texarkanamuseums

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Army Recruiting News, 2/15/1931

Series: Reports, 1926 - 1944. Record Group 156: Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, 1797 - 1988

George Washington’s birthday (February 22, 1732 N.S.), as commemorated 85 years ago on the cover of the February 15, 1931 edition of “Army Recruiting News”.  According the archival Scope & Content note, this issue includes a brief history of the Springfield Armory.  The other pages of this publication can be found in the National Archives Catalog.

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Celebrate Jules Verne’s Birthday with a Steampunk Coloring Book!

Jules Verne, early science fiction author and godfather of the steampunk genre was born on February 8, 1828.  Celebrate his birthday with these vintage patents of submarines, velocipedes, clockwork haberdashery, and more, all from the The National Archives Coloring Book of Patents 2016, assembled for last week’s #ColorOurCollections campaign.  

Or, browse our online catalog for more fascinating patents to color! Share your coloring creations with us and with @usnatarchives on Twitter using the hashtag #ColorOurCollections.

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From the January 31, 1938 cover story on student nurses at the Roosevelt Hospital School of Nursing in New York — “During their first six months, student nurses must take calisthenics one night a week under a trained gym teacher.” (Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) #thisweekinLIFE

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TMS first took possession of the P.J. Ahern Home in 2011. Every inch of the property was full of the remnants of the Ahern family’s long history with the house. So much, in fact, that we are still sorting through drawers, cabinets, closets, etc. This little box was found in the closet of what was once the nursery. The room was later used by one of the employees of the house, Miss Rosie Lee Taylor. 

Inside the box we found a set of documents and receipts for burial insurance for Miss Taylor and her cousins, William and Mamie Branch. The little research I’ve done so far indicates that Miss Taylor was raised by Mrs. Branch and that they were buried near each other in Fairhaven Cemetery. Jones Funeral Home (est. 1914) is one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Texarkana, Arkansas and one of the first African-American owned businesses in either Texarkana, Arkansas or Texarkana, Texas. 

Even such ordinary documents can provide a wealth of information about life in the Ahern home during the 1930s and life in Texarkana, Arkansas in general: cost of living, available services, servants’ lives, etc. and are always a squee-worthy moment for history nerds like the TMS curatorial staff!

Note the last image: a tiny, corked bottle full of what appears to be dirt and fine gravel. There is nothing in the box to indicate what this was or why it was kept. Is it a memento mori? Was it dirt from one of the graves paid for by the burial insurance? Is it a keepsake from a rare vacation holiday? Who knows? It was certainly worth keeping in Rosie Lee Taylor’s opinion. Unfortunately, this may be a history mystery we are unable to solve. 

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Impress your friends with your knowledge of literary trivia with this 1953 quiz from the inaugural WNYC Book Fest, which pits “Authors” Alfred Kazin and Jan Struther and against “Critics” Charles Poore and Irwin Edwin.

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The first live TV audience found it hard to believe that it would take off. Now the invention of the mechanical television has been marked with a Google Doodle

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Some fashionable gals from our last show ~ next #vintageexpo is February 13-14th #dtla #TheReef 

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World War II recruitment poster used in Texarkana, circa 1943. Donated by Rosemary Robertson.

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The oldest known photograph of Texarkana taken in 1874. This is a view of Front Street showing the first businesses, all of which were established within days of the initial sale of lots that formed the town. The children at the well are three of the children of A.L. Ghio, Sr., an early mayor of the Texas side and a major force in developing Texarkana.

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U.S. Post Office and Federal Courthouse, circa 1940. This Beaux Arts style building stands on the state line between Arkansas (right) and Texas (left).

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The old Rialto Hotel building, State Line Avenue, Texarkana, Texas, circa 1904. Now known as the Harrell Medical Arts Building, it still stands at the corner of West 4th and State Line Avenue.

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View of State Line Avenue (which is literally the state line between Arkansas and Texas), looking North, circa 1893. Note the two floor building in the middle left. That is the Offenhauser Insurance Company building before the third floor was added. Built in 1879, it is the oldest surviving building in Texarkana. It now houses the Museum of Regional History.

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Offenhauser Insurance Company building shortly after the third floor was added, circa 1901.

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Tombstone of Edith Helm, 1867-1919, located at Rosehill Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas.

Cemetery Symbolism: Gates of Heaven, Crown, open book

Open gates symbolize entry into Heaven. A Crown represents glory and Victory over Death. The open book (barely visible at the top, sorry for the poor photograph) can represent many things, but take with the other symbols most likely represents the Book of Life.

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Haydon monument at State Line Cemetery, Texarkana, Arkansas.

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Bodice from a day dress, circa 1912. Lace on linen with black velvet trim.