A Texas Scrap-Book: Made up of the History, Biography, and Miscellany of Texas and its People (open access)

A Texas Scrap-Book: Made up of the History, Biography, and Miscellany of Texas and its People

Re-print of a historical and biographical account of the earl history of Texas until around 1846; the book is divided into four parts: historical, biography, miscellany, and statistical. Index begins on page 659.
Date: 1991
Creator: Baker, D. W. C. (De Witt Clinton), 1832-1881
System: The Portal to Texas History
A Pictorial History of Texas, From the Earliest Visits of European Adventurers, to A.D. 1879. (open access)

A Pictorial History of Texas, From the Earliest Visits of European Adventurers, to A.D. 1879.

Illustrated history of Texas, organized into ten sections: [1] General Description of the Country, [2] Texas Under Spanish Domination, 1695--1820, [3] Colonization Under Mexican Domination, 1820--1834, [4] The Revolution, [5] The Republic, From 1837 to 1846, [6] Texas as a State, from 1847 to 1878, [7] Indians, [8] Biographies, [9] History -- Counties, and [10] Miscellaneous Items.
Date: 1879
Creator: Thrall, Homer S., 1819-1894
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bureaucracy: A Love Story (open access)

Bureaucracy: A Love Story

Bureaucracy usually only becomes visible when it stops working—when a system fails, when an event gets off schedule, when someone points to a problem or glitch in a carefully calibrated workflow. But Bureaucracy: A Love Story draws together research done by scholars and students in the Special Collections at the University of North Texas to illuminate how bureaucracy structures our contemporary lives across a range of domains. People have navigated bureaucracy for centuries, by creating and utilizing various literary and rhetorical forms—from indexes to alphabetization to diagrams to blanks—that made it possible to efficiently process large amounts of information. Contemporary bureaucracy is likewise concerned with how to collect and store information, to circulate it efficiently, and to allow for easy access. We are interested both in the conventional definition of bureaucracy as a form of ordering and control connected to institutions and the state, but we also want to uncover how people interacted—often in creative ways—with the material forms of bureaucracy.
Date: 2017
Creator: Cervantes, Gabriel; Porter, Dahlia; Skinnell, Ryan & Wisecup, Kelly
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Criminal Law System of Medieval and Renaissance Florence (open access)

The Criminal Law System of Medieval and Renaissance Florence

Book analyzing the law system of Florence, Italy during the Italian Renaissance; specifically it outlines the structure of the government, offices, and philosophies of governing. Index starts on page 281.
Date: 2017
Creator: Stern, Laura Ikins
System: The UNT Digital Library
Melville's Major Fiction: Politics, Theology, and Imagination (open access)

Melville's Major Fiction: Politics, Theology, and Imagination

Book analyzing the popular works of Herman Melville and his motives for writing such stories such as: "Pierre," "The Confidence-Man," and "Billy Budd." Index starts on page 258.
Date: 2017
Creator: Duban, James
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enemies Within: The Cold War and the AIDS Crisis in Literature, Film, and Culture (open access)

Enemies Within: The Cold War and the AIDS Crisis in Literature, Film, and Culture

Book discussing the literature and film of the Cold War and AIDS eras in an effort to link the two with the fear they created; "not only the political and biological illnesses...but also the fear and panic they engender." Index starts on page 235.
Date: 2017
Creator: Foertsch, Jacqueline, 1964-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Norfleet: the actual experiences of a Texas rancher's 30,000-mile transcontinental chase after five confidence men. (open access)

Norfleet: the actual experiences of a Texas rancher's 30,000-mile transcontinental chase after five confidence men.

A narrative by J. Frank Norfleet about a few of his experiences as a Texas rancher.
Date: 1924
Creator: Norfleet, J. Frank, 1864-
System: The Portal to Texas History
From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan: General Curtis E. LeMay's Letters to His Wife Helen, 1941–1945 (open access)

From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan: General Curtis E. LeMay's Letters to His Wife Helen, 1941–1945

In 1942, Colonel Curtis E. LeMay and his 305th Bomb Group left Syracuse, New York, bound for England, where they joined the Eighth Air Force and Royal Air Force in war against Germany and her allies. Over the next three years LeMay led American air forces in Europe, India, China, and the Pacific against the Axis powers. His efforts yielded advancement through the chain of command to the rank of Major General in command of the XXIst Bomber Command, the most effective strategic bombing force of the war. LeMay’s activities in World War II are well-documented, but his personal history is less thoroughly recorded. Throughout the war he wrote hundreds of letters to his wife, Helen, and daughter, Jane. They are published for the first time in this volume, weaved together with meticulously researched narrative essays buttressed by both official and unofficial sources and supplemented with extensive footnotes. History remembers “LeMay, the Commander” well. From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan, will yield a better understanding of “LeMay, the Man.”
Date: 2015
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin Paul & Hurley, Alfred F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oklahoma, a history of the state and its people, v. 4 (open access)

Oklahoma, a history of the state and its people, v. 4

Volume 4 gives biographies of prominent Oklahomans.
Date: 1929
Creator: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941 & Wright, Muriel H. (Muriel Hazel), 1889-1975
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oklahoma, a history of the state and its people, v. 1 (open access)

Oklahoma, a history of the state and its people, v. 1

Volume 1 covers the history of Oklahoma from prehistoric times to the 1880's with special emphasis on Native Americans and the use of Oklahoma as the Indian territory. Also includes information on geography and natural features.
Date: 1929
Creator: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941 & Wright, Muriel H. (Muriel Hazel), 1889-1975
System: The Portal to Texas History

A Military History of Texas

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
“There are some poets we admire for a mastery that allows them to tell a story, express an epiphany, form a conclusion, all gracefully and even memorably— yet language in some way remains external to them. But there are other poets in whom language seems to arise spontaneously, fulfilling a design in which the poet’s intention feels secondary. Books by these poets we read with a gathering sense of excitement and recognition at the linguistic web being drawn deliberately tighter around a nucleus of human experience that is both familiar and completely new, until at last it seems no phrase is misplaced and no word lacks its resonance with what has come before. Such a book is Austin Segrest’s Door to Remain.”— Karl Kirchwey, author of Poems of Rome and judge
Date: April 2022
Creator: Uglow, Loyd
System: The UNT Digital Library

Passionate Nation: The Epic History of Texas

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Utilizing many sources new to publication, James L. Haley delivers a most readable and enjoyable narrative history of Texas, told through stories—the words and recollections of Texans who actually lived the state’s spectacular history. From Jim Bowie’s and Davy Crockett’s myth-enshrouded stand at the Alamo, to the Mexican-American War, and to Sam Houston’s heroic failed effort to keep Texas in the Union during the Civil War, the transitions in Texas history have often been as painful and tense as the “normal” periods in between. Here, in all of its epic grandeur, is the story of Texas as its own passionate nation.
Date: February 2022
Creator: Haley, James L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Ursulines in Louisiana: 1727-1824 (open access)

The Ursulines in Louisiana: 1727-1824

Book describing the early history of New Orleans and the Ursuline order's presence there. Notable figures from the order are discussed.
Date: 1886
Creator: Carroll, Mary Theresa Austin
System: The UNT Digital Library

They Kept Running

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
They Kept Running takes its title from a story about three women running in a national park in the Arizona desert, where they are warned to watch out for mountain lions and the heat, but where the real threat they encounter is men in a jeep. This collection of fifty-seven small stories catalogs the lives of women and girls as they grapple with the hazards of navigating the human world. “In this taut collection of flash fiction, Michelle Ross weaves together fairy tales and horror, beauty and the grotesque, to inhabit the intersections of gender, sexuality, violence, and romantic love. Each story draws the reader into a sharply etched world studded with tension. A seemingly safe domestic life turns, just slightly to reveal its hidden dangers. For the girl and woman characters at the center of this book, the call is often coming from inside the house, and Ross is unafraid to look directly at what lurks on the other end of the line.”—Meagan Cass, author of ActivAmerica and judge
Date: April 2022
Creator: Ross, Michelle
System: The UNT Digital Library
Circus: Cinders to Sawdust (open access)

Circus: Cinders to Sawdust

Book discussing the history of the circus in American history, and the contributions it made to American society. Index begins on page 262.
Date: 1959
Creator: O'Brien, Esse Forrester
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Bell Ringer

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
This is the story of Victor Rodriguez, star track athlete and San Antonio educator. From his earliest days in South Texas in the 1940s he broke many barriers. As a football player and track star he set records and won trophies at Edna High School, at Victoria College, and at North Texas State College. At each stage of his education, he often found himself the only Mexican American in his group. He developed his sports prowess from nine years of early morning running to the church in Edna, to ring the bell before Mass. He earned the first Hispanic scholarships as an athlete at both Victoria Junior College and North Texas State College. After graduating in 1955, he began a career in the San Antonio School District, ultimately retiring in 1994 after twelve years as Superintendent of the District. As a pioneer Mexican American educator in San Antonio, he brought dignity and respect to the people of the Westside, where he remains a role model today.
Date: November 2021
Creator: Rodriguez, Victor
System: The UNT Digital Library
A History of Verona (open access)

A History of Verona

The states of Italy; general editors: Edward Armstrong and R. L. Douglas. Bibliography: p. 381-384.
Date: 1910
Creator: Allen, A. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Marie Antoinette (open access)

Marie Antoinette

Biography of Marie Antoinette, starting with the death of Charles VI, emperor of Austria, in 1770. It includes a description of her childhood, her life as queen, and her trial and execution. Each chapter heading includes a short summary of events.
Date: unknown
Creator: Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877
System: The UNT Digital Library
Along the Rio Grande (open access)

Along the Rio Grande

Book written by the author as he traveled along the Rio Grande as a 'warless war correspondent.'
Date: 1916
Creator: Lewis, Tracy Hammond
System: The Portal to Texas History

The Best American Newspaper Narratives, Volume 10

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
This anthology collects the ten winners of the 2022 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest at UNT’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. First place winner: Jason Fagone, “The Jessica Simulation: Love and Loss in the Age of A.I.,” about one man’s attempt to still communicate with his dead fiancée (San Francisco Chronicle). Second place: Jenna Russell, Penelope Overton, and David Abel, “The Lobster Trap” (The Boston Globe and Portland Press Herald). Third place: Jada Yuan, “Discovering Dr. Wu” (The Washington Post). Runners-up include Lane DeGregory, “Who Wants to Be a Cop? (Tampa Bay Times); Christopher Goffard, “The Trials of Frank Carson” (Los Angeles Times); Evan Allen, “Under the Wheel” (The Boston Globe); Mark Johnson, “A Wisconsin Mom Gave Birth in a COVID-19 Coma before Slipping to the Brink of Death” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel); Annie Gowen, “A Dance, Not a War” (The Washington Post); Peter Jamison, “They’d Battled Addiction Together. Then Lockdowns became a ‘Recipe for Death’” (The Washington Post); and Douglas Perry, “The Obsession” (The Oregonian / Oregon Live).
Date: September 2023
Creator: Reaves, Gayle
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Best American Newspaper Narratives, Volume 9

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
This anthology collects the nine winners of the 2021 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest at UNT’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. First-place winner: Greg Jaffe and his three-part series on the pandemic, beginning with “The Pandemic Hit and This Car Became Home for a Family of Four” (The Washington Post). Second place: Hannah Dreier with “The Worst- Case Scenario” (The Washington Post). Third place: Leonora LaPeter Anton, Kavitha Surana, and Kathryn Varn with “Death at Freedom Square” (Tampa Bay Times). Runners-up include Rory Linnane, “Maricella’s Last Breath” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel); Hannah Dreier, “Tatiana’s Luck” (The Washington Post); Deborah Vankin, “This 81-Year-Old was L.A.’s Most Devoted Museum-Goer until COVID-19” (Los Angeles Times); Lauren Caruba, “Night Shift” (San Antonio Express News); Mark Johnson, “Saving Raynah’s Brain” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel); and John Woodrow Cox, “They Depended on Their Parents for Everything” (The Washington Post).
Date: September 2022
Creator: Reaves, Gayle
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Woman of Texas: Mrs Percy V. Pennybacker (open access)

A Woman of Texas: Mrs Percy V. Pennybacker

Book discussing the role of Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, originally born in Petersburg, Virginia, who worked to expand the woman's place in American society. Index begins on page 359.
Date: 1941
Creator: Richmond, Rebecca
System: The UNT Digital Library

The Best American Newspaper Narratives, Volume 8

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
his anthology collects the ten winners of the 2020 Best American Newspaper Narrative Writing Contest at UNT’s Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. First place winner: Christopher Goffard, “Detective Trapp” (Los Angeles Times) is about a complicated murder investigation and its human impact. Second place: Annie Gowen, “Left Behind: American Farm Families in Crisis during Trump’s Trade War” (The Washington Post) tells about a despairing farmer’s suicide and aftermath. Third place: Jennifer Berry Hawes and Stephen Hobbs, “It’s Time for You to Die” (Post & Courier) presents a gut-wrenching drama of America’s deadliest episode of prison violence. Runners-up include Peter Jamison, “The Confession” (The Washington Post); Mark Johnson, “House Calls and Rarest of Diseases” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel); Nestor Ramos, “At the Edge of a Warming World” (Boston Globe); Noelle Crombie, Kale Williams, and Beth Nakamura, “No Mercy” (The Oregonian); Tara Duggan and Jason Fagone, “The Fisherman’s Tale” (San Francisco Chronicle); Jenna Russell, “Brilliant, Faithful, Undaunted” (Boston Globe); and Charles Scudder, “Guardians: When Evil Came Through the Door” (Dallas Morning News).
Date: June 2021
Creator: Reaves, Gayle
System: The UNT Digital Library

Behind the Scenes: Covering the JFK Assassination

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
On November 22, 1963, the author of Behind the Scenes was a young Dallas Times Herald reporter who sprinted from his newspaper desk to Dealey Plaza minutes after shots were fired at President John F. Kennedy. Thus began Darwin Payne’s close involvement in covering one shocking event after another on this history-making weekend. Eyewitnesses he found at Dealey Plaza included Abraham Zapruder, who insisted from the first moments that the president could not have survived the serious wounds he had seen so clearly through his camera viewfinder. Payne interviewed detectives outside the School Book Depository that early afternoon as they brought down evidence of the shooter’s location, as well as his rifle, and he was among several journalists taken to the assassin’s sixth-floor window from where fatal shots had been fired. Before the day ended, Payne was in the Oak Cliff rooming house where the suspect had been living briefly apart from his Russian wife, Marina. Payne learned that the alleged assassin, now in police custody after being charged with the murder of officer J. D. Tippit, was known as O. H. Lee instead of Lee Harvey Oswald. On Payne’s regular Saturday night police-beat duty, he was among the growing …
Date: October 2023
Creator: Payne, Darwin
System: The UNT Digital Library