis” movement that campaigned for her release until her acquittal in 1972.
The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.
Readers may be interested in the following ebooks:
Alongside our current Martin Luther King Jr. book display, we are now displaying a selection of items from the Philip and Rosamund Davies U.S. Election Campaigns Archive which relate in a variety of ways to King’s life, work and legacy.
Central to the display is a magazine commemorating the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, who was himself assassinated in 1968, two months after King, while running for the Democratic presidential nomination. In this magazine, visitors to the library can read Kennedy’s famous speech given in the immediate aftermath of the news of King’s assassination.
Robert “Bobby” Kennedy features again in a selection of campaign badges – his reads “Sock it to ’em Bobby”. It can be seen alongside one for Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 campaign; King himself supported Johnson’s campaign, and Johnson would go on to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The selection is completed by three badges from Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign which make the longevity of King’s legacy clear by creating a direct connection between King and Obama.
Finally, looking at the wider context of the civil rights movement, we have on display a pamphlet produced by Henry Winston, another African American political leader and activist, entitled Negro-White Unity.
About the US Elections Campaign Archive
The Philip and Rosamund Davies U.S. Elections Campaigns Archive is an actively growing collection of campaign ephemera from American elections at all levels (National, State, Local). The Archive covers the 19th Century up to and including our current period, but the majority dates from the late 20th Century onwards. Materials include Includes buttons, posters, leaflets, stickers, t-shirts & hats, to more unique items: dolls, jewellery, shoes, bars of soap, playing cards, artwork & commemorative plates!
Negro-White Unity by Henry Winston, (New Outlook Publishers, 1967) (MS. 21407/204)
Henry Winston was an African American political leader and Marxist activist. Winston was actively involved in campaigning for African American Civil Rights in the 1940s and 50s, before the mainstream movement began. Winston was imprisoned from 1956-61 because of his involvement with the Communist Party. His imprisonment was seen as controversial due to his declining health and Winston eventually went blind due to inadequate treatment whilst in prison. This pamphlet was produced after Winston had left prison and had become the Communist Party USA Chairman. A digitised version of this leaflet is available via the American Left Ephemera Collection, University of Pittsburgh Digital Collections (https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt:31735061655746)
Robert F. Kennedy: The last campaign (Award Books, 1968) (MSS. Amer. s. 33 / 1 / 1)
Robert “Bobby” Kennedy was the attorney general of his brother John F. Kennedy’s administration in 1961-64. During that time, both Kennedys witnessed the growing civil rights movement, and the growth of King as a civil rights leader. In 1968, Bobby was running for the Democrat candidate, when the news of King’s assassination came through. The pages here show quotations from Bobby Kennedy’s speech in immediate response to the news, and shows his attendance at King’s funeral. This magazine was created to commemorate Bobby Kennedy’s final campaign, as he would also be assassinated two months after King.
Badges
Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat Candidate, 1964 (MSS. Amer. s. 33 / 50)
Lyndon B. Johnson became the president after the Kennedy assassination. Partially in memory of John F. Kennedy, Johnson worked hard to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress. King was present when Johnson signed the Act into law.
Robert (Bobby) Kennedy, Democrat Candidate, 1968 (MSS. Amer. s. 33 / 50)
The badges chosen here (during the main campaign and in the run up to the 2009 inauguration) create a direct connection with Obama and Martin Luther King. Notably, one badge alters the famous picture of King with Malcolm X, taken in 1964.
Books by or including Dr King from the Vere Harmsworth collections
Stride toward freedom: The Montgomery story (Harpers & Brothers, 1958)
King’s first memoir discussed the events of the Montgomery bus boycott, which famously involved fellow activist Rosa Parks. King discusses the racial conditions before, during and after the boycott, the role of local activists and the importance of a non-violent approach. Later editions are also available in the Vere Harmsworth Library.
The Negro Protest: James Baldwin, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King talk with Kenneth B. Clark (Beacon Press, 1963)
Kenneth Clark was a psychologist. His famous work with his wife Marnie Clark involving children and dolls of different races was influential in the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. This book is the text from Clark’s televised interviews with the three leading African American leaders of their time, and showcases the changing movement and different approaches, especially between King and Malcolm X. An ebook version is available via SOLO.
Strength to Love (Hodder & Stoughton, 1964)
King’s second book, originally published in 1963, contains King’s most well known and loved homilies. It enhanced King’s identity and his religious views, especially among the white audience. The version on display is the first UK edition, published in 1964. An ebook version of a later edition is available via SOLO.
Why we can’t wait (Harper & Rowe, 1964)
King’s third book, it tells the story of African American activism in the spring and summer of 1963. It also argues against the gradualist approach to Civil Rights.
Where do we go from here: chaos or community? (Bantam Books, 1968)
King’s last published work, the book was an analysis of the current state of the civil rights movement in 1968, and the state of American race relations. Post the Civil Rights Act, King was focused on improving the wages and living conditions of African Americans. This specific edition was published after King’s assassination, and includes a foreword by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King. An ebook version of a later edition is available via SOLO.
You can find out more about King’s works at The Martin Luther King Research & Education Institute at Stanford University: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a US federal holiday honouring King and the impact he had in advancing civil rights in the United States, falls this year on Monday 20th January. To mark this occasion, the Vere Harmsworth Library has created a book display highlighting some of the resources in our collection which relate to King and his legacy.
The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.
To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).
The Vere Harmsworth Library has set up a book display highlighting titles in our collection which relate to US presidential elections.
The US presidential election book display at the VHL.
The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Readers are able, and indeed encouraged, to read and borrow these books as normal, and several of the selected titles are also available electronically through SOLO.
The books chosen for the display cover a range of subjects including voting rights, presidential campaigning, polling, and the workings of the electoral process.
The book display will be changed over in November to a new theme.
To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).
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