A Guide to University of South Alabama Collections at The McCall Library
Mischka, one of the original Jaguar mascots, c. 1968.
The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library houses more than 450 linear feet of archival material related to the University of South Alabama. Some of the more important records include the papers of the Board of Trustees, the Foundation, and the former presidents. These collections are listed alphabetically in this guide. Additional collections related to education are also available.
Please note: not listed here are the thousands of images we have connected with USA.
If you do not find what you are looking for or you need more information about these collections please email us at mccalllib@southalabama.edu.
Important Disclaimer: Warning concerning copyright restrictions. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. It is up to the user to comply with all copyright laws of the United States. Warning concerning copyright restrictions. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. It is up to the user to comply with all copyright laws of the United States.
| Title | Description | Categories | Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| BALDWIN, HAROLD W. (05-09-431) |
Dr. Wes Baldwin taught in the Philosophy Department of the University of South Alabama for more than three decades. He also served in numerous other capacities during his tenure. His collection consists of material related to some of those activities. One of those was serving on the University Research Committee, and the collection includes reports (1971–1988) to the dean of academic affairs detailing activities and recommendations; lists (1969–1971, 1974–1980) of faculty research interests and publications; minutes (1971–1977); miscellaneous memos (1972–1983), and his personal file of documents (1999–2002) while he was serving on that committee. Also within the collection are files related to the Promotion Review Committee, Writing Committee, Ad Hoc Committee on Retention and Recruitment, and Admissions and Records Committee, (1971–1972, 1974–1978). Other files in the collection include those involving a search for an acting associate dean (1990), nominations for Alabama Humanities Foundation awards, a proposed honors program and applied philosophy program, and various memos (1973–2005) to university administrators, College of Arts and Sciences colleagues, and fellow instructors in the Philosophy Department. 1 linear foot.
|
B | |
| BOARD OF TRUSTEES | The McCall Library has USA Board of Trustees minutes on microfilm from 1963 to 1985
and in paper form from September 1998 to September 2005. 6 linear feet; 1 reel.
|
B | |
| CALDWELL, JAMES F. (97-16-326) | This collection contains 10 audio cassettes of interviews with Dr. James Caldwell, former director of development and contracts for the University of South Alabama, about his role in the establishment and development of the university. A transcription of the tapes is available, as is a copy of a narrative dated 1997 and written by university student Peter Wilson, and a 1998 book titled Magic–No! Miracle–Yes!, which was based on the Wilson narrative. The collection also contains a memoir written by Caldwell for his children, ca. 1990; personal correspondence from 1957–1990; a USA faculty list from 1965; a transcript of a meeting regarding the university Black Student Union from 1970; and newspaper and magazine articles. .5 linear foot. | C | |
| CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES (09-09-517) | Made up of DVDs, transcripts, and consent forms connected with a University of South Alabama Archaeology Department project known as “Preserving Oral Histories of the Central Gulf Coast.” The interviews were conducted with residents of Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Living along the bayou and working in the seafood industry were the foci of the study. .75 linear foot. | C | |
| CLEVERDON, ERNEST G. (86-09-132) | These are the official papers of Ernest G. Cleverdon, who served on the Board of Trustees
of the University of South Alabama from 1963 to 1985. They include various official
printed reports and profiles, minutes of the board, legal suits, and correspondence.
1 linear foot.
|
C | |
| CLUB FOOTBALL (551-2011) | Includes statistics and brochures relating to the University of South Alabama Club Football Program and newspaper clippings chronicling early attempts to bring collegiate football to the university. 0.1 linear foot. | C | |
| COLLEGE OF MEDICINE (84-03-70) |
Consists of pamphlets, articles on medical procedures, newspaper clippings, budget information, and the Mobile General Hospital newsletter The Tablet from October 1959 through December 1961 (with some issues missing). Most of the material is dated from the late 1950s into the late 1960s but the budget information is from 1977 and 1978. Of interest within the collection is a memorial to Dr. James F. Heustis, a report on Siamese twins born at the old Mobile General Hospital, a proposal dated 1967 from the Mobile County Hospital Board to the state legislature concerning the budget for Mobile General, and a brief history of City Hospital (as it was known before it became Mobile General). 1 linear foot. |
C | |
| COLLEGE OF NURSING | Contains minutes from College of Nursing meetings from 1978 through 1990. 2 linear feet. | C | |
| CONLON, JAMES (97-09-327) | Dr. James Conlon was a professor in the art department at the University of South
Alabama from 1967 until 1997. His collection consists of material related to various
programs and projects that he and fellow art professor Dr. James Kennedy worked on
during their professional careers. Projects discussed in the collection include an
Afro-American Visual Aids Project, the Ethnic American Art Slide Library Project,
a program in cultural inquiry, a children's playground pilot project, a proposal for
a materials design center, an estuary project for the Mobile Municipal Airport, a
USA ceremonial mace project, and an "at play" project for the USA Children's and Women's
Hospital. Also included is material on the 1993 First Night Mobile, a city-sponsored
event that takes place each New Year's Eve in downtown Mobile. Of particular interest
may be a file related to black student grievances in 1969 and a file on the subject
of academic freedom. A finding aid is available on site. .25 linear foot.
|
C | |
| FACULTY FORUM (83-08-63) | This was a brief publication of the Alabama Education Association at the University of South Alabama. It ran from the spring of 1974 to the spring of 1976. The collection is inclusive. .25 linear foot. | F | |
| FACULTY SENATE (90-09-214) | The Faculty Senate records include minutes, reports, correspondence, and related materials from 1977 to 1990. We also have minutes, memoranda, and other documents from the “old” university senate which included administration and faculty. These materials date from 1968. Box inventories and a subject index to the collection are available on site. 15 linear feet. | F | |
| FOUNDATION | The University of South Alabama Foundation was established by former president Frederick
P. Whiddon in 1968 to support the needs of the university. The papers (1961–1999)
include correspondence, financial statements, minutes, material related to Brookley
Field, to Medicaid, to the Julius T. Wright campus, and documentation involving the
Grant’s Pass dispute between the university and the state of Alabama. A finding aid
to the collection is available on site. A related collection is that of Michael Thomason. 20 linear feet.
|
F | |
| GOTTLIEB, SHELDON (98-09-341) | From 1980 until 1997, Sheldon Gottlieb was a professor of biology, dean of the graduate
school, and director of research at the University of South Alabama. During this time,
Gottlieb also worked at the Baromedical Research Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana,
from 1984 until 1998. Gottleib was very active in both departmental and campus-wide
affairs. He was especially interested in the subject of academic freedom, in issues
of equity, and in the primacy of science over religion. Many of his published articles
relate to hyperbaric oxygen treatment and are included in this collection, along with
several very interesting letters to the editor of the local paper. There is also material
related to gerontology and to Gottlieb’s attempt to start a student organization called
the Freethought Association. In addition, there are files on two law cases, Mozert
v. Hawkins County Public Schools, which dealt with textbooks in a public school setting,
and Douglas Smith v. Board of School Commissioners / Smith v. Fob James, which concerned
prayer in the public schools. 1 linear foot.
|
G | |
| HISTORY DEPARTMENT | The records of the USA history department are dated between 1966 and 2004 with the majority of them covering the period from 1966 to 1996. They include self-studies, information on recruitment and retention of students, correspondence related to a number of topics, faculty evaluations, departmental meetings, committees, curriculum, departmental reports, newsletters, policies and procedures, and budgets. Documents related to other university departments can also be found in this collection, including Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and the University Library (including The McCall Library). Also included are materials concerning a number of former history department faculty members, including Betty Brandon, Chen-Kuang Chuang, E. Lewis B. Curtis, George Daniels, A. T. Green, Larry Holmes, W. Robert Houston, Howard Mahan, Peyton McCrary, Joseph Nigota, William A. Speck, and Michael Thomason. Files pertaining to the Gulf Coast Historical Review are also included in the collection. Of particular interest are two files compiled by the former chair of the history department Howard Mahan about Mobile’s historical records and about the city during the late 1960s, and a series of files related to wars, peace, and the atomic bomb. 46 linear feet. | H | |
| HOLMES, LARRY (87-09-152) | This collection contains materials amassed by Dr. Larry E. Holmes, former professor of Russian history at the University of South Alabama, during the course of an administrative and legal battle between him and the university over tenure. The case revolved around issues related to academic freedom and civil rights. The papers include a chronology of events, documents related to the FBI and its concern with Holmes’ activities, correspondence, memoranda, briefs, interrogatories, affidavits, newspaper clippings, reports, and depositions. The collection also includes a CD of an interview conducted in August 1973 with Holmes by Mike Sloan of the local radio station WABB and Don Henry of the Alabama Education Association. A later donation made by Holmes was added to this collection and contains correspondence, grant awards and applications, newspaper clippings and other material related to Holmes’ professional career, and a copy of Holmes’ 1997 article on Moscow School No. 25 that appeared in the Slavic Review. 1 linear foot. | H | |
| HUGGINS, CLYDE G. (95-08-299) | Dr. Clyde G. Huggins was the associate dean for academic affairs in the Medical School at the University of South Alabama. His papers include articles, correspondence, newspaper clippings, personal notes (in the form of a diary), student papers, and minutes. Correspondence makes up a small part of the collection but does include letters to / from Samuel Eichold and Arthur A. Wood. Of particular interest is a file devoted to material about the creation of a medical school in the city and the research papers about the Mobile surgeon Harry Tutwiler Inge, the old Mobile Medical College, the Mobile psychiatrist Eugene Bondurant, the Mobile physician George A. Ketchum, the Board of Health and Quarantine Station in Mobile in the 1870s, the 1853 Yellow Fever epidemic, and the first dean of the College of Medicine Robert M. Bucher. Other items of note in the collection are a biography of Monte L. Moorer written by David G. Tipton, a series of caricatures on slides representing faculty in the College of Medicine, a history of Mobile General Hospital, a history of medicine in Mobile and of family practice as a specialty in general. The collection also includes documents related to the Franklin Society and the History of Medicine Society at USA. A condensed finding aid to the collection is available onsite. 1 linear foot. | H | |
| HUMANITIES COMPLEX (05-09-428) | Completed in 1974, this collection contains material compiled by the ad hoc committee
for the construction of the humanities building on the campus of the University of
South Alabama. The collection contains minutes, drawings, and correspondence of the
committee from 1967 to 1972. .25 linear foot.
|
H | |
| LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER (01-09-508) | This collection contains both manuscript and published materials (1969–1990 [bulk
1976–1983]) from the now-defunct University of South Alabama College of Education
Learning Resource Center, formerly the Curriculum Laboratory. The collection consists
mainly of curriculum lab inventories, budgets, correspondence, and class descriptions.
The materials were collected by various staff associated with the Learning Resource
Center. 1 linear foot.
|
L | |
| MARTIN v USA PRECEDENT II FOR WOMEN'S SALARY EQUITY (09-09-502) |
Two small boxes of material related to the Martin v USA gender discrimination / salary equity case against the University of South Alabama. Includes legal documents, correspondence, news clippings, etc. 1 linear foot. |
M | |
| MCCRARY, PEYTON (03-09-402) | A former history professor at USA, Peyton McCrary served on the Faculty Senate and chaired the financial committee for a 1980s SACS report. The material in this collection appears to have been his files for this committee. Also included is one folder related to Grant’s Pass and the USA Board of Trustees. McCrary also served as an expert witness in Bolden v City of Mobile, a class-action lawsuit that overturned Mobile’s form of government. .5 linear foot. | M | |
| MCLAURIN,MELTON (93-16-270; 405-2003) | Dr. Melton McLaurin was an assistant professor of history at the University of South Alabama from 1966 to 1977. He was deeply committed to civil rights for the university’s African American students, and for blacks in general. He was an active member of ACT, which was a coalition of students, teachers, principals, civil rights groups, and concerned citizens interested in spurring positive educational changes in the city’s schools. Collection 93-16-270 consists of audio taped interviews Dr. McLaurin conducted between 1970 and 1972 with civil rights leader John L. LeFlore, Mobile mayor Joseph Langan, and Mobile Beacon editor Frank Thomas. Dr. McLaurin carried out these interviews as part of a project to supplement the records of the Mobile branch of the NAACP. The interviews are available on CD-ROM, while transcripts may be found here. Collection 405-2003 contains eight files with information on the Larry Holmes v University of South Alabama lawsuit, on a Black Studies Program at the university, and on the civil rights movement at the university. Documents include racial cartoons and jokes, newsletters, manifestos, and the like. 1 linear foot. | M | |
| MEDICAL CENTER (08-22-492) | Consists of 100 standard DVDs featuring medical and medically-related lectures delivered at the Medical Center by various individuals. 1 linear foot. | M | |
| MULTI-PURPOSE DOME (05-09-427) | This small collection contains files from the USA Ad Hoc Advising Committee on the
Multi Purpose Dome, February–June 1987. It includes faculty / student opinion polls,
faculty senate minutes and correspondence, and minutes and correspondence of the Ad
Hoc Committee. .25 linear foot.
|
M | |
| NEXUS (90-03-194) | The official student yearbook of the University of South Alabama has been published
under several names including Aphorism, Retrospect, and Nexus. The McCall Library
has all available volumes.
|
N | |
| PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT | Dated between 1967 and 2000, the records of the Philosophy Department include material
related to academic advising, budgets, bulletins, class schedules, correspondence,
curriculum, departmental meetings, evaluations, financial aid, grants, personnel,
promotion and tenure, reports, scholarships, and student recruitment, Also has documents
pertaining to the College of Education, to the College of Arts and Sciences, to President
Frederick Whiddon, to the university president’s Faculty Advisory Committee, and to
the University Library. Other individuals mentioned in the collection are W. W. Kaempfer,
Howard M. Phillips, and Franklyn H. Sweet. Of particular interest is material related
to an Afro American Studies Program. 14 linear feet.
|
P | |
| PRINTED MATERIAL (90-08-191) | This collection of materials printed by USA Publication Services includes school bulletins, class schedules, directories, president’s reports, brochures for various programs, commencement programs, departmental newsletters, literary magazines, etc., dating from 1964 to the present. 54 linear feet. | P | |
| PUBLIC RELATIONS (85-07-107) | The McCall Library has newspaper clippings (state and local) relating to USA activities
from 1964 to 1985 and negatives and photographs made by various photographers for
the public relations office dating from 1964 to 1987. Contact prints have been made
for all negatives. There are also 13 audio tapes made between 1966 and 1978 for broadcast
on local radio stations. These include interviews of faculty and students, speeches
given for dedication ceremonies of various buildings, and a description of USA facilities
in 1978. 44.5 linear feet.
|
P | |
| REARGUARD (88-08-169) | This weekly underground newspaper was published from May to December 1970. It was
a cooperative effort by USA students and faculty, and Mobile residents. We have a
complete run. This publication has also been microfilmed.
|
R | |
| RESEARCH GRANTS (95-09-300) | Material on research grants funded by the university, including final reports, copies
of published articles, etc. A list of the recipients of the grants is available upon
request. Also includes a play written by playwright-in-residence Nick Hall entitled
“Going Ape” as well as numerous black and white photographs (8 x 10) of Mayan art
and architecture. 2 linear feet.
|
R | |
| STEWART, JOHN CRAIG (99-09-354) | Contains two copies of a history of the University of South Alabama written by Stewart
in 1977. One copy is labeled “original” and includes handwritten notes with suggestions
for changes. It also includes an acknowledgements section. The other copy lacks acknowledgements
but contains handwritten comments not found in the original. Also consists of 21 of
Stewart’s published works and includes pieces about Mobile, the University of Alabama,
and Fairhope, among others. A complete list of the titles is available on site. 1.75
linear feet.
|
S | |
| THOMASON, MICHAEL V. R. (06-09-472) | Michael V. R. Thomason taught in the history department of the University of South
Alabama from 1970 through 2006. He was also director of The Doy Leale McCall Rare
Book and Manuscript Library (then known as USA Archives) from 1978 through 2006. From
2000 to 2002, Thomason served on the board of the USA Foundation and played an important role in the settlement of the dispute over the Grant’s Pass
area between the university and the state of Alabama. His collection is made up of
documents related to that dispute, as well as other material about the Foundation,
and his teaching career. He is the author/illustrator of several books, including
Mobile: American River City (1975, with Melton McLaurin), The Image of Progress: Alabama
Photographs, 1871-1917 (1980), Trying Times: Alabama Photographs, 1917-1945 (1985),
To Remember a Vanishing World: D. L. Hightower’s Photographs of Barbour County, Alabama,
1930-1945 (1997), and Mobile: A New History of Alabama First City (2001). Thomason
was also a founding member of the Gulf South Historical Association and served as
the editor of the Gulf South Historical Review from 1986 to 2005. The papers in the
Thomason collection also consist of research material from Thomason’s degrees from
Duke, correspondence and subject files relating to his publications and scholarly
activities, and materials from various courses he taught. Of particular interest is
material relating to the Alabama History and Heritage Festival in 1982, and Thomason’s
various projects for the Alabama Humanities Foundation. Finding aids for both collections
are available either on this web site or at our repository. 10 linear feet.
|
T | |
| USAMC PR CLIPPINGS FILES | The McCall Library has newspaper clippings (state and local) relating to medical activities
at all of the university’s hospitals, including the Medical Center, Children’s and
Women’s, and old Knollwood (now Infirmary West). The clippings date from 1951 to 2003.
An index to the clippings is available on site. 21 linear feet.
|
U | |
| USA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE SCRAPBOOKS (666-2014) | Correspondence, College of Medicine proposals, development schedules and other material
related to the Woman’s Auxiliary to the Student American Medical Association (WASAMA)
chapter at the University of South Alabama. USA's chapter was founded in 1973. The
collection records the history of the chapter from 1973 to 1980. Includes documents
related to the founding of the chapter, the chapter bylaws, invitations to parties
and events, newsletters, and photographs.
|
U | |
| VANGUARD (90-08-43) | The Vanguard is the official student newspaper of the University of South Alabama.
We have issues dating from 1964 to the present. The holdings are believed to be complete.
Issues from 1964 to 2012 have been microfilmed or digitized. 16 linear feet.
|
V | |
| WERTELECKI, WLADIMIR (10-08-532) | Wladimir Wertelecki was born in Rivne, Poland, on July 28, 1936. Since 1974 he has
been involved in the department of medical genetics at the University of South Alabama,
currently serving as professor and chair. Wertelecki’s major areas of interest include
medical genetics, human handicaps, and pediatrics. He has been involved with many
groups throughout his career and has also organized many conferences dealing with
genetics and birth defects, as well as public health and other issues. He is the recipient
of numerous awards and the author of more than 250 articles and abstracts. 2 linear
feet.
|
W | |
| WHIDDON, FREDERICK P. (98-09-343) | The papers of the former president of the University of South Alabama consist of calendars, correspondence, memos, minutes, newspaper clippings, photographs, reports, etc. It includes material on the original Mobile Center. Some of the other subjects covered in the collection are the Board of Trustees, building dedications, curriculum, Downtown Mobile Unlimited, education, faculty, fraternities and sororities, graduation, Grant’s Pass, Hillsdale, homecoming, Isle Dauphine Club, Jaguar Club, Jaycees, Joe Jefferson Players, Junior Miss Pageant, Kiwanis Club of Mobile, the library, League of Women Voters, Martin v. USA, the Medical School, Mobile Area Foundation for Public Higher Education, Mobile General Hospital, Mobile Jazz Festival, Mobile Personnel Board, Mobile Symphony, SACS, salaries, scholarships, search committees, student life, various college departments, and the state and national legislatures. Featured in the photographs are S. D. Bishop, James Caldwell, Ernest Cleverdon, O. H. and A. F. Delchamps, Jack Edwards, William J. Hearin, William Rimes, Coy Smith, Al Weiskopf, and former governors Albert Brewer, John Patterson, and George Wallace. An index to the photographs and a finding aid to the collection are available onsite. (See also Manuscript Collections under Joe Jefferson Players; Kiwanis Club of Mobile; League of Women Voters; Martin v USA President II for Women’s Salary Equity; and Mobile Area Foundation for Public Higher Education.) 12.5 linear feet. | W |