Inside This Issue
Introduction / 1
News and Calendar / 2
Books / 6
Websites / 10
Note: the South Texas Researcher is also now available on the San Antonio Public Library’s web site (www.sanantonio.gov/library/) under “News & Events” then “News & Newsletters.”
Please remember that the purpose of this newsletter is to keep librarians, historians, archivists, genealogists, archaeologists, educators at all levels, and those in other allied fields informed of what is going on that may be helpful in these fields so they may pass this information on to other interested parties in their
locations.
I am willing to include important events or acquisitions from other areas, in some instances, if they may be of particular usefulness to those in our area. News from our neighboring Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila would also be welcome.
Texana/Genealogy Class Schedule
San Antonio Public Library
All classes are on Saturdays from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.Programs are free and held at the San Antonio Central Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, Texas, 78205.
To register (so we have enough handouts) or for information please call the Texana/Genealogy Department at (210) 207-2500 (ask for Texana) or E-mail:
January/February Class Schedule
January 5 Preserving Family Treasures
February 2 (a) Beginning Genealogy
(b) Census Introduction
All programming is subject to change — Please call ahead to register and verify dates and times.
Transcribers Needed
Volunteers are needed to help transcribe recorded oral histories.
Please contact Frank Faulkner at for more information.
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Beethoven Männerchor
No events scheduled for 2008 as yet.
Additional information: 210-222-1521 or http://www.beethovenmaennerchor.com
Texana/Genealogy Department Internet Classes
All classes are on Mondays from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.Programs are free and held at the San Antonio Central Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, Texas, 78205.
To register (so we have enough handouts) or for information please call the Texana/Genealogy Department at (210) 207-2500 (ask for Texana) or E-mail:
January/February Class Schedule
January 7 Beginning Genealogy
February 4 Cyndi’s List and Heritage Quest
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Los Bexareños Genealogy Society
Meetings are normally held at 9:30 a.m. every first Saturday of the month on the first floor, Main Auditorium, of the San Antonio Public Library, 600 Soledad Street, San Antonio, Texas. Visitors are always welcome to attend. Membership is not required. Speakers at the meetings are people with a passion for history, professional historians, genealogists, archaeologists and researchers.
No January Meeting
There will not be a regular January meeting. Instead, Los Bexareños Genealogical Society will have its yearly Installation of Officers/Directors and belated Christmas Dinner on the evening of Friday, January 25, 2008.
Help for the beginning genealogist
The Society assists individuals in getting started with genealogical research through beginner's workshops. Beginners also receive assistance from the more experienced members of the Society.
Note: The Los Bexareños Library at the Casa Navarro Historical Site is now closed due to relocation. The Library will be closed until a new location can be found. We will announce any change in status.
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Texas State Library and Archives
The Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building, home of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, is getting a facelift! This is good news for both our customers and our staff, as the 46-year old building has been in great need of renovation. We expect construction work on the two-year renovation to begin in September 2007, but some important changes are afoot now that may impact your research with us. Please read on!
We are pleased that we'll be able to stay open throughout most of the renovation; however, services will be limited, and much of our collection will be moved offsite. As with any construction project, unexpected events may cause us to close for certain brief periods.
We urge researchers to call ahead when planning a trip to our facility. The number is 512-463-5455. With advance notice, the official state records of Texas stored offsite can be retrieved for you. Unfortunately a portion of our collection will be inaccessible during the renovation.
Bookmark www.tsl.state.tx.us and follow the Renovation News link, which includes a timeline and will be kept current with news about our services throughout the two-year project.
Thanks for your patience and understanding as we bring our facilities into the 21st Century.
Diana Houston
Assistant Director, Information Services
Archives and Information Services Division
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
512-463-5426
San Antonio Museum of Art
Tigers of Wrath: Watercolors by Walton Ford
Through Sunday, January 6, 2008
Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art
Through Sunday, January 13, 2008
200 West Jones Ave
San Antonio, TX 78215
(210) 978-8100
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Witte Museum
Texas Zydeco
September 8, 2007 through January 20, 2008
Lens on South Texas: Photographs from the Witte Museum Collection
September 13, 2007 through August 2008
Good Night: Quilted Treasures from the Witte Museum Collection
Through March 30, 2008
Our Body: The Universe Within
January 26 through May 26, 2008
3801 Broadway
San Antonio, Texas 78209
(210) 357-1900
http://www.wittemuseum.org
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McNay Art Museum
ARTMATTERS 12: Jane Hammond, 12 September – January 6, 2008
Alameda Ayer: Photographs by Trish Simonite, 12 September- Jan. 6, 2008
6000 North New Braunfels
San Antonio, Texas 78209
(210) 824-5368
http://www.McNayArt.org
Census – Non-Population Schedules
Available in the Texana/Genealogy Department
Agricultural
Microfilm - Texas – 1850-1880
Books -
Alabama (also includes Manufacturing Schedule) – 1850 (alpha. Dale through Marengo counties) ; 1860 (alpha. DeKalb through Morgan counties)
Georgia – 1860 (alpha. Appling through Fayette counties)
Kentucky – 1850 (alpha. Letcher through Nelson)
1860 (alpha. Floyd through Nicholas)
Louisiana – 1860 (alpha. Ascension through Winn)
Mississippi – 1860 (alpha Lownes through Yazoo)
Mortality
Microfilm – 1850-1880 : Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia
1860 – Adams County, Ohio – V21, roll 2, item 4
Books –
Alabama – 1850 – [976.1 Barfield]
Arkansas – 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 – [976.7 Mortality]
Tennessee – 1850, 1860, 1880 – [986.8 Sistler] (no 1870)
Texas – 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 indices – shelved with census indices
Veteran/Pension
1890 Civil War veterans and widows – all available schedules (microfilm) and indices (microfiche)
1835 pension
1840 pension
1883 pension
1910 population schedule – Civil War veteran
1930 population schedule – Veteran of U. S. military or navy
Other
Indian Territory – 1900 (film after all states)
1860 (non-Indians only filed after Yell County, Arkansas)
1870-1880 – federal censuses lost
1880-1890 – censuses taken by Cherokee government extant
Kansas Territory (V113) – 1855-1859
Missouri State Censuses (V223) – 1868 – Cape Girardeau County
1876 – various counties
Pennsylvania Septennial Censuses, 1779-1863 (V368)
Further Reading
The Source. [929.1072 Source]
American Census Handbook. Thomas Jay Kemp. [929.1072 Kemp]
The Census Book. William Dollarhide. [929.1072 Dollarhide]
Finding Answers in U. S. Census Records. Loretto Szucs & Matthew Wright.
[929.1072 Szucs]
Your Guide to the Federal Census. Kathleen Hinckley. [929.1072 Hinckley]
From the Theatre Archives
The San Antonio Civic Opera
In 1928, with a capital of $135.00 advanced by the San Antonio Musical Club as a token of faith in Mrs. Lewis Krams Beck’s vision of a Civic Opera, work was begun in Brackenridge Park’s Sunken Garden on Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “The Pirates of Penzance”. Charles Stone and Betty Longacre Wilson were the leads. A stage was constructed of planks in the Sunken Gardens. Billboards were used for wings. Electric light bulbs were hung across the front of the stage. Funeral tents were loaned as dressing rooms. Wooden folding chairs were also loaned and a large audience watched the first opera. The second opera of the season, “The Mikado”, starred Lois Farnsworth Kirkpatrick and Alex Johnson. Other operas followed: “the Chimes of Normandy”; “Martha”; “Pinafore” and “Yoemen of the Guard”.
By July 1930 Mrs. Beck enlisted the aid of the city and had constructed the Sunken Garden Theatre. On the night of July 15, 1930 a new Sunken Garden Theatre was dedicated to Mrs. Lewis Krams Beck. “The Bohemian Girl” was the opera for the gala event. Among those present were the city administration who had helped make the Sunken Garden Theatre a dream come true: Mayor Chambers; Park Commissioner Jacob Rubiola; Fire and Police Commissioner Phil Wright; Street Commissioner Paul Steffler; and Tax Commissioner Frank Bushick.
The repertoire of the Civic Opera now began to include Broadway successes such as “The Chocolate Soldier”, “The Merry Widow”, “Blossom Time”, “The Desert Song”, “Naughty Marietta”, “The Vagabond King”, “Maytime”, “Mille Modiste”, and “The Red Mill”.
Scenic and costume designers were employed, the corps of directors, stage assistants and musicians were expanded, and over $75,000 has been expanded by the San Antonio Civic Opera Company.
Among the many ardent supporters of Mrs. Beck since the inspection of the Civic opera have been: Mr. and Mrs. Nat Washer, Dr. Fred Oppenheimer, Herman Ochs, Alois Braun, Henry Hirshberg, John Heard, E.A. Basse, J.H. Calvert, Lutcher Brown, and Edwin Jones.
In 1930 the Theatre was improved by a gift of $62,000 from the Texas Centennial appropriation of $400,000. The Audience area has been sloped into a parabolic curve and cemented. Three thousand permanent seats have been placed on the area, with stalls for box-holders. There are graveled walks and stone stairways permitting easy assent from and direction to the elevated edge of the area. Twin box offices permit entrance from either side of the stage. The stage now has a disappearing curtain which unrolls from a special tunnel under the stages. There are prestone dressing tables. The sets and the electrical equipment have separate housing. With all these modern fittings the natural background typical of Texas, the cliff grown with native plants, shrubs and trees, have been preserved.
Submitted by Marie Braun Berry. 1942.
San Antonio Civic Opera List
Year / Month/Day / Opera Title / Venue / Note1928 / July 12 / Pirates of Penzance / Sunken Gardens / Gilbert & Sullivan
Oct. 11, 18 / Mikado / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
1929 / June 6 / The Gondoliers / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
July 10 / The Chimes of Normandy / SG / Robert Planquette
July 27 / Martha / SG / Friedrich von
Flotow
Oct 10 / Pinafore / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
1930 / June 24 / Yoeman of the Guard / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
July 15 / Bohemian Girl / SG / Michael Balfe
Aug. 5 / Pirates (repeat) / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
Oct 8 / Prince of Pilson / SG / Gustav Luders
1931 / June 16, 17 / Sulton Sulu / SG / Alfred Wathall
July 28 / The Two Vagabonds / SG
Sept. 29 / The Chocolate Soldier / SG / Oscar Straus
1932 / June 17, 18 / Merry Widow / SG / Franz Lehar
Sept. 6 / Yoeman of the Guard / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
Nov. 5 / Trial by Jury / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
1933 / Aug 8 / Sweethearts / SG / Victor Herbert
1934 / July 10 / Blossom Time / SG / Sigmund Romberg
Oct 5 / Desert Song / SG / Sigmund Romberg
1935 / June / Naughty Marietta / SG / Victor Herbert
Aug. 21 / Red Mill / SG / Victor Herbert
Nov 30 / The Vagabond King / Municipal Auditorium / Rudolf Friml
1936 / June / Maytime / SG / Sigmund Romberg
October / The Chocolate Soldier / SG / Oscar Straus
1937 / Aug 31 / The Rose of Algeria / SG / Victor Herbert
1938 / July 8 / M’lle Modiste / SG / Victor Herbert
Sept. 22 / The Pink Lady / SG / Caryll & McLellan
1939 / June 12 / Prelude to the Opera / SG
June 29 / The Bartered Bride / SG / Bedrich Smetana
Sept. 14 / The Belle of New York / SG / Gustave Kerker
1940 / August / Nina Rosa / SG / Sigmund Romberg
Sept 6 / The Student Prince / SG / Sigmund Romberg
1941 / June 24 / Florodora / SG / Leslie Stuart
Sept. 16 / H.M.S. Pinafore / SG / Gilbert & Sullivan
1943 / July 13 / Sweethearts / SG / Victor Herbert
1944 / Sept. 8, 9 / The Desert Song / SG / Sigmund Romberg
1945 / September / New Moon / SG / Sigmund Romberg
1946 / Aug 23 / The Fortune Teller / SG / Victor Herbert
1947 / June 26, 27 / Sally In Our Alley / SG / Jerome Kern
Sept. 4, 5 / The Merry Widow &
Trial by Jury / SG / Franz Lehar
Gilbert & Sullivan
1948 / June 19, 21 / The Vagabond King / SG / Rudolf Friml
1949 / Aug 19 / Sweethearts and M’lle Modiste / SG / Victor Herbert
http://www.ogs.org/about/taxproject.php
Early Ohio Tax Records
http://digicoll.marietta.edu
Ohio Company Papers
http://www.ohgen.net/ohgenweb/
The Ohio GenWeb Project
Published by: Texana/Genealogy Department
San Antonio Public Library
600 Soledad
San Antonio, Texas 78205 210-207-2500
e-mail:
Please submit information and articles to the above e-mail.
For the: February 2008 issue by 15 January
March 2008 issue by 15 February
April 2008 issue by 15 March
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