May 2007 Archives

If you are a current or former UA Wildcat you will enjoy seeing this picture of the Memorial Fountain, shot by Tom Marshall not long after it was dedicated in 1919.

In her outstanding book, A Photographic History of the University of Arizona 1885-1985, Phyllis Ball wrote: "Situated at the west entrance of Old Main, the Memorial Fountain, honoring those UA students who lost their lives in World War I, was the gift of Alexander Berger, an uncle of Alexander Tindolph Berger, one of those to whose memory it is dedicated. Designed by Tucson architects, Lyman and Place, it cost $5,500. The Cactus Garden continued to flourish on its western side."

Phyllis Ball used this Tom Marshall photo in the book. What is interesting is that the picture in the book (p. 124) is flipped horizontally. The one I scanned today has Tom Marshall's hand written notes on it, so I can tell.

Patricia passed along two new items yesterday. One is a favorite of her's, a postcard showing Louise and Tom flying in a bi-plane with the Long Beach, California, pier in the background. Apparently it is a gag photo -- Patricia says Tom never learned to fly. Plus, the propeller is not moving. Pat dates it 1911.

The second is one of Tom's photos that could have been shot at Long Beach or San Diego in 1911. I've searched for images of the Long Beach in Calisphere but can't find one that let's me make a positive ID. In the photo, the man appears to be reading the sign:

Airship Spialway
Long Ride
Smooth Ride
Safe Ride

In addition to the Marshall diaries, letters, and photos that Patricia Stephenson owns, is a fascinating historical artifact. That artifact is a Bausch & Lomb 1911 Balopticon Model C lantern slide projector and a box of about 125 3" X 4" glass slides. Here's an image of one in good condition. The one Patricia and Roger have had in their garage is equiped with a tripod.

Why is it that they have the Balopticon and the glass slides? Grady Gammage's wife Dixie, who assumed the name Gradine for her Prohibition Party speaking engagements, spoke in Tucson in 1914. In Tom Marshall's Tucson, we learned that Tom became involved with the Prohibition Party and spent forty of Louise's dollars on the Balopticon. The projector, its accessories, and the glass slides must have been passed on from Louise Foucar Marshall to Patricia's mother and then on to Patricia.

Gary Macender, the UA's QuickTime Virtual Reality specialist is going to create a 360 degree panorama of the Balopticon. I'm in the process of scanning the glass slides and will make a little website of them over the next few weeks. The slide collection includes the slides used by the temperance movement speakers, slides of birds, and a general miscellany of others. Here's one of the temperance slides to give you a taste of what's to come.

Have you subscribed to Through Our Parents' Eyes' podcast? There is a link on the upper right hand area of this blog page and on the upper right hand area of the homepage. Just click the 1-click button and automatically start the subscription in your own iTunes.

So far there are four episodes, the most recent of which includes two songs performed by Lalo Guerrero at the 1994 Tucson Meet Yourself Festival. Podcasting is a great way to enhance the visual experience garnered by reading Through Our Parents' Eyes' websites with audio and video delivered to your desktop.

If you are new to iTunes and podcasting, we have a Flash movie guiding you through subscribing to podcasts using Apple's iTunes

Now that Tom Marshall's Tucson is published, we are working on bringing to the Web Patricia Stephenson's second book, A Personal Journey Through The University Neighborhood Built by Louise Foucar Marshall 1901-1951.

Visit the in-development page for more information and to view a few images that will be part of this website.

Tom Marshall's Tucson is now published and available for all to read on its website. It contains a wonderful collection of Tucson from 1899 until Tom Marshall's death in 1931. In addition, we added a chapter containing Tom's photos from his Nome, Alaska album. He left the UA during the semester in 1900, sail on the SS Portland to Nome. His album includes photos of a trip to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.

Last Wednesday Tony Gallego, of the LTC's media section, and I visited Patricia Stephenson to record her personal memories of her father, the Marshall's and living in Tucson as a child in 1930s. We are going to work on developing the audio and video into digital stories. Digital storytelling is something we hope to add to Through Our Parents' Eyes over the coming year and the segments of Patricia we hope will demonstrate the power of digital storytelling. We have applied for an NEH grant to fund digital storytelling and if we get it, we will be able to add some wonderful content to the project. Digital storytelling is very labor intensive and requires strong media arts skills.

Tom took a number of photos of the ship and men during the winter months
as the ship was locked in snow and ice.

Also on Wednesday, Patricia passed along Tom Marshall's photo album containing pictures from his trip in 1900 to Nome, Alaska, and to the Aleutian Islands. FYI, Nome and the Aleutians are on the SW side of Alaska. If you are interested in seeing images of these photos, I put a new section together on the Tom Marshall's Tucson website.